Goldfish and Sharing Object Lesson (for Children)

Have enough goldfish crackers for half of the children who are listening to the children’s sermon. Give that half of the group 2 goldfish crackers, but give the other half of the group none. Tell the group with none how sorry you are that they don’t have any fish. It must be nice to have fish crackers… I wonder how you can get some fish crackers, too? Ask the whole group of kids how the group with none might be able to get a fish. (Hopefully, they will talk about sharing). [You could modify this… bring in a bowl of goldfish crackers, approximately two per child. Tell the kids to come up, one at a time, and have as much as they need. The first few kids will likely clean out the whole bowl before all of the children have had a chance to take some. You can say, “God gave us an abundance of fish, but some of us took too many. How can we fix this?” Hopefully, they realize they need to share!]

Possible directions you can take the discussion:

Sharing/giving: Look at what God has given you. You did nothing to deserve it, so share it. Could go into evangelism as much as sharing with the poor.
Hoarding
Ownership of what we have (Did you make the cracker? Did you give it to yourself? How did you get the cracker? How did I get the cracker that I gave to you? How did the store get the cracker?)

Verses you can use on the topic:

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” (1 Peter 4:10-11)
“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)

Submitted by: Kerry Staurseth, Commission on Stewardship (ECC), Chicago, Illinois

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