1 and 2 Corinthians
***denotes a very visual lesson
1 Corinthians
**1 Corinthians 3:6 - Little Is Much When God Is In It (See next page for coloring sheet)
1 Corinthians 3:16 - Pentecost and God's Presence (Holy Day Lesson - Pentecost)
1 Corinthians 10:4 - The Rock
1 Corinthians 10:10 - Grumbling
**1 Corinthians 10:13 - Temptation
**1 Corinthians 10:13 -A Way of Escape
**1 Corinthians 10:31 - Soli Deo Gloria
**1 Corinthians 11:1 - Follow the Leader
**1 Corinthians 11:1 - Follow God, Not the Crowd
**1 Corinthians 12:27 - Body of Christ
***1 Corinthians 13:1 - A Din, A Racket, Noise
**1 Corinthians 13:4 - Be Kind
**1 Corinthians 15:33 - Influences
**1 Corinthians 15:51-52 - Changed! Holy Day Lesson - Trumpets
1 Corinthians 15:52 - Trumpets (Holy Day Lesson - Trumpets)
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 - Love
**1 Corinthians 16:14 - Be Loving
2 Corinthians
**2 Corinthians 2:14 - The Aroma of the Knowledge of Christ
**2 Corinthians 3:3 - A Letter From Christ
**2 Corinthians 3:18 - Transformed into the Image of Christ
**2 Corinthians 4:17 - All Things
**2 Corinthians 5:7 - Walking By Faith
**2 Corinthians 5:17 - A New Creation
**2 Corinthians 6:17 - Be Separate
**2 Corinthians 9:7 - A Hungry Crowd
**Little Is Much When God Is In It
. . . but God gave the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:6
Materials: acorns
When you pick up a handful of acorns, do you marvel at the possibility? Do you think about the magnificent tree each acorn could become someday? Do you think about the multitude of other trees which could come from the acorns that just one of those trees could produce? Do you think about the furniture which could be crafted? Or how long a house could be heated when burning the wood produced by just one tree? Do you think about the home and food for a plethora of squirrels? Do you think about the years of leaf piles that could be raked up and played in? Do you think of the shade on a sultry August day - the relief from the sun? What do you think about when you pick up a handful of acorns?
Do you think of God and how He’s provided for what we need? Because I can’t make a tree grow from an acorn. Only God can do that. I can’t make an oak tree produce more acorns. Only God can do that. I can’t create squirrels and bring them to eat some acorns and bury other acorns so that more trees will grow. Only God can do that. God brings the rain. God brings the squirrels. God causes the leaves to form and grow. God does it all. From such a small thing, an enormous possibility exists!
But God doesn’t stop with acorns. He provides for all of our needs and then He gives us more. He sustains all of the plants and animals. And then He goes farther. He blesses us with fun things to do and see. He grants us interest and abilities so that we can enjoy the creation around us. He gives us opportunities to interact with others, to encourage them and bring them joy.
And when we think we can’t do something because we’re not big enough or strong enough or smart enough or good enough, God gives us acorns - to remind us that He can do great things with little things. If there’s something that you want to do - that will bring God glory - ask. God might not give you exactly what you want; He might give you something much, much better.
Pentecost and God’s Presence
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
There have been some remarkable instances when God’s presence was evident in His house. Exodus 40:34-38 - When the tabernacle was completed, the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. No one, not even Moses could enter. However, God did tell Moses (and it’s recorded in Exodus 25:22) that God’s Presence would be over the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant between the outstretched wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies. The Presence of God was so tangible that Moses pleaded with God, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15).
Later at the dedication of Solomon’s temple, the glory of the LORD so filled the temple that, again, no one was able to enter, not even the priests (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). We’re not simply talking about a brightly shining light like the Sun; we’re talking about the Presence of the LORD - a spiritual essence that you could feel that came with fire.
Later in Judah’s history, they strayed so far from a relationship with God that when God’s Presence left the temple, they didn’t even notice (Ezekiel 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:23).
So Paul’s assertion that believers are the temple of God and that God’s Spirit dwells in them would likely have evoked a strong mental image and remembrance of God’s Presence in the tabernacle and the subsequent temple.
And it may have reminded them of the events on the first Pentecost following Jesus’ death and resurrection. Even if they hadn’t been in Jerusalem, they almost certainly would have heard the stories of the tongues of fire (Acts 2:3) coming to rest on believers and how the believers began to speak in tongues (Acts 2:4) and how people heard Peter’s message each in their own language (Acts 2:8). They might have remembered the presence of the Holy Spirit being so strong that 3000 souls repented and were baptized that day (Acts 2:41). They would’ve recalled Peter’s assertion to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Upon repentance of their sins, acceptance of Jesus as their Savior, and baptism, God would give them the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, to lead them into all truth, and to provide strength, comfort, and guidance.
The idea of the Holy Spirit dwelling within a believer is a startling concept. But Paul couples it with the logical partner. Think about it. If God’s Presence, His glory, dwelled in the temple, and if the Holy Spirit now dwells within believers, what are the believers? They are the temple of God.
Wow!! God’s temple! O.K. So what? How does that affect my behavior? God’s temple was dedicated to the service of God. If we have claimed Jesus as our Savior, then we have been bought with a price. We belong to God to do His service. The temple was where God met with the people (Exodus 29:43). As God’s temple, we become God’s hands and feet, His ambassadors, to the people around us, those people who desperately need a relationship with the Great God of the universe. We also comfort others with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted (2 Corinthians 1:4).
It’s a huge event - that first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on so many! The effects of that incredible gift reach farther than just our relationship with our God. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us also impacts the people around us - when we choose to let out light shine.
And that’s an interesting thought too, isn’t it? Jesus told his disciples to let their light shine (Matthew 5:16). What light is that? Could it be that the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, God’s glory is the light we’re supposed to shine for others to see?
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
If God’s Spirit dwells in you, then His Presence should be obvious in your life! People around you should have no doubt that you are the temple of God. That’s one of the lessons seen in the Day of Pentecost.
The Rock
For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4
What can you do with a rock?
You could put it in your pocket and take it with you.
You could glue it on a barrette and put it in your hair.
You could glue it on a paper clip for a fun bookmark.
You could use it in a sling, like David did, for defense.
You could use it to help build a road, so your car doesn’t sink in the mud.
You could use it to help build a fence to keep your animals in.
You could use it to help build the foundation on which to build your house.
You could use it as part of building a house.
But I would not have thought about drinking from a rock. But that’s what Paul says:
For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).
God’s people didn’t drink the rock; they drank from the rock. Remember how Moses struck the rock and it brought forth water for them to drink (Exodus 17)? I don’t normally think about water coming from a rock, but the people were in the desert. They didn’t have water to drink. They were going to die without water. God told Moses to strike the rock and the water poured out of it. It’s a powerful reminder: that water coming out of the rock pointed to Jesus Christ, who provides the Living Water. We cannot live without Jesus.
1 Corinthians 10:4 is startling in another way. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. The Rock followed God’s people as they wandered in the wilderness? I don’t normally think about rocks following people. But the apostle Paul is painting a very vivid image in his readers’ minds: Jesus Christ is the Rock. Remember all of the things we use rocks for?
He is our place of security - just like our house keeps us safe from heat and cold and storms.
Jesus is our foundation - just like the foundation on which we build our house. If you try to build on sand, the house falls over when the storms come. In the same way, if you build your life on Jesus Christ, doing things His way, seeking to please Him, then your life won’t crash when the storms of life come your way.
Jesus is our fortress or our fence. If your dog got out of the yard, he could be hit by a car. The fence keeps him safe. In the same way, when we obey what Jesus says to do, we are saved from all sorts of trouble and problems.
Jesus is the way. Think about driving down the road. As long as you stay on the road, you’re not going to get stuck in the mud. But if you get off the road, you could find yourself going nowhere fast. In the same way, Jesus is the Way, and when we follow His leading we stay out of the muck and mire we would otherwise find ourselves in.
Jesus is our defense. Just like David used a sling to defeat Goliath, we can look to Jesus to defend us against our foes. He is the God of angel armies. We know there is no one who can stand against Him. We don’t always know if God will protect us from trouble, but we know that He can. So we trust Him and praise Him, no matter what.
Jesus should be very visible in our lives - like the paperclip or the barrette. People should never have to wonder if we are Christians. We should be displaying the kind of behavior that tells everyone that we serve the awesome God!
For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).
I love that the apostle Paul told his readers that Jesus moved with His people. The people didn’t have to wonder if God was far away or close by. They knew He was right there with them, protecting them, providing for them, defending them, and showing them the way to walk.
Do you remember the first thing I told you that you could do with a rock? Put it in your pocket and take it with you? You can’t put God in your pocket, but you can keep Him in your heart and in your thoughts. I hope that you love God so much that you would never even consider going somewhere He wouldn’t. I hope you take Him with you everywhere you go.
Grumbling
nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 1 Corinthians 10:10
I’m hungry . . . . He’s looking at me . . . . . Mom, he’s in my room. . . . . I don’t like THAT! Can’t we put a pizza in the oven? . . . (Grumble. Whine. Complain.)
Unfortunately, in our society, it’s not just kids. The grumbling bug has bitten everyone. Look at how widely popular the Grumpy Cat memes are. People think that grumpy-looking cat is hilarious. We even have a song in our church songbook called “Grumblers.” We don’t sing it very often because no one likes it. That’s rather ironic, isn’t it!? The first line goes, “In country, town or city, some people can be found who spend their lives in grumbling at everything around. O yes, they always grumble, no matter what we say, for these are chronic grumblers and they grumble night and day.”
So we don’t really want to sing all five verses of the song. We get it. There are lots of people who grumble. Maybe they have good reason to grumble . . . or do they? What are some synonyms for “grumbling”? How about “complaining” or “whining”? People who grumble are unhappy with what they have or where they find themselves. They are either unable or unwilling to do anything to change their situation, so they make sure everyone around them knows how unhappy they are.
So what’s the opposite of “grumbling”? Thankfulness, gratitude, or appreciation. People who are thankful, who are appreciative for what they have or where they are, who show gratitude are much nicer people to be around. Think about it. Think about people who are complaining, criticizing, unhappy, grumblers. They don’t exactly feel you with warm, fuzzy feelings. Now think about people who are thankful, grateful and appreciative. They are the ones who make you want to do more for them.
But it’s not really about how you feel about the grumblers or the thankful people. It’s really about how God feels about grumbling vs. thankful people.
The Psalms are full of admonitions to give thanks to God with a grateful heart. And this is not an optional encouragement. God takes our attitudes very seriously. Are we grateful for the abundance of all things, or are we grumbling because we think we deserve more? What we deserve is death! We’ve received mercy and incredible promises of adoption into His family! And we’re grumbling because we think we deserve more?
You remember the “Grumblers” song that I cited earlier? The fourth verse says, “They grumble at the preacher, they grumble at his prayer, they grumble at his preaching, they grumble everywhere; they grumble at God’s people and say ’tis all display; But holy folks don’t grumble, they have only time to pray.”
Time to pray. Time to thank God. Time to praise God for the abundance of all things. Nope, no time to grumble here.
**Temptation
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
I recently saw this verse demonstrated with a jar, a water balloon, a match, some tissue paper, and a straw. The jar is the world. We are the water balloon, sitting - as it were - on top of the world. The tissue paper, when lit on fire, is the temptation. The temptation is, of course, in the world - in the jar.
1) Place the water balloon (filled with water) on top of the jar. (Remember to moisten the top of the jar with water.) Notice how the temptation in the world isn’t pulling the balloon into the jar. But when the temptation heats up, things change rapidly.
2) Take the balloon off the jar. Light the tissue paper on fire, drop it into the jar.
3) Place the water balloon on top of the world. Make sure ahead of time that the balloon is large enough to sit on top of the jar without falling in due to gravity.
The heat from the burning tissue paper causes the balloon to immediately get sucked into the jar. When you try to pull it out, the balloon will not come out. It’s stuck at the lip. In a similar way, we can be merrily walking along in life, avoiding the temptations in the world. We can even be flirting with fire because we haven’t yet succumbed to the temptation. If, suddenly, the temptation turns up the pressure on us, turns up the heat, we can be sucked into it before we even know what happened. It isn’t a slow process. It doesn’t happen gradually. The temptation grabs us. Then we’re stuck. Even if we want to get out of the situation, we cannot.
We need a savior. We need the Savior. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
So stick the straw into the jar and the balloon comes out easily. Our God is powerful and He can redeem us. He can rescue us from the disasters that we find ourselves in, due to our own choices, our disobedience to His ways.
But there’s a caution:
Our goal is to please God with all of our lives. Our goal is not to walk as close to the line as possible. When you see a temptation, don’t flirt with it. Don’t try to get as close to it as possible without getting burned. Don’t sit there and wait to get sucked in. Do what Joseph did: flee!
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
**A Way of Escape
but with the temptation [God] will also provide the way of escape . . . 1 Corinthians 10:13
Materials: balloon, wooden skewer, dish soap
People rarely wake up in the morning and think, “I think I’ll sin today. I feel like being completely disobedient to what I know is going to please my God.” Instead, we often sin when we’re under pressure. We have to make a decision quickly and we make the wrong one.
