Puppets: Thankfulness and Fanny Crosby

Thankfulness and Fanny Crosby

Mooster: (singing) I’m so happy and here’s the reason why - He took my burdens all away – Oh howdy kids! How are you tonight? Great! I’m doing wonderful too! Wasn’t it a beeeeeyoutiful day outside today? Hey Monkey Moe!!! Where are you?? It’s time for our Bible lesson! Moe! Come on out here!

 Monkey Moe: (from behind the curtains) I’m coming…..I’m coming…

 Mooster: Moe, come on! Time’s a-wasting! If you hurry you might see the beautiful sunset!!

 Monkey Moe: (from behind the curtains) Oh yippee. (pokes head through curtain) I’m here.

 Mooster: Look! Look!!! Moe, isn’t that a beautiful sunset? All those gorgeous colors! God really made a great one tonight, huh?

 Monkey Moe: yeah…beautiful. (hugh SIGH…..) not that I’m going to see many more….

 Mooster: Monkey Moe, what in the world is the matter with you? What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t you see anymore sunsets?

 Monkey Moe: Oh everything is wrong, Mooster! Everything!! I’m going blind! Blind I tell you!! Blind! 

Mooster: What? Are you sure? What did the doctor say at your eye appointment today?

 Monkey Moe: He said I’m a little farsighted so I might have to wear glasses. Glasses! Can you imagine? How terrible is this! Glasses on a monkey. Whoever heard of such a thing?

 Mooster: And what else?

 Moe: What do you mean “what else”? Isn’t that bad enough??

 Mooster: That’s it? You MIGHT have to wear glasses?

 Monkey Moe: Yeah, the doctor said he wanted to see me again in 3 months. Because I’m still a young monkey my eyes might change some more and I might not have to wear them after all. But what if they don’t change?? What if they get worse? What if I go blind??

 Mooster: Oh, for Pete’s sake, Moe, you are really exaggerating. Lots of people wear glasses and they aren’t blind. You should be thankful that you can see. Some people really ARE blind.

 Moe: Thankful? I’m to be thankful?? What good can I do if I’m blind? I’ll have to sit around the treehouse eating bananas all day and get fat. I’ll be useless.

 Mooster: First of all, the doctor did not say you were going to go blind, so quit saying that. Second of all, blind people do all kinds of things! Fannie Crosby was blind and she wrote hundreds of songs that we still sing in our church hymnal. Loads of people have very important jobs and they can’t see. You are completely overreacting. And besides all that, even if you were to go blind, you should still be thankful. The Bible says that we are to give thanks in everything.

 Moe: Easy for YOU to say! You aren’t the one going blind. And where in the Bible does it say I am supposed to be thankful for bad things?

 Mooster: Lots of places. Like Psalm 100 verses 4 and 5 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. And it tells us why: For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” So you see, Moe, when you are not thankful, you are actually disobeying God. There’s no exception in there. God didn’t say be thankful unless this bad thing happens or this other bad thing happens.

 Moe: Oh.

 Mooster: Moe, when things happen and we don’t understand them, it’s a good time to remember all the blessings that we DO have. Here’s an idea: have you tried making a list of all the things you should be thankful for? Or singing when you are sad? How about a song that may help you remember to be thankful. Mr. Songleader? Can you help us sing “Thank you Lord for saving my soul?”

 Songleader: Sure! (Helps the kids sing the song)

 Moe: Thank you, Mr. Songleader. That was really good. I guess I’ve just been feeling sorry for myself. Didn’t Fanny Crosby every feel sorry for herself? Why was she blind? Did her parents do something wrong and God punished them by blinding Fanny? 

Mooster: Oh Moe – God did not punish Miss Crosby’s family. People have been saying things like that for a long time. In Jesus’s day, there was a man born blind. The Bible tells us in John chapter 9 that as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” And Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

 Moe: What does that mean?

 Mooster: It means that God allows some people to be born blind or deaf or handicapped for His glory. God can get glory through people that are born with different problems. In the case Jesus was talking about, He healed that man and gave him his sight! God got the glory for it. That was His purpose all along.

 Moe: Oh. So what about Fanny Crosby?

