Materials
You’ll need a Bible and five large bags of candy.
Activity
Take five students away from the rest of the group, and explain to them how the game works. For smaller classes you might have only two or three assistants. Be sure that the other kids cannot hear your instructions to the five. Tell each of them you are going to give them bags of candy to share with the other students. There’s only one catch: They can give candy only to the boys, or only to the girls, or only to kids with black tennis shoes. (The idea is to pick something that will eliminate at least half of the kids.) Remind kids not to tell the others why some kids are getting candy and others aren’t. Warn kids to only give candy to those in the designated group, even if the other kids beg.
After giving the first five their instructions, tell the rest of the group: In a moment, I’m going to let the five kids back into the room. When they come in, they’ll have some candy to share. You can ask, bribe, and beg them for it, but do not take it from them. You may or may not get some candy. If you figure out what the requirement is for getting candy, you’ll be entitled to a double portion.
Call the first five kids back into the room. Allow them time to circulate through the group handing out candy to the chosen few. When they have completed their task, you can play the game again if you wish, picking five new kids to pass out cancly. During this round, pick a ciifferent category of kids to give candy to. For example, you may choose those who have buttons on their shirts, those who are wearing white T-shirts, or those with long sleeves, etc.
Debrief
* What was it like to be one who received candy?
* What was it like to be left out or passed over?
* Did anyone figure out why he or she did not get candy?
* Are you nicer to some people because of the way they look, or do you ignore others because they appear to be different?
* What makes you treat some people differently than others?
* Do others treat you different because you are a Christian?
* Do others treat you badly, or make fun of you as a Christian?
* How can today’s passage help you dela with times of persecution?
Application
Finish by passing out candy to everyone! Explain that while the world may persecute us and leave us out because of our Christianity, Christ promises a reward to all Christians. We can take Heart, because Christ has overcome the world.
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.