|
To save: Click here if you would like to download Curriculum. Click here is you would like to download the Entire Set.
We also suggest, and ask that you come up with your own names in the place of the names you will find on the following pages. This will allow for your Children's Church to be unique, and fitted to your own personalities and characters. If every church had a puppet with the same name, yet they all looked and sounded different, this would seem strange to a child who might visit your church on one particular Sunday. If you have enjoyed this curriculum, please feel free to duplicate it and give it to others. This ministry's purpose is to get kids to Jesus, and to get the words of Jesus to the kids. Also, if you have any ideas you would like to share, please send them in, and we gladly will pass them on. Peter says in II Peter 1:12-15 that he continually put the people in remembrance of God's truths even though they already knew them and were established in those truths, so that when he would go on to be with the Lord, the people would have those truths firmly and deeply rooted in their minds. In the same way, we in the Children's Ministry need to continually put our kids in remembrance of Jesus and His truths, even though they think they know it all and are established in those truths, so that when they leave our Sunday School, they will always have these truths firmly and deeply rooted in them, and be able to stand strong in the faith of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you have found this curriculum helpful, or if you haven't, please email us and let us know what you think. Your opinion is not only desired, but needed. clunky@fishersofkids.com Now, God bless you as you minister unto God's children.
Dan Harris
10 Commandments : (click for pictures) One of the best ways to remember is to associate. This is the object of this lesson. Teach the kids to associate the number with the corresponding commandment. I usually go over the commandments with the kids twice, and then give them a chance as a group to try it on their own. As an extra incentive, I also like to tell the kids that after service for the next couple weeks, I will give each of them a candy bar or some other prize once they can recite all ten commandments to me in order without the signs. (Be ready with the candy, cause they will learn.) *** Adultery. I have found the best way for me to teach the kids what adultery is, is to tell them that it is OK for me to give big hugs and lots of kisses to my wife, but it is not OK for me to give big hugs and lots of kisses to my helper Bob’s wife. It works for me :) Story : Once upon a time, there was a children’s summer camp, up in the mountains called Camp Berakah. Now this camp had ten cabins with ten counselors. One of these cabins, Unit One, was the worst group of kids ever to stay the summer at the camp. They were so bad, that within the first week of being at camp, they had had seven different counselors, and the last one had survived for just four hours. These kids were bad. They were constantly getting into trouble of all types, from food fights every breakfast, lunch and dinner, to midnight raids on other cabins, once even tying up one of the counselors and taking him hostage. The dean of the camp, Mr. Johnson, had finally had enough with these little monsters, and called them into his lodge. "I have run out of counselors and patience for you, and have been forced to call an old counselor when I was a child going to camp here. If you can not behave for him, then I do not know what to do." He then sent them off to their cabin to wait for their new counselor. As they hiked to their cabin, dumping trash cans and scaring kids along the way, they began to plan on how to get rid of this new counselor and finally rule the camp. One of the kids even began to boast that if they could get rid of the young counselors in four hours, then surely they could dispatch this old counselor in just one. They arrived at their cabin, and it wasn’t long before they saw Mr. Johnson walking down the trail with someone. As they got closer, the children began to laugh with hysterics, as this new counselor was not only older then they had imagined, but he was a nerd as well. Dressed in black high-water pants, white socks and black shoes, he wore a button down dress shirt with suspenders and a bow tie. "We will not only get rid of him in one hour," yelled one of the kids, "we will get rid of him in ten minutes." Bringing a ringing of laughter from the other kids. As they approached the door, the kids stepped back so as not to get wet from the bucket they had placed on top. But to their surprise, as they entered the cabin, the old counselor stopped and only Mr. Johnson was drenched by the downpour of water. Furious and wet, he introduced the kids to their new councilor and rushed out the door vowing to somehow get back. As the old counselor entered the cabin, his eyes half gazed at the children, half looking around the room for more tricks, he began to smile and then to laugh as he told the kids he himself played that same trick when he went to camp and stayed in this same Unit One almost fifty years ago. "And not only that," he said, "I played that same trick on the kids later on when I was a counselor. And if I remember right, little Billy Johnson was one of the kids I got." The kids began to laugh at the silly old counselor, and he began to introduce himself, "My name is Mr. Rusnogle." He paused as the kids began to snicker. He then repeated it, "My name, is Mr. Rus-nogle." This time saying it with a silly emphasis on his name causing the kids to burst out with more laughter. That’s my name, but you can call me what most of my friends have called me through the years, Sarge." He then began to tell the kids a little about himself, an old retired sergeant of the United States Army, and he answered questions they had about his job. He answered every question one by one, and then began to ask the kids their names, and questions about them. It seemed like only thirty minutes, but three hours had gone by, and not one of those monsters had yet began to do anything wrong. Sarge then began to tell the kids that one of the things he learned being a drill sergeant in the army was that any good platoon, had to have rules, and for their first activity together, they were going to come up with some rules that they would live by for the summer. "Now I could come up with some rules and make you follow them," he said, "but I think you are all a bunch of intelligent soldiers and can probably come up with some on your own." He then pulled out an old pocket knife, and began to carve into the side of the wood the rules that the kids came up with." "No stealing other people’s candy and snacks" said one of the kids. Old Sarge said, "How about we just write no stealing?" "No lying and blaming things on other people." said another child. Then one by one they began to come up with their rules, ten in all that covered the behavior of the kids. No stealing, no lying, no waking people up in the middle of the night, no spitting on each other, and so on. As Sarge finished up carving the rules on the wall, he turned to the kids and told them, "These are really really good rules, some of them even better than what I would have come up with. But you know, a rule only does any good, if their is a punishment to go along with it. Now in the army, we used to have to do pushups." "Three trips through the obstacle course for fighting." said one of the kids. "Three trips through the obstacle course for fighting? That is kind of harsh don’t you think?" asked Sarge. "No" answered the boy with a black and blue eye. "Three trips for hitting a fellow soldier." Sarge looked around the room and saw the nods of agreement on the faces of the other kids, so he turned and carved it on the wall. The obstacle course was a grueling ½ mile hike through tires, up hills, over walls, across the creek, and finally a 100 foot climb across the monkey bars. One run was difficult, more than that was painful. "Two trips for lying" said one of the kids, "Four trips for stealing" said another. As the kids continued to come up with punishments for the rules, old Sarge carved them on the wall. When they had finished with the rules, and punishments, he turned and sternly looked at the children, "As of today, these are the rules that this unit will follow, and these are the punishments. When one of these rules is broken, even by myself, then a punishment MUST follow. Otherwise, you will have to leave camp." He then had all the children raise their right hands, and promise to follow "The Rules of Unit One." He then lead them all outside as they headed off for a night of moonlight hiking. For the first two weeks of summer, Unit One had been the terror of the camp, but the next two weeks saw a miraculous change. They had won awards for not only the neatest and quietest cabin in the camp, but they won almost all the awards given out at the end of each week. This due to the fact that no one in the unit wanted to break a rule and suffer a consequence. This went on for nearly three weeks, until one evening when the kids were coming back from dinner, Sarge was standing at the door of the cabin, and this evening he was not smiling. He opened the door and stood to the side as the kids all filed in. As the last child entered, Sarge also walked in and shut the door. "Sit at your bunks" yelled Sarge as he walked into the cabin, not a sound was heard from the children. They could tell by the way he was looking, that something bad had happened. He began to speak, "As you were all out to dinner, I began looking under your bunks for dirt. And as I was looking I ran across this." He held up three unopened letters, a pocket-knife, and some other things he found hidden under one of the beds, crammed in the mattress. As Sarge held up the items, the kids’ heads all turned to the wall with their ten rules, and their eyes gazed