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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
Memory Verse : Psalms 119:105
Clunky Puppet Skit : 33 Part 1: Clunk comes up and asks you if he can go to Johnny's birthday party now. You tell him that he will have to wait until later, so that you can take him over there. Clunk tells you that he wants to go now, and wants to ride his tricycle over there. You tell him that he can, but that he has got to be careful. Clunk quotes all of the rules of the road you have told him in the past about riding his tricycle (looking both ways at intersections ... ) Clunk then tells you about all the people who will be there, and how much fun he is going to have. You then ask him before he leaves if he has the directions to Johnny's house, and Clunk tells you that they are somewhere in his bedroom under all of his dirty underwear and socks and stuff. You tell him to go and get it, but he tells you that he took a bath, and doesn't want to get near any of that stuff, and besides, he remembers the way because he has a photogenic mind. You tell him the importance of directions, and try to convince him to bring those directions, but to no avail as Clunk just kind of spaces you off. You both leave. Part 2: Later in the service, you get a telephone call from Johnny's mother asking if Clunk was going to show up at the party, because they are going to be leaving in about 10 minutes for the bowling alley. You tell her that Clunk left about one half hour ago, and begin to worry about what could have happened to him. As you hang up, Clunk comes in huffing and puffing and all upset. You ask him how the party went, and he explains to you how he has spent the last half hour riding up and down every street in the city trying to find Johnny's house. Again you explain the importance of following directions, and if he would have listened to you, he would have already been there. (Explain also how the Bible is a direction book to heaven, and the importance of following it also, and how if you don't, you will end up going around in circles and be lost.) You then tell Clunk that they will be leaving to go to the bowling alley, and ask him if he wants a ride. Clunk says yes, and you tell him to go and get the directions, and you will meet him at the car. You both leave. Story : Big Blue Running Shoe Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Big Blue Running Shoe. Big Blue Running Shoe lived at the edge of a deep, dark, impenetrable forest, and on the other side of the forest was his beloved Grandfather. Big Blue Running Shoe had never seen his Grandfather, and as long as there was no way through that forest, he never would. One day, Grandfather decided to send his Son to make a way through the forest, so that Big Blue Running Shoe could come and be with him. So off went Son, chopping and cutting his way through the forest, coming out at the other side right in front of Big Blue’s house. Son knocked on the door and greeted Big Blue Running Shoe, telling him that he had made a way through the forest to Grandfather’s house. He told Big Blue Running Shoe that he had to leave to go back, but he brought a map to give to him, so he could follow it through the forest to Grandfather’s house. Son handed Big Blue Running Shoe the map and then turning, went out the door. Big Blue Running Shoe was excited. He had heard all about Grandfather’s house and the special things that were there. He quickly went up stairs to pack his bag, stuffing the map into the bottom, and grabbing the things he thought he would need for the trip. Then he headed out the door and into the forest on his way to Grandfather’s house. It wasn’t very long into the journey when Big Blue Running Shoe had gotten lost. He had somehow gotten off the path, and was now seemingly lost in the darkness and terror of the deep foreboding forest. As Big Blue Running Shoe began to wonder around looking for the path to Grandfather’s house, he stumbled onto a wide road. Excited, thinking that he had found the path to Grandfather’s house again, Big Blue Running Shoe began to follow the road for what seemed like hours. Maybe it was the forest, or maybe it was the excitement of the trip, but Big Blue Running Shoe was beginning to think he had seen some of the trees before. He began to get tired, and so decided to make his bag lighter by emptying out some of the heavier items. Then after a little break, off he headed down the road. As he walked for what was about twenty minutes, he thought he saw something up ahead. He hadn’t seen anything but trees for the last three hours, so in excitement he began to run to the objects ahead. But as he got closer, his excitement changed to utter disappointment as the objects he had seen were the things he had emptied out of his bag twenty minutes earlier, still laying there on the side of the road. Big Blue Running Shoe had found a road all right, but it only went around in circles, making him tired, but not at all closer to Grandfather’s house. As he left the road that led in circles, he wondered through the ever darkening forest again, until he ran across another path. This one was rocky and very hard. It went up the sides of mountains, across rivers, through thorns and thistles and often had to be crawled upon on his hands and knees. "All things that are any good," thought Big Blue Running Shoe, "are always difficult." So for two hours he followed this trail until all of a sudden, it stopped, a dead end. For two hours he had struggled and stained through a trail that led to nowhere. By this time Big Blue Running Shoe was beginning to get depressed thinking that he would never make it to Grandfather’s house, and he sat down on the side of the path began to cry. Now off in the distance the Big Bad Wolf heard his cry and went to go investigate. As he approached Big Blue Running Shoe, he realized he was trying to get to Grandfather’s, and quickly ran off to set a trap for the unsuspecting wonderer. He made some signs that said, "The way to Grandfather’s House" and quickly cleaned up an old rundown house that set in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. He made a quick path that lead to the rundown old house, put up the signs, and then left to get the attention of Big Blue Running Shoe. Standing behind an old oak tree, he whistled then hid, as Big Blue Running Shoe went to see what it was. As he got closer to the tree, he saw the sign that read, "The way to Grandfather’s House." Seeing the sign and path, Big Blue leaped for joy that he was now on his way home again. The path was crooked and seemed to wind around a lot, but it was easy to follow, and Big Blue Running Shoe was sure this was the way. As he followed the path, he saw up in the distance what looked like a house in a clearing. This was for sure Grandfather’s house, and Big Blue Running Shoe now filled with energy and joyful anticipation ran to the clearing and the house. Meanwhile, the Big Bad Wolf had taken a short cut to the house, and putting on some old clothes and a hat he found up in the attic, waited for Big Blue Running Shoe to enter. As Big Blue Running Shoe approached the house, he was a little weary. It wasn’t at all like the stories he had heard of the mansion that Grandfather lived in, but eager to see his Grandfather, he quickly dismissed them as rumors and knocked on the front door. "Please come in" was the reply from inside. Big Blue Running Shoe opened the door, eyes opened wide. As he entered the dirty old house, off in the corner he saw the form of what appeared to be an old man dressed in a coat and hat, sitting in a rocking chair. "Please come closer" said the person in the chair. But as Big Blue Running Shoe approached, he noticed that the old man was ugly, and hairy and not at all what he imagined. "Are you my Grandfather?" asked Big Blue. "Why yes," said the figure in the corner, "come closer." "My," said Big Blue Running Shoe, "what big eyes you have Grandfather." "The better to see you playing with, my son" said the figure. "My, what a big and hairy nose you have Grandfather." "The better to smell your joyful aroma" said the old figure. "My, what big teeth you have" said Big Blue Running Shoe. "The better to eat you with" said the Big Bad Wolf as he threw off the old coat and hat he was wearing. "Your not my Grandfather" cried Big Blue. Frightened, Big Blue Running Shoe dashed to the door, but the Big Bad Wolf was too quick and beat him to it. Big