We kept both groups together for the majority of tonight to talk about this topic of surrendering sin. We started with a simple game/activity where the kids broke up into teams and each team was given a 6" strip of packaging tape. They then had exactly one minute to get as much dust, lint, and dirt as possible on that tape, using only their clothing! We were the judges then to determine which team's tape was the dirtiest. The point of the game was to teach the kids that one thing they would be learning tonight was how sin is kind of "sticky". It tends to pick up other sins along the way. We might think we're containing it, controlling it...but it often affects us in ways we don't anticipate. We talked a little about how one "small" sin can tend to lead to another and another until it's completely out of control.
Next, we did a little experiment. We lit a candle and told the kids it represented sin. We also had a bag of balloons and told the kids they represented us and our relationship with God before we were believers. If the balloon breaks, our relationship with God is damaged. We told the kids then to begin naming sins. For each sin, we held a balloon to the candle and watched as it popped. Then we passed the popped balloons out to the kids and asked them to "fix" them. The kids quickly learned that they couldn't fix the balloons anymore than they could "fix" their relationships with Christ all on their own. We talked about how in Romans 3:23, it says that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that, if it weren't for the blood of Jesus Christ shed for our sins on the cross, none of us would stand a chance at a repaired relationship with our Savior. And sin not only destroys our relationship with God. It destroys us.
Next, we pulled out a balloon that was filled with water and represented a person who had put their trust in Christ as their Savior and was now full of the Holy Spirit, the living water. Like nonbelievers, Christians still sin. Just because they have a relationship with Jesus, doesn't mean that they stop sinning or can't do things that can hurt their relationship with Christ. But we showed the kids what happens when Christians sin. We held the water balloon over the open flame and guess what? It NEVER popped!! Because of the Holy Spirit in us, the open flame of sin can no longer destroy us. Not to say that sin cannot hurt our relationship with Christ...and we demonstrated that by showing how black the bottom of the balloon turned from the flame. But Christians, if repentant (turning a full 180 degrees from their sins), are forgiven and their relationship with their Savior restored. Using a wet washcloth, we completely wiped the black soot from the bottom of the water balloon to show the balloon (Christian) completely restored.
Then we had our DVD object lesson time. We had two DVD's to watch this time. First, we watched the opening 6 minutes of Megamind. We asked the kids to pay attention to all the differences between Megamind and Metroman as they watched: their upbringing, their experiences, their thoughts, their abilities, their decisions.
Megamind begins on a fireign planet that's doomed to destruction. He claims to be from a "broken home" and was only 8-days-old when he was separated from his parents. As his survival pod rockets across space, he bumps into another baby (Metroman). Both babies land on earth. Metroman lands in the lap of luxury and Megamind in a prison. In prison, Megamind is taught lies by the crooks behind bars. Even when he does go to school, he doesn't fit in. He's always picked last and often picked on. Throughtout his life, Megamind constantly compares himself to Metroman and discovers that "being bad is the one thing I'm good at". He concludes that he might as well work at being the "baddest boy of them all". Now he begins to terrorize the school kids and teacher.
We discussed with the kids then the differences in the upbringings of Megamind and Metroman and asked them if they thought that's why each turned to the good or evil they turned to. We talked then about how, no matter what our circumstances are as kids and the homes we're raised in, God is still in control, still sovereign. He uses ALL things in our lives to mold and shape us into who we are, and ultimately, He created us in His likeness and to be reflectors of His glory. We are the ones who choose to either learn from those circumstances we're raised in and seek God to escape them or become "victim's" of them and blame all of our faults and bad choices on those circumstances.
Next came The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King. Mr. Elliot took over here because we have not seen any of those movies...yet! The clip they saw took place at the end of the movie. Frodo and Sam have made it to the edge of Mt. Doom and Froda has the opportunity to throw the ring into the fires below...something that has been a curse to him for a long time. Sam urges Frodo to destroy the ring, but Frodo hesitates. The scene ends with Frodo putting the ring on, making him invisible. Knowing the location of the ring, the Nazguls stop in midair and begin flying back toward Frodo.
The application? Sometimes we allow things to creep into our lives that don’t belong there—-temptations, habits or desires we knew to be dangerous, something that maybe we even swore we would never let affect us. But before we know it, we are enticed by it. We want it, just like Frodo wants the Ring. His “accountability buddy” Sam urges him to destroy it. But Frodo doesn’t want to get rid of it; he has grown to like it too much, and now he wants to keep it, much like habits or temptations that we tell ourselves we can handle or get rid of, but we’re too weak to battle by ourselves.
Overall, tonight was packed full of valuable lessons about sin...and only a few! Oh if only we learned every one of the lessons God wants us to learn about sin before we fall into its snare!
