Arctic Adventure. VBS Sketch. Rick Shoemaker

Transcription

1 Arctic Adventure VBS Sketch Rick Shoemaker Hundreds of children will make decisions in Vacation Bible School to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord this summer. My own children were saved in a VBS experience more than 20 years ago. Our church devotes time Monday through Wednesday to help children understand concepts essential to the salvation experience.we teach such key elements as the meaning of sin, forgiveness, sacrifice, crucifixion, and resurrection. We are careful to help each child who expresses a desire to become a Christian understand these vital truths as much as they are able. Our primary decision service is Thursday night/morning because that is usually the largest crowd of the week, and by that time the children have heard the gospel at least four times.we use either puppet sketches, object lessons, or a combination of the two. In VBS, we try to make those lessons theme friendly. The following sketches can be used with puppets, people, or both. Each of these brief sketches can communicate the good news of Jesus on a kid s level. I hope you find them useful! Day 1 (Excursion 1): The Courage to Know You Are a Sinner (The goal of this session is to help children know the meaning of sin. ) The Snowball Fight (Dress puppets or persons wearing a ski cap, a winter scarf around the neck, and gloves) Puppet 1: (whimpering) That was mean! I don t ever want to play with you again! Puppet 2:You wimp! What a crybaby! Puppet 1: I m not a wimp! You broke my brand-new glasses when you hit me with that snowball! Puppet 2:You started it! You ate the carrot right off my snowman! Now he doesn t even have a nose! Whoever heard of a snowman without a nose? Puppet 1: Well, I was hungry, and with my bad eyesight I need all the carrots I can eat! Mom says that carrots are good for my eyes. Dad told me that carrots must be good for your eyes because he never saw a rabbit wearing glasses! Puppet 2: You had no right to steal my carrot! Whoever heard of a snowman without a nose! You had better find a new nose for my snowman or... or... or I m going to beat you up! Let s Worship Spring

2 Puppet 1: Oh yeah! Well, you can t beat me up; and if you try, I ll get my big brother to beat you up! Puppet 2: Oh yeah! Well, my brother can beat up your brother any day of the week! Puppet 1: Well, I ll get my dad then. He can beat up your brother if your brother beats up my brother! Puppet 2: Oh yeah! Well, if your dad beats up my brother, then my dad will beat up your dad! Puppet 1: We d better not fight. If my dad finds out that my glasses are broken, I m in big trouble! Puppet 2: Your dad doesn t have to find out! Puppet 1: He s bound to find out! And if I get into trouble, I m going to tell him how you hit me with that snowball and how you broke my glasses and... Puppet 2: Wait a minute! I have an idea. My brother got new glasses last week, but he still has his old ones in his desk. I can run and get those glasses, and you can wear them.your parents will never know the difference! Puppet 1: Hey.That sounds like a good idea! OK, you go get those glasses, and I ll wait right here! (At this point, put up a sign that says 10 MINUTES LATER. ) Puppet 2: Here are those glasses.try them on and see if they fit. Puppet 1: These look almost exactly like the ones you broke when you hit me with that snowball! Maybe this will work! My parents will never know the difference! (The puppet will bend behind the stage and be fitted with the glasses. Use of a glasses strap should work well to keep the glasses in place.) Puppet 2: There you go! They look great! Puppet 1: (Staggering around because the prescription is not close to what he needs!) Wait a minute! These glasses look the same, but I can t see anything! Everything is all blurry! I m not so sure this will work. Puppet 2: It will work. Trust me! I trick my parents all the time! Parents aren t so smart! I hardly ever do what they tell me to do so I am good at fooling them. They think I m a good kid! Puppet 1: OK, I ll give it a try. But sooner or later my parents will find out. I just know they will, and then I ll be in big trouble! For maximum learning: (VBS director or pastor) Give children a list of the sins they will observe in this puppet sketch/mini-drama. Before the sketch, ask children to place a checkmark by each sin on the list when they see it happening on stage.their list on a quarter sheet of paper should be as follows: 36 Let s Worship Spring 2006