Blue Running Shoe stood there, shaking with fear as he stared at the Big Bad Wolf licking his chops in anticipation. He was hopelessly trapped with no way out, when all of a sudden, the door was broken down, and in came Big Blue Running Shoe’s Uncle. Standing on top of the fallen door as the Big Bad Wolf lay underneath, Uncle looked at Big Blue Running Shoe and said, "Where’s your map Big Blue Running Shoe. Get out your map, it will lead you to Grandfather’s house." Then as quickly as he came, he turned and ran out. Not hesitating for a second, Big Blue Running Shoe bolted out the door and into the forest, never looking back to the old rundown house again. After he had run for about five minutes, he stopped, emptied out his bag of all the junk he had inside, and pulled out the map that Son had given him the day before. Following the map, he found his way to the path that Son had made, which led him to Grandfather’s mansion. It was even more beautiful than he had ever expected. A driveway mad of gold, pearl doorknobs, and enough rooms for everyone. As he approached the door, Grandfather, Son and Uncle all came out to greet and welcome Big Blue Running Shoe to his new home, where he lived happily forever after. The end. Nerd Skit : 2 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, a sign that says "Danger Do Not Cross Street," and a tricycle.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on being a doer of the Word. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out talking about how late he is for work. He doesn't pay any attention to the sign, and begins to walk across the street. Nerd B comes driving around the corner on the tricycle, and runs into Nerd A. Nerd B speeds off, as Nerd A slowly gets up and walks out. The Narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about being a doer of the Word, and why not. (It wasn't being a doer of the Word because he didn't even pay attention to the sign.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes out again talking about how late he is for work. This time he sees the sign, but laughs at it saying, "The people who put up that sign must be crazy. There is no danger here." He then begins to walk across the street. Nerd B comes driving around the corner, and runs into Nerd A. Nerd B speeds off, as Nerd A slowly gets up and walks out. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about being a doer of the Word, and why not. (It wasn't being a doer of the Word, because even though he reads the sign, he ignores it.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Same as skits 1 and 2, but this time Nerd A stops and tells the kids that as long as he looks both ways, and is very, very, very careful, he should be able to cross the street safely. Nerd A looks both ways, and carefully begins to walk across the street. About 1/2 way across, Nerd B comes driving around the corner, and runs into Nerd A. Nerd B speeds off, as Nerd A slowly gets up and walks out. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about being a doer of the Word, and why not. (It wasn't being a doer of the Word, because though he is careful, he still did not do what the sign says.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Same as skits 1, 2, and 3, except this time Nerd A reads the sign, talks to the kids about how late he is for work, but that it is always best to follow directions, no matter what. He then decides to find another way to work. Just then Nerd B comes driving around the corner, and zooms right past Nerd A. Nerd A looks at the kids, and then heads back out the way he came in. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about being a doer of the Word, and why. (It was being a doer of the Word because he read the sign and did what it said.) Object Lesson : Have one of the kids come up front, and go through a maze of chairs and things. Then have the same child go through the maze again with sack on his head. (For fun, have the sack decorated with a funny looking face on it.) Do this a couple of times with different children, and different funny looking sacks. Sermon : Review the story, skits and object lesson : What separated Big Blue Running Shoe from
Grandfather?
Where was Clunky going to go?
In the nerd skit, what did the sign say?
How easy was it to go through the maze
with nothing over your head?
Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 20 Clunky comes up and asks you how to spell Jehovah. You tell him, and he leaves. We then hear Clunk behind the stage, flipping thru the pages of a telephone book, mumbling names that begin with "J" (like Johnson, Jackson....) trying to find Jehovah. Clunk comes back up, saying "Jehovah is not in there. How do you spell Elohim?" You tell him, he leaves, and again we hear him flipping through the telephone book, mumbling names that begin with "E". (This goes on for as many names of God as you wish.) Finally, Clunk comes up and asks you if you know any other names for God. You ask him why, and he tells you that he is trying to find God's telephone number in the telephone book, so that he can call Him up. You tell him that he won't find any of God's names in the telephone book, because His name is not in there. Clunk asks "If God has got an unlisted number, then how in the world can I call Him up and thank Him for all of the nice things He has done for me?" You tell Clunk that is what prayer is for. When we pray, we are talking to God, so if we want to tell God thank you, we just tell him, and He always hears us. Clunk prays a short prayer, thanking God, and then asks you if he did it right, and if God heard him. You tell him yes, and Clunk leaves with this one liner: "You can't call Pa God, on Ma Bell." Bible Story : Exodus 33 Moses spoke with God, "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Memory Verse : Simon RePeter Jeremiah 33:3
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 : 1 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Sis, and Billy.) (On stage is set up a table with four chairs. Someone comes out holding a sign that says "breakfast".) Mom comes in and calls for Josh, Sis and Billy to come to breakfast. Everyone comes in and begins to eat. Mom stops them and tells them that they must pray first, and asks Josh if he would like to have the honor. Josh gets a look of panic on his face, and then begins to cough, and rub his neck, telling Mom that his throat hurts too much. Mom then asks Sis to pray, and she prays a "King James" kind of prayer. They all eat. (You can either mime the eating, or really eat. Either way works fine.) After they eat, everyone leaves except for Josh. He stays and talks to the kids, asking them if they heard how good his little sister prayed, and then telling them how he is afraid to pray because he is a bad pray-er. Josh then leaves. (Someone comes out holding a sign that says "lunch".) Mom comes out, and yells for everyone to come to lunch. They all come and begin to eat. Again, Mom stops them, and tells them that they must pray first, and then asks Josh if he would like to pray for lunch. Josh gets a look of panic on his face, and then begins to motion to Mom that he has laryngitis. Mom then asks Billy to pray, and he too prays a very good prayer. They eat, and Mom, Sis and Billy again leave while Josh stays out and talks to the kids, telling them that even Billy, who hasn't been a Christian for very long is a better pray-er than him. While he is talking, Josh's Heart begins to talk to him, and reminds him that God is his Father, and that praying to God is just like talking to his Mom, Dad, Sis or friends. Prayer is just "Talking to God." Josh now leaves all excited. (Someone comes out holding a sign that says "dinner".) Mom comes out, and calls for everyone to come to dinner. They all come and sit down, and then Mom starts to eat as they all begin to look at her. Sis then says "Aren't we supposed to pray first?" Mom smiles and says that since she knows that Josh doesn't like to pray, she will. Josh tells Mom that this time he does want to pray. Mom questions Josh, and then lets him. Josh now prays the best prayer of them all. Everyone stares at him, and Mom asks where he learned how to pray like that. Josh leans back on his chair, crosses his legs, and says "Mom, Prayer is just Talking to God." They all eat, and then leave. Sermon : Quickly review the skits and memory verse. Who was Clunky trying to call?
What did Joshua do when Mom asked him to
pray for breakfast?