upon the eighth rule and its punishment to follow, "NO STEALING --- 4 TRIPS." "I know who’s bed I found this under, and it was not Eddy’s, who’s name is on the letters. But I am willing to give you a chance to confess your crime, which will make my anger and the following punishment a little less painful." As he continued to hold up the items, the silence in the cabin became deafening. Then from the corner of the room, little Sammy Williams stepped forward. Sarge looked down at little Sammy, and smiled as he thanked him for coming forward and admitting his crime. "I knew it was you, and I am proud that you came forward." As he looked up at the stunned faces of the other kids in the cabin, he addressed them, "A crime has been committed, a punishment must follow." As Sarge lead the kids outside to the obstacle course into the now cool and rainy night, Eddy interrupted and said, "Mr. Sarge, the things that you found have been lost since the first week of camp. Even though Sammy took them, he took them before we had the rules." "That is an interesting thought Eddy," said Sarge, "but even though it happened before, he never gave them back, and that is just as much stealing, now isn’t it?" Eddy softly nodded in agreement. As they arrived at the course, Eddy spoke up again, "Sarge, Sammy has become my friend since the first week of camp, and never gets mail from his family to read. If I give him my mail and the other things he took, its not really stealing then is it?" "That is very kind of you Eddy," said Sarge, "but a rule was broken, a punishment MUST follow." Eddy again nodded, as Sarge and Sammy came to the starting line of the obstacle course. "Mr. Sarge." yelled Eddy one last time in desperation. "What is it Eddy?" said Sarge. "Does is say anywhere in the rules, who has to run the obstacle course?" "Why, no Eddy, it doesn’t." "Then I will run it for Sammy if it is OK by you." Sarge looked at Eddy and Sammy with a puzzled and perplexed look. Sammy was small and frail, and couldn’t possibly finish the obstacle course once let alone four times, while Eddy was a big strong kid. And if Sammy couldn’t finish the course, he would have to go home. Sarge told Sammy to take a knee, and then brought Eddy to the starting line. As he began the obstacle course, things seemed fine, and he finished the first trip fairly quickly. But the rain that was coming down was making his clothing wet and heavy, as well as filling his shoes with mud, making it difficult to run. He finished the second trip, but he was becoming noticeably tired from all of the extra weight. The third trip took him about three times as long as the first, and on this one he barely made if over the wall, and almost didn’t make it across the monkey bars. His hands were getting blisters, and his side was beginning to cramp. The soft rain was coming down harder, and his wet clothing was also piling on mud from the often times he slipped and fell. The pain in his legs was becoming unbearable, but he knew if he didn’t finish the obstacle course, his friend Sammy would have to go home. The last trip was one of agony. Every step filled with pain as he now slowed down to a walk through the tires, and crawled up the muddy hills. Climbing the rope to go over the wall caused his blisters to break open, as his hand screamed in pain. Finally he crossed the creek, which was running faster and harder because of the rain, until he came to the last obstacle. As he approached, now doubled over with pain, he paused and looked down at his bleeding, blistered hands, then up at the monkey bars which seemed ten times as high and long as before. Every muscle in him wanted to quit, but looking at Sammy, he took a deep breath and headed up the latter. As he climbed the bars, his hands burned. Each reach brought more pain than the last as tears began to run down his cheeks. As he reached the end of the bars, he fell to the ground, splashing into the mud below. Sammy ran over to thank and help his crying friend, with the others in the cabin circling around. As Eddy wiped away the tears from his eyes, the children looked up at Sarge who himself now had tears in his eyes. "That was one of the most touching things I have ever witnessed." said the nerdly old man. "I am proud to be the counselor of such a loving and compassionate group of kids. Clunky Puppet Skit : 40 Clunky comes up wearing a white beard, holding two pieces of cardboard cut out to look like the ten commandments and telling everyone that his name is Holy Moses. He tells the teacher that he has learned the commandments and wants to recite them for the candy bar (we give a candy bar to the kids when they can recite all ten commandments by heart). Clunk says that he doesn't remember them in order, but begins to recite them. Clunk gets them wrong, and then you correct him on them.
The seventh commandment is, "Thou shalt not be an adult." The tenth commandment is, "Thou shalt not get into thy neighbor's cupboards." (or, "Thou shalt not put cupboards on thy neighbor's house.") The ninth commandment is, "Thou shalt not witness to a bear falsely." The eighth commandment is, "Thou shalt not aluminum." The third commandment is, "Thou shalt not inject God's name into your veins." The sixth commandment is, "Thou shalt not kill." Clunk hesitates after this commandment, expecting you to correct him, but you tell him that he was actually correct on that one. The fourth commandment is, "Remember the Saturday, to cut it out of the calendar." (keep it hole-y) Sermon : Review the story, skit, and commandments: What was the name of the cabin in the story?
Sermon Points :
Review 10 Commandments : Go over the commandments with the kids once. Then have them try it with the signs but without your help. Remind them that they can try and recite the commandments after service for the prize. Bible Story : 2 Samuel 11 and 12 The key verse to this story is chapter 12, verse 9 when God says to David, "thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword". Joshua Skit : 10 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Billy and Big Bully.) (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 1") Josh and Billy come out playing, when Big Bully comes up pushing Josh around jokingly, and making fun of him. Bully then leaves with Billy, and Josh starts thinking out loud, that he wishes he could get even with that Big Bully. Josh leaves. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Joshua's Thoughts.") Josh now comes out with cool glasses and padding for big muscles. Bully comes out wearing nerdy glasses. Josh walks up to him and pushes Bully so that he cries. Josh gets a big smile on his face, and they both leave. (For added fun, because this is Josh's dream, you can have some of the girls in your Children's Church come up and make a big deal about him, telling him how strong and cute he is.) (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 2" - same as day 1) (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 3" - same as day 1) (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 4") Josh comes out playing with Bill, when Big Bully shows up. But before Bully can do or say anything, Josh turns and pushes or hits him just like in all of his thoughts, so that Bully gets hurt and starts crying. Bully gets up and says that he is going to tell Josh's Mom, who just then walks out. Bully tells Mom, and Josh gets into big trouble. Jesus said that not only is doing bad things wrong, but thinking about doing bad things is also wrong. We tend to do what we think. Memory Verse : Matthew 5:21-22
Clunky Puppet Skit : 37 Clunky comes half way up, dressed in a raincoat, hat, and sunglasses, looks around, and then dashes back down (he does this a couple of times). You finally grab him on one of the times he comes up, and ask him what he is doing. He tells you that he is hiding, and you ask him which bully in school he is hiding from this time. Clunk tells you no bully from school, but he is hiding from the big guy himself. You ask (the name of the person in charge of the Children's Ministry)? He tells you no, that he is hiding from God (Clunk is constantly looking around while he is talking to you). You ask him why he is hiding from God, and he tells you it is because he broke the seventh commandment. You say "You mean you committed adultery?" Clunk says "Whoops, I mean the commandment about not killing." You tell him that is the sixth commandment, and then ask him how he did this. Clunk tells the story "We were playing Robin Hood, and I was playing Friar Clunk with my new bow and arrow set, when I saw a bunny rabbit run out from under the bushes. I pulled out one of my arrows, took careful aim, shot at him, and that is when it happened." You ask "When what happened?" Clunk "I shot the bunny rabbit. I never hit anything I aim at. I haven't even gotten a hole in the target set that came with the bow and arrow, because I can never hit it, how was I to know that the one time I would actually do it right would be the one time I was aiming at something." Clunk continues, "It was terrible, the arrow went right into the bunny's side, and he tried to hop away, but he couldn't, then he fell over on his little back, kicked up his legs and died. I am a murderer." Clunk then tries to leave, but you hold on to him. You then explain to Clunk the difference between murder, and killing (the difference being that murder is premeditated, and has to do with killing people, but that killing a bunny rabbit isn't murder). You can tell him that he is wrong because you have told him not to point his bow and arrow at people or things, but that he has not broken the sixth commandment. Clunk is relieved and leaves to go bury the bunny rabbit. He asks you if you think Pastor will do the service for him. Sermon : Review the Bible story, skits, and commandments: What is the sixth commandment? What did Bully do at the beginning of the
skit?
Who was Clunky hiding from?
Who did God accuse of killing Uriah the
Hittite?
