"Stand Out”
Big Idea
When you follow God, you stand out.Verse
Matthew 5:16a - "In the same way, let your light shine in front of others." (NIrV)
Materials
1. Thirteen birthday candles 2. One large candle (to be used to light the other candles)
Setup
1. Attach a small wad of playdough to the bottom of each candle, then stand each candle up on the table in a long line. The playdough should assure that the candle stays upright.
Activity
1. Read through the verse as a group once.
2. Explain the following:
Our big idea today is "When you follow God, you stand out." This verse shows us that when we live like God told us to, we'll stand out like a light in a dark place. We will shine like a light to others when we follow God. And when people see us follow God, they will want to learn more about him.
So, to help us remember to let our light shine, we'll light candles as we learn our verse. Each of these candles stand for one word of the verse. When we're done, we'll see if one of you can blow out all these candles in one breath.
Light the large candle.
3. Repeat the following steps as you learn the verse:
Have a child suggest a word to erase. Erase that word.
Hand the child the large candle, and have him light the candle that represents the word that was just erased. (To do this, he/she'll have to start with the candle on the left and count until he/she reaches the word just erased.)
Read the verse as a group. Continue until all the words have been erased and all the candles have been lit. Select a child to come up to attempt to blow all the candles out in one breath.