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The Shortest Distance Between Two Lines Is A Straight Line (Children’s Sermon)-Ephesians 5:1-17

By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008

Objects Needed: An obstacle course [small tables, waste baskets, hall trees, chairs, piano bench.] Each of the items should have a tag attached that speaks of some sin such as hate, jealousy, stealing, greed, dishonoring parents, etc. The course can be set up in the center aisle after the children gather up front.

When all the children are up front, assistant is to set up the obstacle course:

ME:
You know, I think I enjoyed running when I was young more than almost anything I did. I always played with the older kids, and if I could keep up, it meant I was one of them; I wasn’t just the younger guy, but one of the big kids.

Running is fun, and the fastest way to the finish line is a straight line; nothing can be in your way. Is that right? Of course it is.

I remember when I learned that. We used to run sprints in my neighbor’s yard across the street; his name was Darin. He had a huge yard on the corner; it was wide open. You started at the edge of the grass by the street on one end and you would run all the way to the plum tree at the end of the yard without having anything in your way. If you ran past the plum tree first, you won. It was the finish line.

One time, I wanted the neighborhood gang to run races in my yard and after I really let everyone know how important that was to me, they all agreed. They all knew it would not work because they were older and wiser, but I wouldn’t believe them until we tried it.

See, our yard was small and it had lots of trees. You could not run a straight line from one end to another. You either had to run around the trees, or under the low branches that would hit your head. It only took one time trying for me to see that they were right; we went back across the street to my friend’s yard where we could run without anything in our way.

WE:
How many of you have ever run a race that really counted? A lot of you have run races; I know we have some runners in here. Did you win? Sometimes you will when the other people are slower than you are, and if running is your sport, you might win when you’ve worked real hard to be your best. But you always want to be your fastest, right?

GOD:
Did you know that the Bible compares our lives to running a race? He does, and it is a race that really counts. In our text this morning, God is telling us that he wants us to do our best to run fast and win.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil…” (Ephesians 5:15-16 NIV)

God is telling us there are things in the world that that can slow us down. There are people, ideas, bad habits, and all sorts of things that will make us swerve all along the course. There are some things in the world that will make our courses look more like my yard, with all the trees, than my friend’s big, open yard. Many people live, bumping their heads on branches, and not able to get around the trees. And, I want to tell you that this is a tough way to win a race. None of you like bumping your heads, do you?

God doesn’t want us to bump our heads either, he tells us how to stay fast and win this race. He is saying the fastest way to the finish line is running in a straight line.

YOU:
Illustration: Let me show you what God is talking about. Some courses look like the one that is set up here this morning. It is called an obstacle course, and this one is named, “the course of life.” All the things that are in the aisle represent sins, temptations, and people trying to make you run in circles.

I want you all to go to the starting line, back by the door, and come to the front of the church again, but as you come, I want you to slow down and look at the little tags that are placed on the obstacles. Not all of you can read them, so I want the ones who can read them to read the tags out loud.
Children go to the back and come forward reading and weaving to get to the front of the church: Do you know what the tags meant that you read out loud? What does greed mean? [Wait for answer.] What does lying mean? [Wait for answer.] What does hate mean? [Wait for answer.] What does jealousy mean? [Etc.] Those kinds of things take up a lot of time and make us very unhappy. God says that they make our days evil. We all have these obstacles, but God wants us to step around them.

Transition: The Bible teaches us that all of these obstacles are time stealers. They take up a lot of time and make God and us unhappy. That means if we sin a lot, we have a lot of unhappy time, doesn’t it?

Application (Dishonor): Have any of you ever dishonored someone in your family? What happened? You got in trouble didn’t you? You got upset and were probably sent to your room. You had to stop having fun and go and sit, right? All that time you spent in trouble, you could have been having fun?
Application (Lying): Or, did you ever think about how long it takes to tell a lie? You have to think it up and then check it out so that you won’t get caught, then tell it in such a way so other people may believe you, and if that doesn’t work, you must tell another lie to support the one you told that no one else believed. It takes a lot of time to tell a lie and you never feel good about it. A lot of time is wasted, life gets uncomfortable, you usually get punished, and you’ve missed a lot of fun.
Application (Jealousy-me and house): Have any of you ever been jealous? I have. You know, adults do these things too sometimes. I was thinking about how some of our friends sold their home and were able to move and buy the one they wanted in a new city; they all sound so happy. And when our home hasn’t sold, and we are living in a very small apartment, and our dog wants a place to run, I started to get jealous the other day. I wasted a lot of time feeling sorry for myself.

Application (Jealousy-you and friend’s toy): Have any of you been jealous when one of your friends had a toy that you really wanted? How did that feel? Did your stomach start to hurt? Did you cry? Did you start complaining and forget about all the nice things that you do have? Its and awful thing to be jealous isn’t it?

Application (Paul’s Friends): Do you know who the Apostle Paul is? [Wait for response] He is the guy who wrote our passage this morning. Did you know he was a runner too? He was even a running coach. He wrote something to his team who wasn’t doing so well in the race. Do you know what he said?

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7 NIV)

Have any of you ever been cut in on when you were in line? It is very rude isn’t it? They slow you down from getting where you are going, don’t they? They are just like these obstacles in the aisle. They are people that are trying to slow you down and keep you from running the race the best you can.

Some of these people are going to pretend to be your friends so that you will let them cut in line ahead of you. They are going to tell you it is okay to slow down. They are going to tell you it is okay to sin. There are going to be people that tell you hitting you head on the branches doesn’t hurt that badly, but they are wrong.

Trust, me, hitting you head hurts! I’ve got lots of bumps to prove it. I’ve wasted a lot of time being sore and unhappy because people told me something wouldn’t hurt that badly.

Have any of your friends tried to get you to do something you knew you weren’t supposed to do? It didn’t feel good, did it?

Transition Summary: Kids, there are going to be lots of things and people in the course of life that will try to slow you down, steal your time, and make you and God unhappy.

The Bible teaches us that we should avoid the obstacles of sin, including those people who try to get us off course, and that we are to live happily with others, and then we will be happy too. God teaches us to avoid sins and to be careful how we walk through life. He is telling us the fastest way to the finish line is running in a straight line.

WE:
Illustration (not stopping at obstacles): Now, I want you all to walk through the obstacle course again. Let’s go back and walk through this time being very careful not to stop or read. Do your best to avoid the obstacles.

Once up front again: It was a lot faster and easier this time wasn’t it? See, the fastest way to the finish line is running in a straight line.

Just think what we will be able to do with all of the extra time and energy by avoiding the obstacles of life: sin and people that are not really looking out for us.

We will be able to share ourselves with others and be happy doing it.

I’m sure this is the way that God wanted us to live. Can you finish this statement, “the fastest way to the finish line is _____________.”

Good job! I think you’ve heard from the Lord today.

Let’s pray….Amen.

Topics: Children's Sermons, Ephesians |

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