Sermon Points :
Review 10 Commandments : Go over the commandments with the kids once. Then have them try it with the signs but without your help. Remind them that they can try and recite the commandments after service for the prize. Clunky Puppet Skit : 36 Part 1: One of the other puppets comes up at the beginning of the service, telling you that he lost his brand new watch, and ask if you have seen it. He tells you that he was out playing ball before church, and took off the brand new silver watch he got for his birthday, so as not to break it, but forgot about it, and when he remembered and went back to look, it was gone. You ask if he looked all over and he says yes, so tell him that no, you haven't seen it, but that you will go out and help him look after church. Part 2: Clunky comes up later on in the service, and tells you what a wonderful day it has been. He tells you that while on his way to church, he was riding on his tricycle down by the ball diamond, and out of the corner of his eye, noticed something shining. He says that he went to investigate, and it was a brand new silver watch. Clunk shows you the watch. You tell Clunk that is great, because you know whose watch it is, and now he can give it to him. Clunk tells you "finders keepers, losers weepers." You ask Clunk what the Bible says about stealing, and he tells you "I didn't steal it, I found it, that's different." You then explain to him that if you find something that belongs to someone else, and don't give it back, that that is stealing. Then you ask Clunk what he would want someone else to do if the shoe were on the other foot. Clunk says, "Tell them to switch feet." You then tell him what if he left something by accident, and someone found it. Clunk tells you that he would expect them to give it back, or he would beat them up. You then tell Clunk that he should do the same. Clunk goes behind the stage to find the other puppet. (We can hear Clunk and the other puppet, but we can't see them.) Clunk gives him the watch, and he tells Clunk that his dad gave him $5.00 to give as a reward to anyone who finds the watch, and he gives the money to Clunk. Clunk comes back up all excited and happy that he did the right thing, and that not only did he get $5.00, but he also feels good about what he did. Joshua Skit : 23 (Characters : Joshua, Billy, Store Clerk, and a police Officer. The skit takes place at a local grocery store.) (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "Day 1") Josh and Billy are outside the store, talking about the possibility of stealing a piece of candy, because neither one of them have any money. They go into the store, and while Billy distracts the clerk, Josh sneakily grabs two pieces of candy. They leave the store, and are proud of their accomplishment. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "Day 2") The two boys are back at the store, except this time they are planning on stealing two candy bars. (Something a little bigger than the small pieces of candy they stole on day 1.) Again, they go into the store, and as Billy distracts the Clerk, Josh steals the candy bars, and again they do it without being caught. The boys leave, bragging on how good they are. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "Day 3") The boys are at the store, and this time they are planning on stealing a small toy. The results are the same as days 1 and 2 with Josh stuffing the toy under his shirt, except this time after they leave, the clerk calls the police and asks them if they could come to the store the following day after school. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "Day 4") We find the boys outside, this time planning on stealing a bunch of toys. They have done so good on the previous days they think they will never get caught. Once again, they enter the store and as Billy distracts the Clerk, Josh begins to take the toys, and put them under his shirt. This time they is caught by the Police Officer the clerk called the day before (The Police Officer can be a plain clothes Officer.) The skit ends with the Police Officer taking the kids to their parents, telling them that they are going to have to pay for all the things they have stolen by working for the store clerk for the next two weeks every day after school. (One lesson we can point out to the children is that with things like stealing, though it usually begins with something small, it inevitably grows into something bigger.) Sermon : Review the skits, and commandments: What is the eighth commandment? What did the little puppet lose?
What did Josh and Billy steal on the first
day?
Sermon Points :
Review 10 Commandments : Go over the commandments with the kids once. Then have them try it with the signs but without your help. Remind them that they can try and recite the commandments after service for the prize. Clunky Puppet Skit : 59 Part 1 : Clunky comes dressed up in black with a red cape and black pointed hat with stars, and asks you if he can see your hand. You give it to Clunk who looks at your hand and tells you that you ate pancakes for breakfast. You tell him he is right, and then ask how he guessed, and he tells you that he could tell by reading your palm… it had maple syrup on it. You ask him why he is doing all this, and Clunk tells you that he is getting into this crystal ball, palm reading, astrology, and Chinese cookie stuff. You tell Clunky that that stuff is dangerous, but Clunk tells you that he read his horoscope in the "National Intruder" Thursday, and it came true. You ask him what it said, and Clunk tells you that it said if he would get out of bed, he would have a good day, he got out of bed and sure enough, he had a good day. He tells you not only that, but he opened one of his Chinese cookies this morning, and it told him, "'You will meet a strange person today.' And look, here you are." (Clunky laughs.) You tell him that it was just a coincidence, that a lot of things like that make predictions so vague that your chances are good that it will happen, so that you will get hooked. Clunk then pulls up a statue and tells you, "Well how about what happened when I rubbed this statue's tummy?" You ask what happened, and Clunk tells you that his friend from school sold him this statue and told him that if he would rub the statue's tummy and make a wish that it would come true. Clunky bought the statue for fifty dollars, you interrupt him and ask, "You paid fifty dollars for this?" and Clunk tells you that it is a magic statue. He continues to tell you that he made a wish, rubbed its tummy and sure enough his wish came true. You ask Clunk what he wished for and he tells you that he wished that he would be tougher and that it has come true. He tells you that Bully came over to his house yesterday to give him his weekly beating, but instead of running away from Bully, he stood up to him and beat him up. Again you tell Clunky that all of that was just a coincidence, and then explain that even you could have told him that if he would have gotten out of bed he would have had a good day, and that he would have met someone strange today, and as for beating up Bully, you saw what happened, and it is not quite the way he put it. You tell Clunk that you saw as he tried to take a punch at Bully who ducked his swing, causing Clunky to trip and fall down, pushing a toy, startling the dog, who scared the cat, who ran by the next door neighbor who was carrying his groceries, causing him to trip, knocking over the ladder that had a bucket of water on top which fell and hit Bully on top of the head. Clunk tells you that you are just a non-believer, and you tell Clunk that he needs to be careful, because when you do stuff like that, you are not looking to God for guidance, but to Satan. Clunk just ignores you and tells you all he knows is that he tried it and it worked. Clunk tells you that he also called 1-900-psychic, and the lady told him that if he would sell all of his stuff, and give it to her, that he would make it lucky and become a millionaire. You tell Clunky that he really needs to be careful, because people like that are phonies and are in it to get suckers like him. Clunky says, "So you are calling me a sucker, huh? Well, I am going to do exactly what she said and become a rich millionaire. And just to make sure, I am going to rub the statue’s tummy for extra good luck while wearing this rabbit's foot, and then we will see who will be the sucker." Clunk leaves to go give his money away. Part 2: Clunky comes back all sad, and you ask him how it went. Clunky tells you that he went to the psychic and gave her all of his money, and then she took the money and slammed the door in his face, calling him a sucker. You explain to Clunky that when you do stuff like this, you are putting your trust into something other than God, and that when you do that, bad is always going to be the end result. Clunk tells you that he has learned his lesson, that from now on he is never going to listen to those call-up psychics, and besides, his Chinese cookie even said yesterday to watch out for phonies. You look and say, "Clunky!" and he says, "I'm just kidding. The Bible says that you should have no other gods before him, and from now on, when I want to know something, I will pray to God." Clunk then leaves. Bible Story : 1 Kings 11:1-13 (Characters : Joshua, Sis, and Billy. You will need a tape recorder and a prerecorded tape.) Josh and Sis come out with their collection of baseball cards. Billy comes over and listens as they tell him how good their baseball card collection is. Billy then pulls out the baseball card of a (fictitious) famous baseball player. Josh's eyes get big because he is not only his favorite baseball player, but he knows that in a couple of years that baseball card will be worth a lot of money. Josh asks Billy if he would be willing to sell it to him. Billy tells Josh that he looked up the price of the card and found out that it is now worth $20.00. He tells him that he will sell it to him for the $20.00 and the baseball card of another fictitious baseball player who happens to be Billy's favorite player. Josh opens his piggy bank and finds that he has $20.00 on the nose, so after trying to con Billy down on the trade without success, and struggling with himself for a minute, he decides to make the trade. Sis steps in and tells Josh that he hasn't paid his tithes on that money that he earned for mowing lawns and washing cars yet, and that he should wait and buy the card later. Josh tells her that this particular card continues to go up in price every day, and if he waits a week, it will cost him $25.00 and two baseball cards. Sis continues to try and persuade him, but to no avail. Josh and Billy make the swap, and both of them leave very happy. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "The Next Day") Josh comes out all excited about his cards, and Sis comes out listening to the radio (actually the tape recorder with pre-taped songs and announcement on it). Josh tells her to turn it off, when he hears a news flash. The news man tells how Josh's favorite player was arrested for beating up an old lady, and then kicking her little grand daughter. He also says that he has been kicked out of baseball, and that his new baseball card valued at $25.00 has just dropped to .08 cents. Josh is awestruck, and can't believe it. Sis tells him that if he would have listened to her and put God first, he wouldn't have lost all his money. They both leave. Sermon : Review the Bible story, skits, and commandments: What is the first commandment?
What thing of Billy’s did Joshua really
want?
What was Clunky wearing when came up?