Sometimes the pressure comes with emotions, like anger. Someone says something and we respond quickly, in anger, saying something we should never have said.
Sometimes the pressure comes with another emotion: hurt. Someone says something that hurts us deeply and we respond quickly, in hurt, saying something very hurtful.
Sometimes the pressure comes with another emotion: fear. We are afraid of what someone will think of us, so we lie. Or we’re afraid that we’ll get into trouble if they learn the truth, so we lie. Or we’re afraid that we’ll lose that friendship, so we lie.
Sometimes the pressure comes from our own desires. For instance, Mom says, “Don’t eat any of those freshly baked cookies until after supper.” But then she leaves the room for a minute, and they smell so good, and you succumb to the pressure and take just one. But it’s still sin because you’ve not honored your mother; you’ve completely disobeyed her.
There are lots of ways that we can find ourselves having sinned, in word or in action. And many times it’s because we didn’t take the time to think about our options. We react too quickly. We respond to pressure (or stress) and jump . . . right out of relationship with God because we’ve sinned.
Think of it this way: This balloon represents me and my life. The wooden skewer represents my reaction in any given situation. The dish soap represents God’s wisdom and power. If I cover my life and every situation with God’s wisdom and power, God can provide the way of escape from succumbing to the temptation to sin, aka causing the balloon to pop. (Push the skewer into the balloon at one of the least stressed locations on the balloon - near the tie - where it’s not stretched too thin. Make sure there’s dish soap covering the entrance and exit locations for the skewer. Slowly, smoothly push the sharp skewer into the balloon and out the other side, as close as possible to the top where there’s more rubber.)
In the end, it’s best to stay as far away from temptation and sinning as possible (aka keeping the balloon from popping). But sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you weren’t expecting the temptation. Take some time to stop, pray for God’s wisdom and power, and then slowly make your move. Avoid making quick decisions when you feel pressure or are stressed.
And that’s how you can face temptation - but with the temptation [God] will also provide the way of escape . . . 1 Corinthians 10:13
Experiment source: https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/skewer-through-balloon/
**Soli Deo Gloria
Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
Materials: Small craft (I used a tulip/flower recipe holder craft kit from Oriental Trading Company.)
Have you seen any flowers yet this spring? There are some crocuses up - and daffodils! Our apricot tree is blooming. Soon we’ll see forsythia and Bradford pear trees in full bloom.
Every spring I see the first signs of life stirring after the gray, drab, dreary end of winter. All winter long, the grass just looks dead. But suddenly, as we move toward spring, little daffodil stalks spring up. Even when it’s too cold for me to want to be outside for too long, these hardy little flowers bloom. How amazing that it can snow, and yet the daffodils stand firm. Likewise, the trees look like they’re dead because the leaves are dead. But the trees are just dormant. They are in a resting mode during winter. But once spring is here, the temperatures start to warm, there is more direct sunlight, the sap in the trees starts to flow. It won’t be long before we see little buds all over the trees.
Who creates all of the living things? Who caused them to rest during the winter? Who brings them back, causing them to sprout leaves and produce flowers? God does! It is our Great God who made everything that we see. He is the One who makes the flowers bloom.
When I see the flowers, I don’t think about the nursery they may have come from; I don’t think about my neighbor’s yard in which they’re planted; I think about our great God who made something so delicate and beautiful, yet so tough and resilient. Because the flowers are there, I praise God for who He is.
How much are you like a flower? Do you live your life in such a way that when people look at you, they praise God for His goodness? That should be our goal. And that’s what the memory verse is about: Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
If you’re playing with your brothers/sisters or your friends, you are kind and happy. You’re not selfish and bossy.
If your parents ask you to do something, you are respectful and obedient. You are not mad and disrespectful.
If you are at the grocery store with your mom, you are polite and respectful to the people in the store. You are not loud. You are not fighting with your sister. You are not so absorbed in what you’re doing that you get in someone else’s way. You act in a way that makes people tell your mom what a nice child she has.
Too often we think about what we want - no matter how that makes someone else feel. If we put ourselves first in everything we do, we don’t bring glory and honor to God. But when you are kind and respectful, obedient to your parent and nice to your siblings, people notice - and they might wonder why you are not like other people who think only of themselves. You just might get the opportunity to tell them that you do what you do because you believe in God, that you believe God has standards for conduct; God cares how we act and treat one another.
Here’s the bottom line: the blooming flowers each spring give glory to the One who made them because they’re doing what God designed them to do. We were created to give glory to God. How well do you do that with your actions?
Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
**Follow the Leader
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
Activity: Play follow the leader.
Explain the rules: whatever the leader does, everyone else in line has to do.
I plan to weave my way through our church fellowship, shaking a hand here, hopping three times, giving a hug there, turning in place, giving a quick back rub, touching my toes, asking someone how they are, etc. Eventually we will make our way back to our starting point.
Questions:
How willing were you to do everything the leader did?
Why were you willing to comply or unwilling to follow?
Think about being a Christian. Who are you supposed to follow? You are supposed to follow Jesus Christ. But there are a lot of people out there who would like to convince you that you should follow them. Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 11:1 indicates that it’s okay to imitate, to follow someone else’s lead . . . as long as they are following Jesus Christ.
The kids may follow me initially because it looks like fun. Some Christians are attracted to Christian leaders because they make church (services, activities, fellowship) fun. But eventually the novelty can wear off. The kids aren’t so willing to keep following once the first thrill of something new wears off. Similarly, some Christians become disenchanted with a church fellowship because they don’t feel entertained. (They wouldn’t call it that, of course. But they may not want to work very hard to feel like they have a relationship with God.)
Sometimes Christians are willing to follow a leader because their friends are. As long as I could convince one of the children to follow me, I was likely to get all of them. But it would only take one child who was reluctant to follow to derail the whole activity. So why would a child be reluctant? We’re doing this activity in front of the whole group. They’re the center of attention. People might laugh. We’re a lot more willing to make ourselves vulnerable to people laughing at us if we’re not the only ones laughed at.
The children might not have wanted to play along because they didn’t think it was right. Perhaps they would consider “Follow the Leader” to be an inappropriate game to play at church. Ah! That gets to the heart of this verse in 1 Corinthians 11:1. We, as social creatures, have a tendency to follow the crowd. It looks like fun. Our friends are doing it. We’re willing to take a risk. But the first question we should always ask is: would it please God? Would it bring glory and honor to Him? If the answer is yes, then we shouldn’t worry about whether it’s fun, or whether our friends are doing it, or whether we’ll be laughed at. If what we’re considering is pleasing to God, then we should be more than willing to engage!
So the next question is: How do we know it’s pleasing to God or not? That’s where we need to make sure we have a relationship with God - based on prayer, Bible study, fellowship with like believers, meditation. If we’re not reading God’s word, we’re going to have a hard time knowing what He says is pleasing to Him. And it’s going to be very hard to know if the person we’re following is doing what is pleasing to God. So how could we imitate someone else, not knowing if they were actually imitating Jesus Christ? The more time we spend in His word, the more time we spend seeking Him, asking for His guidance, the more we’ll truly be able to discern what is pleasing to Him.
We could talk about associated analogies and variations on the theme, but it boils down to this: we don’t follow someone simply because it’s fun or because everyone’s doing it or because we’re worried about other people’s opinions. We follow someone only if they are following Christ. That means we have to know what Jesus did. In reality, He’s the One, the only One, we should follow all the time.
**Follow God, Not the Crowd
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
Materials needed: story below, black construction paper, white crayons
Once a spider built a beautiful web in an old house. He kept it clean and shiny so that flies would patronize it. The minute he got a "customer" he would clean up on him so the other flies would not get suspicious. Then one day this fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean spider web.
Old man spider called out, "Come in and sit."
But the fairly intelligent fly said, "No, sir. I don't see other flies in your house, and I am not going in alone!"
But presently he saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper. He was delighted! He was not afraid if lots of flies were doing it. So he came in for a landing.
Just before he landed, a bee zoomed by, saying, "Don't land there, stupid! That's flypaper!"
But the fairly intelligent fly shouted back, "Don't be silly. Those flies are dancing. There's a big crowd there. Everybody's doing it. That many flies can't be wrong!"
Well, you know what happened. He was stuck on the spot and eventually died right where he landed. Some of us want to be with the crowd so badly that we end up in a mess.
What does it profit a fly (or a person) if he escapes the web only to end up in the glue?
Charles Swindoll, "Living Above the Level of Mediocrity”
Leaning on your own understanding (human reasoning) or leaning on the understanding of others (following the crowd) can have dire consequences. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Relying on God’s word to determine your path means you have to be reading His word - every day - or every day that you want His guidance to keep you out of a mess.
**The Body of Christ
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Cor. 12:27 (NIV)
Materials: a jar of M-n-Ms.
God uses the things in this world to teach us about Him. And although I’m not sure God intended us to use M-n-Ms, there’s three things about these little candies which are also true about the body of Christ, the Church.
First, there’s a mark on the outside of M-n-Ms. That’s how you know it’s an M-n-M and not a Skittle or some prescription medicine. Can you tell who is a Christian by looking at them? Is there a mark on them? If you lined Christians up next to unbelievers, you might be able to tell that they are Christians by the things they wear, what’s displayed on their body (like body piercings and hair color), and their facial expressions. But you’d be better able to tell by their actions. At least, certain actions would definitely lead you to believe that they aren’t Christians. Other actions would be a strong indicator that they are in the body of Christ, the Church.
Secondly, notice how the M-n-Ms are all different colors? Similarly, believers in the body of Christ don’t all look the same. We have different jobs. We have different gifts and talents. We have different likes and dislikes. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s God’s plan that we would all come together with different gifts and talents and jobs just like the human body. A nose doesn’t walk you across the living room floor. Your knee doesn’t keep a look out for toys to avoid when your feet and legs walk you across the floor. Your ears don’t have the same job as your nose or your eyes. But just like the different parts of the body come together, working together, to accomplish God’s purpose, so we all - as the body of Christ - all work together with our individual jobs and talents to accomplish God’s purpose.
Third, all of the M-n-Ms may look different on the outside, but inside is chocolate! Similarly, although Christians look different, inside is the love of God. If they truly are Christians, they will be filled with the love of God and their actions will flow from that reality!
I don’t know that God ever intended us to use M-n-Ms as something which would remind us of His presence in our lives, but they are a yummy reminder every time we eat one.
Modified from: https://www.creativebiblestudy.com/objectlessons-mms.html
***A Din, a Racket, Noise
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1
Materials: balloon, rubber bands, squeaky toys, scissors, ruler, pens
Have you ever noticed that there’s a lot of noise in our world? And there are so many fun ways to make noise too! We can make a myriad of noise with just our bodies - and we won’t enumerate all of those here. If you haven’t found them all yet, I’m sure you will by the time you are eighteen. Claps, pops, whistles, raspberries, etc. But we can also make noise with objects. We can use whistles or the squeaky thing from inside dog toys, but we can also make noise with things that we don’t normally think of as noise makers. For instance, you can pluck rubber bands. The more tension you put on them, the higher the twang. And occasionally, when they break, you get another noise like “ouch.” We can place a ruler on the edge of the table and hold it securely at the table end. If we bend the other end and release it, it vibrates and makes a delightful noise. And again, depending on how much of the ruler is allowed to vibrate, the d frequency changes. We can click ball point pens - until everyone around us is totally annoyed. We can open and close scissors - which makes a perfectly wonderful slicing sound. But one of the most annoying, obnoxious sounds we can make with a simple thing that people don’t normally associate with a din, a racket, a horrible noise is the high-pitched whine as we slowly allow air to escape from a balloon. Of course, we could just pop it too, but that’s not nearly as satisfying to the noise enthusiast.
However, 1 Corinthians 13:1 isn’t talking about trying to make noise just to make noise and be obnoxious. Rather, the point is this: even if you are trying to talk in such a way that people are uplifted and inspired, or if you are singing like a beautiful musician, if you don’t speak or sing with love, then it’s just noise.
You can give a powerful speech. You can say beautiful words to your friends and family. You can sing well enough to win all kinds of awards. But if it’s not done with love, then it’s really just noise.
Noise is okay - in its place. I love to hear the rain gently falling and the hummingbird buzzing and squeaking by my window. But make it your goal that you are loving to everyone around you first - then whatever you do won’t be just so much noise.
**Be Kind
Love is patient and kind . . . 1 Corinthians 13:4
Materials: hourglass egg timer, travel-size toothpaste
If you had a travel-size container of toothpaste, could you squeeze all of the toothpaste out of the tube before the sand ran through the egg time?
Sometimes this is how we live our lives. We feel like we have a job to do within a limited amount of time. So we jump in and we try to get the job done. But in the process, we are not careful about how we did the job.
When you squeezed the toothpaste out, did it go all over the table? All over you? All over the floor?
Sometimes when we’re in a hurry, we are not careful about how we accomplish our task. We are not careful about completing it accurately. We are not careful about completing it thoroughly. We are not careful about how we treat the people around us - because our whole goal is to get our job done.
The egg timer reminds us of something else: once the time is gone, we can’t get it back. We will never get to decide how to spend this morning again. Yesterday is history and cannot be rewritten.
Furthermore, the egg timer reminds us that our time is limited. We need to be careful of the time that we do have because we don’t have an unlimited amount.