 Mooster: She wasn’t born blind, but she lost her eyesight when she was a baby. But God let her write all kinds of beautiful hymns to honor Him. Who knows if she would have had time to do that if God had allowed her to keep her eyesight? But by being blind, she was able to do great works for God.

 Moe: What are some of the hymns that she wrote?

 Mooster: Blessed Assurance, Redeemed!, To God Be the Glory, Rescue the Perishing, Saved by Grace and many, many more! She wrote over 8,000 hymns!

 Moe: Wow. She sure didn’t let her blindness stop her from serving God.

 Mooster: She sure didn’t.

 Moe: Well maybe I should be thinking about ways I could honor God with my life, instead of feeling sorry for myself, huh?

 Mooster: That’s a very good idea. Here’s another great idea – try thanking God for all the good things that He has allowed you to have. Let’s start over with tonight’s sunset. Were you able to see it?

 Moe: Yes, I was. And it was really pretty…even though I didn’t feel like thinking about it at the time. 

Mooster: Right. What else?

 Moe: Well, I’m really thankful for my friends and my church and my family. Oh and of course I’m really, really thankful that Jesus died on the Cross to save me. I guess I should have said that first, because really it’s the most important thing to be thankful for. What are you thankful for Mooster?

 Mooster: Wow – where to start? I’m really thankful that I live in America. And I’m thankful for the rights of freedom that I have. I’m thankful for a warm home and good food. I’m thankful that I have clothes to wear and a toothbrush to keep my teeth clean. I’m also thankful that I can go to the doctor when I’m sick.

 Moe: Oh I’m thankful for all that too! I think I should get a piece of paper and start writing all this stuff down. Then when I’m sad, I can get out my list and start adding to it.

 Mooster: That’s an excellent idea, Moe! I’ll make a list, too, and then when we get together again we can compare notes. God is honored when we are thankful!

 Moe: Hey kids – how about between now and next week you make a list at home and write down all the things you are thankful for! Maybe you can bring it with you next time and we can read your lists!!

 Mooster: Good idea, Moe! Ok kids – that’s it for tonight! Bye!

 Moe: Bye!

Puppets: Starting Over - Trusting in God

Starting Over

 Mooster: Hey everybody! How are you today? (Wait for replies) Awesome! Hey Moe!!! Monkey Moe! The kids are here and ready for our story – where are you??

 Monkey Moe: (Sadly..from far away) I’m comin’ , I’m comin’….

 Mooster: Well hurry it up a little there, Moe, I can see the moss growing up around the tree trunk!

 Moe: (pokes head through slowly) Yeah…. Moss.. is.. fascinating…..

 Mooster: Moe, you seem very sad today! What’s wrong? Did you lose your banana skates? Forget your homework? Get grounded?

 Moe: Wrong? Oh nothing really. Just my entire life is being uprooted and shaken and dropped and kicked and set back down. Nothing much at all to be upset about.

 Mooster: Aren’t you exaggerating just a little bit?

 Moe: Well, I guess no one actually kicked me. But otherwise that’s pretty much the situation.

 Mooster: Moe, tell me what’s happening.

 Moe: You remember my dad lost his job a few months back?

 Mooster: Yes….

 Moe: Well, he’s been looking and looking. Finally, a company clear across the jungle offered him a job as a cook. You know he’s world famous for his banana and coleslaw stir fry. And no one makes banana melon shakes like he does! So anyway, he took the job.

 Mooster: Well shouldn’t we all be excited about that? That’s an answer to prayer!

 Moe: Well, yeah, I’m glad he got another job, buy why couldn’t it be here, in this part of the jungle? Mooster, it’s just too far away! With the price of gas, my dad can’t afford to drive our bananamobile so far every day. We…we…(sniff, sniff) we have to move!! We have to sell our treehouse and we’re moving into a tiny little tree apartment. Dad says it’s only temporary until we can find another house, but I doubt that. You remember the flamingos that had to move when the shrimp disappeared? They ended up staying in that little apartment of theirs for months and months! I hate living in apartments. I don’t want to be stuck in one for months and months. You never know what kind of neighbors you’ll have. What if we have giraffes living below us? They’ll be forever sticking their necks in our business! And what if we have woodpeckers next door? I’ll never be able to sleep.

 Mooster: Well, Moe – there’s no sense borrowing trouble.

