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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!

OBJECT LESSON

Introduction

Materials needed: Bubble gum for you to do the lesson and a piece of bubble gum for each child to give to them after the lesson.

Note: Chew a piece or two of gum ahead of time for the lesson to get it ready to blow a bubble!

As you can see, I’m chewing bubble gum this afternoon, and that’s because I want to show you something in a minute.

Here at Church we spend a lot of time talking about how Jesus wants us to act once we get saved, don’t we? Nod your head like this! (Nod your head up and down!)

And we talk about doing good works after we are saved, don’t we? Keep nodding your head this way!

I know your Sunday School teachers and Children’s Church Workers talk about it. And I know that certainly I talk about it.

But most of you aren’t up here most of the time when I’m talking about it because on Sunday morning and on Wednesday night you either have Children’s Church or class downstairs.

And when you are up here on Sunday afternoon and evening I know that you normally find me boring and so you may not pay attention like you should. Am I right? Nod your head like this!

(Nod your head up and down again!)

Now who is it that gives us the ability to act like Jesus wants us to act and do those good works? Jesus does, by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Now that is only true if we have been saved because that is the way we get the Holy Spirit into our lives isn’t it. Nod your head like this again because that’s right! (Nod your head again)

When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives He bears fruit in our lives. Does anybody know what any of that fruit is? (Wait for some reaction from some of them!)

Galatians 5:22-23–“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

When we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, do you know what that means? Let’s take them one at a time but in reverse order.

1.         Can anybody tell me what a “Savior” is?

I’ve got a dictionary up here and this is what it says.

“One that saves or preserves.” Now let’s pause there for a moment and think about this for a minute. Suppose I’m out swimming in Prairie Creek Reservoir. I don’t appear to be having any trouble. In fact I’m swimming pretty good and having a good ole time!

I am a pretty good swimmer by the way. But suppose someone jumped in while I’m swimming and said I’m here to save you. Would I have a problem with that?

Well, I’m wondering what they are saving me from. Because in my estimation I’m doing pretty good. I’m not wanting them to save me because I don’t see a need to get saved.

But suppose there is an unseen danger. Maybe this person saw an alligator headed for me that somebody put in there for a practical joke, but I didn’t see it. Now do I need saving?

            Well, depending on the size of the gator I might!

Or maybe somebody dumped some poisonous chemical into the reservoir that I didn’t know anything about. Do I need saving. I most certainly do. But I am completely unaware of the danger.

            Let’s get back to our definition here in the dictionary:

“One that saves or preserves; but properly applied only to Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, who has opened the way to everlasting salvation by His obedience and death, and who is therefore called the Savior, by way of distinction, the Savior of men, the Savior of the world.”

When Jesus came to be our Savior, we were in danger of dying in our sins and being separated from God forever in Hell. Now when we were born did we understand the danger? Nod your head “No”!

In fact there are a lot of folks who have lived on this earth for a long time that don’t see the danger they are in. Does that mean that they don’t need a Savior?

            Nod your head “No!”

They need a Savior and Jesus came to save them and has made salvation available to them, but they must see the danger that they are in and see that they cannot save themselves before they will ever accept Him as Savior.

So, when we trust Jesus as our Savior, we believe that He died for our sin. We believe that His death, burial and resurrection opened the way for us to be saved from our sin.

2.         Can anybody tell me what a “Lord” is?

Again, I’ve got this dictionary up here and this is what it says.

            “A master; a person possessing supreme power and authority; a ruler; a governor.”

So, that means that when we accept Jesus as our Lord we are acknowledging that He has the right to call the shots in our life.Am I right? Nod your head this way.

We are saying He is our Master; that He possesses the supreme power and authority and has the right to rule or govern our lives. Do you understand that?

            If you don’t, come up to me after the service and I’ll try to explain it more clearly to you.

So, when we ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our lives, He gives us the power of His Holy Spirit, living in us, Who helps us to live the way He wants us to and to do good things.

Now does this mean that we will always behave perfectly, and never make mistakes?

Of course not - we all make mistakes. Even the preacher makes mistakes. I know that comes as a shock to you but I can assure you that it is true. Just ask Mrs. Susan. No, don’t do that.

1 John 1:8– “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

1 John 1:10–“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

And what did Jesus tell us to do when we do something wrong? He wants us to confess our sins and ask Him to forgive us and help us to do better.

1 John 1:9–“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Now, let’s get to this bubble gum that I’m chewing.

I’m going to try to blow a bubble for you, but before I do, can you tell me what it is that makes the bubble? My hot air does!

And what happens if I blow too much air into the bubble? It pops!

Well, here I go. (Slowly blow bubble until it pops. A good brand, like Bubble Yum, will not stick to your face, and you can peel it off.)

You know, we can be sort of like that bubble can’t we.

We can get all puffed up with pride in ourselves and brag about the good things we do, instead of giving Jesus credit for all that He helps us to do.

And when we do get all puffed up with pride, all of our good works lose their value before God, and disappear, just like the bubble did, when it popped.

Turn to Luke 18:9-14. (Read it.)

In today’s Bible passage, Jesus tells a parable. Do you know what a parable is?

Simply put, it is a fictional story or a fable that illustrates something real in life or nature from which we can draw moral instruction. In other words, it is a made up story that teaches us some truth in real life.

Jesus told this story about two men. One, the Pharisee, was a very religious man, but he was all puffed up with pride, bragging about who he was and what he was doing.  

And just like my bubble popped from to much air, everything that he was puffed up about because of too much pride. His pride caused all that he did to have no value to Jesus.

Psalm 10:4–“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”

This man’s thoughts weren’t really on God, they were on himself.

Proverbs 8:13–“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”

But then we see this other man, a Publican. Do you know what a publican was? They were despised tax collectors. Many times they would take more money than what they were supposed to take. That’s called stealing. Right? Nod your head like this!

But we see that this Publican knew that he was a sinner, when he came before God he was humble.

He knew he had done some things that were wrong, and he begged God to forgive him.

Jesus said that he had the right idea. He didn’t come in pride, but came in humility.

Do you know what humility is? It is the very opposite of pride! It is an act of submission!

He knew that the only way he could become good was through the mercy of God.

It wasn’t through his own power, but through God’s power that he could be changed.

He knew that God was the only one who could forgive his sin.

And we need to realize that God is the only one who can forgive us when we do something wrong.

Read Verse 14 again.

Proverbs 29:23–“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”

Conclusion

Now as we leave, I’m going to give each one of you children a piece of bubble gum if you rode the van, Mrs. Trish will give it to you when you exit the van. And I want you to wait until your parents say it is OK for you to chew it.

Will you do that for me? Nod your head like this!

Please don’t throw the paper down on the floor on outside on the ground. Find a trash can and put it in there OK. Nod your head like this!

When you do chew it, and especialy when you try to blow a bubble, I want you to remember the pride of the Pharisee and the humility of the Publican–the tax collector.

And remember that Jesus wants us to be humble and not puffed up with pride. OK?

Nod your head like this!

Home Page   Contact Us    Service Times   Sermons   Are You Going To Heaven?

NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!