OBJECT LESSON GOAL:
To reveal that the world often misleads us when they say something is “free” and that the only truly free offer is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE:
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.”
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Find “Free gift offers” from various places. Here are a few examples, but others will stand out like neon lights as you walk the aisles of a grocery store or rummage through the junk mail you receive.
MESSAGE:
Today we are going to learn about what “free gifts” really are. I checked in the dictionary which says “free” means “without any charge to the receiver.” That means you don’t ‘pay’ for it. You don’t have to do anything to get the gift. So you don’t have to reach into your wallet or shake coins out of your piggy bank.
How many of you like to receive gifts? Now when you have gotten gifts, did you pay for them? Did you work for it by raking the yard or baby-sitting or some other job? Did you steal it? No, you can’t pay for a gift, or work for a gift. And when you steal an item it is not a gift. If you did any of those things then it isn’t really a gift.The dictionary says that a gift is something given “without charge” - in other words, a gift is free.
Knowing this, it seems strange to me when I look around at all the “free” things in advertisements. It makes you wonder if anything is really “free.” Look, on the back of this cereal box is a huge picture of a delicious ice cream sundae with the great big words “GET ONE FREE!” (Hold up the box pointing out the picture and the words.) How cool is that? But is the sundae really free? Lets take a closer look. The box also says in smaller letters that before you get a ‘free’ sundae that you must BUY a sundae. Now remember, “free” is supposed to mean “without charge.” You couldn’t take this coupon to the ice cream shop and say to the person behind the counter, “give me the ‘free’ sundae.” Oh no! The man behind the counter would say that first you would have to BUY another one. That means that the second sundae is NOT ‘free’ no matter how they advertise it. In order for you to get that ‘free’ sundae there was a ‘charge.’ They wanted your MONEY!
Why don’t we take a look at another “free gift” offer on a different cereal box. Look here, you get a free toy! (Hold up the box and pint to the coupon.) It is inside the box. You don’t have to buy a toy to get this one free. So, what do you think? Is this really a ‘free’ gift? (Wait for response)
Well, I’m afraid this toy really isn’t truly ‘free’ either. Let’s think about it. What do we need to do to get this toy? Don’t we first have to BUY the box of cereal! You see, money came out of my pocket to be able to have the cereal with the ‘free’ toy. This means I really BOUGHT my ‘free’ toy! I’m confused. How is it FREE when I had to pay to get it?
I’ve got another one here. This is an offer that came in the mail for a book. (Hold up the advertisement so they can see it.) They sure made the word “FREE” big on this page. But what else does it say? It says here that all you have to PAY is postage and handling. That comes to a total of $4.27. Now that doesn’t seem to be too much to pay for a book, but really the people that sent this offer LIED! If the book really was a gift, THEY would pay the postage and handling for you. However, YOU must pay it. The book is NOT free. But wait there is more. It also says you are signed up for a membership and they will send you more books and all you have to do is BUY three more over the next year. It sure sounded like we would get something for free! But really, we end up paying more than we would going into a store and buying it for ourselves.
You know, I’m getting the feeling that NOTHING this world offers is truly free. The world always wants something: your money, your time, and your support for its products and activities. All most of these things are designed for is to get you to think about the world and not think about God. And He is the one who truly cares for you. And He is the only one with truly a FREE offer. The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And in Ephesians 2:8 it says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” This means that Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ won’t cost you anything. But is it really a free gift? You better believe it! You see it isn’t paid for by what we do, but what Jesus did for us on the cross. You see Jesus made it possible to have all of our sins washed away, and that is for every boy and girl, every man and woman, if they let Him into their hearts to wash their sins away. When we say, “Yes,” He comes right in and salvation really is truly a FREE GIFT! Have YOU ever accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation? Well, if not, you can right now. (Give an invitation and have prayer with them).