I got this great lesson from my friend Bro. Jason Bohannon.  Thank you for sharing this with me!

What you need:

• 2 clear glass vases
  • One vase 3/4 full of only water
  • Once vase 3/4 full of water with a tablespoon of Sodium Sulfite completely dissolved into it
    • You can find this on Amazon at the link below
    • Sodium Sulfite, High Purity Reagent , 99% min., Anhydrous, 1 lb.
      • To purchase this in smaller quantities (roughly enough to do the lesson 3-5 times) you can purchase it from the online store here at apostolicsundayschool.com (CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE)
• Handkerchief
• Iodine
  • Can be purchased at Walmart, Target, CVS etc or can be ordered through Amazon at the link below
  • Pvp Povidone Iodine Disinfecting Solution 4 oz
• Squirt bottle (I purchased a clear condiment bottle from Walmart)
• A bowl or pan into which to drip so you don’t get the table or carpet stained

Prep:

• Mix in a tablespoon of Sodium Sulfite into one of the vases and make sure you mark it somehow so you know which vase is which. You DON’T want to get these mixed up.
• Put iodine into the squirt bottle. This is to hide exactly what you are using.  In the clear bottle it makes it look ominous and vaguely sinful.
• Hide handkerchief, put him in your back pocket or even put him back stage somewhere.

Lesson:

“Let me tell you about my good friend Hank.  He is a good guy.  Now, he isn’t saved but I am working on him and praying that one day he will make a break and see that he really needs God.”

“Hank!… Hank! Where are you?”

“That guy… I just never know where he is going to be from time to time.  Has ANYONE seen Hank around?”

Look around for a little bit and then finally find Hank.  You can do this in a variety of ways, find him under something or in your pocket but one way we did it that was pretty funny was to have a clown come out from the back pretending to blow his nose on him. However you do it, when you finally pull out Hank, the crowd will likely laugh when they realize that “Hank” is a handkerchief.

“Yes, this is my good buddy Hank.”

Unfold him and show that he is clean, white and spotless.

“Hank started off his life pretty good.  He was innocent, pure and without sin.  He was a pretty good kid, no better or no worse than anyone else here BUT the Bible says that ‘ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God’ and SURE ENOUGH, just like each of us, there came a day when Hank failed.”

Fold the handkerchief back into quarters.

“This didn’t mean he was a bad person just that he made a mistake.  Perhaps, it was one day when he began fighting with his sister.  This was bad enough but he got more and more angry until finally he just snapped.  He picked up his favorite car and THREW IT AT HER!  It missed her but as it went by her it hit the WINDOW AND BROKE IT!  That anger wasn’t good and soon his clean heart had a big stain on it.”

This story is just an example of something you can use.  Anything along these lines would work.

Squirt some iodine onto the handkerchief and show the kids that he is now stained.

“Oh no!  Soon his mother came in and asked ‘What on earth happened here?’ but instead of telling the truth Hank made up a story that he thought wouldn’t get him into trouble.  ‘Mom, actually, we were just sitting here quietly playing when… when… a HUGE BIRD CAME DOWN FROM THE SKY AND SMASHED RIGHT INTO THE WINDOW!’ and Hank told a lie and sinned again.”

Flip the handkerchief over and squirt iodine on the other side.

You can play this story out further and further having Hank become more and more stained by sin until when you finally unfold him completely you can see that he is NOT the same person at all.  His life has been changed by sin.

“But Hank wasn’t too worried.  As he grew up he began to think that he could change whenever he wanted to.  All he had to do was WANT to change and everything would be ok.  All he had to do was think positive thoughts and do good deeds and all of this would go away.  But instead of that happening, his life began to get even worse and worse and soon he started hanging out with the wrong people and he allowed his life to become surrounding by sin.  Where sin was a lifestyle instead of an isolated instance. “

Dip Hank into the vase of water.  Allow the iodine to soak out into the water staining it completely and making Hank almost completely black.  Slowly pull out Hank and show the class  that now Hank is REALLY in bad shape.

“As you can see Hank trying to take care of his sin himself didn’t work out too well.  Instead of getting better he became worse.  And that is exactly what will happen with us anytime we think we can take care of sin on our own.”

“Hank finally began to realize that he was never going to be able to defeat sin alone and when someone from an Apostolic church invited him to a service, Hank went because he thought that it was finally time to see what God to do in his life.”

“Hank went to church and for the first time he heard the beautiful truth of the Gospel.  He heard about repentance, baptism in Jesus name and the gift of the Holy Ghost and that day he gave his life completely to God.  He went to an altar and repented of all his sins and that night he was baptized in the lovely name of Jesus.”

Dip Hank into the vase of Sodium Sulfite water.  You will see him turn instantly white again!

“Now Hank was clean and pure again.  He received the gift of the Holy Ghost and was so excited that he wanted to tell everyone about it!”

Here you can emphasize being BOLD and NOT ASHAMED of the Gospel.  Being a witness.

He went back to his family and friends and began to share the glorious gospel with them as well, and one by one, they came to church and were saved as well.”

Dip Hank into the nasty stained water and watch it also turn clear again.

“His family and friends came to church and were saved because of the influence and witness of Hank.  And JUST LIKE HANK, each one of you today can become a witness to your homes and to your school and to your friends.  You can repent, be baptized in Jesus name and become filled with the Holy Ghost and become a light to your dark world.”