What happened to Solomon when he began to worship idols? Sermon Points :
Review 10 Commandments : Clunky Puppet Skit : 3 Part 1: Clunky comes up dressed like "LEWIS AND CLUNK" (Lewis and Clark), the famous explorer, asking you if he has your permission to go out and explore (play). You tell Clunk that he can go out and play after church, but right now you want him to sit down and pay attention to the service. Clunk tells you that he already knows all about whatever you are teaching, and besides, his friends are waiting for him, and it wouldn't be very "Christian-like" to make his friends wait. You tell Clunk that Church comes first, then he can go out to play with his friends, and besides, if his friends will get mad at him for going to church, then they aren't very good friends, and he should find new ones. Clunk leaves, quietly grumbling about how mean you are. Part 2: A few minutes later, we hear Clunk scream, and rush to see what happened. Clunk comes up with cactus needles stuck into him yelling "Pull them out, pull them out!!!" You start to pull them out, and then ask Clunk how this happened. Clunk tells you that he obviously fell into the cactus. You ask Clunk how he could fall into the cactus when the cactus is outside. Clunk asks if he can have a minute to think about how to answer that one. Clunk finally confesses that his friends were at the window egging him to come outside, and so he tried to sneak out by climbing out the window, but slipped and fell into the cactus. You ask Clunk if he learned his lesson, and he says "Yes, next time I will sneak out the other window." You look at him, and he says "Just kidding! Next time, I will wait until after church. By the way, what is the lesson in church about today?" You tell him obedience. Bible Story : Luke 2:40-52 Nerd Skit : 9 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, and a pair of handcuffs.) Nerd A comes out complaining about what a bad day it has been, that he has lost the key to his handcuffs, and needs to go buy some new ones, and to top it all off, his little nephew (Nerd B) is coming over to spend the day, and he drives him crazy by always asking him why, why, why, why. Nerd B comes in playing sheriff and robbers, running around shooting, and tells his Uncle (Nerd A) that he is bored playing by himself, and asks if he will play with him. "Would you, could you play with me Uncle (Nerd A), huh could ya, would you, huh, huh?" Nerd A tells him "no", and Nerd B asks "Why Uncle (Nerd A), why can't you play with me, huh Uncle (Nerd A), why?" He then begins to ask him questions about why is the sky blue and not purple or pink, and other questions getting on his uncle's nerves. Nerd A tells him to quit asking so many questions, and just keep on playing. He does, but then sees the handcuffs on the table. He asks Nerd A if those handcuffs are his, and if he can play with them. Nerd A says that they are his, but that he can't play with them. Nerd B then begins to ask "Why Uncle (Nerd A), why, why can't I play with them, huh?" Nerd A begins to explain, but then stops because he is getting mad at Nerd B and tells him that he just can't. Nerd A then leaves, and tells Nerd B to play and be good while he is gone. Nerd B asks "Where are you going Uncle (Nerd A)?" Nerd A leaves pulling out his hair. Nerd B starts to play and noticing the handcuffs on the table he begins to realize that they would be fun to play sheriff and robbers with, then he begins to pester the kids by asking them why his Uncle (Nerd A) didn't want him to play with them. He begins to play with the handcuffs, and cuffs himself to the chair, and then begins looking for the key. He finally realizes why his Uncle (Nerd A) told him not to play with the handcuffs, when Uncle (Nerd A) comes back in. Nerd B tries to hide the handcuffs, has a look of guilt on his face, and asks Nerd A "Why are you back so soon, huh, why?" Nerd A asks him what he is doing, and then asks him to come help him with something, and Nerd B drags the chair with him. Again Nerd A tells him that he is acting strange, and asks what is going on. Nerd B plays around with him for a while, but then finally shows him his hands and begins to cry, begging him to take it off. Nerd A tells him that he can't, because he lost the key, but that now they will have to go down to the blacksmith's shop, and have him take them off with a hammer or maybe an electric saw. Nerd B is scared because he is afraid he will hit his little hands with the hammer. Nerd A gets a big smile of his face and tells him to quit complaining and come along. They both leave. Memory Verse : Simon RePeter Ephesians 6:1
Simon RePeter is a hairy puppet who comes to Children's Church to teach the kids the memory verse. He comes up, tells the children his name and that they are to repeat after him. He then begins to say parts of the memory verse, giving the children time to repeat it. This has a lot of opportunity for fun and silliness with the kids repeating everything Simon says. In the end though, the children have repeated the memory verse several times, and consequently have learned it. Sermon : Quickly review the Bible story, skits, and commandments: Sermon Points :
Review 10 Commandments : Go over the commandments with the kids once. Then have them try it with the signs but without your help. Remind them that they can try and recite the commandments after service for the prize. Bible Story : Acts 5:1-11 EdWord : Edword is a puppet who likes to try and help tell the Bible story, but never seems to get it right. He always seems to appear at the time of the Bible story, and consequently asks if he can help out. Though he thinks he knows all of the stories by heart, he is always goofing them up, which gives you a good opportunity to tell him, and the children, how it really goes. When Edword begins to ramble on, have the children get his attention by saying "Edword, Edword, Edword!!!" Then you straighten him out. Clunky Puppet Skit : 61 Part 1: Teacher A is out leading the singing when Clunky comes up frantically yelling and asking Teacher A for help because a fire had started back behind the stage. Teacher A tells Clunky not to panic, but then begins to panic herself and rushes back to see what has happened. While she is doing this, Clunky starts laughing because he knows it is just a lie and that there is no fire, he just wanted to see her panic. He begins to imitate her to the kids when she comes out and asks him about the fire. Clunk tells her that he was just kidding, that there really is no fire, he just wanted to see her panic. She angrily tells him that he should not kid about things like that, and Clunk leaves saying how grouchy she is. Part 2: Teacher B is out telling a story when Clunky comes up again, frantically yelling and asking Teacher B for help because a fire had started back behind the stage. Teacher B also tells Clunky not to panic, but then begins to panic herself and rushes back to see what has happened. While she is doing this, Clunky starts laughing again, knowing it is still just a lie. He begins to imitate her to the kids when she comes out and asks him about the fire. Clunk tells her that he was just kidding, that there really is no fire, he just wanted to see her panic. She angrily tells him that he should not kid about things like that, and Clunk leaves saying what a big fuddy duddy she is. (This happens with as many teachers as you wish, each teacher getting mad at Clunky.) Part 3: After Clunky has gotten the last teacher, they all come up front and begin to talk about Clunky and what he has done, making fools of them. Clunk comes running up and tells them that this time there really is a fire and that it started in his stuff. All of the teachers just look at him and say, "Yeah, right." Clunk is really frantic telling them that he lied to them, but that this time there really is a fire. Again they don’t believe him telling him that they are not going to fall for it this time, and just turn their backs to him. Clunk runs back behind to stage when all of a sudden we see smoke coming from the back and realize that this time there really is a fire. The teachers run to the back and put out a fire, but not soon enough to save Clunky’s stuff. They then explain to Clunk the importance of being someone who tells the truth. Joshua Skit : 22 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, and Billy.) We hear Josh and Billy playing in the background, talking about hitting the baseball over the house. Josh throws the ball, and Billy hits it. We then hear the sound of glass breaking (break a glass jar) and Josh and Billy getting upset about breaking a window. Josh and Billy come out on stage. They come in talking about the window, and then realize that they are walking on, and tracking up the freshly shampooed carpet that Mom said not to walk on wearing shoes. They quickly take off their shoes and throw them out the window. They begin to argue with each other about the window, Josh telling Billy that he was to hit the ball over the house, not through it. Josh then sees Mom's camera (an old already broken camera) setting on the table, and he picks it up and tells Billy that he is going to take a picture of him. Billy, who is holding a ball, throws it at Josh, who drops and breaks the camera to catch the ball. They put the camera back, and begin to realize how much trouble they are in, when Mom comes in. Mom asks the boys what happened to the window. Billy starts to tell the truth, but Josh hits him, knowing that the boys are not to play ball next to the house, and begins to tell a lie, "While we were down at Billy's house playing ball, we thought we saw Bully walking next to the house, and a couple of minutes later we heard the sound of glass breaking. I told Billy, 'I think Bully broke a window at our house' and I remember the exact words the Billy said, 'Yea.' So that is what must have happened. You know what a bad kid that Bully is." Mom believes the lie. Mom then looks at the carpet and asks who it was that tracked dirt all over the living room. Billy begins to tell the truth, but Josh hits him and tells another lie, "As you can see Mom, Billy and me took our shoes off before we came into the house. But after we heard Bully breaking a window, I thought I saw him going into the house. He probably got mud on his shoes on purpose, and walked all over the living room just to be mean. I even said to Billy 'Hey that looks like Bully going into our house.' And I remember the exact words that Billy said, 'Yea.' So we are sure it was that Bully kid." Mom looks at the boys kind of funny, but still believes them. She then goes to pick up the camera only to find it broken, and asks the boys what happened to her camera. Once more Billy begins to tell the truth, but Josh hits him and tells another lie, "After we saw Bully come into the house, I thought I heard the sound of a camera breaking. I even said to Billy 'Hey Bill, does that sound like a camera breaking to you?' and I remember the exact word he said, 'Yea!' When that big mean Bully came into the house, after he stomped around tracking mud everywhere, he must have seen the camera and picked it up and threw it on the ground just to be mean." Mom begins to doubt them, but she can't prove it, so she believes them. Mom then leaves. Billy then says, "Boy Josh, why did you tell your mom all of those lies?" Josh replies, "If Mom knew the truth about the window, she would never let you come over the play again, and concerning the carpet, she said a hundred times 'Josh don't come in today with your shoes on.' and if she knew that we were the ones that broke her camera, I would get a spanken. You know how the old saying goes, what she don't know won't hurt us." Josh and Billy leave as Mom sticks her head in the window and says, "I knew something was up." (Someone comes out with a sign that says two days later.) Josh and Billy come out all excited because today is the day that Mom usually gives them some money to go to the store to run some errands for her, and then gives them a couple extra dollars to buy themselves some candy. Mom comes in, and Josh tells her that they are ready to go the store. Mom tells them that she found out what happened to the window, carpet and camera, and that she already gave the job to Sis, because she obviously can't trust the boys. They say that they are sorry, but Mom tells them that they are going to have to prove themselves trustworthy if they are to get that or any job back. They all leave. Sermon : Review the Bible story, skits, and commandments: What is the ninth commandment? What did Clunky tell the first teacher
that was not true?