3 The Snowball Fight Check each sin you see. 1. Name calling 2. Hitting someone 3. Stealing 4. Fighting 5.Telling lies 6. Disobeying parents After the sketch review the list.then ask, Boys and girls, the Bible calls these bad behaviors sin. Have you ever sinned? Have you ever done any of the things on this list? The Bible tells us that all have sinned. That means you and that means me.we must come to know that we are sinners.we have all done wrong things. Do you think that (Puppet 1) will trick his parents? Maybe for a little while, but sooner or later they will figure it out. (Puppet 1) will get caught and will be in big trouble, not just for getting his glasses broken but also for lying to his parents about it! Do you think you can fool God when you do bad things? Of course not! God knows all about us. He knows that you are a sinner.this week, we are going to learn how we can be forgiven of our sins and not get in trouble with God. (Close with prayer that the boys and girls will be able to understand the meaning of sin and how to be forgiven.) Day 2 (Excursion 2): The Courage to Trust that Jesus Can Save You (The goal of this session is to teach the children that Jesus came to rescue us from sin.) The Ice Float Rescue (Puppets should be wearing a parka and gloves.) Puppet 1: Oh no! The ice broke, and I m drifting out into the Arctic Ocean! Help! Help! Somebody help me! (Have the puppet bobbing up and down and around to simulate movement on the ocean.) What am I going to do? Puppet 2: (From a location far removed from the puppet stage) Jump from the ice to the shore! Just jump. It s your only hope! (Using a plastic megaphone would add realism to the distance effect. Have one in the puppet s hand and the voice should speak through one.) Puppet 1: It s way too far! I could never jump that far! It s impossible! Puppet 2: Then dive into the ocean and swim back to shore! Puppet 1: That would never work! The water is so cold that I would get hypothermia! Anytime the water is below 60 degrees, a person can freeze to death.the water temperature in the Arctic is only 33 degrees Fahrenheit! If I try to swim, I will drown! It s hopeless! Just hopeless! Puppet 2: Wait. I know what we can do! I will radio for help.a rescue helicopter will come for you! Puppet 1: But I m afraid of heights! Isn t there some other way to rescue me? Puppet 2: I have radioed for a helicopter, and one is on the way! Puppet 1: Please tell them to hurry! The ocean current is taking me farther and farther out to sea! Puppet 2: Just keep looking up, and you will see the helicopter coming. (Play the sound effect of a helicopter growing gradually louder and louder.) Let s Worship Spring

4 Puppet 1: I hear it, and I can see it! (Wave hands in the air.) Here I am! Here I am! (At this point, with the helicopter sound rather loud and as an option having a large fan blowing toward the children so they can feel the wind from the helicopter blades, drop a puppet-sized rope ladder from a spot above. Secure the puppet to the ladder and haul him to safety.this can be done easily by hanging a small rope ladder from a higher level of the stage or by rigging a pulley system from a point on the ceiling using heavy duty fishing line and hooking the puppet to the line and gradually pulling the puppet into the sky as he climbs the ladder safely into the copter.a strong fishing pole would work. If you do this, make legs and feet for your puppet. Practice this for effect!) Pastor or Puppet 2: Wow! What an exciting rescue! Poor (Puppet 1) was in serious trouble! He found himself trapped on a dangerous ice floe and was drifting farther and farther away from shore and out into the frozen darkness of the Arctic Ocean! Pretty scary! He didn t know what to do! Could he jump from the ice floe to the shore? No! Could he swim in the freezing waters? No! All he could do was hope that someone would come to his rescue. And someone came and risked his life so that (Puppet 1) could be saved! Yesterday, we learned about sin.those bad things we do like telling lies and disobeying our parents and hurting people.when we sin, it is kind of like finding ourselves on an ice floe that causes us to drift farther and farther away from God! No matter how hard we might try, there is nothing we can do to get back safely to where God is. So God sent Someone to rescue us.the One God has sent is better than a helicopter. He left headquarters in heaven and came to rescue us! He died on the cross to take away our sins, and then He reaches out and invites us to have the courage to take His hand and to trust Him that He will save us. What would have happened if (Puppet 1) had decided not to grab hold of that rope ladder from the helicopter? (Wait for a response.) That s right! He would have just kept drifting farther away! But he had the courage to trust his rescuers, and he was saved! On Thursday we are going to ask each of you to have the courage to trust Jesus to save you. I hope you will reach out to Jesus and take His nail-scarred hands! He will make sure that you get safely home! Day 3 (Excursion 3): The Courage to Believe that I Can Confess Jesus as My Lord (The goal of this session is to teach children that only Jesus can make us ready to live in heaven one day.) How Can They Live in Such a Cold Place? Puppet 1: Boy, it sure is cold out here in the Arctic! Puppet 2: It sure is! Did you know that the average temperature in the Arctic is a bonechilling 7 degrees? If we had bones, we would freeze out there! In January and February, the average temperature is 29 degrees below zero! Puppet 1: Hmm? I was wondering. If the temperature is that cold, how can polar bears and walruses keep from freezing to death? Puppet 2: That is a very good question! And today, we have a little science experiment to help us learn the answer! Pastor (or VBS director or whoever) is here to show us how polar bears and walruses can live in such extremely cold environments like the Arctic. 38 Let s Worship Spring 2006