The toothpaste tube also teaches us something: once we’ve done something, we can’t undo it. When you squeeze all the toothpaste out, you can’t put it back. There are no erasers in the actions of life. There are no delete buttons. So we have to think very carefully about our actions.
So what sort of actions should we work towards doing? How about the actions which glorify God, which demonstrate that we belong to God? Let’s start with love. Our God is love. And the apostle Paul tell us that love is patient and kind. We already talked about patient. What does it mean to be kind?
When you are kind, you are not mean. You are not hurtful. You are not selfish. You do not treat everyone like you are more important than they are. When you are kind, you help other people. You encourage others. You say things that are true, but are also gentle and loving.
We don’t have a lot of time in this life. And we don’t get to go back and live our days over again. So let’s strive to be loving, patient and kind.
**Influences
Bad company ruins good morals. 1 Corinthians 15:33
Materials: hot chocolate mix, liquid soap, bug spray (or anything to which something could be added - literally almost anything)
Let’s suppose you have some really yummy hot chocolate mix. What could you add to it so that you would not want to drink it?
Let’s suppose you have some really wonderful smelling hand soap. Could you add something to that which would make you not want to use it to wash your hands?
Let’s suppose you have bug spray. Is there anything you could add to it that would be so repellent to you that you wouldn’t want to put it on your body to repel bugs?
Of course!
So consider people for a minute. We don’t think about being like hot chocolate mix or hand soap or bug spray. We don’t think about things which are added to who we are that would make us yucky. But God says it happens.
1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Bad company ruins good morals.”
How does that happen?
When you are around someone for any length of time, you pick up some of their characteristics. For instance, some people hear accents and they pick those up easily. I know that when we were in Canada for the Feast, it didn’t take long before we were ending every sentence on a higher note. It isn’t something we tried to do; it was something which stood out to us and it wasn’t long before it was part of our talking patterns.
When I was in college, I used to say, “Neat, neat, neat.” After four years of having class with one particular music professor, I rubbed off on him. When he said, “Neat, neat, neat” one day in class, everyone looked at me, knowing that I was responsible.
But you don’t always just pick up positive traits from others. If you are around someone who uses bad language, it’s very difficult to keep those words out of your head. Your brain is like a closet never cleaned out (as Ron Dart once said); those words go in there, they rattle around, and sometimes they come out again. It doesn’t have to be just bad words. When Jennifer and I were in a grocery store just before Christmas this past December, they were exclusively playing Christmas music. Without even realizing what I was doing, I started singing, “God bless ye merry gentlemen.” Now, my family stopped celebrating Christmas when I was five! How is it that I know all of these words? Jennifer looked at me very strangely. She was wondering the very same thing!!
You pick up words from the people around you. You also pick up actions from the people around you. If you are in a cave and the guide tells you not to touch any of the cave formation because your hands leave mineral deposits behind, what’s the first thing someone will do? They’ll reach out to touch a cave formation close to them. How do you know? Because the formation has been worn smooth by all of the hands touching it! And people think, “If someone else did, it won’t matter if I do it as well.” If the speed limit is 55, but everyone is going 65, what do you do? You speed up to move with the flow of traffic!! It’s breaking the law, but everyone is doing it.
What if Mom tells you that you can’t have a cookie before supper, but then you see your older sister sneak a cookie? What do you do? You think, “She got one. I want one.” If your Mom catches you, what do you say, “Sister got one.” You don’t tell your mom that you’re sorry; you use the disobedient behavior of someone else as an excuse for you to be likewise disobedient.
Does it matter? Does God care about your behavior, or your words, or your thoughts? Yes!! There are so many verses which talk about your choices, that they need to be Godly! If you know this to be true, then you need to carefully consider with whom you spend your time. They are influencing you - for good or for bad - they are influencing you.
Bad company ruins good morals. 1 Corinthians 15:33
**Changed!
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15:51b-52a
Materials: a jar of pickles and a cucumber; applesauce and an apple; a tomato and a packet of catsup
There’s a saying: if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. Although there’s some hyperbole in the statement, there is also the truth that things rarely stay the same for long. You can clean your room and the very next day, you have dust on your dresser, your bed needs to be made, there are toys to put away. You have to clean your room again! You can take a bath before going to bed one night and the next night you have to do it again. You didn’t stay clean! Sometimes we’d like things to stay the same!! But that’s not reality in this life.
One of the aspects of Trumpets that we are all very excited about is the change which is coming! 1 Corinthians 15 says that we are all going to be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
In the earlier examples, the changes I talked about were negative changes - neat rooms becoming messy, clean children getting dirty. The reality is that everything changes. But not all changes are bad. As you work hard in school, your ability to read and to do math changes; you read more fluently, you comprehend more easily, you figure out complex math problems more quickly. You are learning and expanding your brain’s ability to think. For awhile your bodies are growing and getting stronger. You’re more able to do things.
In a similar way, the return of Jesus means a very good change. At that time, we who belong to God will be changed from a physical being to a spiritual being. We will no longer be subject to the aches and pains of our physical bodies. We won’t grow old. We will have passed from death into life - life eternal with our God forever.
There is a great change coming - a great day coming. And we get to be part of a dress rehearsal on this day, Trumpets, as we look forward to the return of Jesus Christ as Lord and King.
Trumpets
Scripture: For the trumpet will sound, . . 1 Corinthians 15:52
We have sounds all around us. Sometimes they mean specific things. What if you hear “honk-honk” as you’re driving down the street? Usually that means, “GET OUT OF MY WAY!!” What if you hear, “ring, ring”? That used to mean, the phone’s ringing; answer it. (With all the ringtones available today, that doesn’t necessary hold true anymore.) But you know if you hear a siren, there’s danger somewhere. The police or the firemen or the ambulance is rushing to do their jobs.
Before there were loud speakers and megaphones and telephones and computers, people were limited in how they could get information to crowds of people quickly. But God had a solution that is two millennia old: trumpets. There was a certain call to assemble. There was a certain call to break camp and set out on the march. There was a certain call to battle. There were certain calls to announce things, like the start of a new month or a holy day. And God even said that if the people were in battle and they blew the trumpet, it would be a reminder that God would hear and rescue them. (Numbers 10)
We still use trumpets today in the military. What would this call mean to a soldier? (Reveille) What would this one mean? (Charge!)
So in 1 Corinthians 15:52, Paul tells us that the trumpet will sound. Why is it sounding? We know that the trumpet was sounded at the beginning of the month. Hey! That’s today - the Feast of Trumpets!!!
But there’s another reason the trumpet would sound on this day. Many people in God’s church believe that Jesus Christ will return on the Feast of Trumpets. So the trumpet blast does two things: it calls all of God’s people together - and it announces the advent of the King, the arrival of Jesus!
Part of the reason that we believe the return of Jesus happens on this day, Trumpets, is because the actual name of the day is the Day of Shouting or the Day of Blowing. What would be blown? Likely a trumpet. So look at what 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV) says: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
This is a day of celebration, a day of shouting and rejoicing, a day when we look forward to our King coming back! What a wonderful sound that will be!!!
Love
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
As Paul closed this first epistle to the Corinthians, he gave them some last minute instructions: Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Let’s look at these instructions which he felt were the ones he wanting to leave them thinking about.
Be watchful. This indicates there’s something to watch for. What could that be? We are exhorted to watch events unfolding around us. We’re supposed to see from the leaves on the trees that the season when all of these things occur is at hand. What things? The return of Jesus Christ is the major event which comes to mind. Why should we be watchful? We might get so caught up on our lives that we neglect to watch for His return. We might think He’s delaying His coming and neglect to work on our relationship with Him. So this exhortation to be watchful could really apply to watching ourselves, making sure that we devote our lives to honoring God. Think about it: if we have all the dates figured out concerning the return of Christ, but we have neglected our relationship with Him, He’s likely to say, “Away from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.” It won’t matter if we’ve been watching the signs of the times, but we’ve neglected our relationship with Him. On the other hand, if we’re working on our relationship with Him, and we miss the signs, what will that matter? It won’t. We’ll be secure because we have a close relationship with Him. So be watchful.
Stand firm in the faith. The Greek word translated “faith” here is pistis. It means persuasion, moral convictions, especially the reliance upon Christ for salvation. Why would Paul tell his readers to stand firm in the faith? There’s an implied warning that something’s going to come which would test that faith. Coming on the heels of “be strong,” it’s possible that Paul was talking about the persecution which will come upon believers as we gallop closer to the return of Jesus. So we need to stand firm in the faith by making sure our relationship with Jesus is hardy enough to endure.
Act like men. What’s this about? Is Paul only addressing men here? Are women not part of the congregation? No. Not at all. God values both men and women. So think about the opposite of acting like men. It would be acting immature. You know the saying: act your age. That’s what Paul’s saying. Why? Maybe we carnal human beings could be tempted to let our carnal nature have dominance in our lives. It’s work to bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ. It’s not easy to submit to God. It’s not comfortable to think of others more highly than ourselves. We don’t want to be generous and hospitable and loving to those who are less than lovely. But Paul wanted us to know how important it is to act mature and to walk according to the calling we have received.
Be strong. My grandfather used to say, “You hired on to be tough.” Sometimes we start a job without realizing what a huge job it’s going to be. Grandad’s exhortation is not unlike the letters to the churches in Revelation where Jesus tells us to persevere, to endure, to overcome. That’s implies that it will be work; it will not be easy. We could want to give up. We need the cheerleader to encourage us to fight the good fight and to run with endurance the race set out before us. We need the reminder to be strong.
Let all that you do be done in love. Lest we think that Paul is telling us to act gruff and tough and hard as nails, he adds this to his closing remarks. The word “love” here is translated from the Greek agape. It is that benevolent love, directed by the will, which does what is needed by the recipient, not what the recipient necessarily desires. This is the love which is patient when you don’t feel like being patient. This is the love which forgives and keeps no record of wrongs even when revenge would seem so sweet. This is the kind of love which God had for us while we were yet sinners, when He gave His Son that we might have eternal life.
So there’s a call to persevere and to be steadfast always abounding in good works. But those actions have to be grounded in love. Otherwise, they just don’t mean very much. It all comes down to love. Praise God that He loves us so much! Now let us go and do likewise.
**Be Loving
Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
Materials: ice, tasty treats
What is your favorite treat? Do you like fresh blueberries or strawberries? Chocolate? Candy? Don’t you love how sweet it tastes?! Did you know that if you put an ice cube in your mouth until you can hardly stand the coldness, and then immediately put your favorite treat on your tongue, you won’t be able to taste it? The ice is so cold that it numbs your tongue’s taste buds and you aren’t able to really taste.
Did you know that the same thing can happen to people? We can get caught up in what we want, how we feel, and what’s happening to us. It’s like we’ve had ice applied to our hearts, and we have become numb to the people around us. We forget to think about the feelings, thoughts, and needs of people around us. Just like putting ice on your tongue can numb your taste, only thinking about yourself can numb your heart.
That’s not a good thing. Our loving Heavenly Father never intended for His people to just think about themselves. Rather, God uses us to encourage and help other people. But if we are only thinking about ourselves, we won’t stop to think to help and encourage someone who really needs it. It could be someone in your church family. It could be someone in your immediate family. It could be a good friend. There could be someone right next to you who needs you to do something nice for them.
It is so easy to think only of ourselves. It’s called carnal, human nature. We don’t naturally put others ahead of ourselves. It requires a deliberate act and conscious thought to put others first, to think about what they may need. Doing that - thinking about the needs of others - is what God’s people do. And that’s why Paul tells the Corinthians, “Let all that you do be done in love.”
The next time you taste your favorite treat (without the ice), I hope you’ll think about how to let people see your warm and loving heart.
Resource: http://playeatgrow.com/2013/12/helping-kids-to-begin-to-notice-needs.html/
**The Aroma of the Knowledge of Christ
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2 Corinthians 2:14
Materials: cedar blocks
What are some of your most favorite scents? Cinnamon, dill, bacon, BBQ, fried onions, spaghetti sauce, tacos. How about the freshness of the air after a spring rain storm? There are scents which bring memories immediately to mind. Sitting here, I can almost smell walking into Grandma’s house. Or the barn!
We in our society tend to emphasize visual and indeed, we do have lots of images and video clips running through our heads. But that’s only one of our senses. Isn’t it interesting then, that the apostle Paul gives thanks to God for leading us, in Christ, and spreading the fragrance of Christ everywhere?
O.K. So what does Christ smell like?
I don’t know that I can give you a definitive answer. But I do know that in order to smell something, you have to get close to it. And you have to not hold your breath. That sounds silly to say, but if you don’t want to smell something, you hold your breath. So in order to smell something, you have to want to smell it. And the scent has to be strong enough. Have you ever caught just a whiff of something, but couldn’t quite figure out what it was because it wasn’t strong enough? But at the same time, you don’t want to walk into an overpowering smell. I usually turn around and escape those as soon as possible.
So if you’re going to spread the aroma, the fragrance, of the knowledge of Christ, it’s going to be to someone close to you. It’s going to be someone who wants to smell that scent. It has to be strong enough, but not a sledge hammer of a smell.
Are your actions like that? Do the people closest to you “smell” the knowledge of Christ in your life? Are you aware of when they are hungry for the things of God? Are you strong and confident without being overpowering?
