Sin Gets Heavy
The weight of our own sin is hard for us to bear, but Jesus bore the sins of the world.
TOPICS:Cross, Redemption, Sacrifice, Salvation, Sin MATERIALS:24 heavy books of the same size DURATION:Approximately 10 minutes |
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WHAT YOU WILL DO:
During class, give each person a book, and suggest the book contains all of the sins they committed over the years. For small classes, you can give each child more than one book. Then you will demonstrate how heavy sin gets by having them place the books on the outstretched arms of a volunteer. You will compare this to how heavy all of the sins of the world must have been for Jesus to bear on the cross.
WHAT YOU WILL SAY:
I want you to imagine that the book I gave you has all of the sins you have committed written in it. Every lie, every time you talked back, every time you grumbled, every time you slammed a door, every time you cheated, and anything else. Some of you may need a bigger book, however let's pretend they are all in there. How long do you think you could hold that book up at arms length? Some day you may want to try, but probably after only a few minutes, it would become quite heavy.
I need a strong volunteer? (Have the volunteer come to the front and stretch out his or her arms, similar to how Jesus did while on the cross, only with his or her palms up.)
Now, one by one, come up and stack your book of sin upon the hands of our volunteer. Keep the sides even as you do. Oh, and volunteer, just yell out "IT'S ENOUGH" when the books of sin get to be too much for you.
(Have the children come up in an orderly fashion and carefully place their book one on top of the other. Keep stacking until the volunteer calls for an end. Then have everyone give him or her a loud cheer.)
Can you imagine how heavy just the sins in this classroom could be? How about the sins in our church? How about the sins in our neighborhood? Jesus did not bare only some sins. The Bible says, "Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2: 2. Jesus himself was without sin. It was because of our sin that He died on the cross. He died in our place.
Discussion Questions
1. How does it make you feel to know the extent of what Jesus did?
2. If Jesus died already for our sins on the cross, what does that mean for us? (We are free to live a life of righteousness in the presence of God.)