The Bible says that Moses spoke to God as a man speaks to his what? Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 45 Clunk comes up and asks you if there are any jobs that need to be done around the church. You tell him yes, but that you don't have any money to pay him for them. Clunk tells you that he doesn't want any money, and you jokingly hit your ears and ask him to repeat that last line he just said, because you thought he said he didn't want any money. Clunk says, "Har dee har har" and tells you that he doesn't, and asks what are the jobs. You tell him that the back of the puppet stage is a mess, and he could help straighten up. Clunk says, "No problem" and then leaves to go clean. We then see papers and stuff being thrown around as Clunk is busy cleaning. Later in the service, one of the teachers is walking behind the puppet stage and Clunk runs over to help her across. She asks what he is doing, and Clunk tells her, he just wants to help her so that she doesn't trip over anything and fall and hurt herself. She says, "Why, thank you, Clunky" and continues on her way, as Clunk leaves to clean. Later Clunk comes back up and tells you that the back of the puppet stage is all clean, and then asks if there are any other jobs that need to be done. You tell him that the bathrooms really need to be cleaned, but that you know he would never do that. Clunk looks at you and says, "Oh no, that would be just perfect" and then leaves to go clean the bathrooms. Later Clunky comes up dressed with rubber gloves, plastic shower cap, and carrying a toilet plunger, and you ask him why in the world he is doing all of this. He says, "You probably won't believe this, but sometimes I do some bad things." You act surprised. Clunk continues to tell you that he came to the realization that he is not always the best behaved puppet, granted cute, adorable, kind, ruggedly handsome ... (you interrupt him) ... but not always well behaved, and he began to think about going to heaven and stuff, and realized that he probably hasn't done enough good deeds to make it to heaven, so he is trying to do some things now, like clean the church toilets, shine people's shoes, and help little old ladies across the stage (the teacher that Clunk helped yells out, "Who are you calling old?") so that God will be happy with him and let him in. You explain to Clunky that all of these things that he is doing are good and nice and that you should do them, but that they are not what will get him into heaven. Clunk asks, "Are you telling me cleaning toilets won't get me into heaven?" You tell him no, and Clunk then asks, "If cleaning toilets won't get me into heaven, then what in the world will?" You explain to Clunk that the only way into heaven is through Jesus, and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Clunk says he understands and leaves to go do some more good works. You tell him again, "Clunk, I told you, you don’t have to do those things to get to heaven." And Clunk tells you he knows, he just wants to do it anyway. Clunky leaves. Memory Verse : Nerds John 14:6
(You will need a nerd, burglar, and the memory verse written on pieces of wood.) 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 : 7 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Sis, and Billy. Ticket to the Fair.) (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 1") Josh and Billy come out all excited about the Fair just being three days away, and begin to talk about all the rides that they are going to ride on, and games they are going to play. Billy pulls out his ticket to show Josh, and asks Josh if he has gotten his ticket yet. Josh pulls out $5.00, the price of a ticket, and says no, but that he will get one tomorrow. Billy tells him to hurry, cause he heard that there aren't many tickets left, and once they are gone, it is too late. Josh tells him that he is planning to get one later that day, right after they get done playing. They both leave all excited. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 2") Josh comes out all excited. Sis then comes out and asks Josh what he is so excited about. Josh tells her the Fair, and then shows her the $5.00 to get a ticket. Sis pulls out two tickets, one for her and one for her friend, and then tells him she heard that they were almost sold out, and that he had better hurry and get one. Josh says he knows, and that he is planning to go down to the ticket office right after he gets done playing. They both leave to play. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 3") Josh and Mom come out, and Mom asks Josh if he has gotten his ticket to the Fair yet. Josh again says no, and Mom tells him that he can't go to the Fair if he doesn't have a ticket. Josh says he knows, and that he will go the first thing in the morning. They both leave with Josh promising he will for sure get one later. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 4 - day of the Fair") Billy and Sis come out all excited about the Fair, and Billy asks Sis where Josh is. She tells him that he went down to go buy his ticket, and that he should be home any minute. Josh comes in all sad, and Sis asks him if he got his ticket. Josh pulls out his $5.00 and tells them that he went down to the ticket office first thing in the morning, but by the time he got there, they had run out. Billy and Sis tell Josh that they are sorry to hear that, but then leave to go to the Fair all excited. Josh leaves mumbling that this is the worst day in his entire life. Sermon : Quickly review the skits and memory verse. What is the memory verse? In the skit, what did Joshua need to get
into the Fair?
Why was Clunky doing all of those good
deeds?
Sermon Points :
Nerd Skit : 25 (You will need a narrator, 1 giant, 1 nerd shepherd boy, 1 nerd king, three guards, a calculator, a squirt gun, and two super-soakers. To make the giant funny looking, have him be two people, someone sitting on someone else’s shoulders, with a long gown over them.) Once upon a time, there was a king and his army. (pause - the king and his army come out skipping, then sit around joking with each other or playing duck, duck, goose.) Everything was going well in his kingdom, until one day when a giant came and challenged the king and his men. (pause - the giant walks out squirts the kids with his super-soaker and says "Fe fi fo fum, I smell the blood of a Jewish man. If anyone who is in your army can beat me in a fight, then we will become your servants, but if I beat you, then you will become our servants, you bucket slime, you icky stuff found between the toes.") The king and his servants were scared of the giant, (pause - the king and his army act scared, and say, "Oh my, I am scared.") and would run away every time they saw him. (pause - the king and his army run away.) This went on for many days, (pause - repeat the scene two more times) until one day when the army was hanging around (pause - just the army comes out) a little boy named Arnold came (pause - Arnold comes out skipping, carrying a stuffed lamb and singing, "Arnold had a little lamb.") to give his brothers some bread and cheese. (pause - Arnold stops, looks at the narrator, and asks if peanut butter and jelly will work. The narrator says yes and then repeats his lines, only with peanut butter and jelly.) A little boy named Arnold came to give his brothers some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (pause - Arnold smiles and continues, giving the stuff to his brothers.) When the giant came out and challenged everyone (pause - the giant comes out and repeats his lines) instead of running away, (pause) Arnold asked, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares to challenge the armies of the living God?" (pause - Arnold tries to quote what the narrator says and gets about half way through his lines, and asks the narrator, "What was that I said?" The narrator repeats it and Arnold finishes his lines.) When the people heard what Arnold said, they brought him to the King, who asked him about it. (pause - the king comes out and sits on a throne, and then asks him about it.) Arnold told the king that he once shot a squirrel and a bunny rabbit who once tried to get into his mommy's garden and eat the carrots and broccoli, (pause - Arnold describes the incident) and that God was able to help him get this giant too. (pause) The King then gave to Arnold his armor, and his kingly super-deluxe xj-7 special limited edition super-soaker, (pause) but because Arnold hadn't tested it, he turned it down, and went to go face the giant with nothing but his tiny little squirt-gun and calculator. (pause) Once again, the people were hanging around with the king (pause) when the giant came out (pause) but this time, Arnold met his challenge (pause - Arnold begins to change his mind, but the army pushes him back in) The giant laughed as he saw the funny looking, skinny, dorky, dopey (pause - Arnold