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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 1.
FOLLOWING GOD (Fruit of the Spirit)
Clunky Puppet Skit : 75 Clunky comes up with a new friend named Bart. Clunky dresses like him and talks like him. The teacher asks Clunky to introduce his new friend. Bart interrupts and tells Clunky, "I thought you said this place was cool and fun. This isn't cool or fun. Come on, lets blow this popsicle stand." Bart leaves, but the teacher stops Clunky for just a minute to talk to him. She asks where he met this new friend, and tells him to be very cautious about hanging out with kids like Bart. Clunky tells her, "Bart is the coolest kid in the whole school, and if I hope to be 1/2 as cool, I need to hang out with kids just like him." While the teacher tries to talk to him, Bart comes back up and asks, "Are you coming?" Clunky asks where, and Bart says to the store to get some candy. He then asks Clunky if he has any money. Clunky says no, so he tells Clunky to ask the teacher. Clunky asks the teacher, and she tells him to ask her after church. The teacher's purse is sitting by the stage, so Bart whispers loudly in Clunky's ear and tells him to take it and run. Clunky tries to talk him out of it, but Bart tells him that if he wants to be cool, he needs to do what he says. Clunky and Bart take the purse and then run out. Later in the service, a Police officer comes in looking for the teacher. (If you have someone in the church that is a police officer, that works best. Otherwise you can have someone play a plain clothed police officer with a badge.) He tells her that he was driving down the street and noticed two boys running down the sidewalk carrying this purse. He tells her, "I pulled over and told the boys to stop. One of the boys kept running, but one of them did what I said." He calls for the puppet to come up and asks the teacher if she knows who this boy is. It is Clunky. The teacher tells the police officer that she knows who the boy is. The police officer asks if she wants him to take Clunky down to the police station and book him. The teacher looks at Clunky and says, "No thank you, I will take care of it." The police officer then tells Clunky, "The boy you were hanging around with is a not a very good kid. He causes problems, gets into trouble a lot, and has been down to the police station a number of times in just the last couple of months. You need to quit hanging around kids like that, and start hanging around with kids like the kids here at church." The police officer leaves. Clunky tells the teacher that he is sorry and that he has learned his lesson, "From now on, I am only going to hang around good kids." The teacher tells Clunky that she will talk to him afterwards about his punishment. Clunky tells her, "I have already spent time in the slammer, what other punishment do I deserve?" The teacher responds, "Slammer? He didn't take you to jail." Clunky says, "No, but he put me in the police car while everyone was watching, and it made me feel bad." The teacher tells Clunky that they will talk about it after church. Clunky apologizes again and leaves to go find Simon RePeter. Memory Verse : Simon RePeter Matt 16:24
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."Simon RePeter : 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. Bible Story : 1 Kings 19:19-21 & 2 Kings 2:1-14 Story of Elijah and
Elisha. When Elisha began to follow Elijah, he went so far as to
even sacrifice his oxen (his possessions) and follow Elijah completely.
And when it was time for Elijah to be taken to heaven, three times he asked
Elisha to stay behind, but all three times Elisha answered, "As the LORD
liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." 2 Kings 2:2
Nerd Skit : 42 (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 following God. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out and tells the kids that he is going to be teaching Nerd B how to be cool like him, "Nerd B idolizes my suave and sophisticated coolness, and wants to grow up to be like me." He combs his hair and says, "Can you blame him?" He then begins waiting for Nerd B. Nerd A tells the kids that he was supposed to meet Nerd B here five minutes ago. He waits some more, but then finally leaves saying, "In order to be cool like me, the first thing he needs to do is buy a watch, and show up on time." The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit on following God, and why it was not. (It wasn't because no one even showed up to follow him.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes out and tells the kids that he is going to be teaching Nerd B how to be cool like him, "Nerd B idolizes my suave and sophisticated coolness, and wants to grow up to be like me. Can you blame him?" Nerd B shows up and Nerd A tells Nerd B that in order to teach him, Nerd B will have to follow and do everything he does. Nerd A asks Nerd B if he is ready, and Nerd B says, "Yes, please show me, oh great master of suaveness, how I can be like you." Nerd A then says, "The first thing we need to do is to get you dressed correctly." Nerd A then pulls Nerd B's pants way up high, and puts a jacket, hat, and glasses with tape similar to the jacket, hat and glasses Nerd A is wearing. (Nerd B now looks like Nerd A.) Nerd A says, "Excellent. You are looking suave and cool, now we need to work on how you walk and talk. Now remember, you must do exactly as I do." Nerd A then begins to talk loudly (Nerd A has a high pitched, nasally voice), but Nerd B talks softly. Nerd A then talks softly, but Nerd B talks loudly. Nerd A says, "No no no no." Nerd B says, "Yes yes yes yes." Everything Nerd A says and does, Nerd B does the opposite. Nerd A then starts to walk out saying, "If you want to be cool and suave like me, then you need to follow me and do exactly what I do. Come on, lets go." Nerd B shrugs his shoulders, and walks out the opposite direction. Nerd A walks back out on stage and says, "Are you coming?" Nerd B says yes. Nerd A leaves and Nerd B leaves the opposite direction. We here Nerd A sighing out loud as he leaves. We also hear Nerd B sigh out loud as he leaves, and Nerd A yells, "Oh sure, now you do what I do." The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit on following God, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he did just the opposite.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out and tells the kids that he is going to be teaching Nerd B how to be cool like him, "Nerd B idolizes my suave and sophisticated coolness, and wants to grow up to be like me. Every one does." Nerd B shows up and Nerd A tells Nerd B that in order to teach him, Nerd B will have to follow and do everything he does. Nerd A asks Nerd B if he is ready, and Nerd B says, "Yes, please show me, oh great master of nerditum, how I can be like you." Nerd A says, "I'm not a nerd." Nerd B then corrects himself and says, "I meant to say, master of coolness." Nerd A then says, "Excellent. The first thing we need to do is to get you dressed correctly." Nerd A then pulls Nerd B's pants way up high, and puts a jacket and hat similar to the jacket and hat Nerd A is wearing. (Nerd B now looks like Nerd A.) Nerd A says, "Excellent. You are looking suave and cool, now we need to work on how you walk and talk. Now remember, you must do exactly as I do." Nerd A then starts to yell. Nerd B yells the same thing but 1/2 heartedly. Nerd A then jumps up and down. Nerd B jumps up and down too, but only 1/2 heartedly. Nerd A acts very excited. Nerd B acts excited, but only 1/2 heartedly. Nerd A then starts to walk out saying, "If you want to be cool and suave like me, then you need to follow me and do exactly what I do. Come on, lets go. I see I have a lot of work to do on you." Nerd A then leaves. Nerd B leaves also, but very slowly and way behind. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit on following God, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he only followed him 1/2 heartedly.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A comes out and tells the kids that
he is going to be teaching Nerd B how to be cool like him, "Nerd B idolizes
my suave and sophisticated coolness, and wants to grow up to be like me."
He pulls out a mirror to look at himself and says, "I can understand why."
Nerd B shows up and Nerd A tells Nerd B that in order to teach him, Nerd
B will have to follow and do everything he does. Nerd A asks Nerd
B if he is ready, and Nerd B says, "Yes. Please show me, oh great
master of suave cool intelligence and smoothness, how I can be like you."
Nerd A blushes then says, "The first thing we need to do is to get you
dressed correctly." Nerd A then pulls Nerd B's pants way up high,
and puts a jacket and hat similar to the jacket and hat Nerd A is wearing.
(Nerd B now looks like Nerd A.) Nerd A says, "Excellent. You
are looking suave and cool, now we need to work on how you walk and talk.
Now remember, you must do exactly as I do." Nerd A yells out loud
(Nerd A has a high pitched nasally voice). Nerd B yells the same
thing with the same loud high pitched nasally voice. Nerd A laughs
with a snort. Nerd B laughs with a snort. Nerd A then jumps
up and down like a nerd. Nerd B stands right next to Nerd A and jumps
up and down just like Nerd A.
The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit on following God, and why it was. (It was because he followed him and did every thing he did.) Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 79 Clunky and Simon RePeter come up with a brown package with one of the teacher's names on it. (The Package is from the "ACME Spy Company.") They call for the teacher and tell her that they have a package that came in the mail for her. Clunky tells her that he noticed that the package came from the "ACME Spy Company" and that he has been praying and saving up for a toy made by the "ACME Spy Company" for two years. The teacher said that she put her name in a raffle contest about a month ago for this really cool spy toy that sends secret messages, is also a walky talky, and has really cool spy games on it as well. Clunky tells her, "That's the same toy." She opens the package, and it is the toy that Clunky has been praying and saving up for. The teacher is excited. Simon is excited too, but Clunky is sad. Simon congratulates the teacher for the cool toy, and Clunky does too, but only half heartedly. The teacher asks the two puppets if they would like to watch her play? Clunky says no and then leaves. Simon tells the teacher that he is very happy for her, but that his bestest friend Clunky probably needs him right about now, "He has been praying and saving up for that toy for two whole years. Every day he shows me a picture of the toy that he cut out of a magazine and taped to his note book at school. He put his name in for that raffle too, hoping he would win. I am sure he is happy that you are the one who won it, he is just sad right now. I will come back later so you can show me the new toy if that is OK." Simon leaves calling for Clunky to wait up for him. The teacher looks at the kids and tells them that she has been saving up for this toy too, but she didn't know that Clunky wanted it so badly, "I wonder what Jesus would do in a situation like this?" She shakes her head and calls for Clunky and Simon. Simon comes up and says that Clunky is too sad to come up. The teacher then asks Clunky very sweetly to please come up. Clunky comes up with his head bowed in sadness. The teacher tells Clunky, "I heard about how you have been praying and saving up for this toy for two years, so I want you to have it." Clunky looks up and tells the teacher that he couldn't take it. She tells him that she insists. Clunky tells her that he has been praying and saving up for it, but that he couldn't take it, that he will just have to pray and save up some more. The teacher then tells him, "Well then how about we share it?" "Share it?" asks Clunky. "Yes." says the teacher, "I can't play with it all the time. And if I did, it wouldn't be fun anymore. So what if I play with it one week, and then you can play with it the next? Then we can both enjoy it." Clunky asks, "Would it be OK, if when it is my week, I share it with Simon?" The teacher tells Clunky, "I think that would be great." The teacher then asks the two boys if they want to watch her, and this time they both say yes. Bible Story : Genesis 42 - 45 Story of Joseph and Judah. There is a famine in the land, and the 11 sons of Israel go to Egypt to buy food. The man they talk to is Joseph, but it has been over 20 years since they have last seen him, and do not recognize him. He plays a trick on them and places a silver cup in Benjamin's bag of corn. He then accuses Benjamin of stealing it, and tells the brothers that Benjamin must now be his slave. The brothers try to talk him out of it, but to no avail. Judah then steps up and tells him that if his brother does not go home to his father, it will kill him. Judah then asks him to take him instead to be a slave, and to let his younger brother go. Nerd Skit : 44 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, and six ice-cream bars.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on sacrifice. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out with an ice-cream bar.
