‘Mess Up and Made Right’ Childrens Lesson

BIG IDEA: GOD CLEANS UP MY MESS

AIM: The ‘Mess Up and Made Right’ Childrens Lesson helps children to see that God is willing and able to forgive them when they mess up.

SONG AND BIBLE STORY VIDEO IDEAS available on our Printerest Board.

GAME IDEAS:

1. Save the Minions. (regular/widescreen) Preparation: Print and laminate some Minion characters. Using four buckets or tubs of water. Add the same number of minions to the water, even adding a Gru character. Game: Children stand behind the tub/bucket/bowl and dunk their face in the water. The aim is to grab the minions with their teeth and put them on a paper plate next to the tub/bucket/bowl. Application: Oh dear! What a mess the minions got themselves in, almost drowning like that! It’s a good job our teams were able to save them! You know sometimes we get ourselves into a mess too and today we’re going to look at how there is only one person that can save us from the mess we get in.
2. The Great Minion Dash. (regular/widescreen) After gathering all their points throughout the day, the teams then choose five different people (Group Leaders to record who has played  a game each day) to answer a review question about the story/skit/object lesson of the day. Once the five members are chosen they will line up on one side of the room. The first member of each team must take and use a skipping rope. Once the question has been asked, if they think they know the answer, they must space hop over to the front of the room and tell the games leader the answer. The first member to tell the games leader the answer is the winner.  Then the first team member runs back and hands the space hopper to the next player, who is given a different question. This is repeated for each of the five players. At the end of the game the points are added up.  This is when the POWER Points are added and the winning team chooses one of their group leaders to be gunged.
3. Banana Peel. (regular/widescreen) Children compete to see how fast they can unpeel a banana using only their teeth. A simple game that children can play anywhere.

 

BIG VERSE: “I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.” Proverbs 8:17 (NLT)

(regular/widescreen)

Word Unscramble. What a mess! The words are all in the wrong place. Each team is given words on pieces of card. They must line up sat on the floor and pass them along as fast as they can to the person at the back of the Factory Line. The end person must put them in the right place and they must unscramble the words to create the memory verse. [Tip: Put a child that knows the memory verse at the back of the Factory Line!]

Download Bible Cards

MEMORY VERSE VIDEO 

 

SET the Scene:

Read John 21:15-25. To tell the bible story for this lesson you will need the drama found here.

REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. How many times does Jesus ask if Peter loves him? (three)
2. What does he tell Peter to do each time? (feed/look after his sheep/lambs)
3. How does Peter feel when Jesus asks him for a third time? (upset)
4. Why did Jesus talk to Peter about ‘stretching out his hands’? (Peter would die)
5. Then what did Jesus say? (Follow me)
6. Why did Peter ask about the disciple Jesus loved? (he wanted to know if he would die in the same way)
7. What was Jesus’ reply? (It doesn’t matter what others must do. You follow me)
8. If all that Jesus did was written down, where would it fit? (even the whole world would not have enough room in any books)

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

OBJECT LESSON: MY MESS MADE RIGHT

You will need to use two clean white shirts and some messy sticky food such as peanut butter, chocolate spread or jam (jelly). 

Say: Woah! Peter really messed up, didn’t he?! I know I’ve messed up before. Have you ever messed up? [wait for feedback] What I mean is, when we do something our own way and not God’s way. Perhaps we do something selfish or something that hurts others. We haven’t pleased God. I know I have done that many times. We all mess up.

You know, when we were created, we were made to be pure, just like this white tshirt right here [show white tshirt]. A minute ago you said that you mess up and I said that I mess up. Any time we do, say or think something we shouldn’t our pureness gets messed up. [start splatting food onto the tshirt]. 

Sin is anything we think, do or say that is wrong and it messes everything up! People always get hurt when we mess up. 

When we do something wrong we get punished. When I was little I got punished. Have you ever been sent to your bedroom when you have done something wrong? The Bible says that everyone has done wrong and ‘fallen short of God’s glory’. That means that God is perfect – just like my white tshirt was before. It didn’t have anything wrong with it. But none of us are perfect.

We learned today that Peter really messed up, but we also learned that he was made right by Jesus. And when we mess up we can be made right by Jesus too. [take off your stained tshirt] You see, Jesus came to the earth to live a perfect life. He was the only one that could because, as John 3:16 tells us He was and is God’s Only begotten Son. He came to the earth as fully God and fully man! So he was able to live a perfect life, never doing anything wrong (2 Cor 5:21), yet he was a man and still experienced pain (on the cross) and hunger (Mark 11:12) just like us. 

Now, because he was God and without sin, Jesus was the only one able to take the punishment for the wrong we have done. As Acts 4:12 says, “Jesus is the only One who can save people. No one else in the world is able to save us.” That’s because the Bible says the punishment for doing wrong – sinning – is death (Romans 6:23) and so Jesus was the only one able to die for us – to take our place. 

[put on a new clean white one.] Jesus took our place and our punishment so that we can be pure, holy and friends of God. Jesus forgave Peter when he messed up and Jesus will forgive you if you ask Him too! He has made a way for us to follow Him, all we need to do is invite Him to be the master and Lord of our lives – the one in charge, He will make right our messes when we choose to follow Him.

 

SEARCH the Scriptures:

Messy Mayhem. (regular/widescreen) Print the Bible verse printable and laminate it. Put the laminated verses into some sticky, messy food of your choice: custard, gravy, banana yoghurt, spaghetti etc. Invite the kids to find the Bible verses with their hands. Alternatively, if you would prefer not to use food, use some water with coloring in it or dirt to make it look yucky!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What is sin?
2. How serious is our sin to God?
3. Do you think anyone can ‘get away’ with sin?
4. Why does God deal with sin so seriously?
5. How might we be made right with God, even though we sin?
6. How did Jesus defeat sin and death?
7. What can we do to be forgiven of our sin?
8. How have you been forgiven? In what ways?

 

SENSE How You Feel:

How does it feel to mess up?

How does it feel to know God makes things right?

1. For minion craft ideas check out our Pinterest Board.
2. Make the Jesus and Peter craft scene by printing the Jesus and Peter Craft Printable and Beach Scene and attaching the characters to Popsicle sticks. Then cut a line through the sandy beach and thread the people through to make your popsicle puppet theatre.
3. Build: a beach scene using Lego or building blocks or create the words ‘Mess Up’ then ‘Made right’ using the same materials.
4. Mould: the characters Peter and Jesus out of playdough or clay. Try to show the face of Peter to show how he might have been feeling.
5. Sensory: Place some sand and some blue material on the sensory table with some plastic toy fish. Alternatively dye some spaghetti blue for the sea.
6. Fill in/Color the activity sheets for 5-7s and 8-11s.

SEEK God:

Response: Wash it Away: Children write something with non permanent marker that they want forgiveness for on a laminated piece of paper. They then wash it in a bucket of water so that it goes away.