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Hijos del Altísimo |
| (Children of the Most High) | |
Teaching Idea of the Month - January 2002 |
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On this page, you will find each month a new idea for teaching or for an activity with children.
"Freedom through prayer" (Drama for a lesson introduction)
Bíblical Foundation:
"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is
veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has
blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of
God. " (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
"...Then their eyes were opened and they recognized
him." (Luke 24:31)
"...remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you
the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him
better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened ..." (Ephesians 1:16-18)
The main point of the following teaching is prayer for people who
need the Lord, as a preparation for evangelism. Natural man
cannot recognize God; but we can pray for people who do not know
the Lord so He may open their spiritual eyes.
What we need:
A piece of cloth (for blindfolding)
Some cotton
A rope or cord
Characters:
A "captive" (representing a person who
does not know the Lord)
A Christian
The Lord Jesus
The teacher of the class (for giving some explanations)
Let's start!
This activity can serve as an introduction to a teaching about
prayer, especially intercessory prayer for people who do not know
the Lord.
Some teachers can prepare the little drama in advance and present
it to the children. Another possibility would be to choose some
children as actors and explain them right there what they have to
do.
The person representing the captive has to sit down on a chair in front of the class. The teacher puts some cotton in the ears of the captive, blindfolds him, ties him with a rope or cord to the chair, and takes his shoes off. - The person representing Jesus has to stand in front, at about two or three yards away from the captive. - The person representing the Christian approaches the captive and tries to talk to him about Jesus. So the drama will continue in a way like the following:
Christian
(talking to the captive): Do you know Jesus Christ? He can help
you! Come to him, he will give you a new life!
Captive: (does not react)
Teacher (to the Christian): Don't you
realize? He cannot hear you. Only Jesus can open his ears.
Christian (turning to Jesus): Lord
Jesus, please, open my friend's ears, so he can hear me!
Jesus: (approaches the captive and
takes the cotton out of his ears, then returns to his place.)
Christian (talking again to the
captive): Do you hear me now? Jesus Christ can help you! Come to
him, and he will give you a new life.
Captive: Who? Where?
Teacher (to the Christian): He cannot
see anything. Only Jesus can open his eyes.
Christian (turning to Jesus): Lord
Jesus, please, open my friend's eyes, so he can see you!
Jesus: (approaches the captive and
unfolds his eyes, then returns to his place.)
Christian (talking again to the
captive): Look, there is Jesus, the Son of God. He wants to be
your friend and give you a new life. Come to him!
Captive: (tries to stand up, but he
cannot.)
Teacher (to the Christian): This is
already better. But he cannot go to Jesus because he is tied up.
Christian (turning to Jesus): Lord
Jesus, take his bondage off and make him free!
Jesus: (approaches the captive and
unties the rope, then returns to his place.)
Christian (talking again to the
captive): You are free! Come to Jesus. He will change your life
and forgive all your sins. You need Jesus.
Captive: (stands up, looks at his bare
feet and sits down again.)
Teacher (to the Christian): He still
cannot walk, something is missing!
Christian (turning to Jesus): Lord
Jesus, please, put shoes on his feet so he can walk!
Jesus: (approaches the captive and puts
shoes on his feet, then returns to his place.)
Christian (talking again to the
captive): Now come to Jesus! He is waiting for you.
Captive: (stand up and walks to Jesus.
Jesus hugs him.)
Explanation: Many people around us need the Lord Jesus. But when we talk to them about Him, sometimes they do not understand, or they reject us. This is because the enemy has tied them up so they would not come to Jesus. So we need to do something else besides talking to them: We need to pray for them. We need to ask Jesus that He Himself will make them understand.
Note:
With this teaching we are touching a subject which
is not so simple: What is God's role, and what is man's role in
conversion? Many books have been written about this question, and
great theologians disagree about some details of this subject.
But without entering into details, I think we can affirm the
following points:
- It is our responsibility as Christians to talk about Christ to
the people who do not know Him. (Mark 16:15-16, 2 Corinthians
5:18-20)
- It is also our responsibility to pray for people who do not
know the Lord. (1 Tim.2:1-5)
- It is the Lord's responsibility to convince people of their
need of Salvation and to open their spiritual eyes. (John
16:8-11, Luke 24:31, 2 Corinthians 4:6). It is God the Father who
draws people unto Jesus (John 6:44): "No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws him". A true conversion
can happen only in response to a previous work of God in a
person's life. (See also Acts 2:47, 16:14).
- It is the responsibility of the person who hears the Gospel to
give an answer to the Lord and to give his/her life to Him.
Although conversion is a work of God, it is also a personal
decision. (Mark 16:16, John 1:12, Acts 17:30-31). (In the drama,
after being freed, the captive would have been able to decide to
walk in the opposite direction, instead of coming to Jesus.)
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