Sometimes people get used to us as Christians. In effect, our fragrance isn’t as obvious. But life has a way of revealing what’s truly inside a person. If the scent on the cedar grows faint, you can always scuff it with a piece of sandpaper to renew the scent. So when life throws trouble at you, do people smell the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ more clearly again? That is, when you experience trouble, do people see you relying on God?
I pray that as we each are scuffed by life, people are able to smell Jesus in our lives more clearly.
** A Letter From Christ
And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:3
Materials needed: family histories
I have a collection of family history - with genealogy charts, letters, stories, obituaries. I can read those stories, but it’s not the same thing as knowing the people personally. However, it’s a close second to hear the stories told by someone who actually knew the people. For instance, I have a collection of essays written by my mom when she was in high school. You might find them pretty interesting to read, but you would probably remember them a lot better if I told you the stories. I could read the stories to you, but it would still have a much greater impact if I told you the stories.
The written word is powerful. The spoken stories are powerful. But there’s a third way to learn about a person, what they are like, what they value, what you would remember about them: watching the actions of someone who has been influenced and shaped by that person. For instance, you could learn a lot about my grandfather by reading letters from him. You could learn a lot by hearing stories about him. But you could also learn a lot by spending time around my mom. So many of his phrases are part of her vocabulary. She spent a lot of time working cows, working in the hayfield, building fence, breaking horses with my grandfather. If you want to know what he was like, spend time with my mom. You’d get a really good idea.
So what if someone wants to get to know Jesus Christ - how could they do that? They could read the Bible. They could go to church and hear about the things that God has done, is doing, and will do in the future - in hymns and Bible studies. But they will also expect to get to know who Jesus Christ is through spending time with you - because you claim to be a Christian, to know and love Jesus. Are you acting in a way that represents Jesus well? Do you do the things He would do? Do you say things that will bring glory and honor to Him? Are you shaped and influenced by Him in your behaviors?
Paul told the Corinthians that they were a letter from Jesus Christ, written on their hearts. Their actions and words represented Jesus accurately. That’s a huge compliment!!
I want my words and actions to be a letter that someone can read so they will come to know Jesus, my Savior. What about you?
**Transformed Into the Image of Christ
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Materials needed: Kool-aid Play-Dough, wash cloths for hands 😁
https://www.123homeschool4me.com/kool-aid-playdough-recipe_21/
If you belong to Jesus Christ, then you are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Do you think that is a comfortable process? An easy process?
Suppose I give you a lump of play-dough and ask you to form it into a cat or a giraffe or an elephant. What do you have to do? You press and squeeze and pinch pieces off and put them back on. You push and poke. You stretch and flatten. You take away everything that doesn’t look like a cat or a giraffe or an elephant.
And that’s not an easy process. It’s especially not easy for the play-dough. Imagine you are the play-dough. Do you like being squeezed and prodded and stretched? Do you like being flattened when your shape isn’t coming together satisfactorily? Do you like being pinched out of your comfort zone?
And let’s talk about time. Can I hand you a lump of play-dough and expect you to have a cat - or anything that looks like a cat - in a minute, or two, or ten? It takes time to form the play-dough. How much more time do you think it will take to form you into the image of Jesus Christ?
The good thing is, of course, that the play-dough doesn’t really care how much you poke and squeeze and pinch, because it’s not alive. But what about you? Can you truly say you don’t really care how much God has to poke and squeeze and pinch? Hopefully you understand that the end result is worth whatever you go through now. If you belong to God, He’s sovereign; He’s got your best interest at heart; He has a plan for your life; You can trust Him - even if He’s poking and stretching and, sometimes, flattening.
**All Things
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 2 Corinthians 4:17
Materials: warm water, cold water, food coloring, colored frozen ice cube, clear container
What happens when you put an ice cube in warm water? It’s easier to see what happens when the ice cube is frozen colored watered. Obviously the ice cube floats because it’s less dense than water, but what happens to the melted ice water? The cold water is much more dense than the warm water.
And what happens when you have cold water at the bottom of a container of warm water? The cold water will move, but since it’s more dense than the water around it, it will spread out along the bottom of the container.
This is what happens on a small scale in a small container, but it’s also what happens in our oceans. The ice caps melt and the cold water sinks. The cold water spreads out and the heat starts to transfer from the warmer water. You can see currents as the water flows and mixes. The moving currents of water affect the air currents above them and we get wind. And the wind brings the weather changes in our world.
God designed the flow of the water, the currents from the warm and cold waters. The water doesn’t become stagnant. It moves and grows and continues to be a healthy place for ocean creatures, and then affects the winds and all the land creatures too!
But what does this have to do with the light momentary afflictions that we experience in our lives?
The cold colored water and the ice cube are like the negative things that happen in our lives. Getting a scrape on your knee, catching a cold, experiencing a death of a family member or good friend - all of the negative things that we experience can be used for good - just like the cold water is used for good, to create currents. God says that all things work together for good. It isn’t that all things are good. It is that God can use all things to grow us and mold us and move us into the people that He wants us to be. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
In other words, we may not like the cold water right now, but God can use the negative things in our life for so much more good than we can even imagine right now. We just have to trust Him.
**Walking By Faith
for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
Materials: bandanas
Have you ever been blindfolded and led around a room or through a maze? Was it scary not being able to see where you were going? Did the amount of fear you felt depend on the person who was leading you? Absolutely! Someone you trust can lead you even when you are afraid.
Sometimes people are blindfolded and led through obstacle courses. Sometimes the blindfolded person is not led by the hand; they are guided only by someone’s voice. Do you think that would make the activity more or less scary?
I am terrified of heights, so afraid that I cannot make myself move when I am overcome by that fear. Unfortunately that happened last year as we were walking along the rim of the Grand Canyon. I’m okay when the trail is asphalted or concrete. But when the trail is gravel and I can easily envision the gravel rolling under my feet, I become terrified. At one point, Ron came and took me by the hand. If he hadn’t led me, I don’t know that I would have been able to move. I was afraid to go forward and afraid to retreat - and that was without the blindfold. I can only imagine my terror if I hadn’t been able to see.
So when we read in 2 Corinthians 5:7, for we walk by faith, not by sight, I have an idea of what that might look like. We live our lives according to what we believe about God, not according to what we see around us.
We believe that God commanded the Sabbath and the Holy Days to be kept. So we keep them. We believe God commanded us to abstain from unclean meats, so we watch what we put in our mouths and stay away from unclean meats. We believe that God doesn’t want us to steal, so we don’t take what doesn’t belong to us. We believe that God abhors liars, so we are careful to speak the truth in love. We believe that God is - and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. We believe that having a relationship with God is more valuable than anything in this world.
Our belief is so strong that it overcomes our fear that is a natural part of walking by faith. Some people don’t have faith strong enough to be able to follow God: they are afraid that people will make fun of them; they are afraid that they could lose their job; they are afraid of being different from others; they are afraid and think that maybe it just doesn’t matter. Their fear keeps them from doing what pleases God.
Our faith in God, our belief in what He has done and what pleases Him, dictates our actions. It changes us more and more into the image of Jesus. And it makes us less and less like the world around us. We act less like the things we see. We act more like what we believe about God.
You know, I didn't believe that I could walk along the rim of the Grand Canyon safely. I let Ron take me a little ways, but the path wasn’t wide enough for both of us. Even thinking about it now makes me tense. I didn’t have the faith that I would be safe - and I missed out. I wasn’t able to go to the end of the path to the overlook to see the incredible creation of our Creator, one of the seven wonders of the natural world. I missed out. In a similar way, those Christians who don’t walk according to the faith that God has given them, who fail to walk in a way that pleases God, miss out.
for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
**A New Creation
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Materials: conditioner, corn starch, plastic sandwich bags, measuring cup, spoon.
There’s a huge change from before you were a Christian to after you become a Christian. It is a change of heart, of attitude, of agenda, of allegiance. It is a change of nature. It is imperative to each of us who would see God’s kingdom and eternal life. (1 Corinthians 15:50)
If I mix a cup of corn starch with a cup of conditioner, the result is play dough. Now I can extend the analogy a little more clearly. The dough is not the same nature as the corn starch. The corn starch can be used in many ways, like making gravy or meatballs, but it’s a powder. It can be blown away. It cannot stand. The dough, on the other hand, can be molded into any shape.
Think of the aptness of the analogy in a Christian sense: I can be useful in many ways before I become a Christian. I can do what people think of as good things. But I have no real strength on my own. I can be blown around by thoughts and events. I cannot stand. But once I accept Jesus as my Savior and the Holy Spirit comes into my life, I become a new creation. I become a moldable person to be used by my God to fulfill His purposes. The potential of how I can be used of God is limitless. Thus, in becoming a servant of the Most High, He gives solidity and purpose to my life even as He molds me and changes me into a useful vessel for His glory.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
**Be Separate
Therefore, "Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 2 Corinthians 6:17
Materials: dominoes
Let’s say that setting up a line of dominoes is kind of like life. You live in this world. Whatever happens in this world happens to you. If there’s a flood in your area, the water doesn’t magically stop at your property line. If there’s an ice storm, it doesn’t magically go around you. If the government passes laws, you have to obey them. You don’t get a “bye” just because you don’t feel like obeying the law. If it applies to the citizens of your country, state, or county, then it also applies to you.
But sometimes, because you love God and are obedient to Him, sometimes God protects you from the things that happen in life. How many times have tornadoes lifted and skipped over top of God’s people or completely taken another turn? Sometimes we get a strong feeling to do something - like moving the car. Because we listen to God’s prompting, we are saved from trouble. Mom and Dad had a very strong urging to move the car in their driveway to the back of the house. The next morning, the neighbor’s huge black walnut tree was lying where their car would have been. There are countless stories of God’s protection and provision. That’s kind of like God’s hand reaching down and preventing the domino (the one that is you) from falling. These are the natural events like storms, tornadoes, fires, and floods.
But you shouldn’t expect God to save you from disaster if you don’t remove yourself from things that are ungodly. Let’s suppose that your friends are shop-lifting or cheating on tests or vandalizing neighbors’ properties. If you are caught with them, you will pay the penalty for your wrong behavior. God will not rescue you from that disaster. If you are caught breaking man’s laws, you will have consequences.
In a similar way, if you are with a group of people who are breaking God’s laws, doing things that are displeasing to Him, why wouldn’t you expect to experience God’s wrath. If you know what is the right thing to do in God’s sight, then do it. Remove yourself from a situation that you know is displeasing to God. You are not gaining anything good by going with the crowd that is going contrary to God’s will in their lives.
God has put us into this world. We have to live in this world. But we don’t have to live like the world lives. We don’t have to do the things that are displeasing to our God. And if we think we’re getting away with something, think again. God knows. And disaster will come suddenly.
**A Hungry Crowd
God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Materials needed: 5000 items (beans, rice, pennies - I’m using graph paper with 5000 squares); lesson #6 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/) - YEAH activity #1
Have you ever participated in a contest to see who could get the closest to guessing the number of jelly beans in a large glass container? It’s hard to figure out just how many beans there might be in that jar!
It’s also hard to wrap our minds around how many people 5000 is - and that was just the men. We’re not told how many women and children might have been there. Jesus told the disciples to put the people into groups of 50 or 100 (Mark 6:40; Luke 9:14). But even just working with the 5000, let’s break that up into an equal number for each disciple. 5000 divided by 12 is almost 417. If Jesus had divided the men to be fed equally between the disciples that’s 417. Imagine being responsible to find food for 417 men! The idea that five loaves and two fish would feed so many?! There is no doubt this was a miracle from God.
There are some really fascinating pieces to this episode. First, Jesus didn’t just create food out of thin air. He took what was there and multiplied it - enormously! Like the miracle of the water changed into wine, Jesus didn’t just create the wine out of thin air; he took the water and changed it.
Secondly, a small boy demonstrated the attitude that is very pleasing to God - being willing to share what you have with others - with people you don’t even know. That boy might have assumed that in giving up his lunch, he wouldn’t have anything to eat. That kind of self-sacrifice is so valuable to God.
Third, just because Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish didn’t mean that He was giving the disciples or the people permission to waste the food. He told them to gather what was left over; He said, “Let nothing be wasted.” When God gives you something, you are to be a good steward of it. Don’t waste what God has given you.
Think about it! If you are willing to give yourself to the service of God, He can do great things with and through you. He can take you (perhaps someone the world doesn’t think is very important) and He can do something great - for His glory. There were 5000 men on that hillside. There were 12 disciples. God used one small boy to perform a miracle that is the only one recorded in all four gospels.
How might God use you, if you are a cheerful giver?