What was the first lie that Joshua told
his mom?
What did Ananias and Sapphira do to their
house?
Sermon Points :
Review 10 Commandments : Clunky Puppet Skit : 72 One of the teachers calls up Clunky. She tells him that Pastor Dan gave her an envelope with twenty dollars in it. Clunky takes the envelope and starts jumping up and down in excitement. She asks Clunky what he is so happy about, and Clunky tells her, that he is going on vacation and the twenty dollars is for souvenirs. Clunky tells her that he has been working hard for the last month mowing lawns and cleaning toilets to earn money, and now he is going to take his twenty dollars and buy cool souvenirs. She tells Clunky that she is excited for him. Clunky tells her that he has to leave to start packing. Clunky and the teacher leave. Later in the service, Simon RePeter comes up with a new baseball glove. He shows it to the kids and tells them that he got it for free by going to a baseball game. He is excited and calls up his best friend Clunky to show him. Clunky comes up and Simon shows him the glove. Clunky looks at the glove and asks him, "Where did you get that awesome baseball glove. I got to have a glove like that." Simon tells him they are not for sale, that you can only get it by going to a baseball game, "They hand them out to the first two hundred puppets who show up." Clunky offers him a dollar for it, but Simon refuses, telling him that it he can get one later for free. Clunky tells him he can’t wait, that he has to have it now, and then offers him, two, then five and finally ten dollars for the glove. Simon tells him, "Boy Clunky, if you want it that bad then I guess I will sell it to you for ten dollars." Clunky and Simon leave to go get the ten bucks. While they are gone, Big Birtha comes up and shows the kids a "Johnny Money" autographed baseball ("Johnny Money" is a fictitious baseball player). While she is showing it to the kids, Clunky comes up with his new baseball glove. He is excited about the glove and shows it to Birtha. Birtha tells him the glove is nice, but then shows him the "Johnny Money" autographed baseball. Clunky tells her that Johnny Money is his favorite player, and asks if he can touch the ball. Birtha tells him if he touches the ball, she will touch his nose with a knuckle sandwich. Clunky offers to buy it for a dollar. Birtha tells him that it isn’t for sale. Clunky offers her two dollars. Birtha asks him, "What part of ‘not for sale’ do you not understand?" Clunky offers her five and she says no. He then offers her twenty, and Birtha says she will take it. Clunky remembers that he already spent ten and offers her the other ten. Birtha accepts and they leave to go get his ten dollars. Clunky asks, "Do you think I can hold the ball on the way to get the ten dollars?" Birtha answers, "Do you want that knuckle sandwich?" Pastor Dan comes up and calls for Clunky. Clunky comes up, and Pastor Dan asks him if he is packed and ready to go? Clunky tells him almost. Pastor Dan asks Clunky if he packed the twenty dollars in his suitcase. Clunky tells him, "Not exactly." Pastor Dan asks what not exactly means, and Clunky tells him how he bought a really cool baseball glove from Simon, and a "Johnny Money" autographed baseball from Birtha. Pastor Dan asks how much it cost him and Clunky says, "Oh, just a few bucks." Pastor Dan asks how many a few is, and Clunky tells him, "Ummm. Twenty." Pastor Dan reminds Clunky that they had plans to go to a baseball game in a couple of weeks and Clunky would have gotten a baseball glove then for free. Clunky tells him that he just needed it now. Pastor Dan tells him that he can get a free autographed baseball of Johnny Money signed just for him then also. Again Clunky tells him that he just had to have it now. Pastor Dan tells him that he needs to learn to follow the tenth commandment. Clunky says, "I never told a lie." Pastor Dan tells him, "That is the ninth commandment. The tenth commandment is ‘Thou shalt not covet.’" Pastor Dan then asks him what he is going to do when he wants to buy souvenirs on his vacation? Clunky tells him he has a good idea, that he can borrow another twenty dollars from Pastor Dan, and he will pay him back later. Pastor Dan tells Clunky he has a better idea. He can start doing chores like washing his car, mowing the lawn and cleaning more toilets to earn some money. Clunky sighs and leaves to go clean the toilets. Memory Verse : 1 Timothy 6:6
Bible Story : Genesis 3 Instead of being grateful to God for what she had, Eve was lured away by covetousness, wanting also what God had (being as God.) Nerd Skit : 21 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, a beeper and two calculators.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch three skits on thou shalt not covet. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out and begins telling the kids about this new calculator he saw at the store. He tells them, "It is the new ‘Albert Einstein delta magna 3.14 special’ with a 100 megahertz capacity, able to calculate five million calculations per second. I drool every time I look at it, and just to be able to touch it is a dream come true." While he is talking about this calculator, Nerd B comes out with the calculator in hand. Nerd B decides to calculate the rotational speed of the sun, when Nerd A asks Nerd B what kind of calculator he has. Nerd B tells him, "It is the ‘Albert Einstein delta magna 3.14 special’ with a 100 megahertz capacity, able to calculate five million calculations per second." Nerd A asks if he can see it, but Nerd B tells him he can’t because he hasn’t finished his science project for school, and he would mess it up. Nerd B leaves. Nerd A leaves now mad that Nerd B has a cool calculator and he doesn’t. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on thou shalt not covet, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he is mad that someone else has the calculator he wants.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes and is telling the kids, "Do you remember the new calculator I told you I saw at the store? The new ‘Albert Einstein delta magna 3.14 special’ with a 100 megahertz capacity, able to calculate five million calculations per second? Well I went home, found all of my pennies, nickels and dimes, and I sold all of my pocket protectors, plus my John Travolta Saturday Night Special bowling bowl, and I bought it." He then pulls out his calculator and begins to do his own calculations of the rotational speed of the sun. "Now I won’t have to be jealous of that silly guy who has one cause I have one too, and mine is newer." While he is calculating on his calculator, Nerd B comes out with a bigger calculator in hand (you can use the keyboard of a computer). Nerd B then decides to calculate the rotational speed of the galaxy, when Nerd A sees him and asks him what kind of calculator he has. Nerd B tells him, "It is the ‘New and improved Albert Einstein premo delta magna 3.14 special’ with a one million megahertz capacity, able to calculate six billion calculations per second." Nerd A asks if he can see it, but Nerd B tells him he can’t because he hasn’t finished his science project for school, and he would mess it up. Nerd A leaves now mad that Nerd B has a cooler calculator than he does. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on thou shalt not covet, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he is mad that someone else has a cooler calculator than he has.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out and tells the kids, "Do you remember the new calculator I that one guy had, the ‘New and improved Albert Einstein premo delta magna 3.14 special’ with a one million megahertz capacity, able to calculate six billion calculations per second? Well I sold my old wimpy calculator, plus I sold all of my old pair of socks and underwear, and I was able to buy this…" He then pulls out his calculator and begins to do his own calculations of the rotational speed of the galaxy. "Now I won’t have to be jealous of that silly guy who has one, cause I have one too, and mine is newer." While he is calculating on his calculator, Nerd B comes with no calculator. Nerd A walks over and shows him his new calculator. Nerd B then shows him his beeper, and says, "Where have you been? They just came out the ‘New and improved Albert Einstein premo delta magna 3.14 special’ with a one million megahertz capacity, able to calculate six billion calculations per second, only in beeper size. Now I no longer have to carry around that big UGLY looking calculator. It was so heavy and it was cramping my style with all the chicks. And besides being a calculator, it also works as a beeper. When it goes off I tell the girls, ‘Excuse me, but it must be the President calling.’" Nerd A looks at Nerd B, starts to get mad, but then pats him on the back and says, "Wow, beeper size. You are a very blessed man." Nerd B says, "The only problem is that it costs so much I don’t even have enough money for lunch." Nerd A then tells him not to worry, he has a little extra money from selling his underwear, "Some dorky guy named Pastor Dan (use your children’s pastors name here) actually bought them from me." The two nerds leave for lunch. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on thou shalt not covet, and why it was. (It was because he wasn’t mad that someone else has a cooler calculator than he has.) Sermon : Review the Bible story, skits, and commandments: What is the tenth commandment? In the first skit, what did the first nerd
see at the store that he wanted?
