Ingredients for Something Really Awesome

Summary:

Students will learn that God can do some pretty awesome things through them, even when they mess up.

Scripture:

• Exodus (chapters) 2-14 (or)
• John 18:15-27

(basically, 2 different people, same idea. If you go with John’s text, then everywhere Moses is mentioned, replace with Peter – same goes for Peter’s story instead of Moses’.)

Awesome Materials Needed:

• Bibles
• Large, clear plastic bag
• Big, ripe tomatoes (at least a couple for each kid)
• Sidewalk or hard pavement (parking lot, alley, etc.).
• Water hose (connected) or bucket of water & stuff to clean up the pavement with
• Pizza/pasta for afterwards

Preparation:

• Place a whole bunch of tomatoes into a bucket or basket, and place them in large area outside
• Bring students outside to parking lot or open space
• (have cleaning supplies and plastic bag already outside for cleanup)

Awesome Activity

1. Ask: “Have you ever done something that you regretted, like really messed up? How did you deal with it?
2. Grab a tomato (don’t explain anything, just grab one) and throw it up into the air as high as you can, and watch it splat on the ground.
   1. Ask: “Have you ever felt like that tomato?” (jump & stomp on it if you want – completely pulverize it) How about like that? How do you come up from that?
3. Kids’ turn: let each kid take a tomato and do the same. Encourage them to really demolish it!
4. Once all tomatoes are smashed, have everyone help clean them up and put them all into the large, clear, plastic bag.
5. Ask: Anybody have any idea what we should do with these tomatoes?
   1. We’re about to have pasta (pizza), should we use them for the sauce?
   2. Anybody want to put them on their sandwich? (etc.)
      1. (you’re looking for somebody to say “throw them away”)
   3. Probe this: Why should we throw them away? (looking for “they’re worthless” or “They can’t be used for anything”).
   4. Again, probe this: why can’t they be used for anything? Why are they worthless?

Scripture:

Exodus chapters 2-14 (paraphrase, tell the story)

• Ask: Has anybody ever heard of a guy named Moses? (let them tell the story if they can)
  • Born a Jew
  • Adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter
  • Grew up in the Pharaoh’s household, growing into a position that may allow him to help his people
  • Then he Killed an Egyptian, and suddenly became a fugitive/criminal
    • Moses fled into the desert and stayed out there for about 40 years!

Ask: Have any of you ever “blown it”? How’d you feel afterward?

• Did you feel like these tomatoes (worthless, can’t be used for any good)? Yeah, I’ll bet Moses felt like that, too.

• But you see, when we see worthless, God sees opportunity – and God had His own plan for Moses.
  • Moses didn’t know it then, but someday, God was going to make him one of the biggest leaders of all time.
    • He’d return to Egypt, and not just help his people…but with God’s lead, he’d set them free! (Similarly to how we cleaned up the tomatoes, God cleaned up the mess that Moses made.)

Tie it All Together

Take a look at the bag of smashed tomatoes: They don’t look all that great to you, but can you think of some foods that have smashed tomatoes in them?

• Pizza/pasta sauce (and we’re having (pizza/pasta) tonight).
• Catsup/ketchup
  (Won’t use these, but) put if we were to put them into the hands of a chef…

• God is like a Chef in this example…He can really make good things out of what we call a mess.

Sometimes, we only see the mistakes or messes that we’re in, don’t we?
(Give own example of when you blew it to help keep attention and personalize it.)

Dealing with it: some people use drugs, alcohol, attempt suicide, etc. because they can’t deal with the mess they’ve made of their life (and Christians will often fall back to their old ways).

• Sometimes you’re like a smashed tomato.

Good news: God can do some pretty amazing things through you.

Where we see a mess, God sees ingredients for something awesome

But in order for God to use us, we have to do what Moses did: allow him to use us – we need to turn to God – give it up totally to Him (maybe hand the bag of smashed tomatoes to a chef as you say this).

Close:

Bring out food and pray.