5 (Have an adult leader ask for three volunteers. Give the first volunteer two empty zip-lock sandwich bags. Give the second an empty sandwich bag and a zip-lock sandwich bag filled with solid shortening or lard. Give the third volunteer one that is empty and one that is filled with cotton balls. Fill a fifth bag with ice and fill a clear bowl with ice and water. Ask volunteer 1 to take the clear plastic bags and put them on his hands. First, the adult will ask him to hold the bag of ice in one hand and to dip his hand in the icy water with the other. The only covering is the empty plastic bag. After a few moments, ask, How does that feel? The child will soon grow uncomfortable. He will want to remove his hands from the cold. Let him do that. Then give the second volunteer with the cotton ball-filled bag the ice bag. Have him hold the bag in the hand with the empty bag first and then in the fur filled bag. Repeat the process for the third volunteer. Ask the third volunteer to place one hand in the lard-filled bag and one in the empty bag and place both in the icy water. Of course, the cold will not be nearly so unbearable for the protected hands. (Be sure to have a supply of paper towels to clean off any wet and messy hands) (This basic experiment is found at In the Arctic. ) Puppet 2 or Adult Leader: Did the icy cold water feel coldest with or without the insulation from the fur and the blubber? (Wait a moment for a response.) Without the proper insulation, the cold would soon be unbearable, wouldn t it? When the Lord made polar bears and walruses, He gave them the special ability to dwell in a sub-zero climate like the Arctic by giving polar bears heavy fur to keep their body heat, and He gave walruses thick layers of blubber to insulate them from the cold from the moment they were born.that way they can actually enjoy living there! The environment of the Arctic is much too cold for people to live there without lots of warm clothing! If we tried to live there without proper clothing, we would get frostbite and freeze like a popsicle! That reminds me of the story of Nicodemus that you boys and girls learned today on your Arctic Excursion Bible study. One night Nicodemus asked Jesus what he had to do to be able to live in heaven one day. Jesus told him that before he could dwell in that holy and perfect environment called heaven, he needed to be born again.that means that before a person can ever hope to live in heaven someday, the Lord must give him the proper clothing so he can go there. Trying to live in heaven without the robes of righteousness that Jesus wants to give to us is like trying to dwell in the Arctic without a parka or a heavy coat! We just could not survive there the way we are! Puppet 1: So just like polar bears and walruses need God to give them fur and blubber to be able to live in the Arctic environment, people need God to give them robes of righteousness to live in heaven one day? Puppet 2: That s right! People just couldn t live in such a perfect place like heaven unless they ask Jesus to give them this new life. Puppet 1: How does Jesus do that for people? Puppet 2: Well, after Jesus died on the cross to pay for people s sins, He was buried. But three days later Jesus rose from the dead. When He did that, He had a brand-new body the Bible calls a resurrection body! That resurrection body is wonderful! It is a body that never gets sick and never dies again. It is the perfect kind of body for a person to live in heaven. So when anyone realizes he is a sinner and that Jesus is the Savior who came to rescue him from drifting away from God, he can call out to Jesus, and Jesus will forgive his sins and make sure that he gets that resurrection body so he can live forever in heaven one day! Let s Worship Spring