***denotes a very visual lesson
1 Corinthians
**1 Corinthians 3:6 - Little Is Much When God Is In It (See next page for coloring sheet)
1 Corinthians 3:16 - Pentecost and God's Presence (Holy Day Lesson - Pentecost)
1 Corinthians 10:4 - The Rock
1 Corinthians 10:10 - Grumbling
**1 Corinthians 10:13 - Temptation
**1 Corinthians 10:13 -A Way of Escape
**1 Corinthians 10:31 - Soli Deo Gloria
**1 Corinthians 11:1 - Follow the Leader
**1 Corinthians 11:1 - Follow God, Not the Crowd
**1 Corinthians 12:27 - Body of Christ
***1 Corinthians 13:1 - A Din, A Racket, Noise
**1 Corinthians 13:4 - Be Kind
**1 Corinthians 15:33 - Influences
**1 Corinthians 15:51-52 - Changed! Holy Day Lesson - Trumpets
1 Corinthians 15:52 - Trumpets (Holy Day Lesson - Trumpets)
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 - Love
**1 Corinthians 16:14 - Be Loving
2 Corinthians
**2 Corinthians 2:14 - The Aroma of the Knowledge of Christ
**2 Corinthians 3:3 - A Letter From Christ
**2 Corinthians 3:18 - Transformed into the Image of Christ
**2 Corinthians 4:17 - All Things
**2 Corinthians 5:7 - Walking By Faith
**2 Corinthians 5:17 - A New Creation
**2 Corinthians 6:17 - Be Separate
**2 Corinthians 9:7 - A Hungry Crowd
**Little Is Much When God Is In It
. . . but God gave the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:6
Materials: acorns
When you pick up a handful of acorns, do you marvel at the possibility? Do you think about the magnificent tree each acorn could become someday? Do you think about the multitude of other trees which could come from the acorns that just one of those trees could produce? Do you think about the furniture which could be crafted? Or how long a house could be heated when burning the wood produced by just one tree? Do you think about the home and food for a plethora of squirrels? Do you think about the years of leaf piles that could be raked up and played in? Do you think of the shade on a sultry August day - the relief from the sun? What do you think about when you pick up a handful of acorns?
Do you think of God and how He’s provided for what we need? Because I can’t make a tree grow from an acorn. Only God can do that. I can’t make an oak tree produce more acorns. Only God can do that. I can’t create squirrels and bring them to eat some acorns and bury other acorns so that more trees will grow. Only God can do that. God brings the rain. God brings the squirrels. God causes the leaves to form and grow. God does it all. From such a small thing, an enormous possibility exists!
But God doesn’t stop with acorns. He provides for all of our needs and then He gives us more. He sustains all of the plants and animals. And then He goes farther. He blesses us with fun things to do and see. He grants us interest and abilities so that we can enjoy the creation around us. He gives us opportunities to interact with others, to encourage them and bring them joy.
And when we think we can’t do something because we’re not big enough or strong enough or smart enough or good enough, God gives us acorns - to remind us that He can do great things with little things. If there’s something that you want to do - that will bring God glory - ask. God might not give you exactly what you want; He might give you something much, much better.
Pentecost and God’s Presence
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
- If I took you to a chicken house, what would you expect to find inside? A chicken - or two perhaps.
- If I took you to the monkey house at the zoo, what would you expect to find inside? Perhaps a monkey or an ape or an orangutan.
- If I took you to a fire station, what would you expect to find inside? No, not a fire! You’d expect to find a fire truck or a fire engine.
- If I took you to a school, what would you expect to find inside? Scholars. Students. Kids and teachers.
- So if I took you to God’s temple, what you expect to find inside? You would expect to find God there. 2 Chronicles 7: 2 calls the temple of the house of the LORD. Jesus called the temple “God’s house” (Mark 11:17). So you would expect that the temple is where God dwells.
There have been some remarkable instances when God’s presence was evident in His house. Exodus 40:34-38 - When the tabernacle was completed, the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. No one, not even Moses could enter. However, God did tell Moses (and it’s recorded in Exodus 25:22) that God’s Presence would be over the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant between the outstretched wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies. The Presence of God was so tangible that Moses pleaded with God, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15).
Later at the dedication of Solomon’s temple, the glory of the LORD so filled the temple that, again, no one was able to enter, not even the priests (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). We’re not simply talking about a brightly shining light like the Sun; we’re talking about the Presence of the LORD - a spiritual essence that you could feel that came with fire.
Later in Judah’s history, they strayed so far from a relationship with God that when God’s Presence left the temple, they didn’t even notice (Ezekiel 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:23).
So Paul’s assertion that believers are the temple of God and that God’s Spirit dwells in them would likely have evoked a strong mental image and remembrance of God’s Presence in the tabernacle and the subsequent temple.
And it may have reminded them of the events on the first Pentecost following Jesus’ death and resurrection. Even if they hadn’t been in Jerusalem, they almost certainly would have heard the stories of the tongues of fire (Acts 2:3) coming to rest on believers and how the believers began to speak in tongues (Acts 2:4) and how people heard Peter’s message each in their own language (Acts 2:8). They might have remembered the presence of the Holy Spirit being so strong that 3000 souls repented and were baptized that day (Acts 2:41). They would’ve recalled Peter’s assertion to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Upon repentance of their sins, acceptance of Jesus as their Savior, and baptism, God would give them the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, to lead them into all truth, and to provide strength, comfort, and guidance.
The idea of the Holy Spirit dwelling within a believer is a startling concept. But Paul couples it with the logical partner. Think about it. If God’s Presence, His glory, dwelled in the temple, and if the Holy Spirit now dwells within believers, what are the believers? They are the temple of God.
Wow!! God’s temple! O.K. So what? How does that affect my behavior? God’s temple was dedicated to the service of God. If we have claimed Jesus as our Savior, then we have been bought with a price. We belong to God to do His service. The temple was where God met with the people (Exodus 29:43). As God’s temple, we become God’s hands and feet, His ambassadors, to the people around us, those people who desperately need a relationship with the Great God of the universe. We also comfort others with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted (2 Corinthians 1:4).
It’s a huge event - that first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on so many! The effects of that incredible gift reach farther than just our relationship with our God. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us also impacts the people around us - when we choose to let out light shine.
And that’s an interesting thought too, isn’t it? Jesus told his disciples to let their light shine (Matthew 5:16). What light is that? Could it be that the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, God’s glory is the light we’re supposed to shine for others to see?
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
If God’s Spirit dwells in you, then His Presence should be obvious in your life! People around you should have no doubt that you are the temple of God. That’s one of the lessons seen in the Day of Pentecost.
The Rock
For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4
What can you do with a rock?
You could put it in your pocket and take it with you.
You could glue it on a barrette and put it in your hair.
You could glue it on a paper clip for a fun bookmark.
You could use it in a sling, like David did, for defense.
You could use it to help build a road, so your car doesn’t sink in the mud.
You could use it to help build a fence to keep your animals in.
You could use it to help build the foundation on which to build your house.
You could use it as part of building a house.
But I would not have thought about drinking from a rock. But that’s what Paul says:
For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).
God’s people didn’t drink the rock; they drank from the rock. Remember how Moses struck the rock and it brought forth water for them to drink (Exodus 17)? I don’t normally think about water coming from a rock, but the people were in the desert. They didn’t have water to drink. They were going to die without water. God told Moses to strike the rock and the water poured out of it. It’s a powerful reminder: that water coming out of the rock pointed to Jesus Christ, who provides the Living Water. We cannot live without Jesus.
1 Corinthians 10:4 is startling in another way. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. The Rock followed God’s people as they wandered in the wilderness? I don’t normally think about rocks following people. But the apostle Paul is painting a very vivid image in his readers’ minds: Jesus Christ is the Rock. Remember all of the things we use rocks for?
He is our place of security - just like our house keeps us safe from heat and cold and storms.
Jesus is our foundation - just like the foundation on which we build our house. If you try to build on sand, the house falls over when the storms come. In the same way, if you build your life on Jesus Christ, doing things His way, seeking to please Him, then your life won’t crash when the storms of life come your way.
Jesus is our fortress or our fence. If your dog got out of the yard, he could be hit by a car. The fence keeps him safe. In the same way, when we obey what Jesus says to do, we are saved from all sorts of trouble and problems.
Jesus is the way. Think about driving down the road. As long as you stay on the road, you’re not going to get stuck in the mud. But if you get off the road, you could find yourself going nowhere fast. In the same way, Jesus is the Way, and when we follow His leading we stay out of the muck and mire we would otherwise find ourselves in.
Jesus is our defense. Just like David used a sling to defeat Goliath, we can look to Jesus to defend us against our foes. He is the God of angel armies. We know there is no one who can stand against Him. We don’t always know if God will protect us from trouble, but we know that He can. So we trust Him and praise Him, no matter what.
Jesus should be very visible in our lives - like the paperclip or the barrette. People should never have to wonder if we are Christians. We should be displaying the kind of behavior that tells everyone that we serve the awesome God!
For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).
I love that the apostle Paul told his readers that Jesus moved with His people. The people didn’t have to wonder if God was far away or close by. They knew He was right there with them, protecting them, providing for them, defending them, and showing them the way to walk.
Do you remember the first thing I told you that you could do with a rock? Put it in your pocket and take it with you? You can’t put God in your pocket, but you can keep Him in your heart and in your thoughts. I hope that you love God so much that you would never even consider going somewhere He wouldn’t. I hope you take Him with you everywhere you go.
Grumbling
nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 1 Corinthians 10:10
I’m hungry . . . . He’s looking at me . . . . . Mom, he’s in my room. . . . . I don’t like THAT! Can’t we put a pizza in the oven? . . . (Grumble. Whine. Complain.)
Unfortunately, in our society, it’s not just kids. The grumbling bug has bitten everyone. Look at how widely popular the Grumpy Cat memes are. People think that grumpy-looking cat is hilarious. We even have a song in our church songbook called “Grumblers.” We don’t sing it very often because no one likes it. That’s rather ironic, isn’t it!? The first line goes, “In country, town or city, some people can be found who spend their lives in grumbling at everything around. O yes, they always grumble, no matter what we say, for these are chronic grumblers and they grumble night and day.”
So we don’t really want to sing all five verses of the song. We get it. There are lots of people who grumble. Maybe they have good reason to grumble . . . or do they? What are some synonyms for “grumbling”? How about “complaining” or “whining”? People who grumble are unhappy with what they have or where they find themselves. They are either unable or unwilling to do anything to change their situation, so they make sure everyone around them knows how unhappy they are.
So what’s the opposite of “grumbling”? Thankfulness, gratitude, or appreciation. People who are thankful, who are appreciative for what they have or where they are, who show gratitude are much nicer people to be around. Think about it. Think about people who are complaining, criticizing, unhappy, grumblers. They don’t exactly feel you with warm, fuzzy feelings. Now think about people who are thankful, grateful and appreciative. They are the ones who make you want to do more for them.
But it’s not really about how you feel about the grumblers or the thankful people. It’s really about how God feels about grumbling vs. thankful people.
- Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. Hebrews 3:7-12
- Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. Jude 1:14-16
- Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. Deuteronomy 28:47-48
- nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 1 Corinthians 10:10
- But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 1 Timothy 6:8
- Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29
The Psalms are full of admonitions to give thanks to God with a grateful heart. And this is not an optional encouragement. God takes our attitudes very seriously. Are we grateful for the abundance of all things, or are we grumbling because we think we deserve more? What we deserve is death! We’ve received mercy and incredible promises of adoption into His family! And we’re grumbling because we think we deserve more?
You remember the “Grumblers” song that I cited earlier? The fourth verse says, “They grumble at the preacher, they grumble at his prayer, they grumble at his preaching, they grumble everywhere; they grumble at God’s people and say ’tis all display; But holy folks don’t grumble, they have only time to pray.”
Time to pray. Time to thank God. Time to praise God for the abundance of all things. Nope, no time to grumble here.
**Temptation
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
I recently saw this verse demonstrated with a jar, a water balloon, a match, some tissue paper, and a straw. The jar is the world. We are the water balloon, sitting - as it were - on top of the world. The tissue paper, when lit on fire, is the temptation. The temptation is, of course, in the world - in the jar.
1) Place the water balloon (filled with water) on top of the jar. (Remember to moisten the top of the jar with water.) Notice how the temptation in the world isn’t pulling the balloon into the jar. But when the temptation heats up, things change rapidly.
2) Take the balloon off the jar. Light the tissue paper on fire, drop it into the jar.
3) Place the water balloon on top of the world. Make sure ahead of time that the balloon is large enough to sit on top of the jar without falling in due to gravity.
The heat from the burning tissue paper causes the balloon to immediately get sucked into the jar. When you try to pull it out, the balloon will not come out. It’s stuck at the lip. In a similar way, we can be merrily walking along in life, avoiding the temptations in the world. We can even be flirting with fire because we haven’t yet succumbed to the temptation. If, suddenly, the temptation turns up the pressure on us, turns up the heat, we can be sucked into it before we even know what happened. It isn’t a slow process. It doesn’t happen gradually. The temptation grabs us. Then we’re stuck. Even if we want to get out of the situation, we cannot.
We need a savior. We need the Savior. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
So stick the straw into the jar and the balloon comes out easily. Our God is powerful and He can redeem us. He can rescue us from the disasters that we find ourselves in, due to our own choices, our disobedience to His ways.
But there’s a caution:
- Just because God will provide a way of escape doesn’t mean we should intentionally put ourselves in temptation’s way. (Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7)
- Even though God will provide a way of escape doesn’t mean we won’t suffer the consequences for our behavior. (Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Galatians 6:7)
- Succumbing to temptation is sin. Sin separates us from God and we don’t want to walk in this world without God. At least, if we’re wise, we don’t!
