Etch-a-Sketch

Description
Use an etch-a-sketch as an object lesson or children's sermon to teach youth or children about things that are temporary or about forgiveness.

Object
Etch A Sketch (http://www.etch-a-sketch.com)
or Magic Slate (wax and plastic sheet tablet that is a low tech version of the etch-a-sketch)

The Lesson

1. Draw a few simple pictures on an etch a sketch (or Magic Slate)
2. Demonstrate how an etch-a-sketch works by turning the knobs.
3. Explain the difficulty of getting the lines and drawing accurate to create a picture - its not easy!
4. In fact, most of the time you will make mistakes.
5. But the nice things about an etch-a-sketch is that all it takes is to turn it over and shake it a bit and you can start over with a clean slate.

Application

• Life is not easy. Traveling the straight and narrow way is very difficult. Things often do not turn out as we intended. We make lots of mistakes. Sometimes we get frustrated and want to give up.
• Fortunately, when we make such mistakes, God can erase them and give us a clean slate. All we need to do is recognize we have messed up (sinned) and confess it to God and ask for his forgiveness.
• Sometimes God has to shake up our lives and turn them upside down a little bit before we realize we need a fresh start.
• As we grow and mature in Christ, we make fewer mistakes and our lives begin to conform to the image of Christ.
• Actually, the key to the successful Christian life, is not to control its direction ourselves, but to let God take control and create the life that he has planned for each us.

Scripture
Colossians 2:14, Colossians 3:8-10

Variation
Show some photos of what the experts can do with an etch-a-sketch. Some examples can be found at:
http://www.gvetchedintime.com/set.html

A talented artist can spend hours creating his masterpiece on an etch-a-sketch, but all it takes is a little shake-up and everything is gone. Many people spend their lives creating the image of their perfect life and then something comes along and shakes things up and everything is gone (Job 34:20) Jesus tells us the only things that will not pass away are his words. (Matthew 24:25,35)

Copyright Sept 2006 by Ken Sapp