He tells the kids that he has been saving up his money and waiting in great
expectation all winter for summer time to finally get here so that he could
buy
this ice-cream bar from the "Ding Ding Man". (The "Ding
Ding man" is the icre-cream man who drives his ice-cream truck through
the neighborhoods ringing his bell.) He then begins to tell the kids
how delicious, and scrumptious, and luscious this ice-cream bar is.
He tells them that they are so good, they are all sold out in just the
first month of the summer. He sits down and begins to open the ice-cream
bar slowly, smelling and looking at it in great anticipation. Just
then Nerd B walks out crying, telling the kids, "I heard the sound of the
'Ding Ding man', but by the time I went back home to get my money, the
'Ding Ding man' was gone." He begins to cry. He then looks
up and notices Nerd A with the ice-cream bar, and asks if he would be willing
to sell it or to share? Nerd A tells him that he is crazy, "I have
waited all winter to get
this ice-cream bar, and there is no way
I am going to sell it OR share it with you or anybody else, not for a hundred
dollars, not for a thousand dollars, not evan for a million dollars ...
OK, maybe for a million dollars, but not one penny less." Nerd A
rips off the wrapper and begins to eat the ice-cream bar as he walks out.
Nerd B leaves crying.
The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about sacrifice, and why it was not. (It wasn't sacrifice because he didn't share with him.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes out with two ice-cream bars. He tells the kids that he has been saving up his money and waiting in great expectation all winter for summer time to finally get here so that he could buy this ice-cream bar from the "Ding Ding Man". He then begins to tell the kids how delicious, and scrumptious, and luscious this ice-cream bar is. He tells them that they are so good, they are all sold out in just the first two weeks of the summer. He sits down and begins to open the ice-cream bar slowly, smelling and looking at it in great anticipation. Just then Nerd B walks out crying, telling the kids, "I heard the sound of the 'Ding Ding man', but by the time I went back home to get my money, the 'Ding Ding man' was gone." He begins to cry. He then looks up and notices Nerd A with the ice-cream bar, and asks if he would be willing to sell it or to share? Nerd A tells him that he is crazy, "I have waited all winter to get this ice-cream bar, and there is no way I am going to sell it OR share it with you or anybody else, not for a hundred dollars, not for a thousand dollars, not evan for a million dollars ... OK, maybe for a million dollars, but not one penny less. You should have been better prepared." Nerd A then tells him that he bought a different, less yummy ice-cream pop for his cousin, and offers that one to him. Nerd B declines, so Nerd A rips off the wrapper and begins to eat the ice-cream bar as he walks out. Nerd B leaves crying. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit about sacrifice, and why it was not. (It wasn't sacrifice because even though he offered to share, he offered something he didn't want.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out with an ice-cream bar. He tells the kids that he has been saving up his money and waiting in great expectation all winter for summer time to finally get here so that he could buy this ice-cream bar from the "Ding Ding Man". He then begins to tell the kids how delicious, and scrumptious, and luscious this ice-cream bar is. He tells them that they are so good, they are all sold out in just the first week of the summer. He sits down and begins to open the ice-cream bar slowly, smelling and looking at it in great anticipation. Just then Nerd B walks out crying, telling the kids, "I heard the sound of the 'Ding Ding man', but by the time I went back home to get my money, the 'Ding Ding man' was gone." He begins to cry. He then looks up and notices Nerd A with the ice-cream bar, and asks if he would be willing to sell it or to share? Nerd A tells him, "I have waited all winter to get this ice-cream bar, I will have to think about this one." He then begins to eat the ice-cream. Nerd B asks if he is going to share or not, and Nerd A, while taking another bite says, "Don't rush me, I am thinking about it." Nerd A eats almost all of the icre-cream, and when he gets down to the last bite, he decides to share and gives it to Nerd B. Nerd B declines at first, but then takes it. Both nerds leave. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit about sacrifice, and why it was not. (It wasn't sacrifice because even though he did share with him, he only gave him the last little bite.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A comes out with two ice-cream bars. He tells the kids that he has been saving up his money and waiting in great expectation all winter for summer time to finally get here so that he could buy this ice-cream bar from the "Ding Ding Man". He then begins to tell the kids how delicious, and scrumptious, and luscious this ice-cream bar is. He tells them that they are so good, they are all sold out in just the first two days of the summer. He sits down and begins to open the ice-cream bar slowly, smelling and looking at it in great anticipation. Just then Nerd B walks out crying, telling the kids, "I heard the sound of the 'Ding Ding man', but by the time I went back home to get my money, the 'Ding Ding man' was gone." He begins to cry. He then looks up and notices Nerd A with the ice-cream bar, and asks if he would be willing to sell it or to share? Nerd A tells him that he is crazy, "I have waited all winter to get this ice-cream bar, and there is no way I am going to sell it OR share it with you or anybody else, not for a hundred dollars, not for a thousand dollars, not even for a million dollars ... OK, maybe for a million dollars, but not one penny less." Nerd A rips off the wrapper, but then seeing the sadness in Nerd B's eyes, decides to give Nerd B the ice-cream bar, and to eat the other less yummy ice cream bar. Nerd B tells him, that is the nicest thing anyone has ever done. Nerd A then tells Nerd B, "Actually, the 'Ding Ding man' is my Uncle Charlie, so I will just call him tonight and have him save me an ice-cream bar for tomorrow. Besides, I think I have gained ten pounds just doing this skit." Nerd B asks, "Do you think your Uncle Charlie could save me one too?" Nerd A says, "Sure." The two nerds leave eating their ice-cream. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about sacrifice, and why it was. (It was sacrifice because he gave him the good ice-cream bar, and took the other one for himself.) Memory
Verse : HeyMan
John 15:13
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." NIV I know a lot of churches are into the "High-tech" Children's Church, so this one might be for you. It is actually the same as Mr. Sin, but we jazz it up a little bit. A lot of churches will write the memory verse on PowerPoint, and then take away one word at a time so the kids can memorize the verse. Here is a way of making it fun. One of the teachers comes up front and has the children say the memory verse on the PowerPoint with them . HeyMan (Haman) 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 shoots the PowerPoint screen, and one of the words "magically" disappears. He leaves thinking he has ruined it for the children. (You can use any kind of gun, a toy laser for a futuristic look, or a toy six shooter for an old western theme. When HeyMan shoots at the screen, simply cause one of the words to disappear on your PowerPoint presentation.) The teacher then has the children say the memory verse with one of the words now gone. HeyMan 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 shoots one of the words and leaves thinking that they surely won't be able to say the memory verse now. This goes on for as many words as you have. When the last word is shot, HeyMan leaves for good, but the children have memorized the memory verse. For added fun, have HeyMan shoot the words
in different silly ways. For example, he can shoot the word from
behind his back.
Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 77 Part 1: Clunky comes up playing with Puppy. (Clunky's puppy's name is Puppy. Puppy always tackles Clunky and begins to lick his face.) He asks Teacher A if it would be OK if he went outside to play with Puppy. The teacher tells Clunky, "You need to stay in church right now, but afterwards I will go out with you." Clunky leaves. A couple of minutes later, Clunky comes back in crying hysterically. The teacher asks what happened, but Clunky is afraid. The teacher tells Clunky that it is OK, and convinces him to talk to her, so Clunky tells her that Puppy got run over. The teacher asks how, and Clunky tells her, "I kind of disobeyed and went outside to throw the ball with Puppy. But while we were playing, I accidentally threw the ball too far and it went out into the street, and Puppy ran into the street to get it. A car drove by just then and didn't see Puppy and ran him over." Clunky begins to cry hysterically. The teacher begins to comfort Clunky and tells him that she will go and help get Puppy. Clunky asks if they can have a funeral, and the teacher says yes. They both leave with Clunky telling the teacher that he will never be able to love another puppy again. Part 2: Later in the service, Clunky comes back up with a shoe box (for Puppy's casket), wearing black and carrying an umbrella. The teacher asks Clunky what the umbrella is for, and Clunky tells her that he is not sure, but that everyone always carries an umbrella at funerals in all the movies. The teacher smiles. Clunky asks the teacher if she could say a prayer for the funeral. She says yes, and says a nice prayer thanking God for the opportunity to get to know and love and play with Puppy. When she is done praying, Teacher B comes up and tells Clunky that she heard what happened to Puppy, so she went down to the pound and bought him a new puppy. (The new puppy looks just like the old puppy.) The new puppy comes up and licks Clunky. Clunky says, "He is cute and everything, but he will never be like Puppy." Clunky hangs his head and leaves. The new puppy whimpers and leaves also. Part 3: Later in the service, Clunky walks by the window with his head down and still moping. Teacher A decides that she needs to have a talk with Clunky and calls him back up. Clunky comes up still wearing black and carrying the umbrella. Teacher A begins to talk to Clunky and tell him that it is OK for him to be sad about losing Puppy, but that he needs to rejoice in the Lord. Clunky asks her, "How can I rejoice in the Lord when Puppy is dead?" Clunky starts to cry again. Teacher A pats him gently on the shoulder, and tells him, "It is OK to be sad about Puppy, but you need to rejoice for the other things you have." Clunky says, "Like what?" Teacher A says, "Like your friends and your family, your church, the kids in church, God and your new puppy." Clunky says, "The new puppy will never be able to replace Puppy." Teacher A tells Clunky, "It is true that the new puppy will never be able to replace Puppy, but the new puppy is very special too, and if you give him a chance and get to know him, you will love him also." She tells Clunky that he can either mope around and waste the rest of his life being sad about the bad things that happen, or he can rejoice in the Lord and be thankful for the good things he has, "You can either be a boring mope, or you can be a fun joy." Clunky decides he will give new puppy a chance. He calls for new puppy who runs in and jumps on Clunky just like Puppy used too. Clunky starts to laugh and giggle. He comes up with new puppy licking him. Clunky asks the teacher, "Do you think it would be OK if I name him Puppy II after Puppy?" The teacher tells him that is a good idea. Clunky starts to play with Puppy II and begins to laugh more as Puppy II continues to lick his face. Clunky asks Teacher A if it is OK for him to go outside and play with Puppy II. Teacher A says, yes, but not to play by the street. Clunky says OK and starts to leave. Clunky stops and says, "I am still sad about Puppy, but I understand what you mean. It is much better to be happy than to be sad all the time." Teacher A gives Clunky a hug, and Clunky leaves to go play with Puppy II. Nerd Skit : 14 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, a piggy bank with money, and a rope.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on rejoicing in the Lord. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out talking about the money he has earned, telling the kids that it is his life's savings. Nerd B comes out and robs Nerd A, taking his money and leaving him tied up. Nerd B leaves, and Nerd A begins to complain and blame God for what has just happened. Nerd A leaves. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on rejoicing in the Lord, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he blames God.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes out talking about the money he has earned, telling the kids that it is his life's savings. He tells the kids that he is planning on buying a new super powerful calculator/harmonica. Nerd B comes out and robs Nerd A, taking his money and leaving him tied up. Nerd B leaves. Nerd A doesn't blame God this time, but says, "Well, I guess it is just God's will for me not to but have that new super powerful calculator/harmonica, and for me to be poor." Nerd A leaves sad. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on rejoicing in the Lord, and why it was not. (It wasn't because even though he doesn't blame God, he mopes, supposing that God must just want him to be poor.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out talking about the money he has earned, telling the kids that it is his life's savings. Nerd B comes out and robs Nerd A, taking his money and leaving him tied up. Nerd B leaves. Nerd A reminds himself that he is supposed to praise the Lord when things like this happen, so very sarcastically he begins saying, "Thanks a lot, God, for letting me get robbed. And thanks sooo much for letting the robber get away. And thanks for the opportunity to continue to use my old wimpy calculator that is not an harmonica ..." Nerd A leaves. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on rejoicing in the Lord, and why it was not. (It wasn't, because even though he says the words, he doesn't mean it in his heart.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A comes out talking about the money he has earned, telling the kids that it is his life's savings. Nerd B comes out and robs Nerd A, taking his money and leaving him tied up. Nerd B leaves. Nerd A begins to realize that the robber could have killed him but didn't, and he begins to praise God for keeping him safe, and lists all of the other things he has blessed him with. The narrator comes out and asks if that was a skit on rejoicing in the Lord, and why it was. (It was because he begins to praise God for his safety.) Bible Story : 2 Sam 12:15-23 (Story of David and his son.) 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. Memory Verse : Mr. Sin Phil 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 86 Clunky comes up looking for the teacher in a panic. When the teacher comes up, she asks Clunky what is wrong and he tells her, "I don't know what to do. It's an emergency." The teacher asks, "What's an emergency Clunky?" Clunky continues to panic, "What am I supposed to do? You gotta help me." The teacher gently grabs Clunky and says, "Clunky, you need to settle down and tell me what the emergency is, so that I can help you." Clunky tells her, "Well you know that today is the day we are supposed to hand in our application and money for the Puppet Missions Trip." The teacher interrupts, "You do have your money don't you?" Clunky hands her an evelope with his money and says, "Of course, I have been saving up and working all year for this trip. I mowed lawns, washed cars, and even raked leaves, which is hard because I am not very good at climbing trees." The teacher looks at the kids, then at Clunky, and grabbing the envelope says, "Anyway. I will put your money with my own, and the money Simon RePeter gave me earlier this morning. Do you have your application filled out?" Clunky says, "I do, but it has a few small stains on it." The teacher asks how many small stains, and Clunky hands her his application with ketchup, mustard, and a lot of other stains. The teacher asks, "How in the world did you get this so dirty?" Clunky responds, "I was eating a hamburger, ketchup, mustard, peanut butter, jelly and pickle sandwich with grape juice while I was filling it out. Eating helps me to think." The teacher takes the application and asks if that is what he is worried about. Clunky looks dumbfounded and says, "No. Why?" The teacher tells him that they will have to fill out another application, and then asks, "What is it you were worried about earlier?" Clunky says, "Worried? Oh yeah. I am afraid that when I go on the Puppet Missions Trip, the other kids and puppets on the trip may not like me. Sometimes I can be kind of, well lets say, 'special,' and I am worried that I won't have any friends." Clunky begins to bounce up and down in a panic. The teacher tells Clunky, "Actually, this is perfect, we are talking about peace this morning in Children's Church, and this gives me an opportunity to show you and the kids what we are talking about." Clunky says, "I am glad my pain and suffering can be helpful to you." The teacher tells him, "You shouldn't worry or be afraid Clunky, but have peace with God." Clunky says, "I'm not at war with God, why do I need peace with him?" The teacher explains, "I didn't mean it like that. What I meant by peace is that you need to trust in God and not worry." She asks him, "First of all Clunky, is there anything you can do about it right now?" Clunky says no. The teacher continues, "And secondly, you are a 'special' puppet, and you are going to make lots of friends, so there is no need to be afraid." Clunky says, "You are just saying that to be nice." The teacher says, "No I am not, but if you are worried about it, then we can pray and ask God that he would give you friends on the Trip." Clunky says, "And what if he doesn't?" The teacher, "Then you can hang around with me and Simon. That wouldn't be so bad would it?" Clunky understands, and the teacher prays with him. Clunky says, "You know what? I feel that peace you are talking about." The teacher is happy, and they leave to go get Clunky a new application. Clunky asks if he can go down with her to hand in the money, and the teacher says yes. Later in the service, the teacher comes in panicked and asks the kids if they have seen her bag with the Puppet Missions Trip money, "I went outside to put the bag in my car for safekeeping, and so I wouldn't forget to take it down the the Puppet Mission's Office after church, but when I got to my car I couldn't find my keys. I left the bag on top of my car to run in quickly and see if I left my keys in the back of the children's church room. After I found them, I went back outside, and the bag with the Puppet Missions Trip money is gone ." Just then, Clunky and Simon come up looking for the teacher, "We were told you were looking for us." The teacher says yes, and then begins to panic and tells them what happened. Simon also begins to panic and gets upset that someone has stolen all of the money he earned for the Puppet Missions Trip. Clunky on the other hand is not panicked, but stays calm. The teacher and Simon ask each other frantically what are they going to do. The teacher looks at Clunky and asks, "How can you stay so calm? Don't you know that if we don't get our money in today, we can't go to the Puppet Missions Trip that we have been planning, and saving, and waiting for all year?" Simon says, "Do you care so little, or are you just that clue less? Sometimes I wonder about you Clunky." Clunky says, "I do care, and I am actually very mad that someone might have stolen the money, but there is not a lot I can do about it right now. It is like you said earlier, we shouldn't war, but have peace with God." Simon says, "What are you talking about?" Clunky continues, " I just know that when we prayed last year about the trip, we felt that God wanted us to go, so I figure I will just have to trust in God and have peace. Maybe we could pray about it, and go out and look some more." The teacher and Simon are amazed. The teacher apologizes, "You are absolutely right Clunky. We should pray and trust in God. Simon says, "You are both crazy. Get out of my way, I have a bad guy to hunt down and beat up." Simon leaves yelling, "Call the police, call the FBI, call the President." The teacher and Clunky quietly pray, and then leave to see if they can find the money, or call the Puppet Mission Trip organizers and explain what happened and ask if they can still hand in the applications today, and possibly pay later. (This is even better if you have two or three other puppets that worry and panic with the teacher and Simon RePeter. One of the puppets can cry, while one of them gets made. It makes Clunky stand out that much more.) Bible Story : 1 Samual 30 David and his men had their town burned, and their sons, daughters and wives taken by the Amalekites. David's men wanted to kill David, because they were upset at what had happened. If anyone had a reason to worry and be afraud it was David, but he "encouraged himself in the Lord his God." He sought God, then took his men and fought and killed the Amalekites, and got their children and wives back. Exodus 14 is also a good story about peace. When the children of Israel saw the Egyptians coming, they were afraid, but Moses knew his God and had peace. Daniel 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is also a good story of peace. The three Hebrew children had peace in the midst of a very troubling situation. 2 Kings 6:8-23 is also a good story of
peace. Elisha's servant was scared when he saw the city surrounded
by horses and chariots, but Ellsha had peace and said "Fear not: for they
that be with us are more than they that be with them."