6 Puppet 1: I certainly hope the boys and girls will have the courage to believe that Jesus will do everything He promised if they will confess Jesus as their Lord! To do that they a line on the map from Ophir to Kaltag.This will be the shortcut taken by the puppet. (He won the race, but he was disqualified for breaking the rules.) Puppet 1: It just doesn t seem fair. I won the race. My dogsled was the first one across the finish line! Puppet 2: If you were first to cross the finish line, you should have won.what happened? must follow these ABCs: A Admit they are sinners. B Believe that Jesus is the Savior who can rescue them from sin so they won t drift away from God forever. C Confess that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead so they can get that resurrection body one day to be able to live forever in heaven! Puppet 2: That is exactly right! Tomorrow we will ask the boys and girls who understand just how important this is to do just that! Let s pray that many will ask Jesus to come to their rescue this week! Day 4 (Excursion 4): The Courage to Follow Jesus (The goal of this session is to help children make a decision to follow Jesus.) The Iditarod Using the map of the Iditarod race, show that you must follow the prescribed course or be disqualified. An excellent map of the Iditarod can be found at Make a copy of the Iditarod map/course on an overhead projector transparency. Draw Puppet 1: The race officials said that I cheated.they said I didn t follow the proper route of the race so I was disqualified! Puppet 2: I don t understand. Do you have a copy of the map? Puppet 1: I sure do. (Turn on the overhead projector.) See, here is the route. It seemed like a waste of time for me to travel all the way from Ophir to Cripple to Ruby to Galena to Nulato to Kaltag. I decided to do it my way and go straight from Ophir to Kaltag.That seemed like an easier way so that is the way I went! Puppet 2: But you did cheat! You tried to take a shortcut. No wonder you were disqualified! You have no reason to complain. The race officials gave you a map of the right route, and you ignored it and tried to get to the finish line another way.you broke the rules. Puppet 1: Well, my way just seemed easier. Puppet 2: But when you went your own way,you lost! Puppet 1: I guess that wasn t very smart. 40 Let s Worship Spring 2006

7 Puppet 2: You know, this reminds me of what some people try to do about getting across the finish line into heaven. Puppet 1: What do you mean? Puppet 2: Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father [in heaven] except through [following] Me (John 14:6). Some people think they can get into heaven some other way.they think they can qualify for heaven if they just go to church sometimes or if they try to live a good life. Jesus tells us that the only way into heaven without being disqualified is by following the way that God has mapped out for people to follow. Puppet 1: I would hate for anyone to be disqualified from getting across that finish line into heaven. Puppet 2: So would I. Let s show the boys and girls God s map into heaven! (Put this on an overhead transparency and show these key steps to the children.) Step 1: Admit you are a sinner. Remember how we learned on the first day of our Arctic Excursion that everyone has sinned or done bad things? Everyone has lied or disobeyed parents or hurt others and needs to ask the Lord to forgive him or her.the Bible calls this repenting of our sin. It means that we are sorry we have done these bad things and we want to be forgiven. Step 2: Believe that Jesus Christ came down from heaven to the earth to come to our rescue. Because of our sin, we drift farther and farther away from God. But God loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to come to save us.you must believe that Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins so He could forgive us and that He rose from the dead so He could take us with Him to heaven one day. Step 3: Confess Jesus as the Lord of your life, and commit your life to follow Him. Jesus loves you. He died for your sins and rose from the dead.you can believe all that, but unless you decide to trust in Him as your Guide to get you into heaven, you will never find your way! Jesus is the only One who knows how to get a person safely into heaven. Puppet 1: I hope the boys and girls who understand how important it is to follow Jesus will do that today. Puppet 2: I hope so to. (The pastor will come now and invite the children to follow Jesus.) At this time the pastor will extend the invitation for the children to turn to Jesus. One effective way to do this is to ask for all the children to close their eyes and bow their heads in prayer. After reviewing each of these three salvation steps, he may ask how many of the children would like to invite Jesus to come to their rescue by raising their hands. He may ask each child to move to a location that would be conducive to personal decision counseling. He can then ask trained teachers/counselors to match up with a child or two and go through the steps once more before leading each child who shows a basic level of understanding in prayer for salvation. Home follow-up would then be in order before baptizing the child. Perhaps, a class for the children, teaching them the essentials of what it means to follow Jesus, would be called for as well. Let s Worship Spring