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2012 Copyright – PreteenMinistry.net 1

EPIC FAIL – LESSON 3

Writer: Sean Sweet Project Supervisor: Nick Diliberto

Video: Santos Productions Graphic Design: Creative Juice Graphic Design

Editor: Tom Helm


EPIC Fail Lesson 3: Sin Bible: Romans 3:23, 6:16, 6:23, 8:39; John 8:34; Isaiah 59:2

LESSON SUPPLIES ● Nerf gun with darts (large group opening). ● Target to shoot with Nerf darts (large group opening, hang or place somewhere

near the teaching area) ● Large target (small group). You can use archery targets, or print out large “Target

logo” from a Google Image search ● Little sticky toys (the kind you get from a toy store or dollar store – these should

be really cheap!). ● Sin poster hanging near the teaching area, with the following text written on it:

I will do my best, with help from the spirit of God within me, to not sin because I want to love people, not hurt them…or myself.

When I do sin, and I know I will, I rely on God’s forgiveness. I go on with my life free from guilt and shame and slavery and

separation.” (Teach – Large Group) ● Marker for teacher to sign the sin poster (Teach – Large Group). ● Have several large sin posters (like the above one) hanging around the room.

Print the same text on them. Have markers available for preteens to sign on their way to small group (Teach – Large Group).

● 3 Rocks (or other props that will represent ME, GOD, and SIN) ● One index card per student (small group time). ● OPTIONAL: Conduct a survey of the pastors at your church....ask “How many

times do you sin each day?” Write down their responses without recording their names.

OPENING WORSHIP (10 MINUTES) ● Deep Cries Out (Bethel) ● No One Like You (Crowder) ● Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord (Hillsong)


LARGE GROUP OPENING (15 MINUTES) [Slide 1 – Epic Fail cover slide] Say: Now it’s time for our epic fail of the week, submitted by Joanne McNeilson from Tallahassee, NJ. [Slide 2 – EPIC fail of the week] (Comment on the crazy cat that failed as it tried to catch the fish.) [Slide 3 – EPIC fail cover] Welcome back to our “EPIC Fail” series. During this series, we’ve been looking at failure in our lives. Everybody has some, and we’ve been learning about how we, as God’s precious creation, can learn to live with our mistakes and failures. Today, we talk about a different kind of failure than we talked about last week. Today, we talk about SIN. [Slide 4 – Sin] VIDEO (5 MINUTES) Say – In the video, we learned that the Greek word for sin (fyi – it’s hamartia), the one used in the New Testament part of the Bible, means to “miss the mark”. In archery, when you have a bow and arrow (mime pulling back an arrow in an invisible bow – or have a real bow and arrow as you discuss this part), the whole goal is to what (hit the mark)? So, sinning can be like “missing the mark” in archery. Now, I have a Nerf gun and target to help me illustrate. God says “Here’s the target” (point to the target), and we (take out the Nerf gun and shoot at target missing it) miss it when we sin. So, sinning can include a lot of different things, because there are lots of things we do when we miss the target God has for our life. It could be lying (shoot but miss the target) or stealing (shoot but miss target) or worrying (shoot but miss target). In fact, Jesus says in Matthew 5 that even thinking bad thoughts can be sinning (shoot but miss target). All of this is missing the target. [Slide 5 – Missing the target] Now, before we dive into this whole topic of sin and what to do about this kind of failure in our lives, we are going to play a target game in our small groups. Have some fun together and then come back ready to focus in and deal with something that I know is real in all of our lives. [Slide 6 – EPIC Fail cover]


[Dismiss preteens to small groups.] SMALL GROUP OPENING (10 MINUTES) Welcome your group back. Play TARGET game ● Beforehand, hang a large target on the wall in your small group space. You can

use archery targets, or print out large “Target logo” from a Google Image search. ● Have students line up with the front of the line rather close to the target. ● Give little sticky toys (the kind you get from a toy store or dollar store – these

should be really cheap!) to the preteens and have them take turns trying to “hit the mark”.

● All those who succeed move to the next round, where they have to start a little farther away from the target.

● Ideas to keep the preteens from losing focus and causing issues: ○ Keep the game moving. ○ Take away the sticky toys from a student that is out and hold onto it.