looks at the narrator and says "Hey.") little boy. (pause) Arnold pulled out his calculator (pause) figured out the rotational speed of the earth, (pause) divided it by the gravitational pull, (pause) aimed his squirt gun, (pause - Arnold wets his finger, and sticks it into the air) and shot the giant right between the eyes. (pause - Arnold shoots the giant.) As the giant ran away crying to his mommy, (pause) the armies of the king began to celebrate, and rejoice at what Arnold had done. (pause) The end. Clunky Puppet Skit : 66 Clunky comes up wearing a disguise. The teacher comes up and asks, "What are you doing Clunky?" Clunky replies, "Clunky, who's Clunky?" The teacher continues to talk to the so-called stranger until he sneezes and knocks off his fake nose and glasses. The teacher then asks again what he is doing. Clunky tells her that there is a new kid in school who has challenged Clunky, so he is running away and trying to hide so that no one can find him. The teacher tells Clunky that she is happy that he doesn't want to fight the new kid, but that he can’t run away and wear a disguise all of his life. Clunk then tells the teacher that he isn't running away because the new kid wants to fight, because the new kid is way smaller than he is and he could beat him up in a minute. The teacher then asks him what did the new kid challenge him to, and Clunk tells her a race. He explains, "I was talking to one of the kids in school and telling him that the Bible says, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, when the new kid challenged me on it, saying that it wasn't true. He said that there is no such thing as God and that if there was he wouldn't and couldn't help anyway. I told the him that it was true and so to prove me wrong, in front of the whole class the new kid challenged me to a foot race around the school yard. That is why I am hiding. The new kid was the 3rd grade champion in the whole city of Phoenix and there is no way I could beat him." The teacher then begins to talk to Clunk and encourage him in the Lord. She tells Clunk that she knows he is fast because she has seen him chasing the girls after church, and that she remembers when Bully came to church and how fast he was at running away from him. She then tells him that if he would run that fast, she is sure that he could beat this new kid, and besides, Clunky does have God's help whether the new kid believes it or not. Clunk is encouraged and tells her, "Hey, I am kind of fast, ain't I?" and decides that he will give it a try. He tells her that he better hurry because the race is supposed to start in about 10 minutes. Clunky leaves. Later in the service, Clunky comes back in riding on the shoulders of two other puppets. They come to the stage and then accidentally drop him. After Clunky gets up, the teacher asks him what this is all about. Clunky tells her, "I went to the school and got there just in time, huffing and puffing because I had to run the whole way. I asked the new kid if I could have a minute to rest, and he told me that I not only could have a minute, but that I could have five, and then he would give me a 30 second lead. I told him that I didn’t need a lead, and he told me that he could beat a stupid blue kid with even one foot tied behind his back. I went over to the swing set and got down on my knees and said a little prayer. Not asking God if he would let me win, but that he would be with me and let me do the best I could do." (The teacher can interrupt and ask questions or make comments anytime during this discussion.) She asks Clunk what the new kid did when he saw him praying, and Clunk tells her, "He just laughed at me." Clunk continues, "Well, when it was time for the race, Simon RePeter who was the starter, shot the gun which accidentally squirted water into the new kid's eye. I started to run and I got off to a lead. I got to the first turn and looked behind me to see how far ahead I was when I saw that the new kid hadn't started yet, he was just leaning on the swing set. I stopped and asked him if he wanted to start over, but he told me that he was just waiting for me to get a bigger lead so that he could beat me, so I turned and started running some more. I got to the next corner and looked behind and saw him coming, and boy was he fast. It seemed like his feet didn't even touch the ground. When I got to the play ground equipment I turned to look again to see how much he caught up, when I accidentally tripped and fell down. By the time I got up he was just a couple of feet behind me, and that is when it happened. For some reason I started thinking that he was after me to beat me up and I began running faster than I ever had before. When I was just a little ways away from the end I could see that a lot of the kids were cheering for me, even some of the cute girls who usually won't even talk to me, and that made me run even faster. Then I remembered all that you told me and the verse that says I can do all things, and it made me run even faster faster, and I ended up beating the new kid by a mile, there was no contest." The teacher is impressed and reinforces to Clunky that what he said to the other boy in school is true. That God can and does help us with certain situations and that we just need to trust in him. Clunky leaves with the other puppets to go celebrate his victory. Bible Story : 1 Samuel 17 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. A Modern Day Story of Trusting God : In 1985, my brother and four other students wanted to have an after school Bible study at Westside High School in Omaha Nebraska. They asked the principal for permission, only to be turned down. After consulting a lawyer who told them they should be allowed, they again talked to the principal and were once again turned down. With nothing else to do, the five students took the school to court for the right to have the Bible study. Many churches and people in the city were against them, telling them that if they wanted a Bible study, they could go to a church or a home. But against all odds, and trusting in God they continued. At the first court hearing, the judge willing to please the school district, decided on behalf of the principal and school. Not willing to quit, the students appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court. At this trial, it was the students who won the case. The school then appealed to the Supreme Court, to have this case decided by the highest court in the land. Six years after it had started, the students finally won. The Supreme Court had decided in behalf of the students, allowing them to have a Bible Study after school. Because of what those five students, and a handful of other students (including my sister) who continued the fight years after it had started, we Christians had won a huge battle in American history. Though none of them were allowed to have the Bible study they were seeking, thousands of kids across America have been allowed to have Bible studies after school. Sermon : Quickly review the skits, story, and Bible story. In the skit, who challenged the king and
his army?
In the Bible story, who challenged king
Saul?
Why was Clunky wearing a mask?
Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 8 Clunky comes up wearing some real fancy clothes and sunglasses, all excited, but cool. You ask what is the occasion, and he tells you that he has just been nominated into like the coolest, most popular club in the whole school. He begins to explain all the members of the club, like Bobby, the superstar athlete; Johnny, the smartest kid in the school; and Luke, who every girl in the school has a massive crush on. You tell Clunk that you are happy for him, and then ask him if he could see if that new kid, Barney, who lives down the street, could join also. Clunk just snickers and says "Barney is too much of a nerd. He always wears flood pants, his glasses have white tape on them, and rumor has it, he even picks his nose. No way could Barney ever join this club." You tell Clunk that you and the kids in church are going to be starting a club too. Clunk is interested about joining that club also, but you tell him that he can only join the club if he qualifies. Clunk asks what the qualifications are, and you tell him that the first qualification is that you can't be short. Then looking at Clunk, you begin to giggle, and say "Hey Clunk, I never realized just how short you really are." Then begin to laugh out loud. (More than likely, the kids will also laugh with you.) Clunk gets mad and tells you to stop. You tell him you are sorry, and then tell him that the next qualification is that you can't be blue. Again you begin to laugh at him, and Clunk gets mad, and tells you and the children to stop. You tell him that the final qualification is that you can't be bald, then you pull off Clunk's hat and begin to laugh a lot. Again Clunk gets mad, and tells you to stop. When you ask what is the matter, Clunk tells you that you are all being mean, that he can't help the fact that he is short, blue, and bald, because he was just born that way. You tell him that the same is true with Barney. Clunk says that with Barney it's different, but eventually realizes the point you are trying to make, and decides that he will go see what he can do about getting Barney into the club, and that if they won't let him join, he will quit and start his own club. You tell him that you are proud of him, and Clunk asks if he could possibly be in the church club. You put it up to a vote with the children, who will more than likely let Clunk in. Bible Story : Luke 19:3-10 Memory Verse : Mr. Sin I John 4:7