Nerd Skit : 46 (You will need a narrator and one nerd.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on peace. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1 Nerd A comes out with a piece of paper and tells the kids it is an assignment from his favorite school teacher. He opens the paper and begins to read it to the kids, "Your assignment for tomorrow is to study for a pop quiz." Nerd A looks at the kids and begins to panic, "A pop quiz? I need exactly 43 and 2/3 hours to study for a quiz, plus a good nights sleep of at least ten hours, and of course a healthy breakfast of oats, bacon, whole wheat toast with jam, and a nice glass of orange juice. I will never pass this test, and if I don't pass, I will be thrown out of the 100% club at school? What am I going to do? I know, I'll panic, ahhhhh !!!" Nerd A runs out screaming. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about peace, and why not. (It wasn't peace, because he panicked.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2 Nerd A comes out with a piece of paper and tells the kids it is an assignment from his favorite school teacher. He opens the paper and reads to the kids, "Your assignment for tomorrow is to study for a pop quiz." Nerd A looks at the kids and begins to panic, "A pop quiz? I need exactly 43 and 2/3 hours to study for a quiz or test, plus a good nights sleep of at least ten hours, and a healthy breakfast of oats, bacon, whole wheat toast with jam, hash browns, and of course a glass of orange juice, pulp free. I will never pass this test, and if I don't pass, I will be thrown out of the 100% club at school. Then where will I go? What will I do? What will I do?" Nerd A panics on stage, then stops and starts to cough slightly. "I think I am coming down with a cold, and won't be able to go to school tomorrow for the quiz. Yeah, that's it." Nerd A leaves the stage practicing his fake cough, and laughing in-between coughs telling himself how clever he is. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about peace, and why not. (It wasn't peace, because he panicked and then decided to lie.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3 Nerd A comes out with a piece of paper and tells the kids it is an assignment from his favorite school teacher. He opens the paper and reads to the kids, "Your assignment for tomorrow is to study for a pop quiz." Nerd A looks at the kids and beings to panic, "A pop quiz, tomorrow? I need exactly 43 2/3 hours of study for a quiz or test, plus a good nights sleep of at least ten hours, and a healthy breakfast of oats, bacon, whole wheat toast with strawberry jam, no make that grape jam, hash browns, and of course a glass of pulp free orange juice, freshly squeezed. I will never pass this test, and if I don't pass, I will be thrown out of the 100% club at school. And besides, I am supposed to meet my buddies at the Midnight Black Light Bowl-O-Rama. Oh well, whatever will be, will be, I guess I will just fail. No need to worry about something that I can't do anything about. I wonder what the 98% club is like? Anyway, I need to go bowling." Nerd A leaves talking about taking the teacher off of his Christmas list. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about peace, and why not. (It wasn't peace, because he just gave up.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4 Nerd A comes out with a piece of paper and tells the kids it is an assignment from his favorite school teacher. He opens the paper and reads to the kids, "Your assignment for tomorrow is to study for a pop quiz." Nerd A looks a the kids and begins to panic, "A pop quiz? Oh great, I usually need exactly 43 2/3 hours to study for a quiz, plus a good nights sleep of at least ten hours, and a healthy breakfast of oats, bacon, whole wheat toast with grape jam, hash browns, two eggs over easy, and of course a glass of freshly squeezed pulp free orange juice." Nerd A gets down on one knee and prays, "Lord, give me strength and wisdom to know what to do to prepare for this pop quiz." Nerd A then gets up and says, "Well, I guess I will have to go home and study. I'll have to call the guys and tell them I can't come down for Midnight Black Light Bowl-O-Rama night. Humm, I think I will call out for a pizza delivery. I love studying with pizza, especially an oats, bacon, eggs, hash browns and jelly pizza, with whole wheat toast on the side. I think I will call a couple friends and have them come over and study with me. This will be great fun !!!" Nerd A leaves calling the pizza place to order the pizza. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about peace, and why. (It was peace, because he didn't panic, but prayed and trusted in God, and then left to study for the quiz.) Memory Verse : Genesis 1 Psalm 29:11 "The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace."Psalm 55:18 "He has delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me"Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."Genesis 1 : Genesis 1 is a pretend computer what we do with Power Point. Click here to see about Genesis 1 Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 84 Part 1: One of the teachers comes up and tells the kids that she asked Clunky if he could wash her car for her, and that he did such a good job, she went out and bought him one of her most favorite games when she was growing up, Tittle Winks. She then calls for Clunky. Clunky comes up, and she thanks him for doing such a good job of washing her car. Clunky tells her that it was his pleasure, "You have done so many things for me in the past, I was happy to help." The teacher tells Clunky that she is proud of his attitude and thankful for the good job that he did, and then tells him that she got him a special surprise. Clunky is excited. The teacher hands him a gift, and Clunky goes down behind the stage to open it. We hear Clunky opening the present and say, "Tittle Winks, what is a Tittle Winks?" Clunky then comes up and asks the teacher, "What is a 'Tittle Winks'"? The teacher explains that it is was one of her most favorite games to play when she was a little kid. Clunky says cool, and then leaves to go play. The teacher turns to the kids and tells them that she used to love playing Tittle Winks when she was a child, and she just knows Clunky will love this game too. Just then, Clunky comes up and tells her that he hates it. She asks why, and Clunky tells her he can't do it. The teacher tells him he just needs practice, and Clunky tells her, "I tried it two times." She then asks Clunky if he would like her to show him how. The teacher goes behind the stage. (We can hear them, but we can't see them.) The teacher shows Clunky and he says, "Wow, that looks easy, let me try." Clunky tries but fails. Clunky gets frustrated, and tells her he hates the game. She tells him to be patient, and that she will show him again. Clunky tries again, but still doesn't do good, and tells her he still hates the game. The teacher tells him to try one more time (the teacher comes back out on stage and looks over the puppet stage at Clunky). We hear Clunky get excited as he almost makes it, and the teacher tells him, "That was pretty good. Do it again." We hear Clunky try it one more time, and finally gets it right. The teacher is excited, and Clunky comes up and thanks her for the game. She tells him he is welcome, and Clunky leaves to go play his new favorite game. Part 2: Later in the service, Clunky and Simon RePeter come up, with Simon begging Clunky to show him again. Clunky tells Simon, "How many times must I have to show you?" Simon says, "You only showed me once, and you did it too quickly." Clunky tells Simon, "I do not have time to show you again. Besides, Tittle Winks is for mature people. Maybe you should go down to the 'preschool' cause they have easy games for people like you to play down there." Clunky laughs. He then says, "Or better yet, maybe you should go down to the 'Nursery' and you can play games with the babies." Simon gets frustrated and leaves. The teacher comes up and asks Clunky what that was all about, and Clunky explains, "Simon is too stupid ... I mean too immature to play Tittle Winks." Clunky then asks the teacher if she wants to play. The teacher tells him that she can't because she is teaching the class. Clunky asks her if she wants to play afterwards, but she tells him she already has plans after church. Clunky then asks, "Well, then who can I play Tittle Winks with?" The teacher suggests Simon, but Clunky again tells her that he is no good at it. The teacher then reminds Clunky that he wasn't very good at the game at first either, and even said he hated it, but when he was patient, and practiced, he got better. She then tells him, he should use the same patience with Simon, and he will probably catch on too, "That way you will have someone to play with. He may even become better than you in time." "Better than me?" says Clunky, "No way!" The teacher then tricks Clunky and tells him, "I think that is probably why you don't want to show him, cause you are afraid he will become better than you." Clunky leaves to go teach Simon and prove the teacher wrong. Nerd Skit : 41 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, and a table full of stuff to.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on patience. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A walks out and sets up a table with stuff he is trying to sell. Nerd B walks out and looks at the stuff on the table and sees something he likes, and asks Nerd A if he has it in a different color (example: he sees a pair of black sun glasses, and asks if he has a pair in red) Nerd A tells him, "I don't know, but I can look in the back." Nerd B looks at the kids, rolls his eyes, and then looks back at Nerd A and says, "Well if you don't know, who should I ask? I don't have time to stand here and wait all day if you don't know." Nerd B then leaves. The narrator says freeze, and the nerds come to a complete stop as the narrator asks the kids questions about the skit. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit on patience, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he wouldn't even wait for him to look.) The narrator tells the kids that he is going to rewind the skit and see if they can do it right. The narrator says rewind, and the nerds act like they are rewinding the last skit in fast motion. He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A finishes setting up his table when Nerd B walks out and asks Nerd A if he has a pair of glasses in red instead of black. Nerd A tells him he will look. Nerd B starts to whistle, looks at his watch, sighs loudly, and then complains that he doesn't have all day. He grabs the black glasses and puts down his money on the table and tells Nerd A that he doesn't have time to wait any more. As he leaves, Nerd A comes up excited that he found a pair of glasses in red. The Narrator says freeze, and then asks the kids if that was a skit on patience, and why it was not. (It wasn't because instead of waiting to see if he had a pair in red, he took the black pair of glasses.) The narrator tells the kids that he is going to rewind the skit and see if they can do it right. The narrator says rewind, and introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A finishes setting up his table when Nerd B walks out and asks Nerd A if he has a pair of glasses in red instead of black. Nerd A tells him he will look. Nerd B then begins to "wait" but makes faces and is constantly looking at his watch and rolling his eyes. Nerd A looks up and tells him he is still looking, and Nerd B smiles sarcastically. Nerd B comes up with the red glasses, and Nerd B sighs loudly, complains he is now going to be late, pays Nerd A for the glasses and leaves. The Narrator says freeze, and then asks the kids if that was a skit on patience, and why it was not. (It wasn't because even though he "waited", he did it impatiently.) The narrator tells the kids that he is going to rewind the skit and see if they can do it right. The narrator says rewind, and introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A finishes setting up his table when Nerd B walks out and asks Nerd A if he has a pair of glasses in red instead of black. Nerd A tells him he will look. Nerd B says, "No rush." Nerd A looks for a couple seconds, then looks up and smiles whimpishly telling Nerd B that he is still looking. Nerd B tells Nerd A not to worry, and then politely asks Nerd A if he can give him a hand. Nerd A says yes, and the two of them look and find the red glasses. Nerd A then says, "If you like these, I have an even cooler pair back in the back." Both nerds leave. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit on patience, and why it was. (It was because he not only waited, but waited cheerfully and even offered to help.) Memory Verse : Mr. Sin Heb 12:1
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. Bible Story : Joseph Tell the story of Joseph and of all the trials he has. Yet through them all he continues to be patient, and to trust in the Lord. Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 78 Simon RePeter comes up and he has one of Clunky's old books and some crayons. He tells one of the teachers that he found an old book behind the puppet stage, and asks if he knows who it belongs to, and if it would be OK if he sat behind the stage and colored while he listened to the Bible story. The teacher tells him that he has never seen anyone read that book, so it is probably OK for him to sit back there and color in it. Simon leaves to color. Clunky walks up and tells the teacher that he is bored, and asks if there is anything he can do? The teacher tells him no, but that Simon is sitting in the back and coloring in a book, and that if he is bored he can go color with Simon. Clunky agrees and walks back and looks at the book Simon is coloring in, and then angrily grabs it away from him and tells him that he can't color in that book. Clunky walks up to the stage with Simon following him. Simon asks why not, and Clunky tells him, "First of all, this is a reading book, and you are to read a reading book, not color in a reading book. Now if it were a coloring book, then you could color in it, cause you are supposed to color in a coloring book, but you are not supposed to color in a reading book, cause a reading book is for reading, and you're not supposed to read a coloring book, cause a coloring book is for coloring, and don't ask me to repeat that. And besides, this is MY favorite book. Secondly, it says right here in this book (Clunky pretends to be reading out of the book, but won't let Simon look. Have the book be upside down) 'This book is only for eight year old puppets named Clunky to read, and not Simons. P.S. Thou shalt not color in hitherto book.'" Simon wants to read it, but Clunky won't let him. Simon leaves crying. Clunky is now proud and happy, and repeats to the kids the thing he made up about coloring and reading, trying to justify his actions, when the teacher interrupts him. The teacher tells Clunky about loving and sharing, and the golden rule, and reminds him that it is an old book, and that he never even reads it. Clunky repeats the coloring in a reading book line, but the teacher just stares at him with his arms crossed. Clunky decides that the teacher is right, and calls for Simon to come up. Simon comes, and Clunky grudgingly gives him the book, and tells him that he can even color in it. Clunky then turns to walk away with a small sniffle, when Simon stops him and tells him that Pastor Dan just gave him two candy bars for his birthday, "I was going to eat them both, but being that you are willing to share your favorite book with me, I am going to share my candy bars with you." They both leave happy and excited, with Clunky realizing there is something to this sharing thing. Nerd Skit : 5 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, and some toys to play with.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on kindness. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out bored with nothing to do. Nerd B comes out and begins to play with some toys that he brought with him. Nerd A comes over and asks if he can play too. Nerd B looks at him and tells him that he would never be caught dead even talking with someone like him, let alone play with him. Nerd B grabs his toys and leaves. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about kindness (or sharing...), and why it was not. (It wasn't kindness, because he wouldn't let him play with him.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes out bored with nothing to do. Nerd B comes out and seeing Nerd A standing there, says hello, and talks about the weather. Then Nerd B begins to play with his toys. Nerd A sees Nerd B and asks if he can play. Nerd B tells him that because he is a Christian he was nice to him, but that doesn't mean he has to play with him. Both Nerds leave. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about kindness (or sharing...), and why it was not. (It wasn't kindness, because even though he was nice at first, he still wouldn't let him play with him.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out bored with nothing to do. Nerd B comes out and seeing Nerd A standing there, says hello, and talks about the weather. Then Nerd B begins to play with his toys. Nerd A sees Nerd B and asks if he can play. Nerd B looks around to see if anyone is watching, then he says yes, but comes up with a bunch of stupid rules for Nerd A to have to follow in order to play, and gets mad when he doesn't play it his way. Both Nerds leave. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about kindness (or sharing...), and why it was not. (It wasn't kindness, because even though he let him play, he wasn't very nice, and came up with stupid rules.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A comes out bored with nothing to do. Nerd B comes out and seeing Nerd A standing there, says hello, and talks about the weather. Then Nerd B begins to play with his toys. Nerd A sees Nerd B and asks if he can play. Nerd B says yes, and they begin to play. Both Nerds leave. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about kindness (or sharing...), and why. (It was kindness, because he let him play with him.) Memory Verse : Hand Eph 4:32
Hand is simply that, a big furry hand. It is an easy puppet to make yourself, just sew a furry four fingered long glove. His goal is to steal the memory verse written on pieces of paper. We write our week's memory verse on five or six pieces of paper, and then tape them to the puppet stage (if your puppet stage has a ledge, you can use five or six blocks of wood). One of the teachers comes up front and has the children say the memory verse with her. Hand comes up, and wants to shake hands with the teacher. When they are done shaking hands, the teacher wipes her hand on her shirt, and Hand wipes his hand on the side of the stage. Hand asks the teacher what she is doing (Hand has to use gestures, but the teacher is somehow able to know what he is saying). Hand then takes one of the pieces of paper. The teacher asks Hand to give it back, so Hand crumples up the paper and throws it back at the teacher. The teacher then has the children say the memory verse with one of the words now gone. Hand comes back up and shakes hands with the teacher. Teacher and Hand both wipes their hands again. Hand excitedly points to the back of the children's church room. The teacher asks what is it. Hand continues to point, and as the teacher turns, Hand takes another word. The teacher again has the kids repeat the memory verse with another word gone. This goes on until all of the words are gone, and the kids have hopefully learned the memory verse. Some other things Hand can do:
Bible Story : 2 Samuel 17 & 19 (2 Sam. 17:27-29 & 2 Sam. 19:31-40) Story of King David and Barzillai.
David's son Absolom was trying to overthrow the king, so King David and
his men left Jerusalem to cross the Jordan river for safety. Barzillai
and some other men brought Kind David and the people with him, food and
drink, and beds for them to sleep on.
I Kings 2:7 "But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother." *(The Jewish historian Josephus says that Chimham was Barzillai's son.) Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
The skit begins with Clunky coming up with
a soccer ball and wearing a soccer uniform. The teacher comes up
and asks Clunky if he is going to play ball down by the old lot with some
of his friends? Clunky tells her no, "I am going to the State All
Star Puppet Soccer Tournament." The teacher tells Clunky that she
thought he had quit the All Star Team. Clunky asks her why she would
think that he quit, and she says, "Well, mostly because you never once
went to practice." Clunky tells her the reason he made that State
All Star Team in the first place is because he is an All Star, which is
why he didn’t have to practice. He tells her that practicing would
just foul up his natural God-given talents. The teacher asks him
when he is leaving, and Clunky tells her not for about an hour, "So I decided
to get out my play-book and go over some of the plays." Clunky pulls
up his book and then blows the dust (flower) off it. He tells the
teacher that he needs to go and read, but that the next time she sees him,
he will be the Outstanding Player of the State All Star Puppet Soccer Tournament.
Later in the service, the Puppet All Star
Coach arrives, “My name is Coach Devaney, I am here to pick up Simon RePeter
for the State All Star Soccer Tournament.” The teacher calls up Simon,
who is excited to go. The coach asks Simon if he has his permit slip,
and Simon gives it to the coach. As they are ready to leave, the
coach says, “So is my star forward ready for the game?” Clunky comes
up and says, “I will be in a minute.” Clunky leaves and Simon and
the coach just look at each other. The coach then asks Simon, “Are
you ready for the game Simon?
The coach and Simon grab their things and
head out. Clunky just stands there stunned. The teacher comes
up and begins to talk to Clunky. Clunky tells her how unfair it is,
but she explains to Clunky the concept of faithfulness, and how important
it is to practice and work together. She tells him that it is the
same with Christianity, that it is not good enough to just say we are Christians,
but that we need to be faithful and live as Christians. Clunky realizes
what she is saying, and picks up his play-book and decides to start getting
ready for next year.
Memory Verse : Proverbs 28:20
"A faithful man shall abound with blessings."
