Red Heart

Hearts filled with the darkness of sin, and the shedding of blood may hardly seem like prime preschool teaching material, but I assure you that it is.  This is the Gospel, which we are privileged to teach.  Not our Gospel, but the Gospel of our Lord and Savior.  I firmly believe, that just as an adult, children must come face to face with their sin to realize their need for Jesus as their Savior.

Children blessed to be raised in a Christian home are used to conforming their behavior, and generally being "good" kids.  Often this earns them admiration and praise.  At a very young age, they can easily develop the erroneous mindset that their "goodness" is what saves them.  The point that we want to sink into their hearts through this lesson is that only the blood of Jesus has the power to wash away our sin and save us.

Teaching the Gospel isn't always cute, but it is the truth, and it is the power of God unto salvation to those that believe.  May you be richly blessed for having the courage to teach the truth! Now let's get to the lesson, shall we?

Bible Truth: Red - Jesus died, shed blood for me.

Bible Story: The blood of Jesus is the only thing that wash away my sin.
Bible Study: Romans 3:25-26; 5:8-9; Ephesians 1:7

 

sing

• See My Dark Heart - see this post for a visual idea

• O the Blood of Jesus

teach

the mirror lesson

For this lesson you will need:

• a hand mirror
• a black wet erase marker (I found mine at Wal-Mart)
• a picture of Jesus on the cross
• a clear spray bottle
• water
• red food coloring
• a rag or paper towel

A wet erase marker is similar to a dry erase marker, however it can only be erased when moisture is applied.  To prepare, fill the spray bottle with water and enough drops of food coloring to color the water red.

Begin by holding the mirror for each child to see their own reflection.
SAY: See how special God made you?  God made each and every one of you, and He loves you so much. He wants to be your friend, but we have a problem.  The Bible says that we are all sinners.  We have all sinned and disobeyed God.  As you describe sins that are familiar to a preschooler, color in sections of the mirror with the wet erase marker. You may describe sins such as disobedience (to parents and teachers), lying, stealing, fighting and hurting others.

Hold the mirror for the children to each see their distorted reflections.
SAY: God still loves you and wants to be your friend, but look, He sees all your sin, and He cannot be your friend when there is sin in your heart.  This makes God sad.  I know! I want to be God's friend too, so I'll just try really, really hard to be really, really good and that will make my sin go away!  As you describe how you will try to obey, be kind and always tell the truth, use the dry rag or paper towel to try to wipe the mirror clean.  Let the children try to wipe the mirror, and see that they are unable to remove the sin on their own.

SAY: No matter how hard we try, we cannot get rid of our sin by ourselves.  But God loves us so much, that He made a way to wash away our sin, so that we can be friends with Him.  Show the children a picture of Jesus on the cross.  He sent Jesus, His only Son to die on the cross, so that His blood can wash away our sin. Only the blood of Jesus has the power to wash away our sin.  Jesus died on the cross, and shed His blood for us.  His body was full of owies and blood, but He didn't stay dead.  He came back alive, to show us that He has the power over sin.  When we pray and ask Jesus to forgive us, His blood washes away our sin. Spray the mirror with a couple squirts from the water bottle, and then begin wiping the mirror with the rag or paper towel.

As you wipe the mirror clean, lead the children in a simple sinner's prayer.

Hold up the clean mirror and SAY: God is so happy that you asked Jesus to wash away your sin!  Now you can be God's friend just like He created you to be.  Let me see how happy you are that Jesus took your sin away!  Thank you Jesus for Your blood that washes away our sin!  Hold the mirror for the children to clearly see their smiling reflections.

craft

at the cross mosaic

For this craft you will need:

• white card stock
• this print out
• 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardboard
• an Exacto knife
• a small spray bottle
• water
• red washable tempra paint
• black construction paper
• glue sticks

To prepare, print the print out onto white card stock.  Use the knife to cut out a cross shape from the cardboard.  Position the cross to leave room at the top of the page for the heading.  Fill the water bottle approximately 1/4 with red paint, and then fill it the rest of the way with water.  Shake the bottle to thoroughly mix the water and paint.  Cut the black construction paper into 1" strips.

In class, help the children lay the cardboard over their print out and spray the red paint over the cross. Remove the cardboard.  Show the children how to tear pieces of the construction paper to fill in the space around the cross.