“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” That’s what Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16. I love this verse because it’s such a powerful motivator for kids who want to serve God. When you break it down, it’s a three-part series, let the light shine, do good works, bring God glory!
A fun way to further demonstrate this is to use my “Shine a Light” object lesson. It’s fun and easy and it demonstrates how important it is to shine God’s light!
What You’ll Need
- 2 flashlights
- Batteries for one
- Wads of paper
- Coins
- Small items
Prepare to Teach
Before class, place batteries in one of the flashlights. In the other, stuff the wads of paper, coins and small items. Set the flashlights on a table in the teaching area.
Let’s Teach
Begin your object lesson by singing a song together like “This Little Light of Mine.” Take turns reading the verse together. I like to read the verse normally, then read it super-fast and super-slow. Sometimes we read our verses “underwater” meaning I rub my fingers up and down over my lips while I speak to make the underwater sound. After you read the verse together, have kids sit quietly and answer a few questions.
Say, “What do you think it means, ‘Let your light shine before men…” Encourage kids to answer, let them know there’s wrong answer. After they have shared what they think, bring out the flashlight that doesn’t work. Don’t tell them it doesn’t work. Flip the switch on and try to shine a light. Say, “Wow! This isn’t working.” Shake the flashlight. “I think I hear batteries in there. Should we check it?”
Open the battery and show kids the junk that’s in the flashlight. Say, “Wow! These aren’t batteries. No wonder it’s not working. You know, we are kind of like these flashlights. When we have junk in us, we don’t shine our light. Now let’s see what happens we do have a flashlight that shines correctly.” Flip on the working flashlight and turn off the lights to show how bright it is.
Read more from Mimi by following her blog at Tools for Kids Church.