Don't Get Weary Of Doing Good
Children's sermon
Ants Work Best Together
31 Object Lessons from Nature
Object:
an ant farm; this can be a nice one from the store, or you can make your own by placing a small jar inside a large one and filling the space between the two with moist sand. Put a tight lid with a few very small air holes on the larger jar after you add the ants.
Scripture: Galatians 6:9
So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we did not give up.
Material: an ant farm; this can be a nice one from the store, or you can make your own by placing a small jar inside a large one and filling the space between the two with moist sand. Put a tight lid with a few very small air holes on the larger jar after you add the ants.
Let's see what we have today ... ants! How many of you guys have seen ants out in your yard or on the playground? How many of you have seen ants in your house? (insert some personal adventure involving an ant invasion of your home or someone else's ... we've all had them)
But I'm not going to let these ants out of the jar today. I'm going to let them visit with us from right in there and then take them back to their anthill after class, okay?
Have you ever noticed how small ants are? Each one of them is so tiny! And if you watch them working, even in an ant farm like this one, you can see that each one of them takes one grain of sand and moves it. Then they go back for another grain of sand and another. I have even sneaked down at night and shined a flashlight on these guys, and do you know what? They are still working. They just don't quit.
Now, moving one grain of sand at a time might not seem like a big deal, but after a while, these ants will have tunnels and storage rooms all through this jar. If they were outside, where they could just keep digging, their tunnels might run for a mile or more! (give an illustration of some local landmark to show them how far that is) Isn't that amazing? And in some parts of the world, ants build huge towers out of the soil they carry up: towers as tall as a grown man! (use your hand to indicate the height of an adult, or point out a tall person in the congregation)
You know what, boys and girls? Sometimes you might think you are really small, like these ants. And you might think that the things you can do are small, too; things like being kind to your friends, giving in the offering, and praying for your pastor. But if you just keep doing the little things you can do, it's like moving sand one grain at a time. Pretty soon you have gone a long, long way and built a high, high tower. Just like the ants, you can do it one act of kindness, one gift, and one prayer at a time.
So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we did not give up.
Material: an ant farm; this can be a nice one from the store, or you can make your own by placing a small jar inside a large one and filling the space between the two with moist sand. Put a tight lid with a few very small air holes on the larger jar after you add the ants.
Let's see what we have today ... ants! How many of you guys have seen ants out in your yard or on the playground? How many of you have seen ants in your house? (insert some personal adventure involving an ant invasion of your home or someone else's ... we've all had them)
But I'm not going to let these ants out of the jar today. I'm going to let them visit with us from right in there and then take them back to their anthill after class, okay?
Have you ever noticed how small ants are? Each one of them is so tiny! And if you watch them working, even in an ant farm like this one, you can see that each one of them takes one grain of sand and moves it. Then they go back for another grain of sand and another. I have even sneaked down at night and shined a flashlight on these guys, and do you know what? They are still working. They just don't quit.
Now, moving one grain of sand at a time might not seem like a big deal, but after a while, these ants will have tunnels and storage rooms all through this jar. If they were outside, where they could just keep digging, their tunnels might run for a mile or more! (give an illustration of some local landmark to show them how far that is) Isn't that amazing? And in some parts of the world, ants build huge towers out of the soil they carry up: towers as tall as a grown man! (use your hand to indicate the height of an adult, or point out a tall person in the congregation)
You know what, boys and girls? Sometimes you might think you are really small, like these ants. And you might think that the things you can do are small, too; things like being kind to your friends, giving in the offering, and praying for your pastor. But if you just keep doing the little things you can do, it's like moving sand one grain at a time. Pretty soon you have gone a long, long way and built a high, high tower. Just like the ants, you can do it one act of kindness, one gift, and one prayer at a time.
