A Winter Experiment
Children's sermon
That Seeing, They May Believe
52 Children's Object Lessons
Object:
A large piece of ice. A thin strong wire and two heavy weights that can be attached to the wire. A dish pan to hold the ice.
Purpose: To think about how love affects us all.
Special Preparation: Tie the weights on the ends of the wire.
Place the wire over the ice. Make sure that the weights hang free
so that they can move downward as the wire cuts through the ice.
Start the procedure before you plan to use it.
Lesson: This piece of wire was placed over the ice about one hour
ago. As you can see, the wire has slowly melted the ice and is
cutting into it. The ice under the wire is melting quicker
because of the heat of compression. If you press your thumb and
finger together, as hard as you can, you should feel an increase
in warmth there. This also is heat caused by compression.
Love, that is expressed in the form of kindness, good will and
concern, is like the weighted wire. Love is a force that can cut
through the icy spirit or the hard of heart. Love will add the
warmth that is needed in every life. Often, however, it takes a
long time before we see the effects of true love. But even though
the process is slow, we must believe, with Paul,
that love never ends. (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:8) Love, constantly
applied, like the compression of the wire on the ice, will
produce a wonderful warmth in life.
Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home:
* The best time to conduct this experiment is in the winter when
the ice will not melt too quickly.
* A good time to use it, as the beginning of a conversation in
the home, would be during or after a winter ice storm, or after
the family has been ice skating. You might place the weighted
wire over a large piece of ice to let it cut through while you
are away. Then observe the effect when you return. (Note: You
might also notice the way ice skating melts the ice when people
skate upon it. Again, it is the warmth of compression that
accounts for this melting.)
* After you have been to an ice skating show, or watched ice
skating on television.
Special Preparation: Tie the weights on the ends of the wire.
Place the wire over the ice. Make sure that the weights hang free
so that they can move downward as the wire cuts through the ice.
Start the procedure before you plan to use it.
Lesson: This piece of wire was placed over the ice about one hour
ago. As you can see, the wire has slowly melted the ice and is
cutting into it. The ice under the wire is melting quicker
because of the heat of compression. If you press your thumb and
finger together, as hard as you can, you should feel an increase
in warmth there. This also is heat caused by compression.
Love, that is expressed in the form of kindness, good will and
concern, is like the weighted wire. Love is a force that can cut
through the icy spirit or the hard of heart. Love will add the
warmth that is needed in every life. Often, however, it takes a
long time before we see the effects of true love. But even though
the process is slow, we must believe, with Paul,
that love never ends. (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:8) Love, constantly
applied, like the compression of the wire on the ice, will
produce a wonderful warmth in life.
Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home:
* The best time to conduct this experiment is in the winter when
the ice will not melt too quickly.
* A good time to use it, as the beginning of a conversation in
the home, would be during or after a winter ice storm, or after
the family has been ice skating. You might place the weighted
wire over a large piece of ice to let it cut through while you
are away. Then observe the effect when you return. (Note: You
might also notice the way ice skating melts the ice when people
skate upon it. Again, it is the warmth of compression that
accounts for this melting.)
* After you have been to an ice skating show, or watched ice
skating on television.