Joshua was faithful with everything God and Moses asked of him. He was with Moses on the mountain as he received the ten commandments. He was with Moses as he talked with God in the tabernacle. He helped Moses lead the battle against the Amalekites, and he was one of the two faithful spies who brought back a good report. Joshua proved himself to be the man God could trust to lead his people into the promised land. He was faithful with little, and God blessed him with much. Joshua Skit : (42) Josh and Billy come out playing. Sis then comes out with a birthday invitation in her hand, excited about a birthday party for a friend that they have been invited too. She tells them, “And the best part is that the party is at The Fun Palace, and you know what they say about the Fun Palace, (they all say it at the same time) ‘It’s the funnest place on earth.’” Josh and Billy are excited and ask Sis when the party is. Sis tells them next Thursday night. Josh then says, “Are you sure it is next Thursday night?” Sis says yes. Josh then says, “Rats, Billy and I can’t go.” Billy says, “What do you mean, ‘Billy and I can’t go?’, talk for yourself.” Josh reminds Billy that next Thursday is the day their scout group is supposed to go to the nursing home, and sing for the old people and do chores around the building.” Sis says, “But you can do that anytime, the party is only on Thursday and, (Billy joins in) ‘It’s the funnest place on earth!!!’” Josh says that he would really like to go, but that he will have to think about it first. Billy and Sis leave to plan on what to get their friend for the birthday party, when Mom comes out. Josh is sitting on the stage, pondering what to do when Mom comes over and asks him what he is thinking about. Josh tells her his dilemma, and Mom asks him, “What does your heart tell you to do?” Josh tells her, “My mind tells me to go and have fun at The Fun Palace, but my heart tells me that I made a commitment, and that I should go to the nursing home.” Josh then looks at Mom and says, “But I don’t want to go to the nursing home.” Mom tells Josh, “I will support whatever you decide. As a Christian though, when you give your word, you need to keep it even though it hurts. Sometimes in life, you have to do things that you don’t want to. Jesus didn’t want to suffer and die a horrible death, but he did it because he loved us.” Josh tells Mom, “You are right. I made a commitment and I am going to stick with it, even though it will probably kill me … emotionally speaking.” Mom pats him on the head and tells him she is proud of him. Mom and Josh leave. Someone comes out with a sign that says (Day of the Party). Sis and Billy come out with toys they won at The Fun Palace. Josh walks in with dirt all over and looking sweaty. Billy and Sis begin to tell Josh about all the fun that he missed and then ask what he did at the Nursing home. Josh says, “Well, first I sang some solos for the old people, and then…” Billy interrupts him, “Why did you sing solos?” Josh says, “Everyone in the scout group went to The Fun Palace.” Billy says, “Not everyone, you didn’t.” and starts to laugh with Sis. Josh then tells them that next he and Mr. Johnson mowed the entire lawn and then planted new flowers. Billy and Sis laugh more at Josh. Mom comes in talking on the phone and tells the person on the other side, “Hold on one minute and I will ask him.” Mom then tells Josh, “It is Mr. Johnson on the phone, and he said that you forgot to get your “Faithfulness Badge” for scouts.” Josh tells her that he will get it from him next week. Mom then says, “He also heard about how you gave up your chance to go to The Fun Palace and wants to know if you would like to go to Disney World with his family next month during spring break?” Josh says, “I will have to ask my mom. Can I?” Mom says, “I think it will be OK.” Mom then tells Mr. Johnson that Josh would love to go and then tells him that she will call him back and find out more details later. Mom hangs up, and then asks Josh, “Doesn’t Mr. Johnson have the daughter who you think is pretty?” Josh blushes, and Billy begins to pat him on the back saying, “You deserve it Josh. You were the only one to do the right thing.” Sis then begins to whine, "Josh gets to go the Disney World? This is so not fair, Josh gets EVERYTHING." Everyone leaves with Billy razzing Josh about his new girl friend. Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 83 Clunky and Simon come up arguing about who is better at Tittle Winks (or some other game). The teacher comes up and asks the puppets what they are arguing about this time. Clunky and Simon tell her that they are arguing about who is the best at Tittle Winks, and the teacher tells them to quit arguing and take it out back. They ask what she means, and she tells them that if they want to find out who is the best, go back and play a game, "Then whoever is the winner is the best for today." Clunky looks at Simon and says, "You are going down." Simon says, "I am going down stairs where?" Clunky rolls his eyes and tells Simon, "When I say you are going down, I don't mean you are going downstairs, I mean I am going to beat you." Simon just looks at him. Clunky says, "Never mind, come on and lets play to see who is the best." Simon says, "And may the best man win." Clunky again rolls his eyes and leaves (as a puppet, Clunky rolls his eyes by looking up, shaking his head gently, and sighing out loud). Clunky comes back up later in the service
wearing a cape and a crown (use a towel for a cape, and make a cheap crown
out of construction paper or use a Burger King crown). Clunky brags
about how he is the greatest, "He tittles like a butterfly, and winks like
a bee. The greatest in the world is a puppet named Clunky."
The teacher comes up and asks who won. Clunky says, "Who won?
Who is the greatest Tittle Winks player of all time? Who is the the
world champion, the grand Tittler and the pro Winker?" The teacher
says, "Yep, that's what I asked, who won?" Clunky says, "I did!
I, the great, the worlds best." Simon comes up, and quietly congratulates
Clunky. Clunky, with false modesty and a lot of over-acting says,
"Thank you my fan. How would you like another chance to play the
worlds greatest, the most superbest, and bestest Tittle Winks champion
of all time?" Simon says, "Ahh, I think I will pass." Clunky
says, "I can't blame you after the way I whipped and completely embarrassed
you." Simon says, "You only won by one Wink. And by the way,
superbest and bestest are not even real words." Simon leaves, and
Clunky shakes his head and says, "Jealousy."
Bible Story : Number 12:3 The stories of Moses, and King Saul. The Bible says is Numbers 12:3 that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth. God was able to do great things through this humble servant, He evan spoke with Moses as a man speaks to his friend (Ex. 33:11). On the other hand, when King Saul was younger, he was little in his own eyes and God made him King. But later he became prideful and rejected the word of God, and God repented from making him King. (One of the things that King Saul did was to offer a sacrifice before God which only the priests were allowed to do. 1 Sam 13:11-14) Num 12:3 "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." Heb 11:24-25 "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;" 1 Sam 15:17 &
23 "And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou
not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king
over Israel? ... (23) Because thou hast rejected the
word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."
Another Good story
is that of Ahab. Evan wicked Ahab, when he humbled himself before
God, found favor with God.
Nerd Skit : 37 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, and a table.) The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on meekness. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerds A comes out and tells the kids that he is going to have an arm wrestling contest with Nerd B. Nerd A then begins to stretch and warm up. Nerd B comes out and the two meet at the table to have an arm wrestling contest. They talk the narrator into saying, "Ready, set, go." The narrator does what they ask, and Nerd B beats Nerd A in about two seconds. Nerd A jumps up and begins to brag, "Man, did you see that? Wow, I made you sweat. Oh baby, I could see the fear in your face, when I almost beat you. Am I great or what?" Nerd A leaves, and Nerd B just looks at the kids, shrugs his shoulders and walks out. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on meekness, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he didn't even win. Sometimes people see themselves as better than they actually are.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerds A comes out and tells the kids that he is going to have an arm wrestling contest with Nerd B. Nerd A then begins to stretch and warm up. Nerd B comes out and the two meet at the table to have an arm wrestling contest. They talk the narrator into saying, "Ready, set, go." The narrator does what they ask, and this time Nerd A beats Nerd B, but it takes about twenty seconds. Nerd A jumps up and begins to brag, "Oh baby, did you see that? I could see the fear in your face as we were arm wrestling. Man, I whooped you bad. I mean, am I great or what?" Nerd A leaves, and Nerd B just looks at the kids, shrugs his shoulders and says, "Congratulations" and walks out. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on meekness, and why it was not. (It wasn't because he bragged about how great he was.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerds A comes out and tells the kids that he is going to have an arm wrestling contest with Nerd B. Nerd A then begins to stretch and warm up. Nerd B comes out and the two meet at the table to have an arm wrestling contest. They talk the narrator into saying, "Ready, set, go." The narrator does what they ask, and this time Nerd A beats Nerd B, and it takes about thirty seconds or so. Nerd B says, "Wow, that was good. I am impressed with your strength." Nerd A then begins to act overly humble saying, "Oh man, it was just the Lord. I mean, I am nothing, just truly dust. I don't even deserve to win." Nerd A shakes his head no, and walks out. Nerd B just looks at the kids, shrugs his shoulders and says, "You are welcome?" The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on meekness, and why it was not. (This one might take a little explaining. It wasn't because he was displaying "false" humility which is sometimes prideful.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerds A comes out and tells the kids that he is going to have an arm wrestling contest with Nerd B. Nerd A then begins to stretch and warm up. Nerd B comes out and the two meet at the table to have an arm wrestling contest. They talk the narrator into saying, "Ready, set, go." The narrator does what they ask, and this time Nerd A beats Nerd B, and it takes about thirty seconds or so. Nerd B says, "Wow, that was good. I am impressed with your strength." Nerd A says, "Why thank you, I have been working out for the past couple of weeks." He makes a muscle and grabs his biceps. He then grabs Nerd B's muscle and says, "It looks like you have been working out as well, cause that was one tough match. Hey, do you want to go out for lunch?" Nerd B says yes, "And I will pay." Nerd A says, "No way, I'm paying." The nerds look at each other and say at the same time, "Do you want to arm wrestle for it?" Both nerds leave laughing. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit on meekness, and why it was. (It was because he was humble.) Memory Verse : Simon RePeter James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
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
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 80 Clunky and Simon RePeter come up arguing
about who is the fastest puppet in the Children's Church. Simon tells
Clunky that he is a nice guy, and he likes him as a best friend, but that
Clunky is way too slow. Clunky argues that he is way faster than
Simon because he is used to running away from all the bullies in school,
as well as running after all of the girls. Simon tells Clunky, "And
you can never catch any of the girls." Clunky tells him, "I caught
Annie at recess on Thursday." Simon reminds Clunky that Annie broke
her leg two weeks ago, and is wearing a cast. Clunky says, "Well,
I can beat you in a race." Simon responds, "No way slow poke."
The teacher comes up and asks the kids what they are arguing about.
Clunky tells her that Simon "thinks" he is faster. Simon says, "Not
thinks, knows." The two puppets start arguing and the teacher tells
them to settle the question by having a race. She tells them to run
down the hall and back to see who is the fastest. Clunky is all for
it, but Simon says, "I am not sure we should." Clunky says Simon
is not sure cause Simon knows Clunky will beat him. Simon tells the
teacher that he is wearing his new church shoes, and besides, one of the
rules is not to run around during Children's Church. The teacher
tells him it is OK for this one time, and that he can take off his shoes
and run in his bear feet if he wishes. Simon agrees, and gets ready
for the race. The teacher tells the two puppets, "I will say, 'Get
ready. Get set. Go.' and at go, you two run down the hall,
tag the wall and run back. Whoever gets back first is the fastest
puppet in Children's church." The two puppets line up and the teacher
says, "Get ready." The two puppets stare at each other, as the teacher
says, "Get set." But then Clunky says, "Hey look a piece of candy
on the floor." and bends down to get it, as the teacher says, "Go."
Simon takes off, but Clunky comes up with the piece of candy and says,
"Hey, that's not fair." and takes off as well.
