March 11^th, 2007 Third Sunday in Lent

 

“20 Questions-A Lenten Series

 

“One Bad Apple?”

Text (Luke 13:6-9) Then he told them a story: "A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren't any. He said to his gardener, 'What's going on here? For three years now I've come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?' "The gardener said, 'Let's give it another year. I'll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn't, then chop it down.'"  (The Message-Eugene H. Peterson)

 

Thought Starters

We are spending Lent with the electronic game 20Q. It means twenty questions. Do you have one? I am surprised at how smart it is. After you answer the twenty questions the game asks, it guesses the animal, vegetable, mineral or other item you are thinking about. The game is right almost all the time.

 

20Q reminds us of the many questions, as children, you have about the season of Lent. Questions like, 20Q is purple, Why is Lent purple? Purple is a royal color. Purple is the color of waiting and during Lent we are waiting for a King.

 

Today we wonder if there are worse sinners. Jesus was asked this question. Do bad things happen to bad people? People who have mean streaks.

 

Do you have a person in your class at school who is always getting in trouble? That boy or girl is kind of a bad apple in the group. Jesus basically answered the crowd and us with, “you are all sinners.” We are all bad apples in the eyes of God. Jesus goes on to say that we must repent. We need to say we are sorry and ask for forgiveness. We all have mean streaks.

 

When you look at the children in your class do you see a bad apple or two? Or do you look at your class like Jesus does, a room full of bad apples that need to be sorry some of their actions. Jesus loves all of us very much. He sees us as bad apples, but we are the apple of his eye.

 

As you make your journey to Jerusalem this Lenten season, share it with your parents and your teachers. Don’t be afraid to ask twenty questions. Lent is the most important season you will experience all year.

 

Prayer-Dear Jesus. Thank you for your constant love. Help us to see us as you do and to ask forgiveness and follow you. Amen

 

Prop- 20Q™ , nice or bad apple

 

Video/Computer Screen-Google images 20Q for a picture of 20Q™ or go to radicagames.com for more info. Nice or bad apple.

 

Note-20Q is a hand held electronic game from Radica:® ©2005 Radica Games Ltd. (Cost $10.99) in most toy departments. They come in purple to tie into Lent. It’s well worth the money.