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. Nerd Skit : 4 (You will need a narrator and two nerds.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on love. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out on stage, pretends to be working out for the Olympics, and then falls down and hurts himself. While he is lying there, Nerd B comes out, notices Nerd A lying on the ground, walks up to him, blows his nose on a handkerchief, puts it in the hand of Nerd A, and then walks away. Nerd A gets up and limps off. The narrator then asks the kids if that skit was a skit about love, and why not. (It wasn't love, because he didn't do anything to help.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes back out and falls down just like in skit one. Nerd B comes out, and again sees Nerd A on the ground hurt, but this time he goes over to help. While he is pulling him up though, he notices the time on his watch, and then lets him drop back down to the ground, hurting Nerd A worse than before, saying, "Look at what time it is. I am late for church." Nerd B then leaves, and Nerd A gets up and limps out. The Narrator then asks the kids if that skit was a skit about love, and why not. (It wasn't love, because he only loved him 1/2 way.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out and falls just like in skits one and two. Nerd B comes out and sees him lying there hurt on the ground and goes over to help. He asks Nerd A if he can pray for him. Nerd A says OK, so Nerd B gets down on his knees and prays "God please send someone else to help this man. In Jesus' name, Amen." Nerd B then leaves, and Nerd A gets up and limps off. The Narrator then asks the kids if that skit was a skit about love, and why not. (It wasn't love, because the Bible says that faith without works is dead, and even though he prayed for him, he didn't help him.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A comes out and falls. Nerd B comes out, sees him lying there hurt, and goes over to help. He looks at his watch and notices that he is late for church, but stops and helps Nerd A anyway. He prays for him, and then helps him to his feet and off the stage, telling him about Jesus. The narrator then asks the kids if that skit was a skit about love, and why was it a skit on love. (It was love because he helped him all the way.) Sermon : Quickly review the Bible story, skits and memory verse. Sermon points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 46 Clunky comes up all dressed up, and you ask him where he is going. He says he is going to the State Puppet Tiddily Winks Championships. You ask him where he got the tickets, and Clunk tells you he is not going to watch, but to play. You tell him you didn't know he was on the team, that you never saw him go to practice, and Clunk says he doesn't need to practice, that he is a natural, the Michael Jordan of Tiddily Winks. You tell him that even Michael Jordan practices, but Clunk says that he is gifted by God and that practice would just goof it up. You tell him that yes, God does give talents, but that we still need to practice. Clunk excuses himself, and says he has to go. Later in the service, you turn on the radio to find out the score of the Tiddily winks match (a tape recorder with a prerecorded news announcement on it). "'... And now for the sports with Al'. 'Thank you Roger. For local sports, the Wickenburg Winkers defeated the (your city name) Puppets in the State Tiddily Winks Championships 100 to three, I repeat, the Wickenburg Winkers defeated the (your city name) Puppets in the State Tiddily Winks Championships 100 to three. It seems that the (your city name) star Clunko just couldn't make a tittle or a wink. Now for local traffic information, we take you back to Roger in the helicopter.'" You turn off the radio and look at the kids, and say something about how Clunk is probably pretty disappointed. A couple of minutes later, Clunk comes back up very disappointed. You ask him about the game, acting like you don't know the results, and Clunk tells you that he did great, but that the rest of his team blew it for them. You look at him and sternly say, "Clunky", and Clunk comes clean and tells you that he just couldn't do anything, "Every wink went wide, and every tittle died", and that he has learned his lesson about practicing. You can tell Clunk that you will give him some pointers if he would like, and Clunk asks if you play Tiddily Winks. You tell him sure, and then go back with Clunk as he leaves to go and begin practicing for next year's Championships. Bible Story : Matthew 25:14-31 Joshua Skit : 18 (Characters : Joshua and Billy.) Josh and Billy come out all excited about the baseball try-outs to be held in three weeks. Billy decides that he is going to go on a strict training program, while Josh on the other hand is so overconfident with his so called natural talents, he is just going to take it easy. Billy tries to tell Josh that there will be a lot of boys trying out, and only the 20 best will be allowed on the team. Josh says, "No sweat. With my natural great batting ability, and swiftness of foot in the outfield, I am a shoo-in for the team." Billy begins his training by telling Josh he is going to run home the long way around the block. Billy leaves running, Josh casually follows with a yawn. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "1 week later".) Billy comes running onto the stage, followed a couple of seconds later by Josh, who is holding and eating a bag of potato chips and pop. (For added fun, have Josh come in with a small pillow under his shirt to make him look a little heavier when he comes out, and each time make it a little bigger pillow.) Billy gets down and starts doing push-ups, while Josh sits down and begins to count. Billy tries to persuade Josh to train with him, but Josh tells him he has his own work out scheduled. (Josh then grabs one potato chip and sticks it in his mouth, counting one...and so on.) The boys leave. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "2 weeks later".) Billy comes running onto the stage, followed a little farther behind by Josh now holding and eating a couple of Twinkies. Once more, Billy tries to convince Josh to train for the try-outs, but Josh still won't take heed, and tells him that with his trusty bat, "Charlie" (Charlie is what Josh calls his bat) he is so confident he will make it, that if he doesn't, he will eat his hat. Some little kid comes out and steals Josh's Twinkie while he is talking to Billy. Josh chases him back behind stage. We hear Josh tell him to give him his Twinkies back or else his name will be mud. Josh tells him that there is not room in this children's church for the two of them. We then hear Josh trying out Karate on him, but then quit and tell him, "Hey give me back Charlie.. owe, don't hit me with ... owe, don't hit me with ... owe." We then see Josh fly backwards past the window. He comes up to the window, looks and Billy and says, "I will be just one minute." We hear a slap, and Josh goes flying past the window again. He comes up to the window, slaps himself in the forehead, and says, "Now I'm mad." Josh goes back after the kid. Josh finally comes out with his Twinkie all smashed and his clothes in disorder, but satisfied that he got his Twinkie. Billy gets down on the floor and begins doing sit-ups. Josh sits on a chair, and begins to hold his stomach. They leave. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "The week of try-outs".) Billy comes in jumping up and down, all excited because he made the team. Josh follows, with his head hung down, because he failed to make the team. Billy tells him, "I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so." Josh just mumbles to himself complaining how unfair the coaches were. The boys then leave with Billy reminding Josh that he has to eat his hat. Josh gets mad and chases him out. Memory Verse : 1 Corinthians 9:24
Sermon : Quickly review the skits and Bible story. What is the memory verse? Why did Clunky say he didn’t need to practice?
Why does Joshua say he doesn’t need to
practice?
In the Bible story, what did the man do
with the five talents he was given?