What did Clunky earn and save his money
for?
What did the serpent ask Eve about?
Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 60 Part 1: Simon comes up looking for Clunky. Clunk comes up and Simon asks him if he could borrow that new "Candy Land" game that Clunk just bought. Clunk tells him that it is not his policy to loan out things to people because that’s how things get broken. Simon tells him that he loans out things to him all of the time, and Clunk tells him, "And I am always breaking them too, ain’t I?" The more Simon begs, the madder and ruder Clunky gets. Clunk leaves with Simon following him still begging. Part 2: Clunky comes up and Pastor Dan asks him if he could borrow a stick of gum. Clunk says he doesn’t have enough. Pastor Dan tells Clunky that he knows he has a whole pack, because he just bought it yesterday. Clunk tells him that if he gives him a stick of gum, then sometime next week when one of the cute girls comes up to talk to him and he really needs one, he won’t have it because he gave it to him today. Pastor Dan also begs, but the more he does, the madder and ruder Clunky gets. Clunk leaves. Part 3: Edword comes up looking for Clunky. He asks him if he could spare a minute to help him move this heavy box back behind the stage. Clunk tells him no. Edword tells him that the box is too heavy for him to lift alone, and that it will only take one minute, but Clunk tells him that he took a shower this morning for the first time in a week and a half, and he doesn’t want to get all hot and sweaty moving that old stupid box. Edword begins to beg, and again, the more he begs, the madder and ruder Clunky gets. Bully comes up looking for Clunky. Bully tells him that he is on his way to the ice cream parlor and wants the buck and a quarter that he loaned Clunky Friday. Clunk tells him that he only loaned him seventy-five cents. Bully tells him it is twenty-five cents interest a day. Clunk tells him that he doesn’t have it right now, and Bully tells him that he is hungry for an ice cream cone, and that if he doesn’t get his buck and a quarter from Clunk that he will be forced to beat him up today, and get a buck fifty from him tomorrow. Clunk tells him not to sweat, that he will just ask some of his friends if he could borrow it from them. Clunk then yells for Simon who tells him that he would if he could, but that he had to use all of his money to buy his own "Candy Land" game. Bully begins to threaten him, but Clunk tells him not to worry. Clunk then yells for Edword, who tells him that he only has a five dollar bill, and doesn’t feel like lending it to someone who can’t spare a minute. Clunk then calls for Pastor Dan who also tells him no. Clunk tells him it is only a buck and a quarter, but Pastor Dan, mocking what Clunk told him earlier says, "If I give you the buck and a quarter, then sometime next week, when I need it for something, I won’t have it, cause I gave it to you today." Clunk begins to panic and Bully gets mad and begins to chase Clunk around and off the puppet stage to beat him up. Memory Verse : Mr. Sin Galatians 6:7
Mr. Sin is a human puppet who is dressed to look like a bad person. His goal in life is to try and keep the children from learning the memory verse. We write our week's memory verse on five or six balloons, and then tape them to the puppet stage. One of the teachers comes up front and has the children say the memory verse with them. Mr. Sin then comes up, and tries to convince the children to not listen to the teacher, but to listen to him and not say the memory verse. He then pops one of the balloons, and leaves thinking he has ruined it for the children. (We put a pin on Mr. Sin's chin for him to pop the balloons with.) The teacher then has the children say the memory verse with one of the words now gone. Mr. Sin comes back up angry, and again tries to get the kids to listen to him, and not say the memory verse. He asks the kids if they really believe in what the Bible says, and the children without any coercion from the teacher will answer yes. When he fails, he again pops one of the balloons and leaves thinking that they surely won't be able to say the memory verse now. This goes on for as many balloons as you have. When the last balloon is popped, Mr. Sin leaves for good, but the children have memorized the memory verse. Joshua Skit : 36 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Sis, and Billy. You will also need ten one dollar bills.) Joshua comes out playing with Billy. They stop to take a break, and Billy tells Josh about a baseball card that he saw on sale at a garage sale. A rare Rookie card of George Brette when he played on the Omaha Royals. He told the guy that if he would hold onto it for him, he would get the money and buy it, but it has been a day, and he still doesn’t have enough money for the card. Josh asks him how much more he needs and Bill tells him two dollars. Josh pulls out ten one dollar bills. He tells Billy that he has been saving up to go to the fair, but then takes out two of the dollars and gives them to Billy so that he can go buy the card. Both boys leave. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "Two Days Later.") Josh comes out with Sis who tells him that she has been invited to a birthday party for her very best friend. She tells him that she saw a really cool dolly at the store, but that Mom only gave her five dollars, so she is going to have to buy this dumb looking doll instead. Josh asks her how much more the cool dolly costs, and Sis tells him it costs seven dollars, so she needs two dollars more. Josh pulls out the eight dollars he has left and gives Sis two. Both kids leave. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "Two Days Later.") Josh comes out with Mom who is on her way to the store to go get some cough medicine for Sis. She tells him to please watch out for his sister and take care of her while she is gone. Mom looks in her purse and then realizes that she doesn’t have anymore checks, and begins to panic wondering on how she is going to pay for the medicine. Josh asks her how much the medicine costs, and Mom tells him about five dollars. Josh pulls out the six dollars he has left and gives five to Mom, who thanks him and then runs to the store. Josh leaves when he hears Sis crying in the back. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "Day of the Fair.") Josh comes out the day of the fair and opens his piggy bank only to find one dollar in it. Billy comes over to play, but Josh is not in the mood. When Billy asks why, Josh explains that it costs eight dollars to get into the fair, and he only has one, and that he has been looking forward to this fair ever since last year. Josh leaves crying. Mom and Sis come in as he leaves, and Mom asks Billy what is the matter with Josh. Billy explains about the fair, and then tells Mom that he borrow two dollars from Josh for a baseball card two days ago, but that he got fifteen dollars for mowing his lawn every week this month, and would gladly not only pay Josh back the two dollar that Josh gave him, but give him a couple of dollars more just because he really needed that two dollars for the card. Sis also tells Mom that she borrowed two dollars from Josh for the dolly, and that she would give him her entire weeks allowance of three dollars to help him out. Mom tells the two kids that she also borrowed five dollars from Josh for the cough medicine for Sis the other day. She tells them that if they would pay back Josh the money they all borrowed, then she would pay for their all of their ways to the fair. Mom calls in Josh, and the two kids give Josh the money, and Mom gives him the five dollars she borrowed and five dollars more and tells him that it is for him to spend on anything he wants. She then tells them that afterwards she is going to take them all out for pizza. Sermon : Review the memory verse and skits: What did Clunky not lend to Simon RePeter?
How much money did Joshua have at the beginning
of the skit?
