Extreme Makeover

Chuck: (comes in wearing a crown, cape, and holding a stick like a scepter and begins to speak in a snooty accent) Hullooooo there, my subjects!

Leader: Hey Chuck!

Chuck: Chuck? Chuck? Who is this Chuck which you speak of?

Leader: Chuck quit fooling around.

Chuck: CARMINE! Carmine! Come HERE!

Leader: Hu? (Chuck’s “butler” enters. This can just be another Leader wearing a bowtie.)

Carmine: Yes sir?

Leader: (recognizes “Carmine” as another Leader) What are you doing??

Chuck: Carmine has been serving my family for generations! CARMINE! Fetch me my breakfast! Remember, I like my pancakes to be clown-shaped.

Carmine: He just put this tie on me backstage and told me to shine his shoes!

Leader: Why are you listening to him???

Carmine: He gave me a dollar.

Leader: Get out of here! (Carmine exits.)

Leader: (back to Chuck) Chuck, I think you’ve finally gone too far!

Chuck: (whacks the Leader with his scepter) How DARE you address PRINCE Charles Merkowitz the First that way! Scoundrel!

Leader: Did you hit your head today or something??

Chuck: Of course not! I was simply reading my bible where it says we are children of God, so we are ROYALTY, like JESUS! If I’m royalty I’m going to ACT like it! Now dance like a chunky elf, I’m bored.

Leader: I’m not dancing for anybody. And you’re right about how we are children of God, but that is SO not how a child of God acts! Jesus was NEVER so arrogant with ANYONE! He was HUMBLE, GENTLE, AND PATIENT!

Chuck: I beg your pardon?

Leader: I’m serious! Jesus was the son of God, but He put everybody ahead of himself! He was always serving others! He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and helped the poor! He even DIED to wash away all of our sins!

Chuck: Why would He LOWER himself like that?

Leader: Because He LOVED everybody and knew that God blesses those who serve others! If we are going to clothe ourselves in Jesus, we have to be humble, gentle and patient!

Chuck: So…instead of acting like a child of God…I’m acting like…a nincompoop?

Leader: Something like that.

Chuck: (drops the snooty accent and goes back to speaking like Chuck Foo) Oh my goodness…what am I doing? (throw off the crown and cape) I’m gonna start humbling myself right now! CARMINE!!! (“Carmine” returns)

Chuck: (takes off the bow tie and puts it on himself) Can I shine your shoes?

Carmine: I’m wearing sandals.

Chuck: Eh, I’ll shine your feet now. I’M Chuck FOO! KICK IT!!!!!!!

We have been talking about what it means to “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.” Today our lesson is called “Extreme Makeover.” Have you ever seen a show that features an “Extreme Makeover”? You know, someone comes in looking one way and they leave looking a totally different way—different clothes, different hairstyle, different everything? Today, we are going to talk about how we can have an “Extreme Makeover.”

The three things that are listed next in our passage of Colossians 3 are all a part of that Extreme Makeover. They are “Humility, Patience, and Gentleness.” These are three things that most people in the world do not “wear” very much. These three things aren’t found very much in the world. Today, we are going to look at each of these things that we must “clothe ourselves” with if we are going to be “clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Let’s look at the first item...

The opposite of HUMILITY is pride. Pride says, “Me first!” Pride says, (put on the poster board around your neck) “I’m the best!” That’s the way many people live. They are ruled by pride. If we are going to “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”, we have to have an EXTREME MAKEOVER— get rid of the pride and put on HUMILITY. (remove the sign from around your neck)

HUMILITY says, “Others First, Me Last!” After all, that’s what Jesus was like. Everywhere He went He loved others, healed others, helped others, and served others. He never once demanded that people treat Him as the King that He is. Instead, He took on the role of a servant and put others first— Himself last.

Can you imagine what a group of kids would look like if they lived like this? “Others first—me last”? I imagine that every kid in the city would want to come to that church because they knew they would be treated with kindness, love, and care. Can you imagine if we all clothed ourselves with HUMILITY? I imagine we would all look a lot more like Jesus.

Philippians 2:3 says, “Don’t be selfish. Don’t try to impress others. Be humble; thinking of others as better than yourselves.” That’s what HUMILITY looks like. The next item listed that we are learning to clothe ourselves in today is PATIENCE.

When it comes to becoming angry with others, we should try to be just a turtle—slow! We don’t want to rush into anger, we want to be patient. Think about Jesus. He was beaten, spit upon, and nailed to a cross. Did he ever loose his temper and scream and yell at those soldiers? Did He ever get angry and punch them back? Not at all. He was patient with them. He knew that He had to “clothe Himself with patience” in order to show them the Love of God.

James 1:9 teaches us how to do this. It says, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters, you must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” If we are going to be “clothed in patience”, then we must be quick to listen and slow to speak. Instead of arguing with our brother or sister, instead of thinking of a comeback when somebody cuts us down—we should be slow to speak.

This will help us practice patience with others. We must have an EXTREME MAKEOVER—take off the clothing of anger and “clothe ourselves with PATIENCE.”

The final item of clothing we are learning about today is GENTLENESS...

GENTLENESS is something that many people do not understand. The opposite of GENTLENESS is what I would call harshness. When people are harsh with others, their words are harmful, their actions are hurtful, and they are not careful with how they treat others. GENTLENESS is the opposite of that.

(pick up the baby) I think a perfect example of being GENTLE with others is—holding a baby. How do you hold a baby? You treat her as fragile and breakable. You hold her with cautious, careful, loving attention. What you want doesn’t matter. Your attention is on taking care of the baby. You want to protect her from harm, and keep her safe in your arms.

Treat other people just like you hold a baby. Treat each other with that same gentle, safe, care. When you do that, you have clothed yourself with Christ! Philippians 4:5 says, “Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.”

If we are going to be clothed in Jesus, then we will have to make an effort every day to have an EXTREME MAKEOVER. We must get rid of pride, anger, and harsh behavior. We must clothe ourselves with HUMILITY, PATIENCE, and GENTLENESS. Then, we will truly be “clothing ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1. What was today’s Big Idea? Answer: “Patience, Humility, and Gentleness - Put ‘Em In Your Life and You’ll Be Blessed!”

2. Which of our characters was struggling with pride today? Answer: Kat

3. What was Chuck Foo acting like today? Answer: royalty (a King)

4. What is the opposite of humility? Answer: pride

5. What animal did we say we should be like when it comes to getting angry? Answer: a turtle

6. In our lesson today, we learned “Gentleness Says, Others _________, Me ___________.” Answer: First, Last

7. In our lesson today, we also learned “Patience Means I Am _______ To Respond And Become Angry.” Answer: Slow

8. In our lesson today, we also learned “Gentleness = Handle With _______.” Answer: Care

9. True or False: We must have an EXTREME MAKEOVER every day. Answer: True

10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Titus 3:2