Sermon Points :
Lesson : I like to talk to the kids and explain the difference between repentance, and just being sorry because you were caught. My father was the warden of a jail. When we were kids, we would get into trouble for doing something and would often say we were sorry but not mean it. My dad would then talk to us about some of the people who were in his jail. He would explain that many of the inmates were sorry for what they had done, but not because it was wrong or because they had hurt someone, but simply because they were caught. He would tell us that those same people would eventually get out of jail, and in a short time were doing the same things wrong, and were back in jail again. These grown men would beg and even cry as they said they were sorry, but again, it was not because they were wrong, but because they were caught. Paul talks about a godly sorrow, and a worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow creates repentance which means to stop and turn around. Worldly sorrow produces death. Clunky Puppet Skit : 43 Clunky and Simon RePeter are talking behind the stage. You come up front and turn the blinds slightly, so that we can see Clunk and Simon and listen to what they are saying. Clunk tells Simon to watch and make sure the coast is clear while he sneaks two of the candy bars from the back. Simon is not sure he wants to do this, but Clunk talks him into it. You hide in the corner, while Simon comes to the window and looks around. Clunk takes the candy bars, then runs by telling Simon that he has them and to come on. The two of them leave to divide the candy bars. You tell the kids that you will have to have a little talk with the two boys later on. Simon comes up later in the service and calls for you. He tells you what they did, and gives back the candy bar saying that he is sorry and won't ever do it again. You thank Simon for his honesty and for repenting; he leaves, and you then call for Clunky to come up. Clunk comes and you ask him if there is anything that he would like to tell you, and Clunk says no. You ask him if he is sure there isn’t anything he would like to get off his chest. Clunk looks down at his chest and still says no. You then ask him about the candy bars. Clunk plays innocent, acting like he doesn’t know what you are talking about, and you tell him that you overheard him earlier, and know for a fact that he took them, and that now he is going to have to be punished. Clunk comes clean and admits to stealing the candy bar, and then rats on Simon RePeter. You tell him that Simon repented for what he had done, and has already confessed and given back the candy bar, and that he is forgiven. Clunk then asks what the punishment is, and you tell him that you were going to take both of them out for ice cream after church, but that now you are only going to take out Simon. Clunk then begins to apologize, really laying it on thick, but you tell him that it won't work, because he is only sorry that he got caught, not because he did something bad. You then tell Clunk that you want him to go back and think about what he has done. Bible Story : Genesis 25:29-34, Genesis 27, & Hebrews 12:16-17 Nerd Skit : 12 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, a mommy, and an old camera.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on repentance. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out with a camera, taking pictures. Nerd B comes out and seeing Nerd A, purposely trips him, causing him to fall and break his camera. Nerd A gets up, and asks why he did that, and Nerd B just pushes him and calls him names. Both nerds leave. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about repentance, and why it was not. (It wasn't repentance, because he pushes him and calls him names.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes out with the camera, taking pictures. Nerd B comes out and seeing Nerd A, purposely trips him, causing him to fall and break his camera. Nerd B goes over and says he is "really sorry" and helps Nerd A up, but as Nerd A walks away, Nerd B trips him again. Both nerds leave. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about repentance, and why it was not. (It wasn't repentance, because even though he said he was sorry, he did it again.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out with the camera, taking pictures. Nerd B comes out and seeing Nerd A, purposely trips him, causing him to fall and break his camera. Nerd A gets up and asks him why he did it and Nerd B just calls him names, when Nerd B's mommy comes out. His mommy asks what happened, and Nerd A tells her. Nerd B's mommy begins to grab Nerd B, who now begins to apologize to Nerd A for "accidentally" tripping him. Nerd B's mommy takes Nerd B away with him begging for forgiveness so that he doesn't have to be grounded. Nerd A also leaves. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about repentance, and why it was not. (It wasn't repentance, because he only said he was sorry because he was caught and had to be grounded, not because he broke his camera.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Same as skits one, two, and three, but this time when Nerd B realizes that he broke Nerd A's camera, he goes over to apologize, and tells him he will never do that again, and offers to buy him a new camera. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about repentance, and why it was. (It was repentance, because he really was sorry, and changed his behavior.) Sermon : Quickly review the skits and Bible story. Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 44 Part 1: Clunky comes up with a home made sock puppet, talking to him (When Clunk does his puppet, make it look like Clunky is a bad puppeteer, don't let the puppet's words match its mouth's movements. Also, let Clunk's mouth move a little, making it appear he is actually the one doing the puppet). Clunk is mad at Bully for always picking on him, and tells his sock puppet that he is going to start a rumor about Bully. Clunk puts away his puppet and turns looking for someone to spread the rumor to. He calls for Simon RePeter, who comes up, and Clunk begins to tell him his rumor about Bully, "While I was helping a little old lady cross the street over by the hospital, I saw Bully dressed like a nerd and picking his nose." He then tells Simon not to tell anyone, knowing that Simon will, and then tells him, "And remember, you didn't hear it from me." Both puppets leave. Part 2: Simon RePeter comes up later in the service looking for someone to tell the rumor to, when Edword comes up. Simon tells Edword that he heard a rumor, and wants to know if he wants to hear it. He then tells Edword, "While Clunky was helping some old lady to the hospital because she fell down I guess, he saw Bully standing in the corner dressed like a nerd and picking his nose." Edword is amazed, and Simon tells him not to tell anyone that he heard it from him. Simon leaves, and Edword looks for someone he can tell the rumor to, when Mr. Sin comes up. Edword tells him, "Did you hear, while Clunky was picking his nose on the corner, he saw an old lady fall down, so he took her to the hospital, where he saw Bully dressed like a nerd." He too tells Mr. Sin not to tell that he heard it from him. Both puppets leave. Part 3: Mr. Sin comes back up later in the service looking for someone to tell the rumor to. You come up and ask him what he is doing, and Mr. Sin asks you if you heard about Clunky. You say no, so he tells you, "Clunky was picking his nose when he fell down, jamming in his finger. Well, some old lady came by and saw it, so she took him to the hospital, where they made him wear nerd hospital clothes, and was roommate with Bully." Mr. Sin leaves telling you not to tell that you heard it from him. Part 4: You call for Clunky because you are worried that he had to go to the hospital. Clunky comes up asking what is wrong, and you tell him that you were just going to ask the same question, that you heard that he was in the hospital. Clunk asks what in the world you are talking about, and you tell him that you just heard that he fell down and jammed his finger in his nose, and had to have some old lady take him to the hospital, where they made him wear nerdy clothes and be roommates with Bully. Clunk says, "That's not how I started that rumor." You then explain to Clunk that that is the way rumors work. People tend to hear only part of it, and then fill in the rest as they think best, and in this case it backfired. Clunk apologizes, and vows never to start another rumor again, at least with Simon RePeter. You look at Clunk angrily, and he says, "OK, never again to anyone." Clunk then leaves to try to find out who all heard this rumor and straighten this whole mess out. Bible Story : Matt 21:8-11 & Matthew 27:20-25 Somehow, between Matthew 21 and Matthew 27, the same people who praised him changed and began to cry crucify him. Matthew 27:20 tells us that the priests persuaded the crowds against him. They began to tell lies to the crowds, turning the hearts of the people against him. Memory Verse : Simon RePeter Proverbs 26:22
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. Nerd Skit : 13 (You will need two people dressed up as cowboys, one with a newspaper, and the other with a gossip magazine, and a nerd cowboy.) The two people come out and start reading the newspaper and gossip magazine. One of them says "It says hear in the newspaper that that famous gunslinger (place your Nerd's name here) is coming to town today." The two people then begin to tell some of the rumors that each of them has heard about the gunslinger. The more rumors they tell to each other, the more afraid they become. When the nerd comes out riding his horse, the two people are really afraid at first, but when they get a good look at him, they can hardly believe that he is that famous desperado they had heard so much about, and then ask him questions about the rumors they have heard. The more they hear the rumors explained from the nerd cowboy, the less afraid they become. 1. Question: I heard you once bushwhacked Billy the Kid.