The point of this small group time is FUN, but there is also a spiritual truth or two to be extracted from this game. Ask them how life is like the game? Say: The person in your group who made it the farthest in the contest, if he continued, would eventually mess up. The same is true with sin in our life. Even if we try super duper hard to not mess up ever, we are going to eventually sin. LARGE GROUP (20 MINUTES) Say: Last week, we talked about failure when it comes to discovering who you are and what you are good at. We talked about going for it and discovering who God made you to be and what you are good at. We looked at how sometimes we try things and find that we are good at them, and sometimes we try things and find that we are NOT good at them. We said that they are NOT a match. We said last week that discovering who you are will include discovering who you are NOT. We said that instead of thinking of those times when you try something and fail as an EPIC FAIL, we can think of them INSTEAD as an EPIC DISCOVERY Today, we’re not talking about discovering your talents and your likes/dislikes. We are talking about sin. There is a message in this world that says that you should approach the things you see on the screen in the same way that you would approach talents or likes/dislikes. That you should explore these things and find out what they’re all about. That maybe something on this screen isn’t so bad. In fact, you may find a match to something that you like.


You’ve probably heard somebody say, “I’ll try anything once.” And you know what? That’s a GREAT attitude when we’re talking about trying different ice cream flavors or different sports or trying different instruments or different types of music! But, some people take that same attitude and apply it to these things (referring to sins listed on screen). Well what do you guys think? Should we try those things out, just once, to see what they’re like? Of course not. We are not made to sin! We are not made to lie or steal or have bad thoughts or hate or worry or lust or have pride or murder. NONE of us was made for sin. It is not a match for anybody. Check out this verse from the Bible, Romans 6:23. [Slide 7 – The wages of sin is death] The wages of sin is death. In other words, when you sin, the result is destruction. In what ways does sin destroy us? Turn to the person next to you and discuss that question. [Have preteens share with a partner how sin can destroy them.] Say - Well, I hope you guys have come up with some ways that sin destroys. I am going to share five. [Slide 8 - Guilt] First of all, when we sin, we are GUILTY. Now, I’m not talking about a feeling, because sometimes we can feel guilty even when we are innocent. When I say we are guilty, I mean we are actually guilty. If I’ve done something wrong, there is a consequence for that, and that consequence belongs to me. Why does it belong to me? Because I’m the one who sinned; I am GUILTY! [Slide 9 - Shame] Besides being guilty, we also carry around SHAME for what we’ve done. Shame is the painful feeling that comes from our conscious when we’ve sinned. It’s when you want to hide because you are ASHAMED of what you’ve done and you don’t want people to see you. It’s when you feel like an absolute loser because you’ve done something dishonorable, wrong, or disgraceful. [Slide 10 - Prisoner] A third way that sin destroys us is that when we sin, we are A SLAVE TO SIN. Sin can hold you captive once you’ve done it! Sometimes when we sin, we can start to feel like it’s not a big deal or we can feel drawn to it again and again. Sin becomes your master!


In John 8:34, Jesus says, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”. At look at what it says in Romans: Romans 6:16: “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death (big pause) or [a slave] to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” So, when we obey our desire to sin, we become a slave to sin. [Slide 11 – Separation] Another way sin destroys us is this: When we sin, we experience SEPARATION FROM GOD. Let’s say this (put a rock down in front of you) represents me, and this (put another rock right next to the first one) represents God. Let’s say this (a third rock) represents sin. When I choose to live my life for God and follow Jesus, I am so very close to Him. But when I sin (move “sin” rock between “me” rock and “God” rock), I am putting myself CLOSER to sin than to God. I am moving myself away from God’s Perfection. I am becoming less like Jesus and more like sin. Now, we know from Romans 8:39 that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, but when we choose sin, we choose to move away from our love for Him, and we choose to turn our love toward sin. God still loves us when we sin because nothing separates us from His love. But we aren’t loving God when we choose sin. Isaiah 59:2 says, “your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you…” So far, we’ve said that sin has consequences. When we sin, we are GUILTY. We have SHAME. We become a SLAVE TO SIN. We experience SEPARATION FROM GOD. But that’s not all. [Slide 12 – Hurts people] When we sin, we also HURT PEOPLE. When you sin, it might be your parents that you hurt or a teacher or other kids. It might be somebody that you don’t even know. And when you sin, you most surely hurt yourself, sometimes in ways that you may not even understand. When I sin, it HURTS PEOPLE, including myself. When I sin, it HURTS PEOPLE, including myself. Sin hurts people. Some of you know that because you’ve been hurt by other people’s sin. I know I have. So, we don’t have to experiment with sin to see if it’s a match. It’s not. It’s DEATH! Here’s the truth about sin:


[SLIDE 13 - SIN IS FAILURE.] Sin is failure! But, in this area of sin, if you are a failure, I want you to know something really important: We all fail in this area. We all sin—every day. OPTIONAL: SAY: I did a survey of the pastors and leaders of my church. The question was, “How often do you sin?” Here were their answers (read answers).

SAY: When it comes to sin, everybody fails! And just like in the game you played earlier, no matter how hard you try, you are going to miss the mark and fail again.

Even though you are going to fail when it comes to sin, I’ve got GREAT NEWS for you! But first, let’s review the facts:

● We all sin. Everyday. ● The consequences of sin are (picks up 5 bricks, one at a time, with the five

consequences listed above written on them and put them in a leaders’ hands as you reads them.)

[Slide 14 – Epic Fail Cover]

SAY: Wow, that looks like a lot of weight you are carrying around. Do you want to sin, _____(leader’s name)?

_____(leader’s name), maybe you’re like this guy named Paul – he wrote about half of the books in the New Testament. Listen to some of his thoughts about sin, paraphrased from Romans 7:18-25 of the Message Bible… (reading from Bible)

I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me … rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. Is there no one who can do anything for me?

SAY: Now I said I had good news for you, right? That’s doesn’t sound like good news....especially for our leader here holding all this weight. WELLl, hold on, because Paul is not done yet. Listen to Paul’s next thoughts!

I've tried everything and nothing helps. Is there anybody who can do anything for me?


The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

_______(leader’s name), Because of Jesus, my savior, my problem is solved. Those of us who enter into a deep relationship with Christ no longer have to live underneath a continuous, low-lying black cloud. There is a new power in operation for us now, ____(leader’s name). The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air of black clouds, and is freeing us from a lifetime of destruction at the hands of sin and death.

This is the GREAT GREAT GREAT NEWS that I have for you. It’s Jesus! See, we are all failures on our own. We all sin. Everyday. And the consequences of sin are death. But, Jesus paid a huge price when he died on the cross! When Jesus gave his life on the cross, he paid the price to free us from this (pick up brick from Seth and place by the cross, if you have one on your stage - or just far away from your volunteer leader) and this (pick up brick) and this (pick up brick) and this (pick up brick, but leave the HURTS OTHERS brick) Feel better, _______(leader’s name)? (wait for response) SAY: God FORgives you – which mean God sees you the same way he did beFORe you sinned. (refer to bricks as you speak) We are no longer considered guilty and we have nothing to be ashamed of. We are no longer separated from God and sin has no power over us. Jesus took these consequences of sin with him to the cross. They died with him!! If you put your trust in what Jesus Christ did when He died on the cross; if you allow Him into your life—into your heart—then these things (refer to bricks) are no longer a part of your life! Does that sound awesome? SAY: You’ll notice, though, that I DID leave the “hurts people” brick on ______(leader’s name). That was on purpose. Because even though we are forgiven, sin still hurts – it hurts others and ourselves. Like if my dad told me to brush my teeth and I went in the bathroom and just ran the water for a minute and didn’t really brush my teeth…and then afterward my dad’s like, ‘Did you brush your teeth?’ and I lie say ‘Yeah, I brushed’…. (interrupt yourself): Wow - I sinned a couple of times – I’ve disobeyed, I’ve lied to your dad, I didn’t take care of your body… SAY: Wow, so if I do all that, and it goes on for a while and eventually my Dad finds out because you go to the dentist and have cavities. Even if my dad forgives me...I still


