Kids Who Hurt
Start by talking to the children & telling them how precious they are & how much JESUS loves them.
(puppet enters listening)
Puppet: I don’t feel that way.
Leader: Oh, hi puppet. Glad you could join us. What way? How don’t you feel?
Puppet: I don’t feel like GOD loves me.
Leader: Why?
Puppet: Because bad stuff has happened to me in my life, I’m so young and my life has been so hard.
Leader: I’m so sorry to hear that Puppet. Sometimes the people that should be the ones to love & protect us are the ones that hurt us
the most. Sometimes it might seem like we haven’t got a friend in the world. Sometimes life can get hard.
Puppet: Yeah, that’s how I feel.
Leader: We got to understand that GOD loves us, He would never hurt us. Other people may hurt us, friends, family, sometimes even
Moms and Dads, it can happen.
Puppet: Why would GOD let people hurt me, if he loves me.
Leader: GOD never wants anyone to be hurt, but GOD did not make robots. HE gave people minds and HE allows people to make
their own choices, even bad choices, if that is what somebody chooses. GOD does not force anyone to do one thing or another, we all make choices. Sometimes people make bad choices, and these choices can hurt other people. Sometimes people make choices that hurt us. You have to know that it is not GOD who hurt you puppet, it is the people in your life.
Puppet: Why would people be so mean and uncaring about me? I feel like I am not worth much if they would treat me like this.
Leader: The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that people are this way because they do not know GOD. GOD is love & everything good, & if you don’t know GOD then you can’t truly love anybody, because GOD is the love inside of us, & the love we give to others, GOD is love.
Puppet: So you mean that when somebody mistreats me it is because they don’t have JESUS in their hearts?
Leader: That’s right puppet.
Puppet: I never looked at it that way before. But why does it have to be this way for me, what did I do?
Leader: You did not do anything. It is never your fault, it is just because somebody else in your life does not know JESUS. GOD said that HE would never leave us or forsake us, HE is always there with us, through the hardest times, and when we hurt, GOD hurts too, because HE loves us so much.
Puppet: It seems my life has been harder than anybody’s I know.
Leader: Puppet, GOD has a purpose and plan for every one of us. He has a job that only you can do. And if it seems like a lot of bad
stuff has happened to you in life, & you have been hurt a lot, it is because the devil knows that the purpose and plan that GOD has for your life is so big and so wonderful that he is going to try to destroy you any way he can.
Puppet: The devil wants to destroy me? GOD has a plan for me?
Leader: Yes, the devil knows that you are going to do great big things for GOD, because GOD has had great big things planned for
your life. GOD has had big plans for you before you were even born. This scares the devil because the devil knows that a lot of people are going to get to know JESUS just because of you. The devil don’t want this to happen so he is trying to put a stop to it. He uses the people in your life that don’t have JESUS in their hearts to hurt you so you will turn against GOD.
Puppet: Wow, I never looked at it that way before. That is pretty exciting to think that I am going to make a big difference for GOD.
GOD wants to use me. HE has big plans for my life. That really makes me happy. I know GOD loves me, but I am still a little scared with the devil wanting to destroy me and all.
Leader: GOD tells us not to be scared, GOD tells us to be brave & courageous. GOD knows we’ll have hard & difficult times but HE will be there with us, HE will see us through. HE will not let anything or anyone destroy us. As long as you keep praying, reading your Bible, & obeying GOD, you will make it through. You will still have hard times, but you will make it through them and GOD will use you to make a big difference for HIS kingdom.
Puppet: Thank you so much. I feel so much better. I am going to keep praying, & obeying GOD. I am going to do all I can to follow
Him and all His ways, so I will be ready to do whatever it is that He has planned for me to do.
Leader: That is exactly what you should do. Keep praying, GOD listens, keep obeying, keep learning about GOD every way that you
can. Remember to be strong & brave, trust in GOD because HE loves you more than you could ever know.
Puppet: I love GOD too. He makes me happy happy happy.
Leader: I know you love GOD, it is easy to see by the way you love other people.
Puppet: Yep, GOD is the love inside of me! I am going to go sit back in my seat and listen to the rest of the message.
Leader: Thank you puppet, you always behave so well, and listen so good.
Puppet: That is because I need to obey & learn all about JESUS that I can so I can do the big job HE has planned for me when the time comes.
Leader: That’s right! Bye Puppet, see ya soon.
Puppet: Bye everybody!
Continue to tell everybody about how GOD has a big plan for their life too. Ephesians 2:10. Tell them about How JESUS loved them so much that HE left HIS home in heaven to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus is the only way to heaven, and today they can choose JESUS. It’s a choice that should be presented to them in each and every service.