Read or quote the memory verse.
NOTE: Have a flashlight and a pillow or board handy for this lesson.
Have you ever done something wrong and then hoped no one would find out? (PARENTS/MENTORS: Share a story from your childhood and how it affected your relationship).
Read John 8:12.
Yesterday, we talked about what happens to our sins when we accept Jesus' payment for our sins.
Do you remember what happens? (They are washed away and God doesn't remember them again.)
Do you know what happens when we sin after we accept Jesus into our lives? (Those sins are paid for too.) However, they become a problem in our relationship with God.
Let's have some fun and see what this might be like.
NOTE: Pull out the flashlight and put someone in charge of the light switch. Turn out the lights and turn on the flashlight.
If we pretend that Jesus is the light from the flashlight, and the pillow or board is our sin, what happens to the light when we sin? (Block the light with the pillow or board.)
What do we need to do to make sure the light is shining bright? Take away the "block."
Our sin blocks Jesus' light in our lives. To take away the block, we must confess our sins and follow Jesus. Confession is simple but not always easy.
Read 1 John 1:9.
Isn't that a great promise?
There's one more important step. Let God know you will do your best not to do the sin again. This is called "repentance." But guess what? God doesn't expect you to do it alone! He promises to help you. God sent His Holy Spirit to help us if we will ask! (It might be helpful at this point to see "Four Fantastic Facts")
Tomorrow, we're going to talk about God's Secret Weapon for helping us.
Our new life can be a hard concept for children to get their heads around. We are made perfect when we accept Jesus and yet we still sin. God forgets all our sins and yet our sins still affect our relationship with Him. If your children are wrestling with these concepts, here is another analogy that might help:
Gather around a computer (or any electric appliance). Ask the children to identify what they are looking at. Turn the computer on and go to their favorite web site or show some favorite pictures you have on the computer... anything to demonstrate the power of the computer or the appliance. Now turn it off and unplug it. With it unplugged, ask your children to push the power button. Nothing happens.
What is the problem? (There's no power.)
Is it still a computer? (Obviously it is still a computer. It's simply a computer without power.)
When we accept Jesus' payment for our sins, we are made perfect and nothing will change that. But when we sin, we unplug from a close relationship with God and the power He gives us. Just like the computer is still a computer even when it's unplugged, we are still forgiven by Jesus' sacrifice for our sins even when we sin, but because we're "unplugged" from our relationship with God, we have no power to live the great life He has planned for us.
Why does it matter?We all have a sin problem, and we all have a choice as to how to deal with it. Confessing our sins and accepting Jesus' payment for them is the only way to live with the help of His power and light. It is the only way to be made holy and have a relationship with God!
Talk with God and Stay ConnectedIs there anything blocking your relationship with God right now? You can confess to Him right now by letting Him know you're sorry for what you did and you want His help to not do it again.