Category Archives: 1 and 2 Peter

Advent 2B

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Day: Advent 2B

Lectionary Passage: 2 Peter 3:8-15

Scripture Focus: 2 Peter 3:14

Object: Bowl of water, tablespoon of black pepper, and liquid dish soap

Preparation: For this lesson you will conduct a simple science experiment the power of soap. Fill a large, clear bowl with water. Prepare the black pepper and liquid dish soap.

Good morning! Today we are going to conduct a science experiment to learn about the power of being clean. I brought a bowl of water with me and we’re going to add some pepper (sprinkle black pepper onto the water). The pepper is everywhere. Now, watch what happens when I add just a squirt of soap (add a drop of liquid dish soap to the middle of the bowl of water). Whoa! The pepper instantly scurries away from the soap! Now wherever the soap hit, the water is clean and spotless!

That reminds me of our Bible passage. It talks about being spotless and pure, which is kind of like saying we need to be clean. Of course, the Bible isn’t talking about being spotless on the outside. It’s talking about being spotless on the inside. That means we can’t use soap to help us. We’ve got to use something much, much stronger…. we need to pray! Prayer makes spots caused from sin scurry away. Sin is that bad stuff that we do from time to time, like not listening to our parents, or lying, or being mean to others. Just like that black pepper covered the water, sin can cover everything. But when we pray to God to say we are sorry for sin, then we are made clean and spotless. Prayer is soap for our souls to keep us spotless and pure.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for giving us the power to pray because we want to be spotless and pure every day. Amen.

Transfiguration A

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Day: Transfiguration

Lectionary Passage: 2 Peter 1:16-21

Scripture Focus: 2 Peter 1:16

Object: 52 card deck and learn a magic trick

Note: If you have another special talent that the children can become “eyewitness” to, then by all means use that instead of the magic trick so that you can share a little more of yourself with the kids.

Preparation: You will need to learn this easy card trick to recreate for the kids. You will need a normal deck of 52 cards. Before starting this trick, quickly see what the bottom card of the deck is. For example, let’s say the card is an ace of spades. Fan the cards out and ask an audience member to pick one of the cards. Let them take it from the deck and memorize it. Place the deck face down on the table and tell the audience member to place his/her picked card on top and to cut the deck. Pick up the deck of cards and look for the ace of spades card that was originally on the bottom of the deck. The card immediately to its left will be the card that the audience member picked!

Today is a very special day! It is Transfiguration Sunday! But, before we get to that, I have some important news to tell you. I have just learned to do an amazing, no scratch that, a SUPER amazing magic trick. And I want you tell all your friends about it. Okay? Now, what was I going to say before that…. Oh, do you want to see my magic trick, I mean, my SUPER amazing magic trick? Great! That’s a good idea because then you’ll be eyewitnesses to how amazing, SUPER amazing this trick really is… okay, I need a volunteer (perform the magic trick…)

Now that you have seen my SUPER amazing magic trick with your own eyes, you can tell the whole world all about it! Okay, maybe not the whole world, but at least your friends at school. I’m glad you were here to be eyewitnesses to my SUPER amazing magic trick.

Our Bible story for today mentions some important eyewitnesses, too. They didn’t see a magic trick, they saw an amazing, scratch that, a SUPER amazing event called the Transfiguration. That’s when Jesus went to the top of a mountain and this bright light shined all around him and God’s voice said from heaven, “this is my Son, my Beloved.” And because there were eyewitnesses there that day, other people heard all about this SUPER amazing event. Those people told other people and other people told other people and so on. That way everyone would hear about the SUPER amazing thing God did that day.

I’ll admit it was way cooler than my magic trick and I am so glad that there were eyewitnesses, people right there to see it happen, so that they could spread the word.

Let’s pray: God thank for your son Jesus Christ who came to love us and care for us. Help us remember to continue to share his story with others just like those first eyewitnesses did. Amen.