4
“What is sin?”
Big Idea Sin is not following God’s directions in the Bible. God hates sin.
Materials Needed:
1. Brown paper bag
2. Small strips of paper and marker
Setup:
1. None.
Lesson
1. Play a brief game of Simon Says with the children. When finished, ask, “What are the rules of Simon Says?”
2. Explain the following:
To win at Simon Says, you must follow the leader’s directions, but only when they say, ‘Simon Says.” Following directions means doing what they ask. When we don’t follow directions, we lose the game.
AWANA is about learning to become better workers for God. One of the best ways to learn how to be a better worker for God is to follow the directions he has for us: directions to do good things for God. These directions are found in God’s book, the Bible.
Sometimes we don’t follow God’s directions for us. We choose to do what we want instead. The fancy word we use to describe when we don’t follow God’s directions in the Bible is sin.
3. Write the following on the board: “Sin is not following God’s directions in the Bible.” Select a child to up front. Play the following game with the child:
Pretend to welcome the child to AWANA Burger and ask for their order. Instruct the child to describe to you what they want to eat. As they do, write each item on a paper strip and place it in a brown paper bag. Hand the bag to the child and thank them for coming to AWANA Burger. Instruct him/her to pull out each word strip from the bag and read it out loud. Ask him/her whether you got his/her order correct.
Repeat this process with a second child. This time, instead of writing each item he/she orders on a paper strip, write down a completely different item.
4. Ask, “Which person left AWANA Burger happy and which one left sad? Why?”
5. Explain the following:
The person who got what they asked for left AWANA Burger happy because I did what he/she asked. I followed their directions. The person who didn’t get what they ordered left AWANA Burger upset. That’s because I didn’t follow his/her directions.
God is the same way. It pleases him when we follow his directions in the Bible. In the same way, it displeases him when we sin and don’t follow his directions in the Bible. In fact, the Bible says that God hates sin! He cannot even stand to be around sin. In order to be better workers for God, we need to follow God’s direction in the Bible and avoid sin.
6. Teach the children the phrase Sin is not following God’s directions in the Bible." by saying it with the children several times while doing the following motions.
Not: wag a finger back and forth in front of you
Following God’s directions: March in place, as if following a leader
Bible: Mime opening a book