7

"How can I have a relationship with God?”


Big Idea

Make God your Master and believe that Jesus died and rose again for your sins.


Materials Needed:

1. The following sentences, each printed on their own sheet of paper in large print and sealed in their own envelope. Label each envelope with the letter of the sentence below:

    A. Everybody's sinned and nobody's perfect.

    B. God haaaaaaaaates sin!

    C. The punishment for sin is death, forever apart from God.

    D. Since Jesus is perfect and never sinned, he took our punishment for us by dying on a

        cross.

    E. God raised Jesus from the dead. 

    F. I am saved from sin by accepting God as my Master and believing that Jesus died and

        rose again for my sins.


2. Poster putty or tape (to attach letters to the board)


Setup:

1. None.


Lesson

1. Review the big idea from last meeting's lesson:"Jesus is God's son: he's God, he's human, and he's perfect." Ask the question, "Who is Jesus?" and have the children repeat the big idea a few times, doing the motions below as you say each word.

God's: point up

Son: mime cradling a baby

God: point up

Human: point at self

Perfect: make A-ok signal (hold out one hand, touching tips of thumb and index finger)


2. Explain the following:

    All of our lessons so far (learning about God, Jesus, and sin) lead up to today's lesson. Today, we're going to ask the most important question: how can I have a relationship with God? But, before we can answer that, we have to ask, "Why don't we have a relationship with God already?"

    To do this, I'm going to tell you some good news and some bad news. I'm going to give you the bad news first, but don't get too worried, because the good news, the BEST news, is coming at the end.


3. Select a child to come up front. Hand him/her Envelope A and instruct him/her to open it and read the letter out loud. Use poster putty or tape to attach the letter to the board. Explain the following:

    You've heard this news already: we've all sinned (didn't follow God's directions in the Bible) and not one of us is perfect. We all know this. In fact, you might not think this is bad news at all. And it might not be, if not for our next piece of bad news!


4. Select a child to come up front. Hand him/her Envelope B and instruct him/her to open it and read the letter out loud. Use poster putty or tape to attach the letter to the board. Explain the following: 

    This is why we don't already all have a relationship with God. We've all sinned, and he hates sin! He doesn't hate us, but he hates sin so much and he's so perfect that he will not be around it. See how this is pretty bad news? Well, hold on to your boots because the bad news just keeps on coming.


5. Select a child to come up front. Hand him/her Envelope C and instruct him/her to open it and read the letter out loud. Use poster putty or tape to attach the letter to the board. Explain the following:

    This news just keeps getting worse and worse. We've all sinned, God hates sin, and the punishment for sin is death and being apart from God forever! It says in the Bible (Romans 6:23a) that "the wages (punishment) for sin is death." That means we are all facing death and being apart from God forever because everybody has sinned! I don't know about you, but I think it's high time we had some good news. Let's see what's next.


6. Select a child to come up front. Hand him/her Envelope D and instruct him/her to open it and read the letter out loud. Use poster putty or tape to attach the letter to the board. Explain the following: 

    This is good news for us! The Bible says (in Romans 5:8) that God showed us he loves us when "while we were still sinners [Jesus] Christ died for us." Jesus, God's son, came to earth as a human and died for us when he was nailed to a wooden cross. This may be good news for us, but it seems like bad news for Jesus!

7. Select a child to come up front. Hand him/her Envelope E and instruct him/her to open it and read the letter out loud. Use poster putty or tape to attach the letter to the board. Explain the following:
    This is good news for us and for Jesus! Three days after Jesus had died, when he was dead and buried in a stone tomb, God brought him back to life! Great news! But the best news is still yet to come!

8. Select a child to come up front. Hand him/her Envelope F and instruct him/her to open it and read the letter out loud. Use poster putty or tape to attach the letter to the board. Explain the following:
    So here is the best news: we can have a relationship with God and be saved from the punishment for sin. What we have to do is: make God our Master and believe that Jesus died and rose again for our sins. The Bible says (in Romans 10:9) that "if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord (master)" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

9. Explain that the big idea from today's lesson is: "Make God your Master and believe that Jesus died and rose again for your sins." Ask the question, "Who can I have a relationship with God?" and have the children repeat the big idea a few times, doing the motions below as you say each word.
God: point up
Master: mime bowing down and worshipping
Believe: place hand over heart
Died: thumbs down
Rose: thumbs up

10. Explain the following:
    So now you know the good news and the bad news. The question I have to ask is, "Do you have a relationship with God?" We all know that we've sinned and that the punishment for sin is death and being forever apart from God. Have you made God your Master and believed in your heart that Jesus died and rose again for your sins?" If you have, you are already saved from the punishment of sin and have a relationship with God.
    If you haven't, maybe it's time to do it. If we really mean it, we can simply tell God, "I believe Jesus died and rose again for my sins and I make you my Master" and we will be saved. Any adult here tonight who's a follower of Jesus can help you do this if you ask.