With Thanksgiving
Posted by: Buffalo Dream Center
Topic: Praise And Worship
Verse: In everything give thanks to God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Props:
Donuts
candles that don’t blow out
storage bag
straw
duct tape
book
paper
pencils
Instructions:
Discussion:
Being thankful
-Sometimes it is easier for us to always look at all the bad things happening in our lives.
-This is not what God wants us to do.
-He wants us to be thankful for the good things in our lives
-Hand out the scrap piece of and a pencil to everyone.
-I want you to write down some things you are grateful for.
-The Bible says that we need to look at all the good things god has done for us all the time even when we are having a bad day.
-“In everything (good or bad) give thanks to God.” Not “For everything”
-We always notice when we lose our favorite toy, or we have dad an argument with our friend.
-We don’t always notice things like: God created the whole entire universe, or God loves me so much.
God is like donuts
-Hand out a donut to everyone who wants one.
-When we hold up a donut we can look at the hole and say, “I wish the hole wasn’t there” or, “I wish I had more donut”.
-The whole time we look at the hole we are forgetting about the rest of the yummy donut.
-It is the same with God.
-We spend so much time thinking about everything we wish were different. We forget about all the good stuff. We forget to thank god for our family and friends and for Kidz club. We forget to thank Jesus for dying on the cross for us.
Paul and Silas knew how to be thankful.
-Paul and Silas were friends.
-They traveled together to preach about Jesus. They were missionaries.
-One time when they were preaching about Jesus and praying for people, they were arrested for it.
-They were stripped of their clothes and belongings, beaten and then arrested for talking about Jesus.
-Around midnight the jail keeper heard the two men singing and thanking god.
-Now this was not like a jail today.
-It was probably in an old dingy basement-damp, smelly, rats running around, dark.
-All the other prisoners and the prison guards were listening to the two men praise the Lord.
-They could have been complaining about how unfair it was that they were there.
-Then there was a strong earthquake. Their chains fell off them and all the prison doors flew open.
-The jailor was about to kill himself because he thought all the prisoners had escaped.
-Paul yelled out, “Don’t hurt yourself, we’re all here.”
-The jailor was so amazed at Paul and Silas’ attitude, he came to them and asked, “Who is Jesus? How can I live for Jesus?”
-The jailor decided to live for Jesus. He cleaned up Paul and Silas’ wounds from their beating.
-Then he took them home to be with his family.
-In the morning, the officials heard what Paul and Silas had done and ordered their official release.
We need to be thankful over and over again.
-Light the birthday candles.
-Have a volunteer come up and blow them out.
-Have them continue to try and blow the candles out.
-There are other things we have to do again and again and again. Name some of them.
-We need to thank god again and again and again. Everyday and several times during the day we need to thank God for what he is doing in our lives.
-Thanksgiving is more than just a holiday-it is an attitude.
-Thanksgiving is part of our prayer life.
-In our prayers we need to thank god everyday for all the good things he has done for us.
-These candles stand for what God has given us. I thank God for what he has done (blow out the candle). Then God does something else for me. (I thank Him.)
Thanksgiving is a part of praising God.
-The Bible says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”.
-Thanking God is a part of praising God.
-When we sing in church we are thanking God for the things He has done for us.
-For example: “Lord I lift Your Name on high”. “Look what the Lord has done!”
-Thanking and praising God is a very powerful thing.
-Bring out a storage bag totally sealed off except there should be a straw in the one end. Use duct tape to ensure it is sealed off.
-Put a book on the bag. This book represents all our fears and worries.
-When we focus on thanking and praising god – blow into the bag.
-Our worries and fears are lifted. They don’t seem so heavy or bad anymore. Sometimes they totally disappear.
-Sometimes God will give us the answer to our problems while we are praising Him.
-Sometimes it just helps us to feel better if we praise God instead of complain about life.
Conclusion:
I want to challenge you to thank god this week for things He has done for you every day.
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