Our goal is to please God with all of our lives. Our goal is not to walk as close to the line as possible. When you see a temptation, don’t flirt with it. Don’t try to get as close to it as possible without getting burned. Don’t sit there and wait to get sucked in. Do what Joseph did: flee!
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
**A Way of Escape
but with the temptation [God] will also provide the way of escape . . . 1 Corinthians 10:13
Materials: balloon, wooden skewer, dish soap
People rarely wake up in the morning and think, “I think I’ll sin today. I feel like being completely disobedient to what I know is going to please my God.” Instead, we often sin when we’re under pressure. We have to make a decision quickly and we make the wrong one.
Sometimes the pressure comes with emotions, like anger. Someone says something and we respond quickly, in anger, saying something we should never have said.
Sometimes the pressure comes with another emotion: hurt. Someone says something that hurts us deeply and we respond quickly, in hurt, saying something very hurtful.
Sometimes the pressure comes with another emotion: fear. We are afraid of what someone will think of us, so we lie. Or we’re afraid that we’ll get into trouble if they learn the truth, so we lie. Or we’re afraid that we’ll lose that friendship, so we lie.
Sometimes the pressure comes from our own desires. For instance, Mom says, “Don’t eat any of those freshly baked cookies until after supper.” But then she leaves the room for a minute, and they smell so good, and you succumb to the pressure and take just one. But it’s still sin because you’ve not honored your mother; you’ve completely disobeyed her.
There are lots of ways that we can find ourselves having sinned, in word or in action. And many times it’s because we didn’t take the time to think about our options. We react too quickly. We respond to pressure (or stress) and jump . . . right out of relationship with God because we’ve sinned.
Think of it this way: This balloon represents me and my life. The wooden skewer represents my reaction in any given situation. The dish soap represents God’s wisdom and power. If I cover my life and every situation with God’s wisdom and power, God can provide the way of escape from succumbing to the temptation to sin, aka causing the balloon to pop. (Push the skewer into the balloon at one of the least stressed locations on the balloon - near the tie - where it’s not stretched too thin. Make sure there’s dish soap covering the entrance and exit locations for the skewer. Slowly, smoothly push the sharp skewer into the balloon and out the other side, as close as possible to the top where there’s more rubber.)
In the end, it’s best to stay as far away from temptation and sinning as possible (aka keeping the balloon from popping). But sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you weren’t expecting the temptation. Take some time to stop, pray for God’s wisdom and power, and then slowly make your move. Avoid making quick decisions when you feel pressure or are stressed.
And that’s how you can face temptation - but with the temptation [God] will also provide the way of escape . . . 1 Corinthians 10:13
Experiment source: https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/skewer-through-balloon/
**Soli Deo Gloria
Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
Materials: Small craft (I used a tulip/flower recipe holder craft kit from Oriental Trading Company.)
Have you seen any flowers yet this spring? There are some crocuses up - and daffodils! Our apricot tree is blooming. Soon we’ll see forsythia and Bradford pear trees in full bloom.
Every spring I see the first signs of life stirring after the gray, drab, dreary end of winter. All winter long, the grass just looks dead. But suddenly, as we move toward spring, little daffodil stalks spring up. Even when it’s too cold for me to want to be outside for too long, these hardy little flowers bloom. How amazing that it can snow, and yet the daffodils stand firm. Likewise, the trees look like they’re dead because the leaves are dead. But the trees are just dormant. They are in a resting mode during winter. But once spring is here, the temperatures start to warm, there is more direct sunlight, the sap in the trees starts to flow. It won’t be long before we see little buds all over the trees.
Who creates all of the living things? Who caused them to rest during the winter? Who brings them back, causing them to sprout leaves and produce flowers? God does! It is our Great God who made everything that we see. He is the One who makes the flowers bloom.
When I see the flowers, I don’t think about the nursery they may have come from; I don’t think about my neighbor’s yard in which they’re planted; I think about our great God who made something so delicate and beautiful, yet so tough and resilient. Because the flowers are there, I praise God for who He is.
How much are you like a flower? Do you live your life in such a way that when people look at you, they praise God for His goodness? That should be our goal. And that’s what the memory verse is about: Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
If you’re playing with your brothers/sisters or your friends, you are kind and happy. You’re not selfish and bossy.
If your parents ask you to do something, you are respectful and obedient. You are not mad and disrespectful.
If you are at the grocery store with your mom, you are polite and respectful to the people in the store. You are not loud. You are not fighting with your sister. You are not so absorbed in what you’re doing that you get in someone else’s way. You act in a way that makes people tell your mom what a nice child she has.
Too often we think about what we want - no matter how that makes someone else feel. If we put ourselves first in everything we do, we don’t bring glory and honor to God. But when you are kind and respectful, obedient to your parent and nice to your siblings, people notice - and they might wonder why you are not like other people who think only of themselves. You just might get the opportunity to tell them that you do what you do because you believe in God, that you believe God has standards for conduct; God cares how we act and treat one another.
Here’s the bottom line: the blooming flowers each spring give glory to the One who made them because they’re doing what God designed them to do. We were created to give glory to God. How well do you do that with your actions?
Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
**Follow the Leader
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
Activity: Play follow the leader.
Explain the rules: whatever the leader does, everyone else in line has to do.
I plan to weave my way through our church fellowship, shaking a hand here, hopping three times, giving a hug there, turning in place, giving a quick back rub, touching my toes, asking someone how they are, etc. Eventually we will make our way back to our starting point.
Questions:
How willing were you to do everything the leader did?
Why were you willing to comply or unwilling to follow?
Think about being a Christian. Who are you supposed to follow? You are supposed to follow Jesus Christ. But there are a lot of people out there who would like to convince you that you should follow them. Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 11:1 indicates that it’s okay to imitate, to follow someone else’s lead . . . as long as they are following Jesus Christ.
The kids may follow me initially because it looks like fun. Some Christians are attracted to Christian leaders because they make church (services, activities, fellowship) fun. But eventually the novelty can wear off. The kids aren’t so willing to keep following once the first thrill of something new wears off. Similarly, some Christians become disenchanted with a church fellowship because they don’t feel entertained. (They wouldn’t call it that, of course. But they may not want to work very hard to feel like they have a relationship with God.)
Sometimes Christians are willing to follow a leader because their friends are. As long as I could convince one of the children to follow me, I was likely to get all of them. But it would only take one child who was reluctant to follow to derail the whole activity. So why would a child be reluctant? We’re doing this activity in front of the whole group. They’re the center of attention. People might laugh. We’re a lot more willing to make ourselves vulnerable to people laughing at us if we’re not the only ones laughed at.
The children might not have wanted to play along because they didn’t think it was right. Perhaps they would consider “Follow the Leader” to be an inappropriate game to play at church. Ah! That gets to the heart of this verse in 1 Corinthians 11:1. We, as social creatures, have a tendency to follow the crowd. It looks like fun. Our friends are doing it. We’re willing to take a risk. But the first question we should always ask is: would it please God? Would it bring glory and honor to Him? If the answer is yes, then we shouldn’t worry about whether it’s fun, or whether our friends are doing it, or whether we’ll be laughed at. If what we’re considering is pleasing to God, then we should be more than willing to engage!
So the next question is: How do we know it’s pleasing to God or not? That’s where we need to make sure we have a relationship with God - based on prayer, Bible study, fellowship with like believers, meditation. If we’re not reading God’s word, we’re going to have a hard time knowing what He says is pleasing to Him. And it’s going to be very hard to know if the person we’re following is doing what is pleasing to God. So how could we imitate someone else, not knowing if they were actually imitating Jesus Christ? The more time we spend in His word, the more time we spend seeking Him, asking for His guidance, the more we’ll truly be able to discern what is pleasing to Him.
We could talk about associated analogies and variations on the theme, but it boils down to this: we don’t follow someone simply because it’s fun or because everyone’s doing it or because we’re worried about other people’s opinions. We follow someone only if they are following Christ. That means we have to know what Jesus did. In reality, He’s the One, the only One, we should follow all the time.
**Follow God, Not the Crowd
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
Materials needed: story below, black construction paper, white crayons
Once a spider built a beautiful web in an old house. He kept it clean and shiny so that flies would patronize it. The minute he got a "customer" he would clean up on him so the other flies would not get suspicious. Then one day this fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean spider web.
Old man spider called out, "Come in and sit."
But the fairly intelligent fly said, "No, sir. I don't see other flies in your house, and I am not going in alone!"
But presently he saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper. He was delighted! He was not afraid if lots of flies were doing it. So he came in for a landing.
Just before he landed, a bee zoomed by, saying, "Don't land there, stupid! That's flypaper!"
But the fairly intelligent fly shouted back, "Don't be silly. Those flies are dancing. There's a big crowd there. Everybody's doing it. That many flies can't be wrong!"
Well, you know what happened. He was stuck on the spot and eventually died right where he landed. Some of us want to be with the crowd so badly that we end up in a mess.
What does it profit a fly (or a person) if he escapes the web only to end up in the glue?
Charles Swindoll, "Living Above the Level of Mediocrity”
Leaning on your own understanding (human reasoning) or leaning on the understanding of others (following the crowd) can have dire consequences. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Relying on God’s word to determine your path means you have to be reading His word - every day - or every day that you want His guidance to keep you out of a mess.
**The Body of Christ
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Cor. 12:27 (NIV)
Materials: a jar of M-n-Ms.
God uses the things in this world to teach us about Him. And although I’m not sure God intended us to use M-n-Ms, there’s three things about these little candies which are also true about the body of Christ, the Church.
First, there’s a mark on the outside of M-n-Ms. That’s how you know it’s an M-n-M and not a Skittle or some prescription medicine. Can you tell who is a Christian by looking at them? Is there a mark on them? If you lined Christians up next to unbelievers, you might be able to tell that they are Christians by the things they wear, what’s displayed on their body (like body piercings and hair color), and their facial expressions. But you’d be better able to tell by their actions. At least, certain actions would definitely lead you to believe that they aren’t Christians. Other actions would be a strong indicator that they are in the body of Christ, the Church.
Secondly, notice how the M-n-Ms are all different colors? Similarly, believers in the body of Christ don’t all look the same. We have different jobs. We have different gifts and talents. We have different likes and dislikes. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s God’s plan that we would all come together with different gifts and talents and jobs just like the human body. A nose doesn’t walk you across the living room floor. Your knee doesn’t keep a look out for toys to avoid when your feet and legs walk you across the floor. Your ears don’t have the same job as your nose or your eyes. But just like the different parts of the body come together, working together, to accomplish God’s purpose, so we all - as the body of Christ - all work together with our individual jobs and talents to accomplish God’s purpose.
Third, all of the M-n-Ms may look different on the outside, but inside is chocolate! Similarly, although Christians look different, inside is the love of God. If they truly are Christians, they will be filled with the love of God and their actions will flow from that reality!
I don’t know that God ever intended us to use M-n-Ms as something which would remind us of His presence in our lives, but they are a yummy reminder every time we eat one.
Modified from: https://www.creativebiblestudy.com/objectlessons-mms.html
***A Din, a Racket, Noise
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1
Materials: balloon, rubber bands, squeaky toys, scissors, ruler, pens
Have you ever noticed that there’s a lot of noise in our world? And there are so many fun ways to make noise too! We can make a myriad of noise with just our bodies - and we won’t enumerate all of those here. If you haven’t found them all yet, I’m sure you will by the time you are eighteen. Claps, pops, whistles, raspberries, etc. But we can also make noise with objects. We can use whistles or the squeaky thing from inside dog toys, but we can also make noise with things that we don’t normally think of as noise makers. For instance, you can pluck rubber bands. The more tension you put on them, the higher the twang. And occasionally, when they break, you get another noise like “ouch.” We can place a ruler on the edge of the table and hold it securely at the table end. If we bend the other end and release it, it vibrates and makes a delightful noise. And again, depending on how much of the ruler is allowed to vibrate, the d frequency changes. We can click ball point pens - until everyone around us is totally annoyed. We can open and close scissors - which makes a perfectly wonderful slicing sound. But one of the most annoying, obnoxious sounds we can make with a simple thing that people don’t normally associate with a din, a racket, a horrible noise is the high-pitched whine as we slowly allow air to escape from a balloon. Of course, we could just pop it too, but that’s not nearly as satisfying to the noise enthusiast.
However, 1 Corinthians 13:1 isn’t talking about trying to make noise just to make noise and be obnoxious. Rather, the point is this: even if you are trying to talk in such a way that people are uplifted and inspired, or if you are singing like a beautiful musician, if you don’t speak or sing with love, then it’s just noise.
You can give a powerful speech. You can say beautiful words to your friends and family. You can sing well enough to win all kinds of awards. But if it’s not done with love, then it’s really just noise.
Noise is okay - in its place. I love to hear the rain gently falling and the hummingbird buzzing and squeaking by my window. But make it your goal that you are loving to everyone around you first - then whatever you do won’t be just so much noise.
**Be Kind
Love is patient and kind . . . 1 Corinthians 13:4
Materials: hourglass egg timer, travel-size toothpaste
If you had a travel-size container of toothpaste, could you squeeze all of the toothpaste out of the tube before the sand ran through the egg time?
Sometimes this is how we live our lives. We feel like we have a job to do within a limited amount of time. So we jump in and we try to get the job done. But in the process, we are not careful about how we did the job.
