Jesus Cleans Your Heart

THE LESSON

This lesson was the stepping stone to our lesson.

This is why we hold an Easter Event. We want to tell children Jesus loves them and He is the way to heaven!


Introduction


"Hello, welcome to our Easter party. We're so glad you came because we're going to talk about how much God loves you. We have a fun story in there and we need to get ready for it. Do you know that God created you? ("yes") And when He made you, He gave you a heart, kind of like this one only we can't see them, can we? (give hearts. Make sure the iodine has just been placed on the heart. If the iodine sits on the white felt heart for too long it is difficult to get out.) What are our hearts for? ("love") That's right, love. God gave us a heart so we could love Him and love people. Can you go show your heart to Ms. --- and Ms. ---?"

Dirty Heart


What do you have there? ("a heart") Do you know who gave you your heart? ("God") That's right. Did you know that God has a big, beautiful heart? (shows heart) His heart is perfectly clean because God is always good. But our hearts look different. Ever since we were babies we haven't always made good choices. Do you always do what's good? ("no") Do we always make the right choice? ("no") Sometimes we might fight with our siblings or our friends. Sometimes we don't listen very well to our moms or teachers sometimes. ("yeah") Those bad choices are called sins and sins make our hearts unclean. Our hearts aren't pure and beautiful like God's heart. (put drops of iodine on hearts during discussion) After we make a bad choice, can we take it away? ("no") Can we rub that yucky stuff off of our heart? (try rubbing - "no") Looks like we have a problem. Head over to Ms. --- and Ms. --- to hear what you can do about your problem.


At the Cross


Hi guys, what do you have there? ("hearts with yucky stuff") So you and I have hearts that aren't clean like God's heart. Those bad choices make our hearts unclean and keep us from God. But God created us and He loves us very much. So He sent Jesus to earth as a baby at Christmas. Have you seen a Nativity scene like this before? (show scene to them) Christmas is when we celebrate how God sent Jesus to us as a baby. Then Jesus grew up and taught people all about God AND Jesus never made a bad choice. At just the right time Jesus died on a cross because of our sins so that our hearts can be washed clean from our bad choices. Should we take your hearts to the cross and try washing all that yucky stuff off? (wash the hearts using tongue depressors, careful of clothes!) All of our bad choices, our sin in our hearts, can be forgiven by Jesus if we believe in Jesus and ask Him to forgive us. That is why we celebrate Easter - we can have our hearts washed clean by Jesus! You can take your heart over to Ms. --- and Ms. ---.


Eggs & Review


How did your heart get washed clean? ("I washed it at the cross") Do you remember who died on the cross to wash your heart clean? Jesus died on the cross so that your heart could be washed clean if you believe in Him and ask Him to forgive you. (kids leave hearts and you give them a coloring book) Here's a coloring book to remind you of the story of Easter and here's something for your parent to read about Easter, too (a track). Here are your eggs (10 of them) and they have lots of fun stuff for you to do in the next room (activities). Have fun!