Unseen Faith

This object talk demonstrates how faith in our Lord can help us from being crushed by fear.

TOPICS: Courage, Faith, Power of God, Protection, Stand Firm, Trials, Trust MATERIALS: 2 plastic water bottles Old glove DURATION: Approximately 5 minutes

PREPARATION:

Before class, take an old glove and draw or glue the following letters on the knuckles: F - E - A - R.  

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

You will take two empty plastic water bottles, and tightly cap one of them. Do not cap the other bottle. During class, you will put on the glove and form a fist to show the word fear. Then you will hit both bottles. The uncapped bottle will crush, but the one that has the cap on tight will not crush. You will compare the uncapped bottle to a person without faith, and the capped bottle to a person who has faith. Although faith itself is not visible, what faith produces is easy to see.

WHAT YOU WILL SAY:

Today I want to demonstrate how we can see faith. Here I have two empty plastic bottles. They look the same, but there is a difference. This one with a cap is full of faith. You cannot see it now, but it is there. The other bottle does not have faith—it is empty.

(Put on the glove showing the word fear.) What do you think will happen to this bottle without faith when fear comes along? (Allow for answers, and then smash the bottle with your fist.) See, fear was able to crush it.

What about this bottle filled with faith? (Hit the capped bottle.) Look, fear could not crush it. In fact, it does not even look hurt. With faith, we get strength from God. Jesus once said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40) We cannot see faith itself, but what faith produces we can see quite easily, such as strength, courage, peace of mind, and self-control. We do not need to worry or be afraid of anything when we have faith in Jesus.