What Can Really Make You Happy?

Needed:

• 1 piece of paper.  Larger needed for bigger audience

Lesson:

There was once a man that had one goal in life and that was to be truly happy. And he thought that the only thing that would allow him to reach this goal was to be very rich.

In So he worked hard. He worked so very, very hard and finally after years of hard work he finally achieved what he had been looking for. He became very rich was able to retire and enjoy his money…

Hold out the unfolded piece of paper for everyone to see

and he was FINALLY happy.  For a while…

Eventually though he started to fill that emptiness inside of him come back, that loneliness, that aching and he thought, “I know what I need, I just need to spend some of my money. I will buy a great big sailboat and take it around the world!”

Make the 1^st fold so the paper looks like a boat and “sail” it through the air

and he was FINALLY happy.  For a while…

And again, the loneliness returned in the emptiness and aching inside of him came back. He thought, “perhaps I just spent my money on the wrong things.  This time I’m going to spend my money on something more substantial. I’m going to buy me a mansion!”

Make the 2^nd folder so the paper looks like a house.

and he was FINALLY happy.  For a while…

But again the happiness was only temporary. Soon the aching and emptiness was back and he thought, “I need excitement in my life. I am going to buy the nicest airplane money can buy! I’m going to fly at around to all points of the globe, see everything there is to see and I will finally be happy!”

Make the 3^rd fold so the paper looks like a plane.

and he was FINALLY happy.  For a while…

Once again the loneliness returned. Once again the empty feeling in his heart was back. He thought, “there’s only one thing left that I can think of. I’m going to do what very few people in this world have ever done. I’m going to spend all the rest of my money on a rocket ship and take it on a long voyage out into space and see things that no one has ever seen before!”

Tear the wings off the airplane and fold the center out so it looks like a rocket ship.

And he did and he was FINALLY happy.  For a while…

Sadly though, after everything he had tried after a while he was still unhappy. The loneliness and emptiness and heartache returned. He returned to his home and thought, “I’ll never find true happiness. I can never feel whole or complete. “

He said in his home day after day with sadness as his only companion until he finally received a knock on his door. There stood a young person from an apostolic church. They asked him to come visit the church and he thought, “why not? I’ve tried everything else what harm could it do?”

And he came, heard things he had never heard before, repented of all his sins, was baptized in the beautiful name of Jesus and was filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost!

All the things he had been searching for, all the things he had spent his life trying to attain or suddenly available to him.

Unfold the remaining piece to make a cross.

In what he had been looking for all along had been Jesus.  Money and toys can never make you truly happy.  Only God can fill the emptiness inside of you.

Paper Folding Instructions: