Everyday object lessons

Start outside when the sun is very bright.  Tell students to stand so they are receiving the most and brightest sun available.  Then everyone moves to a spot that is not so bright, but that you can clearly see the sun is still shining – maybe in the shade of a tree.  Next move indoors but to a room with a window so you can still have the effects of the sunlight but less.  Finally move to a closet or room where it can be entirely dark.  If it is a warm time of year you know the sun is still shining because the building is still warm inside even tho you are in the dark.

This lesson has several applications.  Here are the ones my family came up with:  God’s love represents the sun.

It is our actions that take us out of the light.  God’s love is always there and always the same and always available.  My actions make it so I feel God’s love less.  I move, not God.

We started out in the light.  That is where we all came from – God’s presence.  We should ask for confirmation of this truth and then remember that light and God’s love when we are feeling discouraged and in the dark.

Elaborating on a story by Wayne Dyer.

Have the class, or your family stand up with the goal of jumping as high as they can. Maybe have a goal on the wall or doorway or something to measure how high to jump. In the first situation, no one can bend their knees before they jump – not even a little! So basically you can only go on your tiptoes. You just can’t propel yourself into their air without bending your knees first.

Next have them bend their knees just a little bit and jump again and notice how much higher they can jump then finally allow the students to jump as high as they possibly can and bend as much as they desire.

Point out to them that the only way to reach and jump high is to bend low first. So when we are brought low with trials or difficulties we must remember that it takes that bending low to propel us higher. If we are brought low with trials, then we can build sufficient faith and trust in God so he can lift us to a higher spiritual place. There are many stories in the scriptures then that can illustrate this story. Have this lesson go along with whatever book of scripture you are working with.

I will have a 2 pieces of paper. We will be drawing 2 houses. One will be drawn with permanent markers and the other will be drawn with water-soluble. We will read the story from two different sections, Matthew 5:24-27 and Luke 6: 46-48. They both offer some interesting insights. As we draw and fill in the houses, we will talk about the symbolism of the different parts, the foundation, the rock, the sand, the house, the floods and rain and the great fall of the house. Each boy will get a chance to draw something onto the picture.

We will take the pictures outside or someplace where it won’t make too much of a mess and then spray the pictures with a water gun or squirt bottle to represent the floods and rain. Of course the water soluble pix will run off the paper. The permanent marker will not be ruined.

From a story told by Dr. Adrian Rogers
Dr Adrian Rogers gave a Focus on the Family devotional and this story is from that devotional. It would be really great to actually DO the object lesson that Dr Rogers tells, but that might be difficult to arrange. Here’s the story: A minister was giving a sermon that was several hours long. There was a small break for the audience to get up and walk around at bit. The minister knew many of the people in the audience and he went down to talk to some of the people at the front. He was talking to a man whose wife had left the room for a few minutes. The minister asked the husband if that was his wife’s bible, and asked if he could look at it. The minister took the bible and put a $5 bill inside then told the husband that in a few minutes he would be asking for a volunteer and he would call on the wife. The husband was to make sure the wife brought up her bible, but not to tell her that she was going to be chosen. So the sermon got started again and after a few minutes the minister asked for a volunteer from the audience and then pointed out the wife and asked her to come forward. The husband told her to bring her bible because she might need it. The minister then says, “Do you believe I am a man of God?”
“Yes”
“Do you know me as a friend and trust me?”
“yes”
“Do you think that I would lie to you?”
“No, of course not”
“If I gave you a very simple task, that you could accomplish right up here with me, would you do it?”
“sure”
“OK. Give me $5″
The wife looks at him strangely and gives a questioning gesture. “Just let me go get my purse.”
“But I said you could do this simple task right up here. Don’t you trust me? Would I lie to you?”
“But I don’t have $5″
This conversation goes on for a few more lines and then the minister asks the wife to give him the bible. He opens it and shows her the $5 bill. She says, “How did that get in there?”
“I put it there.”
That is basically the story, and then you can go on to sight some scriptures that show us that God will never give us a task that he has not already given us the talents and ability to accomplish. We may not see them at first, but he has put them there and we must ask for his help and strength in doing his will. There are many scriptures that would fit this description.

Submitted by: Peggy Sherman-Daniels
I found a good way to show differences in your testimony and/or faith was to use eggs. I make Jello Jiggler eggs, then also use a raw egg, a soft boiled egg, and a hard boiled egg. Each of the 4 eggs are placed in separate zip-lock bags. The children then got to feel of the eggs and test the firmness of each one. It make the point that all of our testimonies can sometimes be concealed within an outer shell, and they still need work. The favorite is always the Jello egg. It is a great example of testimony or faith that is based on the continuous changes in life. It is solid. It is firm. It retains it’s shape and identity. Yet it gives a bit and adjusts to changes around it, which may include guidance from a parent, teacher, or church authority; experiences with others; revelation; inspiration; etc.

From Diane Hollinger
A story taken from an old diary….
Needed….a watermelon seed (a picture of a watermelon) The Bible, or another book of scripture at my father’s place at meal times, was the order of the day in our home. He would read a chapter aloud and lead the discussion.

But one day as we assembled for our meal, there was no book of scripture but a single watermelon seed. He appeared not to notice the missing book but recalled something he had discussed concerning faith several days ago. We all joined in on the lively discussion.

Then very carefully he picked up the watermelon seed and held it so we could all see it.

“Boys,” he said, still studying the seed. “Do you believe that there is the possibility of several watermelons here in my hand?” We all agreed there was.

“Do you believe that I have the beginnings of a whole wagon load of watermelons here?”

One of the older brothers said that he couldn’t say that, but he’d like to plant the watermelon seed and see. We all agreed with him.

“Boys,” Father said with a twinkle in his brown eyes, “you have the right idea. You have faith that watermelons will come from this seed but with out your work of planting and caring for this seed you will never know for sure. James 2:17 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

You need to pieces of paper, about 6 x 4 inches each. At the beginning, tell the class that you need to cut a hole in this paper big enough to put your head through. How difficult will this be?

Take the first piece of paper and cut a large hole in it. “Here is the best I could do. I have cut a hole in this paper, but I am not able to put my head through it.”

Take the second piece of paper and cut it.

“But now I have cut it in a different way and it fits over my head. This first piece of paper represents you and me when we are faced with a problem or a task. We have very limited ability to get things accomplished. This second piece of paper represents when we get inspiration from God, and trust in him to help us. ”

I used the scripture in Isaiah 55:8,9. It talks about God’s thoughts being higher than man’s thoughts. There are many different directions this discussion could go depending on the message you want. Faith, trust in God, continuing revelation, etc.

This particular lesson can be adapted for many different themes. It works well and keeps the attention of the class.

Source: From a book by Robert Folgrum
Gather a small mirror and a bright flashlight. Turn the light off in the room. Have one person hold the flashlight up and shine it down on the mirror. (You’ll have to experiment to find the best way to do this) The person with the mirror’s task is to see if they can reflect the light into the darkest corner of the room. Let two or three people try this and see if they can light up a dark corner.

The story that goes with this would be that Christ or God represents the flashlight, and we are the mirror. The light or the power to bring light to the dark places does not originate with the mirror, it only reflects it into many different places.

That is our mission, our meaning in life, to reflect God’s light, or love into all of the dark places that we can.

Expound on this message in whatever way fits best and of course there are skads of scriptures that would be appropriate.

There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told him he had a work for him to do, and showed him a large rock, explaining that he was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, and for many days he toiled from sunup tp sundown; his shoulder set squarely against the cold massive surface of the rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to the cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture – placing thoughts in the man’s mind, such as -Why kill yourself over this, you’re never going to move it. or, Boy, you’ve been at it a long time and you haven’t even scratched the surface, etc. Giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was an unworthy servant because he wasn’t moving the massive stone. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man and he started to ease up in his efforts.

Why kill myself? he thought, I’ll just put in my time, putting forth just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough. And that he did, or at least planned on doing until one day he decided to take his troubles to the Lord. Lord, he said, I have labored hard and long in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked me. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?

To this the Lord responded compassionately, My friend,…when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you to push against the rock with all your strength, and you have done that. But never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it, at least not by yourself. You task was to push and now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed and are ready to quit.

But is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, you back sinewed and brown. Your hands are callused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition, you have grown much and your ability now far surpasses that which you used to have. Yet still, you haven’t succeeded in moving the rock; and you come to me now with a heavy heart and your strength spent.

I, my friend, will move the rock. Your calling was to be obedient and to push, and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom…and THIS YOU HAVE DONE.

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say, “My son, you go about your playing for awhile, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side.”

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother’s voice say, “Son, come and sit on my knee.” This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy. Then Mother would say to me, “My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, “Father, what are You doing?” He has answered, “I am embroidering your life.” I say, “But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can’t they all be bright?” The Father seems to tell me, “‘My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side.” Author Unknown