“Fizzy Faith” is a wonderful object Bible lesson for children that uses a handful of everyday household items to teach an important biblical truth. A comparison between tap water and sparkling water can illustrate our lives before we met Christ and now.
Related Scriptures:
2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 3:1
Necessary objects:
a plastic bottle of water; a plastic bottle of Sprite or 7-Up, enough to give the entire class a full glass. Two clear drinking glasses, either plastic or glass. Small cups, enough for each child to have one.
Practical Bible lesson for children:
The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away; behold, new things have become.” It’s kind of like these two bottles here.
Hold water in left hand, soda in right hand.
In my left hand, I have a bottle of water. Have a student open the bottle.
Let’s go for a little in a glass. Have the student take the bottle and pour some into a cup. Tell the student to sit back down.
In my right hand, I have a bottle of Sprite. Let’s go get some of that in a glass. Have another student pick up the bottle and break the seal on the cap. This time stop her.
Did you find out what? What kind of noise did that bottle just make? They should answer that the fizzing created a squirting sound.
This bottle sounds more “alive” than plain water, doesn’t it? Ask the student to pour some soda into the other glass.
What is this liquid doing that the other one didn’t? It is sizzling and sparkling. Have the student sit down.
Before we give our lives to Jesus, we are a bit like this running water. We look good, but we’re kind of bland. We are a bit boring.
After giving our lives to Jesus, we are more like this soda. We shine. We come alive.
Now let’s notice something about the two glasses. If we don’t touch for a minute or so…do they look the same? Yes, they look a lot alike. They are both clear. But one does flash once in a while.
Many times in life, Christians are very much like other people. But when it comes time to show the love of Jesus in our lives, we tend to shine. How do we do that? How do we get the power to look brighter than everyone else? God fills us with his love and power, which makes us different.
Colossians 3:1 says it very well: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God… Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. . .” If we practice that all the time, we will shine.
So once God fills us, one of two things can happen. Put the lid on the bottle.
We can keep our shine or… Take the cap off again and throw it at a student.
What happens when we take the cap off a soda bottle overnight? Loses its shine.
It’s like water again, isn’t it? No shine? Who wants to drink flat soda? As Christians, we want to keep our shine. Ask the student to return the cap to you and hold it up.
If we are going to act like new creations, we have to be careful to preserve our shine. We have to ask for God’s protection.
The bottle cap is like God’s protection. We have to put it on… we have to ask God for it. Put the cap on the bottle but leave it loose.
Pray: “Father, I ask you to protect our Christian spark. Help us to resist temptation when we are with children who are doing things you would not like…” Tighten the cap with a twist.
“Father, help us to remember to talk to you every day so that you can make us stronger.” Give the cap another twist.
“Use us, Father, so that others know you because we shine with your love and power.” Give the cap a final twist.
“Amen.”
Distribute the cups. And of course it is very important when you are God’s new creation, that you share your brilliance with others!
Put some sprite in the cups and have a drink together to celebrate a successful Bible object lesson.