For the first time in a long time I gave the children's sermon during the morning worship service at my church today.
The idea for the lesson came to me about a month ago. I wanted to teach the children how God teaches us, through His word by the writings of the Apostle Paul, not to let our desires, even those which are considered "good", control our lives. The means I used illustrate this for the children came to me only about a week ago.
You see tonight our church held it's annual fall celebration called the "Hallelujah Hoedown". It's an outdoor covered dish dinner with a campfire, roasted marshmallows, lots of deserts, chili, and hot dogs. The fellowship of the church members, the food, and the cool early fall temperatures make it a memorable event each year. I decided to combine a promo for the event with my sermon illustration by using a hot dog and a squeeze bottle of mustard.
I started out by showing the children a grilled hot dog in a bun. I told them it was to remind them about the "Hoedown" that night. Then I told them that I didn't have any breakfast and was planning on eating the dog.
As I made a motion to take my first bite I stopped remembering that I liked my hot dogs with mustard. I got out a bottle of the yellow stuff and squeezed a liberal amount on it.
Then I started talking to the children about desires. I explained what they knew them better as "wants" and how some we had were good and some were evil. I then turned to the dog again and said I really liked mustard and wanted even more. On went more mustard. This time a lot more than I had added the last time. The dog was getting full and condiment was starting to overflow the bun onto the paper plate.
As I talked about desires I continued to "lust" after more and more mustard. Applying squirt after squirt. Verbally justifying each application with the phrase, " I just love mustard". At one point the children came closer to see just how much mustard this crazy guy was putting on the hot dog. I had to implement a bit of juvenile crowd control over the curious bunch of youngsters. After one saturating squirt a little one blurted out, "you're wasting mustard!". I agreed but in a out-of-control manner stated I couldn't help it. I loved mustard.
After it the sound of nothing but air coming out of the bottle made it obvious that I had emptied it's entire contents on the now drenched hot dog I took a long pause. I "came back to the reality" and disappointingly looked at what I had done. I lamented to the children that I suddenly realized that I had let my desire for mustard take control of me. Now I had ruined my intended snack. I could no longer even attempt to eat it. I was separated from it.
I explained to the children that the Bible warns us against letting our evil desires cause us to sin. But then I added that it's not a good thing if we let our good desires, like my wanting mustard on my hot dog , get out of control and rule our lives. Any "want" that's out of control leads us into sin. Just like I was kept from the hot dog by the excess mustard; sin keeps us separated from a relationship with God.
The illustration was overwhelming success with the children. They were astonished and couldn't get close enough to see what I was doing and or had done. The adults in the church congregation got the point as well. After the service and at night at the Hallelujah Hoedown I must have gotten hundreds of "mustard" remarks or comments. I'm sure that throughout the church I will now be known as "The Mustard Man", at least for a while.
I truly believe that the idea for using the hot dog and mustard was an inspiration from the Holy Spirit. As I wrote earlier, I was going to use a picture and the action of adding an excess of brightness to it to get my point across. I give God all the glory for helping me find a creative way to effectively demonstrate what His word tells us about how important it is for Christians to control their desires.
I pray that the sight, sound, and smell of that mustard drenched hot dog and plate will stay with some of those who saw it as a reminder of God's ways in regard His children and their desires.
The idea for the lesson came to me about a month ago. I wanted to teach the children how God teaches us, through His word by the writings of the Apostle Paul, not to let our desires, even those which are considered "good", control our lives. The means I used illustrate this for the children came to me only about a week ago.
You see tonight our church held it's annual fall celebration called the "Hallelujah Hoedown". It's an outdoor covered dish dinner with a campfire, roasted marshmallows, lots of deserts, chili, and hot dogs. The fellowship of the church members, the food, and the cool early fall temperatures make it a memorable event each year. I decided to combine a promo for the event with my sermon illustration by using a hot dog and a squeeze bottle of mustard.
I started out by showing the children a grilled hot dog in a bun. I told them it was to remind them about the "Hoedown" that night. Then I told them that I didn't have any breakfast and was planning on eating the dog.
As I made a motion to take my first bite I stopped remembering that I liked my hot dogs with mustard. I got out a bottle of the yellow stuff and squeezed a liberal amount on it.
Then I started talking to the children about desires. I explained what they knew them better as "wants" and how some we had were good and some were evil. I then turned to the dog again and said I really liked mustard and wanted even more. On went more mustard. This time a lot more than I had added the last time. The dog was getting full and condiment was starting to overflow the bun onto the paper plate.
As I talked about desires I continued to "lust" after more and more mustard. Applying squirt after squirt. Verbally justifying each application with the phrase, " I just love mustard". At one point the children came closer to see just how much mustard this crazy guy was putting on the hot dog. I had to implement a bit of juvenile crowd control over the curious bunch of youngsters. After one saturating squirt a little one blurted out, "you're wasting mustard!". I agreed but in a out-of-control manner stated I couldn't help it. I loved mustard.
After it the sound of nothing but air coming out of the bottle made it obvious that I had emptied it's entire contents on the now drenched hot dog I took a long pause. I "came back to the reality" and disappointingly looked at what I had done. I lamented to the children that I suddenly realized that I had let my desire for mustard take control of me. Now I had ruined my intended snack. I could no longer even attempt to eat it. I was separated from it.
I explained to the children that the Bible warns us against letting our evil desires cause us to sin. But then I added that it's not a good thing if we let our good desires, like my wanting mustard on my hot dog , get out of control and rule our lives. Any "want" that's out of control leads us into sin. Just like I was kept from the hot dog by the excess mustard; sin keeps us separated from a relationship with God.
The illustration was overwhelming success with the children. They were astonished and couldn't get close enough to see what I was doing and or had done. The adults in the church congregation got the point as well. After the service and at night at the Hallelujah Hoedown I must have gotten hundreds of "mustard" remarks or comments. I'm sure that throughout the church I will now be known as "The Mustard Man", at least for a while.
I truly believe that the idea for using the hot dog and mustard was an inspiration from the Holy Spirit. As I wrote earlier, I was going to use a picture and the action of adding an excess of brightness to it to get my point across. I give God all the glory for helping me find a creative way to effectively demonstrate what His word tells us about how important it is for Christians to control their desires.
I pray that the sight, sound, and smell of that mustard drenched hot dog and plate will stay with some of those who saw it as a reminder of God's ways in regard His children and their desires.
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