 Moe: What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything to get into trouble. And I haven’t borrowed anything. Are you sure you are paying attention to what I’m telling you?

 Mooster: Yes, Moe, I’m listening. “Borrowing trouble” is a figure of speech. It means don’t worry over troubles you don’t even have yet. You are worrying about bad neighbors when you haven’t even moved. You might end up with really nice neighbors who have kids or pets that you would enjoy playing with!

 Moe: Humph! Probably not. We’ll probably have woodpeckers poking holes in our walls every day. But that’s not the worst of it – all my brothers and sisters and I have to change schools, too! That means we’ll have to make new friends!

 Mooster: Well making new friends can be good, Moe! And just because you move doesn’t mean you won’t see your other friends anymore. You will still be in the same town.

 Moe: Well, it just seems that once someone moves away they don’t keep up with their old friends anymore. And that hurts. You remember Mrs. Sunniday? When she moved here she was very sad because her old friends in Florida stopped calling and writing to her. She missed them very much.

 Mooster: You’re right, Moe. It does hurt when people move and their old friends don’t seem to keep up with them. But first of all, that doesn’t always happen. Second, you remember Mrs. Sunniday got involved with a good church right away and made lots of new friends and now she’s busy all the time. I never see her sad anymore. I think you need to see this as an opportunity that God is giving you and your family.

 Moe: Opportunity? For what? Misery? Mooster, I just don’t see how God can take moving someone and make good come of it. And what about all those kids I don’t know?? They’ll probably be jealous of my cute and adorable ears, and then they’ll make fun of me and call me names. I won’t be able to stand it! It’s hard to be so adorable, you know.

 Mooster: Yeah…adorable….and humble, right?

 Moe: You have no idea!

 Mooster: Listen, Moe – here’s a Bible verse that might help you. Why don’t you memorize Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Sometimes we can’t see ahead and see what God’s plan is, but we can trust Him that He knows what He is doing.

 Moe: Yeah, you are probably right. I do need to trust that God knows what He is doing.

 Mooster: And, Moe, God does give opportunities like this! You can make new friends – you are a friendly little monkey. And you didn’t know all the friends you have now when you first moved here. You had to get to know them. So you’ll just be doing that again. Did you know that moving people is one of the ways God allowed the Gospel to be spread in early church history?

 Moe: Really? God moved people around? How? Did He use tornadoes? I’ve always thought riding a tornado would be kind of awesome. I’d have to make sure to wear eye protection though because of all the dust….

 Mooster: No, Moe, I’m not saying God uses tornadoes to pick folks up and move them! Do you remember reading about the Apostle Paul, before he got saved?

 Moe: Yes, his name was Saul before he got converted on the road to Damascus. He took Christians from their homes and put them in prison. See – I do pay attention in Sunday School!

 Mooster: Very good - that’s right. Even after Paul got saved, during the times of the early church, there were a lot of Christians who were persecuted. Some were put in prison, some were hung, some were even thrown to the lions! Many Christians were killed for their faith in Christ.

 Moe: That’s awful! Are you sure you are trying to make me feel better? I don’t think it’s working yet…. Did the Christians run away and try to hide from the people who tried to kill them?

 Mooster: Some did. They moved to other cities where they would not be killed for their faith. Once they were safely in a new city, they began telling others about being saved through believing in Jesus Christ!

 Moe: Oh – so God used their moving to a new place to make it so others could hear the Gospel! That’s cool! But it would have been scary and hard for the people who were moving to save their lives.

 Mooster: Yes, it would have been scary…just like it’s kind of scary for you to move and have to make new friends. And you are a little scared about your neighbors, too. But maybe God wants your family to be a witness in the new apartment building!

 Moe: Soooo….we could be like…missionaries? Telling new people about Jesus?

 Mooster: That’s right, Moe. And you can talk about Jesus at school, too – and tell all those new friends you make about the very Best Friend of all – Jesus Christ.

 Moe: And I could invite them to come to church with me, too. And I could tell them about Thursday nights here at Gospel. Wow – so much to do!!! I guess I better go home and start packing.

 Mooster: Glad to hear it Moe. I can come help you if you need an extra hoof or two.

 Moe: Yeah – you can probably carry all our clothing on your antlers!

 Mooster: Okay – well let’s go then – Bye kids!!

 Moe: Bye!