Unseen Storms

The Effect:

One house is put on a rock and the other on some sand. When the storms of life come (poured water), the house on the sand is washed away while the one on the rock stands firm.

Age Group:

Grades 1 - 5 (7 to 11 years).

Theme:

Are you going to be washed away like a house built on the sand? Rather build your life on Jesus. The Bible says that He is the Rock and if we build on Him we will never be washed away.

Sand Castles:

Do you like building sand castles? I'm going to make one at this end of this dish. ( Press together some damp sand into a shallow mound ). I'm going to put one of my little houses on my sand castle. Then I'll place this flat rock on the other side of the dish and put the other little house on it! ( Place one house on top of the sand mound and the other on top of the flat rock ).

Can you guess what story we are having today? ( Let the children respond ). You can? Then why don't you tell me the story today? We will go round in a circle and if you know the story, just say one sentence and the next child must then continue the story.

The House on the Rock:

As you tell it, I will act out the story on my model. I'm going to start the story which is found in Matthew 7:24-27 ( Prompt if necessary to get the children to tell the story correctly ):

Jesus said if we listen and put His words into practice, we are like a man who built his house on a rock.
The rains came down and the streams rose ( Pour a small amount of water on the rock ).
And the winds blew and beat against that house ( Get the children to blow noisily ).
It did not fall because its foundation was on a rock ( The kids must be silent and stand at attention ).
I think that man was wise to make solid rock the foundation for his house. Don't you think so?
But everyone who hears, but does not put Jesus' into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain came down in buckets and the streams rose ( Pour water on the sand to make it wash away ).
And the winds blew and beat against that house ( Get the children to blow noisily ).
And it fell with a great crash ( Tip over the house and the children must shout ).

Foolish People:

Do you think that anyone would be so foolish as to build their house on sand? Unfortunately some people do! We have seen pictures recently of houses being swept away by raging rivers or stormy waves at the coast. This is like us forgetting to read our Bibles and praying. Jesus wants to protect us from the storms of life. He is our refuge and Proverbs 10:25 says:

"When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,
but the righteous stand firm forever."

If we put God's word into practice and obey Him, Jesus will bless our lives. As we pray and read the Bible, we will grow stronger and our trust in God will increase. This will help us overcome storms of temptation to sin and do wrong things, or from getting angry when people say nasty things about us. Isaiah 25:4 says:

"You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat."

We need to make God our shelter and then run to Him when we are tempted. Are you going to be washed away like our house that was built on the sand? The Bible says that Jesus is our Rock. If we build on Him we will be safe and never be washed away. Are you going to build your life on Jesus? I am!

God bless.