When you squeezed the toothpaste out, did it go all over the table? All over you? All over the floor?
Sometimes when we’re in a hurry, we are not careful about how we accomplish our task. We are not careful about completing it accurately. We are not careful about completing it thoroughly. We are not careful about how we treat the people around us - because our whole goal is to get our job done.
The egg timer reminds us of something else: once the time is gone, we can’t get it back. We will never get to decide how to spend this morning again. Yesterday is history and cannot be rewritten.
Furthermore, the egg timer reminds us that our time is limited. We need to be careful of the time that we do have because we don’t have an unlimited amount.
The toothpaste tube also teaches us something: once we’ve done something, we can’t undo it. When you squeeze all the toothpaste out, you can’t put it back. There are no erasers in the actions of life. There are no delete buttons. So we have to think very carefully about our actions.
So what sort of actions should we work towards doing? How about the actions which glorify God, which demonstrate that we belong to God? Let’s start with love. Our God is love. And the apostle Paul tell us that love is patient and kind. We already talked about patient. What does it mean to be kind?
When you are kind, you are not mean. You are not hurtful. You are not selfish. You do not treat everyone like you are more important than they are. When you are kind, you help other people. You encourage others. You say things that are true, but are also gentle and loving.
We don’t have a lot of time in this life. And we don’t get to go back and live our days over again. So let’s strive to be loving, patient and kind.
**Influences
Bad company ruins good morals. 1 Corinthians 15:33
Materials: hot chocolate mix, liquid soap, bug spray (or anything to which something could be added - literally almost anything)
Let’s suppose you have some really yummy hot chocolate mix. What could you add to it so that you would not want to drink it?
Let’s suppose you have some really wonderful smelling hand soap. Could you add something to that which would make you not want to use it to wash your hands?
Let’s suppose you have bug spray. Is there anything you could add to it that would be so repellent to you that you wouldn’t want to put it on your body to repel bugs?
Of course!
So consider people for a minute. We don’t think about being like hot chocolate mix or hand soap or bug spray. We don’t think about things which are added to who we are that would make us yucky. But God says it happens.
1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Bad company ruins good morals.”
How does that happen?
When you are around someone for any length of time, you pick up some of their characteristics. For instance, some people hear accents and they pick those up easily. I know that when we were in Canada for the Feast, it didn’t take long before we were ending every sentence on a higher note. It isn’t something we tried to do; it was something which stood out to us and it wasn’t long before it was part of our talking patterns.
When I was in college, I used to say, “Neat, neat, neat.” After four years of having class with one particular music professor, I rubbed off on him. When he said, “Neat, neat, neat” one day in class, everyone looked at me, knowing that I was responsible.
But you don’t always just pick up positive traits from others. If you are around someone who uses bad language, it’s very difficult to keep those words out of your head. Your brain is like a closet never cleaned out (as Ron Dart once said); those words go in there, they rattle around, and sometimes they come out again. It doesn’t have to be just bad words. When Jennifer and I were in a grocery store just before Christmas this past December, they were exclusively playing Christmas music. Without even realizing what I was doing, I started singing, “God bless ye merry gentlemen.” Now, my family stopped celebrating Christmas when I was five! How is it that I know all of these words? Jennifer looked at me very strangely. She was wondering the very same thing!!
You pick up words from the people around you. You also pick up actions from the people around you. If you are in a cave and the guide tells you not to touch any of the cave formation because your hands leave mineral deposits behind, what’s the first thing someone will do? They’ll reach out to touch a cave formation close to them. How do you know? Because the formation has been worn smooth by all of the hands touching it! And people think, “If someone else did, it won’t matter if I do it as well.” If the speed limit is 55, but everyone is going 65, what do you do? You speed up to move with the flow of traffic!! It’s breaking the law, but everyone is doing it.
What if Mom tells you that you can’t have a cookie before supper, but then you see your older sister sneak a cookie? What do you do? You think, “She got one. I want one.” If your Mom catches you, what do you say, “Sister got one.” You don’t tell your mom that you’re sorry; you use the disobedient behavior of someone else as an excuse for you to be likewise disobedient.
Does it matter? Does God care about your behavior, or your words, or your thoughts? Yes!! There are so many verses which talk about your choices, that they need to be Godly! If you know this to be true, then you need to carefully consider with whom you spend your time. They are influencing you - for good or for bad - they are influencing you.
Bad company ruins good morals. 1 Corinthians 15:33
**Changed!
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15:51b-52a
Materials: a jar of pickles and a cucumber; applesauce and an apple; a tomato and a packet of catsup
There’s a saying: if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. Although there’s some hyperbole in the statement, there is also the truth that things rarely stay the same for long. You can clean your room and the very next day, you have dust on your dresser, your bed needs to be made, there are toys to put away. You have to clean your room again! You can take a bath before going to bed one night and the next night you have to do it again. You didn’t stay clean! Sometimes we’d like things to stay the same!! But that’s not reality in this life.
One of the aspects of Trumpets that we are all very excited about is the change which is coming! 1 Corinthians 15 says that we are all going to be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
In the earlier examples, the changes I talked about were negative changes - neat rooms becoming messy, clean children getting dirty. The reality is that everything changes. But not all changes are bad. As you work hard in school, your ability to read and to do math changes; you read more fluently, you comprehend more easily, you figure out complex math problems more quickly. You are learning and expanding your brain’s ability to think. For awhile your bodies are growing and getting stronger. You’re more able to do things.
In a similar way, the return of Jesus means a very good change. At that time, we who belong to God will be changed from a physical being to a spiritual being. We will no longer be subject to the aches and pains of our physical bodies. We won’t grow old. We will have passed from death into life - life eternal with our God forever.
There is a great change coming - a great day coming. And we get to be part of a dress rehearsal on this day, Trumpets, as we look forward to the return of Jesus Christ as Lord and King.
Trumpets
Scripture: For the trumpet will sound, . . 1 Corinthians 15:52
We have sounds all around us. Sometimes they mean specific things. What if you hear “honk-honk” as you’re driving down the street? Usually that means, “GET OUT OF MY WAY!!” What if you hear, “ring, ring”? That used to mean, the phone’s ringing; answer it. (With all the ringtones available today, that doesn’t necessary hold true anymore.) But you know if you hear a siren, there’s danger somewhere. The police or the firemen or the ambulance is rushing to do their jobs.
Before there were loud speakers and megaphones and telephones and computers, people were limited in how they could get information to crowds of people quickly. But God had a solution that is two millennia old: trumpets. There was a certain call to assemble. There was a certain call to break camp and set out on the march. There was a certain call to battle. There were certain calls to announce things, like the start of a new month or a holy day. And God even said that if the people were in battle and they blew the trumpet, it would be a reminder that God would hear and rescue them. (Numbers 10)
We still use trumpets today in the military. What would this call mean to a soldier? (Reveille) What would this one mean? (Charge!)
So in 1 Corinthians 15:52, Paul tells us that the trumpet will sound. Why is it sounding? We know that the trumpet was sounded at the beginning of the month. Hey! That’s today - the Feast of Trumpets!!!
But there’s another reason the trumpet would sound on this day. Many people in God’s church believe that Jesus Christ will return on the Feast of Trumpets. So the trumpet blast does two things: it calls all of God’s people together - and it announces the advent of the King, the arrival of Jesus!
Part of the reason that we believe the return of Jesus happens on this day, Trumpets, is because the actual name of the day is the Day of Shouting or the Day of Blowing. What would be blown? Likely a trumpet. So look at what 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV) says: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
This is a day of celebration, a day of shouting and rejoicing, a day when we look forward to our King coming back! What a wonderful sound that will be!!!
Love
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
As Paul closed this first epistle to the Corinthians, he gave them some last minute instructions: Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Let’s look at these instructions which he felt were the ones he wanting to leave them thinking about.
Be watchful. This indicates there’s something to watch for. What could that be? We are exhorted to watch events unfolding around us. We’re supposed to see from the leaves on the trees that the season when all of these things occur is at hand. What things? The return of Jesus Christ is the major event which comes to mind. Why should we be watchful? We might get so caught up on our lives that we neglect to watch for His return. We might think He’s delaying His coming and neglect to work on our relationship with Him. So this exhortation to be watchful could really apply to watching ourselves, making sure that we devote our lives to honoring God. Think about it: if we have all the dates figured out concerning the return of Christ, but we have neglected our relationship with Him, He’s likely to say, “Away from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.” It won’t matter if we’ve been watching the signs of the times, but we’ve neglected our relationship with Him. On the other hand, if we’re working on our relationship with Him, and we miss the signs, what will that matter? It won’t. We’ll be secure because we have a close relationship with Him. So be watchful.
Stand firm in the faith. The Greek word translated “faith” here is pistis. It means persuasion, moral convictions, especially the reliance upon Christ for salvation. Why would Paul tell his readers to stand firm in the faith? There’s an implied warning that something’s going to come which would test that faith. Coming on the heels of “be strong,” it’s possible that Paul was talking about the persecution which will come upon believers as we gallop closer to the return of Jesus. So we need to stand firm in the faith by making sure our relationship with Jesus is hardy enough to endure.
Act like men. What’s this about? Is Paul only addressing men here? Are women not part of the congregation? No. Not at all. God values both men and women. So think about the opposite of acting like men. It would be acting immature. You know the saying: act your age. That’s what Paul’s saying. Why? Maybe we carnal human beings could be tempted to let our carnal nature have dominance in our lives. It’s work to bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ. It’s not easy to submit to God. It’s not comfortable to think of others more highly than ourselves. We don’t want to be generous and hospitable and loving to those who are less than lovely. But Paul wanted us to know how important it is to act mature and to walk according to the calling we have received.
Be strong. My grandfather used to say, “You hired on to be tough.” Sometimes we start a job without realizing what a huge job it’s going to be. Grandad’s exhortation is not unlike the letters to the churches in Revelation where Jesus tells us to persevere, to endure, to overcome. That’s implies that it will be work; it will not be easy. We could want to give up. We need the cheerleader to encourage us to fight the good fight and to run with endurance the race set out before us. We need the reminder to be strong.
Let all that you do be done in love. Lest we think that Paul is telling us to act gruff and tough and hard as nails, he adds this to his closing remarks. The word “love” here is translated from the Greek agape. It is that benevolent love, directed by the will, which does what is needed by the recipient, not what the recipient necessarily desires. This is the love which is patient when you don’t feel like being patient. This is the love which forgives and keeps no record of wrongs even when revenge would seem so sweet. This is the kind of love which God had for us while we were yet sinners, when He gave His Son that we might have eternal life.
So there’s a call to persevere and to be steadfast always abounding in good works. But those actions have to be grounded in love. Otherwise, they just don’t mean very much. It all comes down to love. Praise God that He loves us so much! Now let us go and do likewise.
**Be Loving
Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
Materials: ice, tasty treats
What is your favorite treat? Do you like fresh blueberries or strawberries? Chocolate? Candy? Don’t you love how sweet it tastes?! Did you know that if you put an ice cube in your mouth until you can hardly stand the coldness, and then immediately put your favorite treat on your tongue, you won’t be able to taste it? The ice is so cold that it numbs your tongue’s taste buds and you aren’t able to really taste.
Did you know that the same thing can happen to people? We can get caught up in what we want, how we feel, and what’s happening to us. It’s like we’ve had ice applied to our hearts, and we have become numb to the people around us. We forget to think about the feelings, thoughts, and needs of people around us. Just like putting ice on your tongue can numb your taste, only thinking about yourself can numb your heart.
That’s not a good thing. Our loving Heavenly Father never intended for His people to just think about themselves. Rather, God uses us to encourage and help other people. But if we are only thinking about ourselves, we won’t stop to think to help and encourage someone who really needs it. It could be someone in your church family. It could be someone in your immediate family. It could be a good friend. There could be someone right next to you who needs you to do something nice for them.
It is so easy to think only of ourselves. It’s called carnal, human nature. We don’t naturally put others ahead of ourselves. It requires a deliberate act and conscious thought to put others first, to think about what they may need. Doing that - thinking about the needs of others - is what God’s people do. And that’s why Paul tells the Corinthians, “Let all that you do be done in love.”
The next time you taste your favorite treat (without the ice), I hope you’ll think about how to let people see your warm and loving heart.
Resource: http://playeatgrow.com/2013/12/helping-kids-to-begin-to-notice-needs.html/
**The Aroma of the Knowledge of Christ
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2 Corinthians 2:14
Materials: cedar blocks
What are some of your most favorite scents? Cinnamon, dill, bacon, BBQ, fried onions, spaghetti sauce, tacos. How about the freshness of the air after a spring rain storm? There are scents which bring memories immediately to mind. Sitting here, I can almost smell walking into Grandma’s house. Or the barn!
We in our society tend to emphasize visual and indeed, we do have lots of images and video clips running through our heads. But that’s only one of our senses. Isn’t it interesting then, that the apostle Paul gives thanks to God for leading us, in Christ, and spreading the fragrance of Christ everywhere?
O.K. So what does Christ smell like?