Nerd Skit : 39 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, three cheap pies, a tarp for the mess, and a sign that says, "Pie for Sale.") The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on self control. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out with a pie. He tells the kids that he just baked the pie, and that he is going to sell it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A then sets up his table and sign. Nerd B then walks out and asks about the pie. Nerd A tells him that he just baked it, and that he is selling it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A asks Nerd B if he would like to buy a piece. Nerd B says, "A special edition, laser engraved neon bowling ball with matching pocket protector and shoes? Don't give me a piece, give me the whole pie." Nerd B gives him the money, grabs the pie and eats the whole thing. Nerd B then burps as Nerd A just stares in amazement. Both nerds leave. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about self control, and why it was not. (It wasn't self control, because he ate the whole pie.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit 2: Nerd A comes out with a new pie. He tells the kids that he just baked the pie, and that he is going to sell it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A then sets up his table and sign. Nerd B walks out and asks about the pie. Nerd A tells him that he just baked it, and that he is selling it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A then asks Nerd B if he would like to buy a piece. Nerd B says, "I have a buddy that has one of those bowling balls. He says it is the swellest bowling ball he has ever had. I guess it would be OK if I had just one piece." Nerd B pays the money and eats the piece of pie, and compliments Nerd A on how yummy it is. Nerd A then asks if he would like to buy another piece? Nerd B says he shouldn't but gives in, just to help him earn money for his bowling ball. Nerd B again compliments Nerd A on how good it was and pats his tummy saying that he is full. Nerd A again asks if he would like another piece, and again Nerd B says he shouldn't but takes one anyway. Nerd B compliments Nerd A with his mouth is still full of pie. Nerd A says he only has one more and asks if he would be interested in last piece. Nerd B says (again with his mouth still full from the last piece), "I really shouldn't but ... OK." Both nerds leave as Nerd B is cramming the pie in his mouth saying, "Any more pie, and I will start to look like a bowling ball." The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about self control, and why it was not. (It wasn't self control, because he wouldn't stop even though he knew he should.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: Nerd A comes out with a new pie. He tells the kids that he just baked the pie, and that he is going to sell it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A then sets up his table and sign. Nerd B walks out and asks about the pie. Nerd A tells him that he just baked it, and that he is selling it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A then asks Nerd B if he would like to buy a piece. Nerd B screams and begins to run around in circles and then finally out. Nerd A grabs the pie and says something like, "I may not be the best cook in the world, but its not that bad." Nerd A leaves as he smells the pie, and then his underarm. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit about self control, and why it was not. (It wasn't self control, because he just ran out.) This is one that will have to be explained. When we are tempted to do wrong, we should run, but when there are things that are good for us to do, then it is OK to do them, just as long as we don't over do them. For example, eating candy is OK, eating too much candy is bad. Self control allows us to eat candy, but not too much.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A comes out with a pie. He tells the kids that he just baked the pie, and that he is going to sell it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A then sets up his table and sign. Nerd B walks out and asks about the pie. Nerd A tells him that he just baked it, and that he is selling it to make money for a new neon, special edition, laser engraved bowling ball, with matching pocket protector and shoes. Nerd A then asks Nerd B if he would like to buy a piece. Nerd B says, "A special edition, laser engraved neon bowling ball? That is so nifty. Well, I think it would be OK if I helped you out and had just one piece." Nerd B eats the piece of pie, and compliments Nerd A on how yummy it is. Nerd A asks if he would like to buy another one? Nerd B says, "It was a yummy pie, but I really shouldn't. I have to keep in shape for my mathematics' club. But I will give you an extra dollar to help with your bowling ball fund." Both nerds leave. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about self control, and why it was. (It was self control because he only ate one piece of pie.) Memory Verse : HeyMan Proverbs 16:32
I know a lot of churches are into the "High-tech" Children's Church, so this one might be for you. It is actually the same as Mr. Sin, but we jazz it up a little bit. A lot of churches will write the memory verse on PowerPoint, and then take away one word at a time so the kids can memorize the verse. Here is a way of making it fun. One of the teachers comes up front and has the children say the memory verse on the PowerPoint with them . HeyMan (Haman) 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 shoots the PowerPoint screen, and one of the words "magically" disappears. He leaves thinking he has ruined it for the children. (You can use any kind of gun, a toy laser for a futuristic look, or a toy six shooter for an old western theme. When HeyMan shoots at the screen, simply cause one of the words to disappear on your PowerPoint presentation.) The teacher then has the children say the memory verse with one of the words now gone. HeyMan 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 shoots one of the words and leaves thinking that they surely won't be able to say the memory verse now. This goes on for as many words as you have. When the last word is shot, HeyMan leaves for good, but the children have memorized the memory verse. For added fun, have HeyMan shoot the words
in different silly ways. For example, he can shoot the word from
behind his back.
Bible Story : Genesis 4 / 1 Samuel 26 & 26 (Cain showed no self control, got mad and killed his brother. David on the other hand had good reason to be mad with King Saul hunting him. But he showed self control and spared King Saul's life twice.) 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. Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 16 Before Clunky and Simon come up, you hear a lot of sheep bahhing, and Clunky and Simon telling them to be quiet and follow them.
Simon begins to explain.
(For added fun, have one of the teachers also act like they slipped on the sheep yucky later in the service.) Memory Verse : Genesis 1 John 14:6 "Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me."Genesis 1 : Genesis 1 is a pretend computer what we do with Power Point. Click here to see about Genesis 1 Nerd Skit : 45 (You will need a narrator, two nerds, a
bad guy, a sign that says, "To Heaven - God",
a sign that says, "To The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on following Jesus. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Nerd A comes out talking about how late he is for work. He stands right under the sign and tells the kids, "I wonder which way I should go? I just wish there was someone or something to show me the way." (The kids should point and yell at him to look at the sign.) "I guess I will flip a coin and see which way to go. Heads, go left. Tails, go right." He flips the coin, "It's heads, I guess I will go left." He doesn't pay any attention to the sign and leaves the opposite direction the sign points to, and begins to walk across the street. Nerd B comes driving around the corner on the tricycle, and runs into Nerd A and speeds off. Nerd B comes back out and drags Nerd A behind the stage. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about following Jesus, and why not. (It wasn't following Jesus because he didn't 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, "I wonder which way I should go? I just wish there was someone or something to show me the way." This time he sees the sign, but laughs at it and says, "Wow, people really believe this stuff? There really isn't such a thing as heaven ... is there? Hummm, it could be true. I will have to come back and follow this sign later, but right now I am late for work and just too busy. Maybe when I get old and bored, I will come back and follow this sign." He then begins to walk across the street. Nerd B comes driving around the corner, and runs into Nerd A and speeds off. Nerd B comes back out and drags Nerd A behind the stage. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about following Jesus, and why not. (It wasn't following Jesus, because even though he read the sign, he said he wouldn't follow it until later.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit 3: A bad guy comes out and puts up a new sign
over the old sign that says, "To The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about following God, and why not. (It wasn't following God, because though he was following a sign, it was the wrong one and led the wrong way.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit 4: Nerd A comes out again talking about how
late he is for work, "I wonder which way I should go? I just wish
there was someone or something to show me the way." He turns around
reads the sign, "To The narrator then asks the kids it that was a skit about following God and why. (It was following God because he read the sign and did what it said.) Bible Story : Jesus I love to tell the story of Jesus. I have the kids close their eyes, and try to imagine, as I start with Jesus and the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, and tell the story of the passion. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen tears in the eyes of the kids as they hear the simple story of Jesus suffering and dying for them. Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 76 The teacher comes up and calls for Clunky. She asks him if she can get the pencil back that she loaned him earlier. Clunky begins a long line of lies, telling the teacher, "I set the pencil down, and one of the kids took it. Then a monster came out and ate him. And then a giant pickle ..." The teacher interrupts Clunky and tells him, "Clunky, it is no big deal if you lost the pencil, I just needed to write something down, and thought you might have it." She then explains that lying is a very bad thing, and that he needs to always tell the truth. Clunky tells her, "I'm sorry, I just began to panic and that's why I started telling lies. Actually, the pencil is back behind the puppet stage." Clunky then tells the teacher that he will never lie again, no matter what. The teacher thanks Clunky, and they both leave to go get the pencil. Later in the service, we hear Clunky behind the stage talking to Pastor Dan. Clunky asks Pastor Dan a question, but before Pastor Dan can answer it Clunky says, "Boy, has anyone ever told you that your breath stinks?" Pastor Dan says, "Then don't stand so close." Clunky asks if he is going to answer his question, and Pastor Dan says, "No, because I don't want you to have to smell my baaaaad breaaaath." Clunky walks away mumbling something about how telling the truth makes people get mad. He then runs into Simon RePeter, and Simon asks him if he wants to come over and play after church. (Simon RePeter is a hairy puppet). Clunky tells Simon, "Has anyone ever told you that when it rains out, you smell like a dog?" Simon tells Clunky, "That's not very nice to say Clunky." Clunky says, "But its the truth. And not only do you smell like a dog, you kind of even look like a dog." Simon tells Clunky that he is being mean. Clunky tells him, "Well at least your breath doesn't smell like a dog's like Pastor Dan's does." Pastor Dan yells from the back, "I heard that." Simon says, "I was going to ask if you wanted to come over and eat pizza, but if I smell like a dog, then I won't cause I know you wouldn't want to eat pizza with a doggy." Clunky tells him, "That didn't make any sense. Besides, I would eat pizza with anyone, including a dog." Simon leaves, and again Clunky mumbles something about how people just don't know how to take the truth. Later, we hear Clunky and Birtha behind the stage. (Birtha has a loud voice.) Birtha says hello, and Clunky says, "You know you don't have to shout every time you talk to people." Birtha asks what he means by that, and Clunky says, "Has anyone ever told you, you have a big mouth?" Birtha then asks, "Has anyone ever told you it hurts to get punched in the eye?" and then punches him. Clunky again begins to mumble about the truth. The teacher comes up on stage and calls for Clunky. Clunky comes up and asks what she wants. The teacher tells Clunky that she couldn't help overhearing what was going on. Clunky says, "It must be because of your big ears." The teacher then tells him, "Actually Clunky, that is what I want to talk to you about." Clunky asks, "Your big ears?" The teacher tells him, "No, your being mean." Clunky tells her, that he is just telling the truth like she told him too. The teacher tells Clunky that it is good to tell the truth, but sometimes it is not right. Clunky acts surprised and confused. The teacher continues to explain to Clunky that telling the truth is good, but that he needs to be loving and kind as well, "If telling the truth in a mean way hurts someone's feelings, then it is becomes bad." She asks how Clunky would it feel if everyone told the truth about him, like that he is short and bald and .... Clunky stops her, "OK, OK, I get the point. From now on, I will only tell the truth, and I will be loving and nice about it too." Clunky leaves to go apologize to everyone. We here Clunky telling Birtha that he is sorry she has a big mouth. Birtha says, "Oh yeah, how would you like a punch in the other eye?" Clunky runs past the puppet stage, stops and says, "I need to practice my apologizing." He turns to look for Birtha, and runs out screaming. Bible Story : Genesis 4 or 1 Samuel 13 & 15 In 1 Samuel 13, King Saul did not want
to go to war before he had sacrificed to God, but King Saul was not supposed
to do the sacrifice, Samuel the priest was. What Saul wanted to do
was good (sacrificing to God) but it was not right, because Samuel was
supposed to.