have the cavities. Even though I’m forgiven, my sin still hurts me…(grabbing jaw) OUCH! And it hurt my dad, too, ‘cause he has to pay the dentist bill. So even though I’m forgiven, and my Dad’s not mad any more—he might even forget all about it—my sin still HURTS PEOPLE, including myself. You see - Even though Jesus forgives our sins, our sins still hurt people! AND THIS (holding up “hurts people” brick) is why we, as Christians, don’t sin. It’s not that we are trying to be perfect. It’s because we know that sin hurts people, and the more we get to know God, the more we discover His amazing love for us and other people. We are called to love people. Hurting people is exactly the opposite! We don’t want to hurt anyone, including ourselves, because people are truly precious to God. We understand that His rules (holding Bible) are part of his love for us and other people. And He is changing us with His love from the inside out. And that is why I will do my best, with help from the spirit of God within me, to not sin because I want to love people, not hurt them…including myself. So how about the rest of you? First of all, does everybody understand the consequences of sin, and why the Bible says that the wages of sin is death? (take response) Perhaps there are some of you here today that realize that you’ve been carrying around some of the things I was talking about: ***Slide 7e You’ve sinned, and you are carrying around the weight of guilt and shame, and you are a slave to sin. You know that you have separated yourself from God by your sins, but you also understand that Jesus died on the cross to take all that from you. If you see that what I’m talking about is true, I want to pray with you. (LEAD AN INVITATION TO SALVATION in the tradition of your church) So there’s just one problem with sin that remains—sin still does hurt people. And that’s why, my friends, I’m going to sign my name on this poster right here. Let me read what it says at the top: “I will do my best, with help from the spirit of God within me, to not sin because I want to love people, not hurt them…including myself. When I do sin, and I know I will, I rely on God’s forgiveness. I go on with my life free from guilt and shame and slavery and separation.”


My signature on this poster is my commitment to you and to God to not choose sin as my lifestyle, but to choose to follow after God. If you’d like to make this commitment, we have (several) posters hung up on the wall that you can sign on your way to your small group time. You’re going to have a discussion time in your group, and at the end, you’ll have a chance to write down questions that you still have about failure or sin. I want to see what questions you guys still have before I prepare for next week’s lesson. (Play “I’m forgiven” by Sanctus Real as they are dismissed) (Allow preteens to sign the posters as they are leaving to small group area.) SMALL GROUP TIME (15 MINUTES) If you meet at night, take your group outside to look at stars. How many stars can they count? How many stars are there? Why don’t they see them all? Now go back to your small group area and discuss the following questions. If you don’t meet at night, then simply discuss the following questions. How are the stars and the sun like sin and God’s forgiveness? What other questions does your group have about sin? Have them write these down on index cards and collect for next week’s service. OPTIONAL LARGE GROUP CLOSING (5 MINUTES) Read this letter from Sean to your group: Hi, my name is Sean and I’m a pastor in Rocklin, California for kids just like you. When I say they are just like you, I mean that they fail, too, sometimes. I’m so glad that your church group is going through this Epic Fail series, and I wanted to share something very special to me as you close your service today. When I first became a follower of Christ, I used to feel like such a huge failure. I knew that I was forgiven by Christ, but all the guilt and shame and separation from God came flooding back into my life every time I sinned (which was a lot). I thought “Christians don’t sin, right?” And then, one day, I heard this song on the radio, and the words of it were so powerful that I went out and bought this CD. It was the first Christian music that I ever bought. As your teacher plays this song, listen to and read the words and think about what they mean. Maybe you’ll understand why this song is so special to me. By the way, when the singer says, “Reaching for forbidden fruit” – that just is a fancy way of saying that he’s sinning. And when he says “the rooster crows and my tears roll down” – he’s just singing about the times that he realizes that he’s sinned and he’s really sorry about it. Alright, check it out, “Clumsy” by Chris Rice.


Teacher: Play CLUMSY by CHRIS RICE with the slides that show the words. SAY: So here’s your choice: you can focus your attention on the fact that when it come to being perfect at not sinning, you are a failure. OR you can focus your attention on God and His love and His forgiveness. If you choose the second [SLIDE – GREAT NEWS], you’ll find that your sin becomes less and less as your love for people becomes more and more. WORSHIP CLOSING (10 MINUTES) We suggest the following closing worship songs: ● How He Loves Us (Crowder) ● Who You Are (Desperation Band) ● Brighter Day (Gungor)

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