Sermon Points :
Bible Story : 2 Chronicles 33-35 Manasseh was an evil king and desecrated the temple and the land, bringing about God’s punishment. Josiah was a good king and cleansed the temple and the land, bringing about God’s blessing. Memory Verse : Romans 12:1-2
Clunky Puppet Skit : 5 Part 1: Clunky comes up dressed in a hospital gown, and throws his suitcase over the stage. You come up front and ask him what he is doing. Clunk tells you that he read a place in the Bible that you are to renew your mind, so he is going to the hospital to have his brains sucked out and replaced with new ones. You explain to Clunk that when you renew your mind, it doesn't mean to suck out your old brain and get a new one, but to wash your mind out and make it brand new. Clunky says he understands you, and leaves before you can completely explain it to him. Part 2: Clunky comes up later in the service with a towel wrapped around him, a shower cap on his head, and shampoo (use cotton balls and straight pins) on his head, and in his eyes. He comes up front not being able to see where he is looking for a towel to wipe the soap out of his eyes. He finds one, wipes away to soap, and realizes he is standing in the middle of Children's Church, screams and hides. You come up front and ask him what he is doing now, and he says he is doing what you told him and trying to WASH (renew) his mind. You explain to him, and to the kids, that you wash (renew) your mind through reading your Bible. (You can have Clunk playing with a rubber ducky, or squirt you to make it fun.) Joshua Skit : 32 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Sis, and Billy. This skit takes place in Joshua's bedroom which is a mess, filled with piles of dirty clothes and junk.) Part 1: Joshua comes in to his room, and throws some more clothes in a big pile. Mom comes in and tells Josh that his room is a disaster and that he really needs to clean it and make his bed. Josh tells Mom that even though it might look just a little bit messy, he knows exactly where everything is at, and that if he would clean it he would not know where everything is. As to making his bed, he tells her, "Why make it when I am just going to sleep on it anyway." Mom tells him that there is no way he could know where everything is in all of this mess, so Josh asks her to test him. She asks where his baseball is, and Josh briefly looks around quickly and pulls it out from under a pile of clothes. Mom tells him that she should make him clean it up, but that it might be a better lesson if she just lets him keep it messy, and that some day it will come back to hurt him. Josh thanks her and tells her it will be no problem. Josh and Mom leave. Part 2: Josh comes back in and begins to kick his clothes around looking for something when he finds a bag of potato chips, sits down and begins to eat them. Sis then comes in the room wearing a mask, rubber gloves, goggles and overalls. Josh asks her why she is dressed that way and Sis tells him cause she doesn't want to catch anything from all of the junk he has in there. Josh tells her that everything might be a little jungled up, but that doesn't mean it is dirty. Sis then asks him how long has that pair of shorts has been sitting there. Josh answers three weeks, but that they are still clean. While Josh is talking to Sis the pair of shorts begin to move across the stage (there is a string attached to the shorts being pulled by someone behind stage.) Josh looks at Sis and asks, "Did you see that?" The shorts begin to move towards them and Josh and Sis jump up on the bed. They then jump off and quickly run out of the room. Part 3: Josh comes in to the room with his baseball bat "Charlie". The shorts move, and he begins to beat them with his bat. They move again and he gives them one last whack. He then goes over and pushes a pile of clothes laying on his bed and lays down. He sits up after a minute and pulls out a toy squirt gun and says, "That's where you have been." Josh is bored, and decides to give Billy a call and see if he wants to come over and play. Josh hangs up the phone and Billy comes over. Billy walks in the door and says, "Sorry, I thought this was Josh's room." closes the door, and leaves. Seconds later he opens the door back up and says, "Wow, what happened in here?" Josh tells him that his Mom said it was OK not to clean his room for a while. Josh then invites him in, and kicks and pushes over some old clothes. He pulls out a couple of Twinkies and asks Billy if he wants one. Billy tentatively walks in tip-toeing, and kindly declines the Twinkies. Billy then asks Josh if he is done with the school essay which is due tomorrow. Josh says he has been working on it for the past two weeks and that he is sure he is going to get an A+. Josh then asks Billy what he wants to play, and Billy says, "Anything, just outside." Josh asks why, and Billy says he is kind of afraid to play in his room on account he might get hurt and then no one will be able to find him. Josh and Billy leave. Part 4: Josh comes in and begins frantically looking around for his school essay, throwing clothes and kicking stuff around. He leaves sure that he left it under his bed, but hoping that he maybe put it in his Mom and Dad's room. Sermon : Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse: Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 2 Part 1: Clunky comes up wearing a fake nose and glasses. You ask him what he is doing and he tells you that he is hiding from this big bully in school. You ask who this big bully is, and Clunk mumbles her name. This is done a couple of times until you can finally understand that Clunk is talking about a girl - Big Birtha. Clunk begins to tell of all the bad things that she does to him in school, like calling him bad names and writing on the back of his head with a magic marker. (Clunky is bald.) You explain to him that he needs to tell her about Jesus so that she will become a Christian, and quit being so mean to him. Clunk puts up a fight on that idea, but then finally gives in on the condition that he gets a piece of bubble gum. (Clunk tries asking for 4 or 5 pieces, but only give in to one.) Clunk decides to go, quoting "Marvel not, even Big Birtha can be born again." Part 2: Clunky comes back later in the service, screaming for help and all out of breath because that Big Birtha is following him down the street. He tells you that he went to her door and told her about Jesus and then walked away, but turned around to see her chasing him. Clunk looks back, turns and runs out of the room. Seconds later, Big Birtha comes in looking for that funny looking little blue guy (Clunk). You ask her what she wants and she begins to explain how she was quietly reading her favorite book, Weight Watchers, when the door bell started to ring and ring and ring, because it got stuck. So she went to answer it thinking that it may be someone important like the president or something, but instead it was just Clunk. Then she tells you that she said to herself, maybe he has something to give to her, like a present or money, but NO, all he does is tell her "Jesus loves you, and I love you too Birtha." and no one had ever told her that before, and that is why she is chasing him, to ask him about Jesus. You can explain to her about Jesus and what he did for her, and then lead her in a short prayer of salvation with all of the kids. She gets all excited and leaves singing, telling you that she is going home to tell her mom and dad about Jesus. Part 3: Clunk comes back up from hiding, wearing the fake nose again, and asks if she is gone yet. He then apologizes for leaving everyone alone with her, and you can tell him that Big Birtha got Born Again. Clunk doesn't believe at first, but then does, and says that she is no longer Big Birtha, but ReBirtha, and asks for the five pieces of gum that you promised him. You give him the one piece of gum, but tell him not to eat it in the Children's Church. Clunk leaves and we can hear him opening the bubble gum behind the stage, chewing it, and starting to blow a bubble (at this time, but a pink balloon in the mouth of the puppet). Clunk comes back up with the balloon (bubble) and you pop it with a pin hidden in your hand. You and Clunk fly backwards. Clunk comes back up and asks for another piece of gum. Bible Story : Daniel 3 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were witnesses to Nebuchadnezzar even in the midst of persecution. EdWord : Edword is a puppet who likes to try and help tell the Bible story, but never seems to get it right. He always seems to appear at the time of the Bible story, and consequently asks if he can help out. Though he thinks he knows all of the stories by heart, he is always goofing them up, which gives you a good opportunity to tell him, and the children, how it really goes. When Edword begins to ramble on, have the children get his attention by saying "Edword, Edword, Edword!!!" Then you straighten him out. Joshua Skit : 30 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Sis, Billy, crowd of kids, and a little girl.) Joshua comes out, sits down on the couch and begins to watch a television show called "America's Greatest Heroes." It is a show about people who do heroic acts. Josh leaves the stage thinking out loud, "Boy, it would be really cool to be a hero and save someone’s life." (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Joshua's Thoughts".) Joshua comes out with big muscles and cool sunglasses. While he is just kind of hanging around, Billy comes out and begins to choke on a cookie he is eating. Josh quickly goes over and gives him the Heimlich maneuver, thus saving his life. A crowd of people (some kids that you talked to before service) comes out and tells Josh how cool he is, and that he is a hero. Josh, Billy, and the kids leave with them heaping praises on Josh. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Joshua's Thoughts".) Sis comes out, and while she is playing she suddenly stops and faints. Josh comes out, sees her lying there, notices that she isn't breathing, and tells the kids that she needs mouth to mouth resuscitation. He looks at the kids with a funny look on his face, but then (pretends) to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation. Sis recovers and again the crowd comes out and tells Josh that he is a hero. Josh, Sis, and the kids leave with them again heaping praises on Josh. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Joshua's Thoughts".) Mom comes out and begins to clean the house when Bully comes out and tells her he wants all of her money. While Mom is being robbed by Bully, Josh comes out and seeing the robbery, walks up, starts to beat him up, and then throws him out of the house. Once again the crowd comes out and begins to praise Josh. Josh, Mom, and the kids leave. Josh now comes out dressed normally. He is sad because he realizes that he will probably never have a chance to do any of those things and be a hero and save someone's life. While he is sitting there sulking, a little girl comes out asking, "What is life all about anyway?" Josh looks at the kids and asks them, "Hey, what is more heroic than to help save someone's life by telling them about Jesus?" Josh then goes up to the little girl and begins to witness to her as the two of them walk off the stage. Sermon : Review the Bible story and skits: Who was Clunky running away from?
What did Joshua want to be?
What did Nebuchadnezzar make?
Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 34 Clunk comes up with string tied to all of his fingers. You begin to talk to him, and then finally ask him why he has those strings tied to his fingers. Clunk tells you that he has them tied to his fingers so that he will remember. You ask what, and he tells you that the first string is tied to his finger to remind him that there is another string tied to his next finger. You ask him why he has a string tied to that finger, and he tells you that it is there to remind him of the string tied to his next finger (and so on, until he is to the last string). Finally you ask him what that last string is tied to that last finger is for, and he tells you to remind him of the string tied to his big right toe. You then ask him what all the strings on his fingers and on all of his toes are for, and he tells you that he forgot. You just look at him and sigh. You then say, "Well, all I care about right now, is did you remember to get everything ready for the communion this morning?" Clunk then tells you that he remembers what that last string is for ... to remember to get everything ready for communion. You ask him if he did and he tells you that he forgot. Clunk then leaves to go get everything ready. (The purpose of this skit is to stress the word "remember", which is the purpose of communion, to remember the death, burial, resurrection, and soon coming of Jesus.) Memory Verse : Nerds 2 Corinthians 5:21
(You will need a nerd, a burglar, and the memory verse written down on pieces of wood or cards.) The nerd comes out and sets up the memory verse in order. He then tells the kids his name, and that he is supposed to teach them the verse. He has the kids say the verse with him. He then steps in front of the table with the memory verse on it and begins to talk about the verse. While he is doing this, the burglar comes out and takes one of the words to the verse. The kids will yell and tell the nerd that someone is taking one of the words, but he just ignores them. The nerd turns around to go over the verse again with the kids, and notices that one of the words is now gone. He accuses some of the kids of taking the word, and then has them all say the verse with him again. Once more he steps up to talk to the kids, and the burglar comes out and takes one of the words. Again he turns and finds one of the words gone. He accuses the kids, and then has them say it with him. This time, he listens to what the kids are saying, that someone came from behind the stage and took the words. The nerd decides to go investigate and goes behind the stage to find the robber. While he is walking behind the stage, the person comes out the other side and takes one of the words. The nerd then comes back out, and now finds another word missing. He has the kids say the verse with him, and then asks them which way the burglar went. This time he goes around the right side of the stage, and the burglar comes around the left and takes one of the words. The nerd comes out and finds another word gone. He has the kids say the verse with him, but this time will not listen to the kids when they say he is behind the stage. The burglar comes out and stands right behind the nerd, and the kids yell and tell him. The nerd turns around to look, but the burglar turns with him so that the nerd doesn't see him. This happens a couple of times, until the burglar finally takes one of the words and leaves. You may do many different variations to this until all of the words are gone, and the kids have memorized the memory verse. (Have the burglar knock on the right side of the stage, and when the nerd comes to see, the burglar goes out the left side and takes the word. Or have the burglar crawl on the ground, and when the nerd looks, he doesn't see him.) Joshua Skit : 27 (Characters : Joshua, Sis, Billy, and Bully.) (The skit begins with the sound of a school bell ringing.) Bully comes out with a baseball bat and tells the kids that he is supposed to go to his little league practice after school. He tells the kids that this is his lucky bat, that he once even hit a homerun with it. He then realizes he left his baseball mitt in his locker at school, and puts down the bat to go get his mitt. Josh, Sis and Billy come running out excited that school is out for the weekend. As they are goofing around and playing ball, Billy sees Bully's bat and begins to play with it. Just then Bully comes back out, sees Billy and gets very upset. Bully starts to hit Billy for touching his bat, but stops because he realizes he is on school property, and will get suspended if he gets into another fight. Josh hearing this becomes brave for a second, but cowards down quickly when Bully says, "But then again, maybe it just might be worth getting suspended for." Bully then tells Billy to meet him at the lot behind the ice-cream parlor so that they can fight, and then threatens to really hurt him if he decides not to show. Bully leaves telling him that he had better be there in fifteen minutes or else, and Billy is really scared. Sis knowing that Bully won't hit a girl, is the only one who isn't afraid of him. She tells him that her brother and friend aren't afraid of him, and that they could beat him up with one arm tied behind their backs, making Bully even more mad. While Bully is leaving, Josh begins to act tough, and Bully asks him if he wants to fight him too, but Josh cowards and says no. The boys begin to discuss the situation, and Josh says to himself, "What would Jesus do in this situation?" He then gets an idea, and tells Billy he now remembers that Mrs. Johnson told him to tell Billy that she wanted to see him after school. Billy asks what for, and Josh tells him he doesn't know, but that he had better go and see her. Billy leaves, and Josh goes to meet and fight Bully. Josh gets there first, and finding no Bully he gets big headed saying to himself, "Bully probably heard that he was going to have to fight me instead of Billy, and so he decided not to show up." While Josh is talking to himself, Bully quietly walks in, listens to what he has to say, and then taps him on the shoulder making Josh jump up in the air and scream. Bully then asks where Billy is. Josh tells him that he had to go somewhere. Bully says that he is mad and has to beat up somebody, and Josh tells him that is why he came, so that he can fight Bully instead of Billy. Josh tells him that he wouldn't want Bully to hurt his fist by continually hitting it against his face, so if he would like to back out of the fight, he would surely be understanding. Bully just looks at him, so Josh puts up his fists and Bully beats him up. (This is a good scene to have a strobe light for special effects if you have one.) Half way through the fight, while Josh is getting pounded, he asks Bully if he has had enough, and Bully says, "No." When the fight is over, Bully leaves, and Josh begins to crawl back to the front of the room, where Billy is just now coming out looking for Josh. He tells him that Mrs. Johnson didn't want him, and then asks what happened. Josh explains that he went to go fight Bully for him. Billy is grateful, and helps Josh up to take him home. Bible Story : Matthew 27 & 28 The simple story of the sufferings, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Right before communion, I like to have the kids shut their eyes and imagine, as I to start with the Garden of Gethsemane and tell the kids all of the things that Jesus suffered until he was crucified. Sermon : Review the Bible story, skits and memory verse: Why did Clunky tie the strings around his
fingers?
What did Joshua and Billy find and start
playing with?
Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 21 Part 1: Teacher number one comes up front and begins to lead the praise and worship, when Clunky comes up and interrupts her, saying that he has something important to tell her. Teacher number one tells Clunky that she is too busy, and doesn't have time for him right then, because she has to lead the singing. Clunk hangs his head slightly, and then leaves. Part 2: Teacher number two comes up front and begins to go over the announcements, when Clunky comes up and interrupts her, saying that he has something important to tell her. Teacher number two also tells Clunky that she is too busy, and doesn't have time for him right then, because she has to do the announcements. Clunk hangs his head slightly, and then leaves. Part 3: Later in the service, teacher number three comes up to tell the Bible story, and Clunk comes up and interrupts him, saying that he has something very important that he wanted to tell him. He also tells Clunk that he is too busy at that time, but to maybe come back later, after the church service, and tell him. Again, Clunk hangs his head slightly, and leaves. Part 4: Same as parts one, two and three. Part 5: Towards the end of the service, Clunk comes up crying and sniffling, with his bags packed, and ready to leave the church. One of the children (preferably, one of the girls who Clunk is always flirting with in church) comes up front and asks Clunk, "What is the matter?" Clunk sees her and then faints. He comes back up, and again she repeats the question. Clunk tells her that he isn't important, and nobody cares about him, or would even miss him when he is gone, so he is moving to another Children's Church. The child tells Clunk that she would miss him, and that she thinks he is very important. She then gives him a hug. Again, Clunk faints. He comes back up, while the teachers also come up front, and begin to apologize to Clunk for ignoring him, and ask him what it was that he wanted to tell them. Clunk tells them that he just wanted to tell them how much he loves each one of them. They all tell him that they love him too, and again apologize, giving Clunk a hug. Bible Story : Mark 10:13-16 Memory Verse : Simon RePeter John 15:12
Simon RePeter is a hairy puppet who comes to Children's Church to teach the kids the memory verse. He comes up, tells the children his name and that they are to repeat after him. He then begins to say parts of the memory verse, giving the children time to repeat it. This has a lot of opportunity for fun and silliness with the kids repeating everything Simon says. In the end though, the children have repeated the memory verse several times, and consequently have learned it. Joshua Skit : 5 (Characters : Joshua, Sis, and someone to play their Grandpa. On stage is set a chair with a Teddy Bear and a baseball glove under it.) Grandpa comes out and sits down on his chair, talking about how beautiful a day it is. He then decides to read his newspaper. While he is reading, Josh comes out looking around for his baseball glove. He interrupts Grandpa's reading, and tells him that he has a baseball game today, and asks him if he has seen his glove anywhere. Grandpa says no, and then begins to reminisce and tell Josh a story about when he was younger and played baseball. While Grandpa is telling his story, Josh looks at the kids, shrugs his shoulders, and then leaves. Grandpa shortly realizes that he is alone, so he begins to read his paper again. Sis then comes out looking for her Teddy Bear. She too interrupts Grandpa and tells him that she is going to a slumber party and she needs her Teddy, and was wondering if he had seen it. Grandpa says no, and again begins to reminisce, telling her about the time when he was younger, and he and his neighbor went camping in the back yard. She looks at the kids, shrugs her shoulders, and then leaves. Again, Grandpa realizes that he is alone, and begins to read his newspaper. Josh comes back out looking for his glove, and Grandpa begins to tell the story about when he played little league. While Grandpa is rambling on, Josh sees his glove under the chair, takes it quietly, and leaves. Grandpa realizes that he is alone, and begins to cry a little. Sis comes back out (Grandpa quickly wipes his tears) and Grandpa begins telling her the story of when he went camping again. While he is rambling on, Sis sees her Teddy Bear under the chair, takes it, and quietly leaves. For the last time, Grandpa realizes that he is alone, and begins to cry saying that nobody loves him. Josh and Sis come out together, see Grandpa crying, and tell him that they love him and are sorry for not spending time with him, and that they really do want to hear the stories about him when he was younger. Grandpa smiles, and begins to tell the stories as they all walk out together. Sermon : Review the Bible story, memory verse and skits: Sermon Points :
|
|
