Forgive Others A
Posted by: Buffalo Dream Center
Topic: Christian Character
Verse: Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13
Props:
Bricks
Helium Balloon
Old Man Costume
Furry Arms
Can of Stew
Bowl/spoon
Instructions:
Discussion:
Introduction:
When we decided to live for Jesus the Bible teaches us that Jesus forgives us. He wipes away all our sin.
-This week we are going to learn about another quality a Christian should have in their life.
-“Forgive Others”
-What does it mean to “forgive others”?
-To forget about something bad someone did to you
-To not hold a grudge
-What is a grudge?
-A grudge is when we decide we do not want to forgive or forget about something bad someone did to us
-It is the angry thoughts that we decide to keep inside of us.
Illustration
-Each of these bricks represent a grudge
-Have an adult volunteer come up and stretch out their arms.
-Pile the bricks on their arms one at a time.
-This brick represents a name someone called you
-This brick represents a time when someone accused you of something you didn’t do
-This brick represents a lie someone told another person about you
-This brick represents how angry you got when a kid at school punched you.
-Ask the volunteer how they feel. (They are heavy and hard to hold)
-Holding grudges makes our heart heavy and sad.
-Ask the volunteer to do something (walk, read a book etc)
-Was it easy to do?
-It is hard to live our life the way Jesus wants to when we are carrying grudges.
-We need to get rid of grudges so we can live the way Jesus wants us to and so we can have a happy heart.
-To let go of the anger you feel when someone does something wrong to You
Illustration
-Who here as every had anybody do something mean or wrong to you?
-How did you feel? (Angry)
-This balloon represents the anger we feel when something bad has been done to us. (Write anger on a helium balloon)
-We have a choice to make.
1. We can hold onto our anger forever- like a grudge.
-We saw from the last illustration that holding onto anger isn’t much fun.
2. We can let go of our anger forever – like this (let go of the balloon)
-When we decide to let go of the anger all the bad feelings in our heart leave too.
-If we are going to live like Jesus we need to choose number 2 –to let go of our anger.
Bible Story – Jacob and Esau (forgiveness wins)
Introduction: Today I am going to tell you a Bible story and someone in the story had to decide whether they would hold a grudge (hold up a brick) or whether they would let go of their angry feelings (hold out a helium balloon).
Part 1
Choose someone to act out an old man (Isaac). Make a bed for him off to the side for him out of an 8-foot table and a sheet. Put the gray beard on him to make him look old.
Esau and Jacob were twins. Their father Isaac was very old and blind. In the Bible times before a father died, he would bless the older son. Isaac wanted to bless Esau the oldest twin. Esau was a very hairy hunter, who was always cooking good food for his father.
Jacob heard about what Isaac wanted to do. He was mad. He did not want to be left out of the blessing. He decided he was going to trick his dad into blessing him instead of Esau. The problem was that his skin was smooth and he was not a hunter.
Jacob had a good idea. He got some animal skin and put it on, and put on his brothers clothes.
Choose a volunteer to be Jacob. Have him put on the furry sleeves, and other clothes.
Jacob had his mother make some yummy stew.
Open a can of stew and dump it in a bowl, stir it and hand it to Jacob.
He went to his father’s bedside. Guess what the trick worked. Isaac blessed Jacob instead of Esau.
When Esau came home and found out what had happened he was very angry. He got so angry he wanted to kill Jacob. Jacob got scared and ran away.
This is the end of part 1. You can have the volunteers sit down.
Part 2
Lots of time passed – about 20 years. Jacob had a big family, lots of servants, and hundreds of animals to take care of. One day he had an opportunity to meet Esau. He was scared. At first he sent some gifts to Esau (Hold up the present wrapped up) through his servants.
Finally the big day came when they would meet. Esau had a decision to make. Either he would hold a grudge (hold up the brick) or he would let go of the anger he felt 20 years ago (hold out the balloon).
What decisions do you think Esau made?
Esau decided to let go of his anger. When the brothers saw each other from a distance, Esau ran to Jacob and threw his arms around his neck. There was no fighting. There was no anger. They were so happy to see each other.
Conclusion:
In our life there will be many times we will be faced with the choice to either hold onto our anger (hold up the brick), or to let go of our anger (hold out the balloon). If we are going to live like Jesus we need to forgive others which means we must decide to let go of our anger. (Let go of the second balloon).
Pledge: (Have all the kids stand up and raise their right hand. Have them repeat after you) I promise to do my best to forgive others when I am angry with them. I will not hold on to my anger. I will always decide to let go of my anger.
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