A Story for Others
Notes
Transcript
Have a cup of each to do a taste test - if I can get honey sticks and then cup of vinegar
Who would like to do a taste test? a second grader.....
Have a popsicle stick for each to taste - apple cider vinegar or honey
Simple explanation
Simple explanation
“Honey” stands for:
Kind words
Patience and gentleness
Encouragement and smiles
“Vinegar” stands for:
Rudeness or yelling
Complaining and grumbling
Meanness
So if you want someone to listen, change, or work with you, being kind usually works better than being harsh.
There is saying you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar
Sugar jar at camp
Hold the “flies” over the honey and talk about how flies are attracted to sweet things.
Hold the “flies” over the vinegar and talk about how sour, bitter smells drive things away.
Make the point:
People are like that too: they are drawn to sweet, kind words and pushed away by bitter, harsh ones.
You could tie this to Proverbs 16:24 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15,
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
Let’s Pray
Do your teacher asks you questions? When they do they are wanting an answer.
Just like when the teacher asks a question - they want an answer
sometimes you are prepared and ready to give an answer
sometimes not ready because you did not prepare
Now what Peter is talking about is giving the answer of why you have hope
Because you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior
This is why we have a story to tell others.
Have you ever tried to make up a story using a few random words?
Can you tell a story using these five words?
Car
Pizza
Toothpaste
Dragon
Dr. Flora
Let’s have two people tell a story using those words.
(Ask Jim ahead of time to have two kids ready!)
Here’s a story that I made up:
The other day, I was riding my dragon to the store. When I got there, I remembered I needed to buy toothpaste—not for my teeth—but to clean Dr. Flora’s glasses! While I was doing that, the pepperoni’s on my pizza got tired of waiting for me and got in my car and drove away!
Now that doesn’t make much sense, does it? But it was something I made up just for fun!
We can all tell stories—some are true, and some are just pretend, like that one. Every one of us has stories to tell.
For example, if someone asks, “Tell me about yourself.”
You might say things like:
I go to Crossway Christian Academy.
I go to church.
I play a sport or an instrument.
I like going to the store to look at cool toys!
There’s so much you can share about yourself—but the most important story we can tell is our story about Jesus.
Peter reminds us to honor Christ as holy and to share our hope kindly and respectfully.
When we tell others about Jesus, we’re showing them the hope that lives inside us.
Is it easier to catch flies with honey or vinegar?
When I tried to talk to my dad about Jesus - I was not very kind and not very respectful.
Now, just like I told you my silly dragon story, I want to tell you my story—the story of how I met Jesus.
When I was your age, I knew about Jesus—I went to church—but I didn’t have a relationship with Him yet. I used to visit my grandma and cousins, and I noticed something different about them. They had joy and peace that I didn’t have.
When I was 15, I spent a week with them, and I could tell Jesus was a big part of their life. But I still didn’t fully understand what that meant.
When it was time to go to college, Later, when I went to college that is when My Story changed....
so when it came to decide which college to go to:
I could have stayed in New York and worked or go to college
I could have gone to Rhode Island, I was accepted to a college there
I can go to Oklahoma where my cousin went to college.
I knew my cousin had something different I wanted to go there because of the difference.
After being there 2 weeks, a guy named Scott said I want to talk with you, so a couple of days later we meet.
He started by asking me questions:
Are you a sinner?
No denying it I said yes I was, I know that I have done bad things.
Do you know that Jesus loves you so much that He died on the cross to take away those sins?
I said I knew Jesus died and “died for everyone, but I never related that to Jesus died for me.
That’s when I started to understand. He showed me in God’s word different verses.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 10: 9-10 and 10 and he says
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
And after he shared the scripture with me I realized I needed to be saved
I knew I needed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ so on that day man many years ago.
I asked Jesus to be my Lord and savior.
That is my story, and my story is like no other because the story is about me.
Just like your story is like no other because it is about you.
God says in his word that word that we need to be obedient to tell others about him and we can use our story to tell others.
We can not can’t save other people
We can’t save family members
we can’t save friends
but what we can do is tell others about Jesus when we are given the opportunity.
I like sharing my story and I look for opportunities to share it.
Telling others about Jesus is a command , and that is not just for adults.
Sometimes people will listen to you more than me or other adults.
Examples:
When someone asks, “Where do you go to school?”
You could say, “I go to Crossway Christian Academy—and what’s really awesome is that I get to learn about Jesus! Can I tell you about Him?”
Or if someone says, “Do you play an instrument?”
You can say, “Yes! I play because I like to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Can I tell you my story about Jesus?”
If someone asks are you ready for Christmas?
You can say - Yes I love Christmas because it is about Jesus’s birth, can I tell you what that means to me?
Maybe you do not have a story, maybe you never trusted Christ… I encourage you to talk to your teacher about it.
So go and tell your story.
Let’s Pray
