Object Lesson on Faith: How to Explain Faith in God to Children

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Faith is invisible. So how do we explain it? While teaching Sunday school, I’m always looking for new fresh ways to explain difficult subjects easily. And nothing seems to work better than an object lesson on faith.

Faith is defined as “complete trust or confidence in something or someone.” When the Bible talks about faith in God, it means we  put all our confidence and hope in Him. I’ve read and seen object lessons on this aspect of faith before.

For instance, sitting down in a chair. When you sit in a chair for the first time, you’re showing faith that the chair will hold you. Until you’re safely seated, you don’t know for sure if it will. (Snoozefest.)

Yes, this is an example of faith. But it’s not my favorite.

We sit in chairs all the time. It doesn’t seem to take that much faith for us to sit in a chair. Yes, it technically is faith. But I want a better, stronger example.

The power of faith is that we obey even when we cannot see the end. We have to act and believe that God will take care of us. This is true even though we can’t see what He’s up to or where He’s taking us.

That’s why I like this object lesson on faith better:

Find a helper in your class and bring them to the front. I’d suggest asking for someone who’s “brave.” You don’t want someone shy for this particular activity.

Have the helper stand to one side of you. Display a blindfold the kids haven’t seen before. (It works well when kids can’t anticipate what will happen.)

Explain that you’re demonstrating what faith is like. Faith is not being able to see (like your helper can’t see). Faith is listening to God and trusting that He will help you and lead you where you should go.

Object Lesson on Faith: Blindfolded Faith

First, spin the blindfolded helper around a few times. They should be disoriented and not know which way is safe to walk.

Then, as the blindfolded kid makes her way across the room, give her instructions about where to walk. Every once in a while, give instructions so it looks like she might run into something. But when she gets close, have her turn and avoid running into anything.

Make other children worry whether your helper will make it without falling or running into something.

As your helper nears the other side of the room, tell her that when you give the command you want her to sit down. She isn’t allowed to feel if there’s anything to sit on. She just has to have faith and sit down.

Meanwhile, very quietly bring out a chair or stool. Position it so she’ll be able to sit in it. Cue the audience not to make any noise. Remember, when your helper started, no chair was present. She doesn’t know if a chair will be there when she sits down.

Finally, tell your helper to sit down. When she’s safely seated, take off the blindfold. Have everyone give her a big hand. I’d also suggest giving her a small prize, maybe a gift card. Surprise her and the class with this reward. It adds a little drama and subtly encourages all the kids to have a little more faith!

Debrief

As you wrap up this object lesson on faith, explain that just as your helper had to listen for instructions to know what to do, we have to do the same thing. When God says to “honor your father and mother,” we have to trust Him. He knows what’s best even if parents aren’t always perfect! And when God says to “love your enemies,” we need to have faith in Him that He knows what is best.

When we read what God asks us to do in the Bible, we can trust that He knows what’s best. That’s the case even when we can’t see the end result.

Trust, or faith, is not being able to see but trusting the One who can.

This object lesson on faith article originally appeared here.

Find 37 free Sunday school lessons for kids here.

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Nathan Johnsonhttp://betterbibleteachers.com
Nathan Johnson thinks it’s a little odd talking about himself in the third person. But when he does, he has served in kid’s ministry for over a decade at his local church in San Diego, California. He enjoys finding funny and clever ways to communicate God’s truth to kids and shares what he’s learned about great elementary Sunday school curriculum on his website.

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