Sermon : Quickly review the skits, memory verse and Bible story. Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 47 You come up and tell the kids that you had Clunky and Simon do something special for you (like wash your car, mow the lawn ... etc.), and that you told them you would buy each of them a model airplane to build for their help. You then call the two of them up. Clunk and Simon come up, and you thank them for the good job they did for you, and that you have the models for them. Clunk and Simon are so excited, they want to hurry up and start to build. You tell them that the directions are in the box, and to make sure to read them carefully and take their time, and that they should turn out really swell. You leave with the two boys to help them set up a table for them to build their models on. Simon comes back up excited about the good job he did on making his model, and then proudly shows you, and you show the kids. He tells you that he followed the directions very carefully, and that it turned out to be the coolest model he has ever built, and thanks you again for it. Simon leaves so that he can show it to his mommy, and you begin to wonder how Clunk did on his model, so you call him up. Clunk comes up mad at the world. You ask him what is the matter, and he tells you that first of all the model that he got was stupid and must have been a reject from the factory because it wouldn't fit, and looks totally dumb. You ask Clunk if he followed the instructions, and he tells you kind of. Clunk then goes to get his model that is completely done backwards, and again tells you that his model was a reject. You tell Clunk that the two models that you bought were identical, and that the problem was not in the model, but in the builder, that he needed to follow the instructions, and that everything would have worked out fine. You both leave with Clunk swearing that the next time he gets a model, he will follow the instructions. Bible Story : Matthew 7:24-29 Memory Verse : Mr. Sin James 1:22
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 : 11 (Characters : Joshua, Mom and a Doctor.) (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 1") Josh comes down with a cough, and Mom calls for the Doctor. The Doctor arrives, examines Josh (Josh sits on the table, and the Doctor hits him on the right knee with his little reflex hammer, but it is Josh's left knee that moves. Then when he hits him on the left knee, it is his right knee that moves. Every time the Doctor touches Josh, he starts to laugh because he is tickling him.), and then gives him some medicine, telling him that if he takes his medicine, he will be better in just a couple of days. Josh asks the Doctor if he will get better in time to go to the Fair on Friday. The Doctor says yes, just as long as he takes his medicine, and does what he says. Mom asks Josh if he heard what the Doctor said, and Josh says "Yes, Mom. If I take my medicine, I will be well in time for the Fair." Mom thanks the Doctor, and they all leave. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 2") Josh and Mom come out, and Mom asks Josh if he has taken his medicine yet. Josh says "No, not yet, but I will later." Mom reminds Josh of what the Doctor said, and Josh says "Yeah, yeah, I know. If I take the medicine, I will be better in time for the Fair." They both leave. (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 3" - same as Day 2) (Someone comes out with a sign that says "Day 4") Billy comes over to Josh's house with two tickets to the Fair, and asks Mom if Josh is ready to go. Mom tells Billy, "Josh is still sick, and won't be able to go to the Fair this year." Billy asks, "Didn't the Doctor tell Josh that if he would take his medicine, be would be better in time to go?" Mom explains, "That is just the point, Josh didn't take his medicine like he was supposed to, and now he is not well enough to go." Josh comes out coughing. Billy tells him he looks terrible, and that he will sure miss him at the Fair this year. Billy then leaves excited about the Fair. Josh says, "I wish I would have taken my medicine like I was supposed to." Mom and Josh both leave. Sermon : Quickly review the skits, Bible story, and memory verse. What is the memory verse? What did Simon and Clunky do for the teacher?
What did the doctor tell Joshua to do?
Jesus said a person who hears and does
his Word is like a wise man who builds his house where?
Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 56 (You will need an old, already broken camera) You come up with a camera and explain to the kids that one of the puppets, Birtha, asked you if she could borrow your camera for a school project. You call for Birtha, give her the camera, and tell her that when she is done with it to just leave it back behind the stage next to your Bible. She thanks you for the use of the camera, and then leaves. Later in the service, Clunk comes up with the camera telling the kids that he found it back in the back and he wonders whose it is. While Clunk is playing with it, he accidentally drops it, causing it to break. Clunk begins to panic and tells the kids to promise not to tell that it was his fault. Clunk leaves to go take his fingerprints off of it and to put the it back. Moments later, you find the camera broken and call for Birtha. She comes up and you ask her what happened to your camera. She says she doesn't know, that she left it right where you told her to put it, and that it was in good shape when she left it. You ask her, "Well if you didn't break it, then who did?" You both look at each other for a second and then say, "Clunky". You turn to the kids and ask them if they know anything about the camera, and they should tell you that Clunk broke it. You call for Clunk who comes up acting very innocent. You tell him about the camera, and then ask him if he knows anything about it. Clunk begins a long line of lies to prove that he didn’t do it, like he just got to church two minutes ago, but you remind him that you are the one that gave him the ride to church one hour ago. Clunk tells you that he was in the back room playing, and you tell him that the back room is locked. Clunk tells you he now remembers that he was playing with Simon RePeter, but you tell him that Simon is on vacation in Cucamonga. Clunk tries one more lie, but you interrupt him, and tell him that you do not want to hear his lies and then tell him that if he will confess to doing it you will forgive him, but that if he doesn't then you will be forced to have to give him a spanking and sell his tricycle to pay for a new camera. Clunk goes over his two options with you, and Birtha adds that she will also be forced to beat him up if he doesn't confess. Clunk comes clean and tells exactly what happened, saying that it was an accident, and that he is sorry. You tell him you kind of figured it was an accident, and that is why you are going to forgive him. You all leave. Joshua Skit : 29 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Sis, and Bully.) Mom and Joshua enter the room with Mom carrying a jar of cookies. Josh asks Mom if he could possibly have one little cookie before supper, and Mom tells him no, "They are for the church fair, and besides we will be eating dinner shortly." Mom then tells Josh to go and clean his room, and the two of them leave. Bully sneaks into the room, and looking around, grabs a handful of cookies. He also does a couple other mean things while he is there like knock over the lamp ... etc. Bully hears a sound in the back of the stage, and quickly leaves. Mom enters the room, and gets upset when she sees the lamp has been knocked over. Then when she sees that some of the cookies are missing, she yells for the kids. Josh and Sis come running and ask what she wants. Mom asks the kids who it was that knocked over the lamp and ate the cookies. Mom and Sis then look at Josh. Josh tells Mom, "I was up in my room playing, I mean cleaning." Mom then asks Josh that if it wasn't he who knocked over the lamp and ate the cookies, who was it. Josh points a finger at Sis and says she might have done it, but Sis tells Mom that she was with her the whole time helping with the laundry. Mom now getting a little angry asks Josh if he would like to come up with another excuse. Josh says, "Maybe Bully came into the room, and took a handful of cookies, and knocked over the lamp just to be mean, and then when he heard you coming, he ran away." Mom then tells Josh that he has two choices, he can either confess to the fact that he ate the cookies, or he will get a spanking and be sent to his room for the rest of the evening. Josh continues to plead his innocence, "Have I ever lied to you before? Forget I asked that." Mom then drags Josh behind the stage with Josh continuing to plead his innocence. In the background, we hear the sound of Mom spanking Josh. The two come back out with Mom telling Josh to go to his room, and think about what he has done. Josh leaves, again telling her that he didn't do it. Mom leaves, amazed that even after getting spanked, he is still so stubborn. Sermon : Quickly review the skits. What did Clunky find behind the stage?
What did Joshua ask Mom for?
Sermon Points :
Clunky Puppet Skit : 30 Clunky comes up wearing dark clothes (a black shirt, dark hat, and dark sunglasses) talking differently than he normally does, saying things like dude, rad, and poopee (poopee is the word we use in our Children's Church to denote a "bad word" or cuss word.) You come up and ask Clunk what he is up to, and Clunk explains that he got this new puppet-rock tape from one of the kids in school, and it is the greatest. "It has totally changed my life." says Clunk. You ask him who the group is, and Clunk tells you that their name is "Your Momma Is Ugly." You ask him if that is the group that sings the song "Step On Your Daddy's Face." Clunk tells you that they are the group, and that they are totally Rad. You then tell Clunk that you read an article in the newspaper about the group, and that the article said that one of the guys in the group got arrested last year for using drugs. (If you want, you can use an old newspaper, and act like you are reading from the article.) Clunk tells you that it was a bum rap, and that you can't judge them for that one thing. You then tell him that the article said that this group has great big beer parties for the kids after their concerts. Clunk begins to stutter trying to defend them. You then tell him that it also has the words of one of their songs, and you read them... "Don't listen to your parents, don't listen to those preachers, they are all dumb anyway. Listen to us, we are where it's at, if you want to have a good time today." You then tell him it also says that the group claims that God is just a bunch of bologna. Clunk again begins to stutter as he defends them saying that he doesn't listen to the words, but to the beat. You then ask him that if he only listens to the beat, and not to the words, then where did he pick up all those words he was saying earlier. Clunk begins to realize that you are right. He decides that he is going to get rid of that tape, and pull out his good old Christian tapes. He says that he actually likes the Christian music just as much, if not more than the puppet-rock, and it doesn't have any bad words in it. Clunk then leaves to go get his tapes. Bible Story : I Kings 11:1-8 Nerd Skit : 3 (You will need a professor, a nerd, two or three other students, and a computer made out of a cardboard box, and computer paper with prewritten words on it that can be pulled out.) (The setting is a college computer class room.) The students come in and sit down, talking quietly. The professor comes in and begins to talk to the kids. The Nerd then comes in interrupting the class. (The Nerd has a briefcase stuffed with papers that continually pops open and throws the papers everywhere.) The professor asks him to please have a seat so that he can continue with his lesson. The Nerd finds a seat, and winks at one of the girl students. He then begins to pull out his notepad and starts looking for, and then borrows a pencil from someone. Two minutes into the professor's lecture, the Nerd begins to write and say out loud what the professor said at the beginning. The professor gets mad at the Nerd, asking him to take his notes a little more quietly, and then continues. The professor's lecture is about the fact that a computer is nothing more than what you put into it. He tells the students, "If you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. If you put good things in, you will get good things out. What you put into the computer is what you will get out of it." The bell rings, and the professor and students leave, but the Nerd stays behind because his briefcase pops open again. As soon as he gets everything together, he looks at the computer and decides to go mess around on it. He types (and says out loud) things like "Professor Von Schnooder is a nitwit," "(Nerd A) is a swell guy," and other words like "shutup," "up your nose," and "take a hike." The Nerd finally leaves. The professor comes back in realizing that he left his computer on, and decides to do a little work before he leaves. He begins to type, asking the computer questions, which the computer answers with the words and statements that the Nerd put into it. (The computer answers the questions by having you pull out the computer paper with the prewritten answers on it.) The professor asks questions like, "Who is the smartest person in the world?" and the computer answers "(Nerd A) is a swell guy." The professor then asks a couple more questions, and gets all bad answers. The professor realizes that someone has been messing around with his computer, and that he is now going to have to spend a whole day deleting all the bad stuff that someone has been putting into it. The professor leaves. Sermon : Quickly review the skits and Bible story. How was Clunky dressed?
If you put garbage into the computer, what
do you get out?
Sermon Points :
Joshua Skit : 31 (Characters : Joshua, Mom, Sis, and Sally.) Joshua and Mom come out and Josh tells her that he has just made friends with one of the most popular and bestest looking girls in his school. He tells her that her name is Sally and she wants to come over and play sometime. Josh asks if it is OK to give her a call and invite her over. Mom says that she has to go to the store, but that if they will behave then it is OK with her. Josh calls her and she says she will be right over. Josh is excited and begins to spiffy himself up, and brushes his teeth with his finger. The door knocks, and Josh answers it and lets her in. Sally rudely asks him what they are going to play, and Josh says they could play duck duck goose or something fun like that. Sally gets mad and tells him that it is a little kid's game, and she wants to do something fun, like eat some of those cookies over there. Josh tells her that his Mom said he is not supposed to, but she talks him into it, telling him not to listen to his "Mommy" cause she ain't his boss. As they begin to eat the cookies, Sis comes out and seeing them, threatens to tell on them. Josh and Sally begin to chase Sis out off the stage. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "The Next Day".) Josh and Mom come out, and Josh asks if Sally can come over and play again. Mom isn't sure, but Josh convinces her that he will behave, and Mom says OK. Josh gives Sally a call, and she comes over and asks what he wants to do. Just then Sis comes in and asks if she can play with the two of them. Sally then tells Josh the thing she wants to do is to pin down Sis and tickle her until she wets her pants. Josh says he can't do that for two reasons. The first is that she is wearing a dress and therefore can't wet her pants. The second is that Mom told him to be nice to his Sis while she is gone to the store. Again Sally talks him into it and they pin Sis on the ground and begin to tickle her (at first she just laughs, but then she starts to cry). Sis then gets up and runs out as Josh and Sally chase her. (Someone comes out with a sign that says, "The Next Day".) Josh comes out, and knowing that Mom will say no if he asks her for permission to have Sally over, decides to give her a call anyway. Sally comes over and asks what he wants to do. Josh tells her that he wants to play ball in the house. Sally asks him if he will get into trouble from his "Mommy" for it, and Josh says, "So what." Sally pats him on the back and tells him he is really starting to turn into a cool kid. They start to play and Josh accidentally knocks over the lamp. Just then, Mom walks in and gets after the kids, asking Josh what happened. Josh smarts off to her, and Mom tells him that he is in big trouble, and then tells Sally that she must go home now. Josh tells her that it was his fault, but Mom tells him that ever since he has been playing with her, he has been getting into trouble both at home and at school. She tells Josh that Sally has been a bad influence on him, and that unless she straightens herself out, she is not allowed to come over any more. They all leave with Josh still mad at Mom. Clunky Puppet Skit : 27 You come up front and tell the kids that you have a letter for Clunk from some girl named Suzy Sinster, and then yell for Clunk to come up. Clunk comes up, you tell him about the letter, and he gets very excited. Clunk tells you how that Suzy is the most best looking and popular girl in school, and that every boy wants to be her boyfriend, and that she chose him out of everyone else. Clunk is so excited, he asks you to read the letter for him out loud. The letter goes something like this: Dearest Hunksters, (You can stop, and make comments any time you wish.) I am madly in love with you. You are the most cute and funny boy in our class, and I am excited about our being boyfriend and girlfriend. (While you are reading, Clunk is talking to himself with excitement.) I am really looking forward to that beer party that we are going to next Saturday. I hear it will be the biggest and best ever. I am also happy that you decided to spend the night at my house that night too. (You say, "I thought you asked me about spending the night at Josh's house next Saturday?") I have the "R" rated movies rented that we were planning to watch, and I just got that new album of that great new heavy metal puppet-rock group "Your Momma Is Ugly" and it's got that new hit "Step On Your Daddy's Face." By the way, I really enjoyed giving you that kiss out at recess the other day, and rubbing my fingers through your hair. I am also very proud and impressed with how you have learned to out cuss everyone in the class. You are the greatest Clunkypoo, Love and kisses,
Bible Story : Judges 2 Memory Verse : Nerds 2 Corinthians 6:14
(You will need a nerd, burglar, and the memory verse written on pieces of wood.) 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.) Sermon : Quickly review the skits, memory verse, and Bible story. Sermon Points : Your turn. Sit down and write out the main points of what you want to teach. Don’t be afraid, let yourself be led by God. |
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