“Can” You Be Restored? | God Can Make You Like New

Note: This lesson was not specifically chosen for this week because of the recent tragedy that happened in our family (our daughter is currently in critical condition due to having been hit while on bus ministry by a drunk driver) but rather was selected somewhat at "random".  Once I started to read the lesson which had been written quite a long time ago however, I realized just how appropriate it is for this particular moment.  Maybe in this particular instance, this lesson is as much for me as it is for anyone else.

What you need:

• Can of carbonated soda
  • I prefer diet because it is generally more carbonated and because it is less sticky when sprayed or spilled
  • Also, let the soda achieve room temperature because the dry erase marker writes better when can is warm
• A needle or safety pin
• Black dry erase marker OR a tab cut out of paper and made black with a permanent marker

Preparation:

• Being careful to not shake or jostle the soda at all, use the needle or pin to poke a hole on the side of the can, near the top just under where the top side begins to slant. It will probably spray slightly so make sure you are near a sink or outside. Using three finger gentle push the side of the can to make a dent in the can. If you just crush it on both sides you will likely create another small hole in the aluminum at the crease. You want the can to look like it has been emptied and crushed. Once the stream of liquid stops shooting out of the can, shake it slightly to get a bit more liquid out. You don’t want it to drip out later.

• Now you need to make the top look like it has been opened. Take the dry erase marker and fill in the tab with the black dry erase marker or wet the back of the black paper tab and press it onto the top of the can. You now have a can that looks opened and crushed.

• Lay the can somewhere in the open where it just looks like trash to the onlookers.

How the trick is performed:

• When you are ready, “find” the placed can and hold it up.
• Place your thumb over the hole you made with the needle.
• Shake the can and the carbonation will cause the can to expand, the dent to disappear and the can to restore to nearly its original state.
• Take your thumb and wipe the top removing the dry erase marker or the paper tab (if you are using a marker, make sure you try this ahead of time to make sure it comes off easily). Now your can appears brand new.
• Pop the tab and pour the soda into a cup.

Lesson:

Have the bad things in life ever got you feeling down?

All of us have experienced something negative in our lives like an unexpected death, a tragedy or maybe someone has said something very unkind to us that makes us sad. But whatever those things have been, all of us have experienced things in our life that are damaging and cause us pain. Those things can make us feel crushed, damaged or destroyed like this soda can.

“FIND” THE SODA CAN AND HOLD IT UP

When we experience these moments we many times ask the question why?

There was a time when Jesus was asked this question by a blind man. At that time the thinking of the day was that if you had a disease or something wrong with you, that it was the result of a problem with you or with your parents. And so people were asking Jesus about the blind man, “Did this happen because of his parents or because of something bad that he himself had done?” But Jesus said that neither of those things had happened. This tragedy had taken place so that the glory of God could shine through him. God then placed his hand on him and healed his eyes and gave him his sight back.

That man then went to all the surrounding towns and told everybody all the things that Jesus had done for him and how good God had been to him.

And sometimes we feel like that blind man. We feel damaged just like this poor, sad, soda can. We feel damaged and we want to SCREAM, “WHY GOD? WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN?” But just maybe it happened so that the glory of God can shine.

After all, we KNOW that we serve a God that has ALL THE POWER.

PLACE YOUR THUMB OVER THE NEEDLE HOLE AND GIVE THE CAN A GOOD HARD SHAKE.

Just like this can here has been restored, God has the ability to restore and to remove the dents and brokenness from our lives.

But God isn’t just concerned with just making the outside look better. He is also concerned with the inside and that is why He is still pouring out the Holy Ghost and still gives peace that passes all understanding.

Ephesians 1:13 says, “ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise”. God restores us completely. Inside and out.

REMOVE THE BLACK FROM THE TOP TAB BY RUBBING IT WITH YOUR THUMB OR BY PEELING AWAY THE TAB

But like the blind man, our restoration isn’t only about us, it is also about others. God wants us to be a light and a witness to those around us so they can also be restored. When God does something good for you, you need to tell the world about it! When God restores you need to be a witness and a light to this dark world and proclaim, “HOW GREAT MY GOD IS!”

OPEN THE CAN AND POUR IT INTO A CUP.