Get Rid Of It!
Items Needed: Bowl, flour, packet of yeast or granulated sugar
God’s people, the Jews, only eat unleavened bread during Passover. Unleavened bread is bread without yeast. Yeast is the ingredient that allows bread to rise or fluff up. Unleavened bread is more like a cracker. Do you know why God’s people only eat unleavened bread during Passover? When God helped His people escape from Egypt, they did not have time to let their bread rise because they needed to be ready to leave quickly.
Yeast also represents sin. And because God wants us to get rid of sin in our lives, His people do not use yeast for seven days during the Passover celebration. It is much easier to leave yeast out of our bread recipes than it is to get rid of sin.
Allow your child to add some yeast or sugar to the bowl of flour. Then instruct them to separate the flour from the yeast or sugar. When they realize this cannot be done, talk about how God is the only one whose power can help us resist and get rid of sin. Pray together, asking God to help each of you get rid of and run from sin.
Attitude Check
Emphasize to your children the importance of a good attitude. Explain that a person with a good attitude reflects who Jesus is to others. Share several situations, and have your child give you a thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate what their attitude might be in each situation. Encourage honesty.
To help your child (and you) check his or her attitude, share the following principles:
Ask God for help.
Pray for others and encourage others too.
Choose to love others instead of talk about them.
Live by Faith, not works.
Suggested situations:
Spending the night at a friend’s house
Cleaning up after the dog got into the trash
Going out to eat with your teammates
Doing homework instead of watching your show or playing video games
Playing a game with the family
Helping a neighbor carry in the groceries
Trust; don’t trick!
Ask your children the following tricky questions:
What goes up and down but never moves? Stairs
What kind of nails do construction workers hate to hammer? Fingernails
What happens when you throw a white hat into the Black Sea? It gets wet.
Why did the clown go to the doctor? He was feeling funny.
Where do you find an ocean with no water? On a map
What gets wetter the more it dries? A towel
Do you know who the Pharisees and Sadducees were? They were the religious leaders when Jesus was alive. They did not believe Jesus was the Messiah–the Savior of the world, and they did not like Jesus performing miracles or teaching. Every chance they got, these men asked Jesus questions in hopes of tricking Him and getting Him in “trouble” with their laws. We can learn from them what not to do. We must trust Jesus, obey Him, and accept Him as our Messiah.