White Heart

Bible Truth: White: So my dark heart could be clean!
Bible Story: Jesus washes away my sins, and makes my heart white as snow.
Bible Study: Isaiah 1:18; 1 John 1:7-9

sing

• See My Dark Heart - see this post for a visual idea
• The Bath Song
• O the Blood of Jesus

teach

magnetic gospel

To recreate this visual, you will need two strong magnets that are magnetized on both sides.  I purchased this package of ceramic block magnets at my local hardware store for $3.99.

You will also need to print out these clip art images of Jesus and a child onto card stock.  Cut out the images.  Attach the figure of Jesus to one side of the magnet.  Determine which side of the second magnet repels to the Jesus side of the first magnet.  Attach the child figure with the white heart to the repelling side.

Attach the child figure with the black heart to the attracting side of the magnet.  Now you have a powerful visual to teach this Bible truth to your preschoolers.

  

SAY: The Bible says that we are all sinners. Show the child with a dark heart side of the magnet.  We have all sinned and disobeyed God, just like Adam and Eve.  We sin when we disobey our parents and our teachers.  Our sin keeps us away from God.  We cannot be friends with God when we have the darkness of sin in our heart.  Try to put the Jesus and child magnets together, on the repelling side, to demonstrate that sin keeps us separated from God.  Hold the Jesus magnet, as you give each child a turn to hold the child magnet, and try to put them together to experience the repelling force of the magnet.  

What is the only thing that can take away our sin?  Wait for children's responses.  That's right!  Only the blood of Jesus can wash away our sin.  The Bible has very good news.  It says that when we pray to tell Jesus that we are sorry for our sin, and ask Him to forgive us, the blood of Jesus washes away our sin, and gives us a new clean heart that is white as snow!  Let's pray right now and ask Jesus to forgive us.  Lead the children in a simple sinner's prayer.  Wow!   Look at what Jesus did for us!  Show the side of the clean heart side of the magnet.  We asked Him to forgive us, and He washed away our sin!  Thank You Jesus for Your blood that washes away our sin.  Now we can be friends with God!  Put the magnets together on the attracting side so that child with the clean heart is seen with Jesus.

white as snow

My preschoolers and I live in the desert, where snow is a very rare occurrence.  So the phrase "white as snow" is a little obscure to them.  I like to use this recipe for "snow" using 2lbs. of baking soda and a 10 oz. can of shaving cream.  I originally found the recipe here,

Dispense the shaving cream to cover the bottom of a shoe box sized plastic container and then add nearly an entire 2lb. box of baking soda. Mix the two ingredients until the two ingredients are completely combined into the consistency of powdery snow.  

I bring the snow into class in the plastic container for the kids to, see, touch and experience.  They love it, and it makes the lesson so much more memorable, and meaningful to them.  (You may want to have wipes on hand for kids to wash off their hands after handling the snow.)

craft

clean and shiny

Here's a simple, pretty, clean and shiny heart craft!

You will need:

• this activity sheet
• colored paper
• white paint
• paint brushes
• iridescent glitter

Print the activity sheet onto colored paper.  In class provide white paint and paint brushes for the children to paint their hearts.  When they are finished help them sprinkle iridescent glitter onto their painted hearts. Talk about how good it feels to be forgiven of your sins and have a clean heart!