I don’t know that I can give you a definitive answer. But I do know that in order to smell something, you have to get close to it. And you have to not hold your breath. That sounds silly to say, but if you don’t want to smell something, you hold your breath. So in order to smell something, you have to want to smell it. And the scent has to be strong enough. Have you ever caught just a whiff of something, but couldn’t quite figure out what it was because it wasn’t strong enough? But at the same time, you don’t want to walk into an overpowering smell. I usually turn around and escape those as soon as possible.
So if you’re going to spread the aroma, the fragrance, of the knowledge of Christ, it’s going to be to someone close to you. It’s going to be someone who wants to smell that scent. It has to be strong enough, but not a sledge hammer of a smell.
Are your actions like that? Do the people closest to you “smell” the knowledge of Christ in your life? Are you aware of when they are hungry for the things of God? Are you strong and confident without being overpowering?
Sometimes people get used to us as Christians. In effect, our fragrance isn’t as obvious. But life has a way of revealing what’s truly inside a person. If the scent on the cedar grows faint, you can always scuff it with a piece of sandpaper to renew the scent. So when life throws trouble at you, do people smell the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ more clearly again? That is, when you experience trouble, do people see you relying on God?
I pray that as we each are scuffed by life, people are able to smell Jesus in our lives more clearly.
** A Letter From Christ
And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:3
Materials needed: family histories
I have a collection of family history - with genealogy charts, letters, stories, obituaries. I can read those stories, but it’s not the same thing as knowing the people personally. However, it’s a close second to hear the stories told by someone who actually knew the people. For instance, I have a collection of essays written by my mom when she was in high school. You might find them pretty interesting to read, but you would probably remember them a lot better if I told you the stories. I could read the stories to you, but it would still have a much greater impact if I told you the stories.
The written word is powerful. The spoken stories are powerful. But there’s a third way to learn about a person, what they are like, what they value, what you would remember about them: watching the actions of someone who has been influenced and shaped by that person. For instance, you could learn a lot about my grandfather by reading letters from him. You could learn a lot by hearing stories about him. But you could also learn a lot by spending time around my mom. So many of his phrases are part of her vocabulary. She spent a lot of time working cows, working in the hayfield, building fence, breaking horses with my grandfather. If you want to know what he was like, spend time with my mom. You’d get a really good idea.
So what if someone wants to get to know Jesus Christ - how could they do that? They could read the Bible. They could go to church and hear about the things that God has done, is doing, and will do in the future - in hymns and Bible studies. But they will also expect to get to know who Jesus Christ is through spending time with you - because you claim to be a Christian, to know and love Jesus. Are you acting in a way that represents Jesus well? Do you do the things He would do? Do you say things that will bring glory and honor to Him? Are you shaped and influenced by Him in your behaviors?
Paul told the Corinthians that they were a letter from Jesus Christ, written on their hearts. Their actions and words represented Jesus accurately. That’s a huge compliment!!
I want my words and actions to be a letter that someone can read so they will come to know Jesus, my Savior. What about you?
**Transformed Into the Image of Christ
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Materials needed: Kool-aid Play-Dough, wash cloths for hands 😁
https://www.123homeschool4me.com/kool-aid-playdough-recipe_21/
If you belong to Jesus Christ, then you are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Do you think that is a comfortable process? An easy process?
Suppose I give you a lump of play-dough and ask you to form it into a cat or a giraffe or an elephant. What do you have to do? You press and squeeze and pinch pieces off and put them back on. You push and poke. You stretch and flatten. You take away everything that doesn’t look like a cat or a giraffe or an elephant.
And that’s not an easy process. It’s especially not easy for the play-dough. Imagine you are the play-dough. Do you like being squeezed and prodded and stretched? Do you like being flattened when your shape isn’t coming together satisfactorily? Do you like being pinched out of your comfort zone?
And let’s talk about time. Can I hand you a lump of play-dough and expect you to have a cat - or anything that looks like a cat - in a minute, or two, or ten? It takes time to form the play-dough. How much more time do you think it will take to form you into the image of Jesus Christ?
The good thing is, of course, that the play-dough doesn’t really care how much you poke and squeeze and pinch, because it’s not alive. But what about you? Can you truly say you don’t really care how much God has to poke and squeeze and pinch? Hopefully you understand that the end result is worth whatever you go through now. If you belong to God, He’s sovereign; He’s got your best interest at heart; He has a plan for your life; You can trust Him - even if He’s poking and stretching and, sometimes, flattening.
**All Things
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 2 Corinthians 4:17
Materials: warm water, cold water, food coloring, colored frozen ice cube, clear container
What happens when you put an ice cube in warm water? It’s easier to see what happens when the ice cube is frozen colored watered. Obviously the ice cube floats because it’s less dense than water, but what happens to the melted ice water? The cold water is much more dense than the warm water.
And what happens when you have cold water at the bottom of a container of warm water? The cold water will move, but since it’s more dense than the water around it, it will spread out along the bottom of the container.
This is what happens on a small scale in a small container, but it’s also what happens in our oceans. The ice caps melt and the cold water sinks. The cold water spreads out and the heat starts to transfer from the warmer water. You can see currents as the water flows and mixes. The moving currents of water affect the air currents above them and we get wind. And the wind brings the weather changes in our world.
God designed the flow of the water, the currents from the warm and cold waters. The water doesn’t become stagnant. It moves and grows and continues to be a healthy place for ocean creatures, and then affects the winds and all the land creatures too!
But what does this have to do with the light momentary afflictions that we experience in our lives?
The cold colored water and the ice cube are like the negative things that happen in our lives. Getting a scrape on your knee, catching a cold, experiencing a death of a family member or good friend - all of the negative things that we experience can be used for good - just like the cold water is used for good, to create currents. God says that all things work together for good. It isn’t that all things are good. It is that God can use all things to grow us and mold us and move us into the people that He wants us to be. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
In other words, we may not like the cold water right now, but God can use the negative things in our life for so much more good than we can even imagine right now. We just have to trust Him.
**Walking By Faith
for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
Materials: bandanas
Have you ever been blindfolded and led around a room or through a maze? Was it scary not being able to see where you were going? Did the amount of fear you felt depend on the person who was leading you? Absolutely! Someone you trust can lead you even when you are afraid.
Sometimes people are blindfolded and led through obstacle courses. Sometimes the blindfolded person is not led by the hand; they are guided only by someone’s voice. Do you think that would make the activity more or less scary?
I am terrified of heights, so afraid that I cannot make myself move when I am overcome by that fear. Unfortunately that happened last year as we were walking along the rim of the Grand Canyon. I’m okay when the trail is asphalted or concrete. But when the trail is gravel and I can easily envision the gravel rolling under my feet, I become terrified. At one point, Ron came and took me by the hand. If he hadn’t led me, I don’t know that I would have been able to move. I was afraid to go forward and afraid to retreat - and that was without the blindfold. I can only imagine my terror if I hadn’t been able to see.
So when we read in 2 Corinthians 5:7, for we walk by faith, not by sight, I have an idea of what that might look like. We live our lives according to what we believe about God, not according to what we see around us.
We believe that God commanded the Sabbath and the Holy Days to be kept. So we keep them. We believe God commanded us to abstain from unclean meats, so we watch what we put in our mouths and stay away from unclean meats. We believe that God doesn’t want us to steal, so we don’t take what doesn’t belong to us. We believe that God abhors liars, so we are careful to speak the truth in love. We believe that God is - and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. We believe that having a relationship with God is more valuable than anything in this world.
Our belief is so strong that it overcomes our fear that is a natural part of walking by faith. Some people don’t have faith strong enough to be able to follow God: they are afraid that people will make fun of them; they are afraid that they could lose their job; they are afraid of being different from others; they are afraid and think that maybe it just doesn’t matter. Their fear keeps them from doing what pleases God.
Our faith in God, our belief in what He has done and what pleases Him, dictates our actions. It changes us more and more into the image of Jesus. And it makes us less and less like the world around us. We act less like the things we see. We act more like what we believe about God.
You know, I didn't believe that I could walk along the rim of the Grand Canyon safely. I let Ron take me a little ways, but the path wasn’t wide enough for both of us. Even thinking about it now makes me tense. I didn’t have the faith that I would be safe - and I missed out. I wasn’t able to go to the end of the path to the overlook to see the incredible creation of our Creator, one of the seven wonders of the natural world. I missed out. In a similar way, those Christians who don’t walk according to the faith that God has given them, who fail to walk in a way that pleases God, miss out.
for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
**A New Creation
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Materials: conditioner, corn starch, plastic sandwich bags, measuring cup, spoon.
There’s a huge change from before you were a Christian to after you become a Christian. It is a change of heart, of attitude, of agenda, of allegiance. It is a change of nature. It is imperative to each of us who would see God’s kingdom and eternal life. (1 Corinthians 15:50)
If I mix a cup of corn starch with a cup of conditioner, the result is play dough. Now I can extend the analogy a little more clearly. The dough is not the same nature as the corn starch. The corn starch can be used in many ways, like making gravy or meatballs, but it’s a powder. It can be blown away. It cannot stand. The dough, on the other hand, can be molded into any shape.
Think of the aptness of the analogy in a Christian sense: I can be useful in many ways before I become a Christian. I can do what people think of as good things. But I have no real strength on my own. I can be blown around by thoughts and events. I cannot stand. But once I accept Jesus as my Savior and the Holy Spirit comes into my life, I become a new creation. I become a moldable person to be used by my God to fulfill His purposes. The potential of how I can be used of God is limitless. Thus, in becoming a servant of the Most High, He gives solidity and purpose to my life even as He molds me and changes me into a useful vessel for His glory.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
**Be Separate
Therefore, "Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 2 Corinthians 6:17
Materials: dominoes
Let’s say that setting up a line of dominoes is kind of like life. You live in this world. Whatever happens in this world happens to you. If there’s a flood in your area, the water doesn’t magically stop at your property line. If there’s an ice storm, it doesn’t magically go around you. If the government passes laws, you have to obey them. You don’t get a “bye” just because you don’t feel like obeying the law. If it applies to the citizens of your country, state, or county, then it also applies to you.
But sometimes, because you love God and are obedient to Him, sometimes God protects you from the things that happen in life. How many times have tornadoes lifted and skipped over top of God’s people or completely taken another turn? Sometimes we get a strong feeling to do something - like moving the car. Because we listen to God’s prompting, we are saved from trouble. Mom and Dad had a very strong urging to move the car in their driveway to the back of the house. The next morning, the neighbor’s huge black walnut tree was lying where their car would have been. There are countless stories of God’s protection and provision. That’s kind of like God’s hand reaching down and preventing the domino (the one that is you) from falling. These are the natural events like storms, tornadoes, fires, and floods.
But you shouldn’t expect God to save you from disaster if you don’t remove yourself from things that are ungodly. Let’s suppose that your friends are shop-lifting or cheating on tests or vandalizing neighbors’ properties. If you are caught with them, you will pay the penalty for your wrong behavior. God will not rescue you from that disaster. If you are caught breaking man’s laws, you will have consequences.
In a similar way, if you are with a group of people who are breaking God’s laws, doing things that are displeasing to Him, why wouldn’t you expect to experience God’s wrath. If you know what is the right thing to do in God’s sight, then do it. Remove yourself from a situation that you know is displeasing to God. You are not gaining anything good by going with the crowd that is going contrary to God’s will in their lives.
God has put us into this world. We have to live in this world. But we don’t have to live like the world lives. We don’t have to do the things that are displeasing to our God. And if we think we’re getting away with something, think again. God knows. And disaster will come suddenly.
**A Hungry Crowd
God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Materials needed: 5000 items (beans, rice, pennies - I’m using graph paper with 5000 squares); lesson #6 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/) - YEAH activity #1
Have you ever participated in a contest to see who could get the closest to guessing the number of jelly beans in a large glass container? It’s hard to figure out just how many beans there might be in that jar!
It’s also hard to wrap our minds around how many people 5000 is - and that was just the men. We’re not told how many women and children might have been there. Jesus told the disciples to put the people into groups of 50 or 100 (Mark 6:40; Luke 9:14). But even just working with the 5000, let’s break that up into an equal number for each disciple. 5000 divided by 12 is almost 417. If Jesus had divided the men to be fed equally between the disciples that’s 417. Imagine being responsible to find food for 417 men! The idea that five loaves and two fish would feed so many?! There is no doubt this was a miracle from God.
There are some really fascinating pieces to this episode. First, Jesus didn’t just create food out of thin air. He took what was there and multiplied it - enormously! Like the miracle of the water changed into wine, Jesus didn’t just create the wine out of thin air; he took the water and changed it.
Secondly, a small boy demonstrated the attitude that is very pleasing to God - being willing to share what you have with others - with people you don’t even know. That boy might have assumed that in giving up his lunch, he wouldn’t have anything to eat. That kind of self-sacrifice is so valuable to God.
Third, just because Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish didn’t mean that He was giving the disciples or the people permission to waste the food. He told them to gather what was left over; He said, “Let nothing be wasted.” When God gives you something, you are to be a good steward of it. Don’t waste what God has given you.
Think about it! If you are willing to give yourself to the service of God, He can do great things with and through you. He can take you (perhaps someone the world doesn’t think is very important) and He can do something great - for His glory. There were 5000 men on that hillside. There were 12 disciples. God used one small boy to perform a miracle that is the only one recorded in all four gospels.
How might God use you, if you are a cheerful giver?