Joshua Skit : 33 (Characters: Josh, Sis and Mom. You will need a painting, paint brushes, crayons and paper.) Josh and Sis come out arguing. Sis tells Josh that she is a way better artist than he is. Josh says no way, that he is better and he can prove it, "I evan got a C+ in art class for staying in the lines." Sis says, "Exactly." The two of them continue to argue when Mom comes in. She asks the kids what they are arguing about, and they tell her. Mom tells them that they are both very good artists. They ask who is the best, and Mom acts like a mom and says they are both good in their own way. She then tells them, "Hey, talking about artists, I need a picture of a pony for my preschool class in church tomorrow. Can one of you color me a picture?" Sis says, "I have a great idea, we can make a contest out of it. We can both paint a picture, and who ever has the best picture wins, and mom will use it for her class." Mom tries to talk them out of it, but Sis eggs on Josh, until he accepts. Josh then adds that Mom will even pay a dollar for the picture she uses." Again, Mom tries to talk them out of it, but then gives in. The kids leave to go get the stuff they need for painting a picture. Sis comes out wearing her painters outfit and carrying a picture on a isle (it is a real picture of some flowers or scenery, but faces it so the kids can't see it) and then begins to pretend to paint (Sis is wearing a big baggy white dress shirt, with a baseball cap on backwards). Josh comes out with his crayons and some paper and then sits on the floor and starts to color. He looks over at Sis, and then turns his baseball cap backwards as well. She stops every once in a while and closes one eye and sticks her thumb in the air like an artist would do. Sis tries to look at Josh's picture, but he covers it up with his hand so she can't see. Josh then tries to look at Sis's picture, but she turns the isle so Josh can't see. Josh starts over a couple of times, and throws away his old pictures, throwing some of them at Sis, who just moves further away. They both finish with Sis covering her picture with a blanket, and Josh flipping his picture over. Sis then calls for Mom, and she comes in excited about the pictures. Josh goes first, and flips his picture over for Mom and the kids to see. It is a picture of a stick horse with some trees and grass that looks like a preschooler colored it. Mom politely tells Josh that it is very good, while Sis bursts out laughing. Sis then says it is her turn and uncovers her picture. It is a beautiful picture of some flowers or scenery. Mom is amazed and tells Sis that her picture is very very beautiful. Josh bows his head and starts to walk off saying he knows who's picture Mom is going to pick, but Mom stops him and says, "Well actually Josh, I pick yours." Josh stops dead in his tracts, and Sis says, "What?" and just stands there with her mouth hanging wide open. Mom then continues, "Yes, I said I needed a picture of a horse, and though Sis's picture is very very beautiful, it is not a horse. But your picture Josh, the preschool kids will love it." Mom then gives Josh the dollar, and they all leave with Sis demanding a second vote. Memory Verse : Nerds 1 Samuel 15:22
(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
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
Clunky Puppet Skit : 81 The teacher comes out and tells the children's church kids that she needs help doing something. While she is talking, Simon RePeter and Clunky come up on stage. Simon and Clunky ask the teacher what she is talking about. The teacher tells them that she needs help with something, and then says that she could use a pair of strong handsome puppets to help. Clunky and Simon just stand there staring. The teacher repeats, "I said, I could sure use a pair of strong handsome puppets to help me out." Clunky then says, "Do you mean us? Wow, we have never been called strong handsome puppets before." Simon tells the teacher that he cannot help because he is doing something else. The teacher tells him that she could really use his help, but Simon again says that he can't. Clunky then taking the opportunity, tells her that he would be more than happy to help his favorite teacher, unlike Simon RePeter. Simon again says he would like too, but that he can't. Again Clunky plays it up and tells the teacher that he will be there and that he will help the teacher. The teacher tells Clunky thank you, and then tells him that she will be back in 1/2 hour to get him. Everyone leaves. Later in the service, the teacher comes back up to get Clunky. Simon RePeter comes up and tells the teacher that he is sorry for saying no, but that he is ready, willing, and able to help now. The teacher is excited, and they call for Clunky. Clunky doesn't come up because he is playing a game and can't quit. Simon goes back to get him, but Clunky gets mad at him and tells him to get away so he doesn't ruin his game. The teacher calls again, but Clunky yells back, "I can't talk now, I am in the middle of an important game and I almost have the high score." We hear a door shut behind the stage. Simon leaves to help the teacher. Bible Story : Matthew 21:28-31 Nerd Skit : 38 (You will need a narrator, a nerd, a telephone, and a sign that says, "Help Wanted. Call 1800-924-LORD") The narrator comes out and tells the kids that they are going to watch four skits on answering God's calling. He then introduces skit number one. Skit 1: Some comes out and sets up a sign next to a telephone that says, "Help Wanted. Call 1-800-924-LORD". Nerd A comes out and sees the sign and begins to scream and run around in circles. Every time he looks at the sign, he screams again. Nerd A then runs off of the stage. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit about answering God's call, and why it was not. (It wasn't, because he just screamed and ran off the stage.) He then introduces skit number two. Skit : 2 Nerd A comes out and sees the sign and decides to pick up the phone and call. God answers (God's voice is someone from behind the stage) and Nerd A says, "Is this really God? Wow. Hey, while I have you on the phone, I got a few things I need to ask you for. I want a new bicycle, and a new sweater, and a new computer, a laptop with at least 1024 DDR RAM and of course a 100 gigabyte hard drive .... etc." When he finally ends his list of things he needs, he says, "Well, thanks God, it was really good talking to you." Nerd A finally hangs up, and walks off the stage saying how cool it is to talk to God. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about answering God's call, and why it was not. (It wasn't, because he never gave God an opportunity to talk.) He then introduces skit number three. Skit : 3 Nerd A comes out and sees the sign and decides to pick up the phone and call. God answers and Nerd A says, "Is this really God? Wow. Hey, what do you need?" God asks if Nerd A could help out. Nerd A then answers God, "Well, I am more than willing to help you God, but whatever you do, don't put me in the nursery. They all have poopie diapers, and I can't stand the smell. And don't put me with the preschoolers either, all they do is run around like chickens with their head cut off, and they all have snotty noses which is really icky. But now, if you want me to get in front of the entire congregation and preach a fantastic sermon, and dazzle the crowds with my suave and swell preaching, then sure, I am your man." Nerd A finally hangs up, and walks off the stage saying how cool it is to work for God. The narrator then asks the kids if that was a skit about answering God's call, and why it was not. (It wasn't, because he told God what he wanted to do instead of finding out what God wanted him to do.) He then introduces skit number four. Skit : 4 Nerd A comes out and sees the sign and decides to pick up the phone and call. God answers and Nerd A says, "Is this really God? Wow. So what exactly do you need? Did you say you needed someone to go into the men's bathroom, and clean the toilets? Is that what I heard you say? Sure God, anything for you. What, you say you need me to witness that mean guy down the street? And even invite him to lunch? Why sure God. " Nerd A finally hangs up, and walks off the stage saying how cool it is to work for God. The narrator asks the kids if that was a skit about answering God's call, and why it was. (It was, because he did what God asked of him.) Memory Verse : Hand Psalms 143:10
Hand is simply that, a big furry hand. It is an easy puppet to make yourself, just sew a furry four fingered long glove. His goal is to steal the memory verse written on pieces of paper. We write our week's memory verse on five or six pieces of paper, and then tape them to the puppet stage (if your puppet stage has a ledge, you can use five or six blocks of wood). One of the teachers comes up front and has the children say the memory verse with her. Hand comes up, and wants to shake hands with the teacher. When they are done shaking hands, the teacher wipes her hand on her shirt, and Hand wipes his hand on the side of the stage. Hand asks the teacher what she is doing (Hand has to use gestures, but the teacher is somehow able to know what he is saying). Hand then takes one of the pieces of paper. The teacher asks Hand to give it back, so Hand crumples up the paper and throws it back at the teacher. The teacher then has the children say the memory verse with one of the words now gone. Hand comes back up and shakes hands with the teacher. Teacher and Hand both wipes their hands again. Hand excitedly points to the back of the children's church room. The teacher asks what is it. Hand continues to point, and as the teacher turns, Hand takes another word. The teacher again has the kids repeat the memory verse with another word gone. This goes on until all of the words are gone, and the kids have hopefully learned the memory verse. Some other things Hand can do:
Sermon
: Review the Bible story, skits, and memory verse.
Sermon Points:
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