You will need:
1 hard-boiled egg
glass jar (a wide-mouth, pint-sized canning jar works perfectly)
liquid bleach
1 washable magic marker, preferably in a drab color like brown or black.
towel
spoon
Preparation: Fill the jar with water until it is 2/3rds full. Add 2 Tablespoons of liquid bleach and seal the jar. (Warning: Because there is bleach in the water make sure it does not get spilled or splashed!)
When we came to earth, we were pure and perfect---just like this egg. (Show the hard-boiled egg.)
But all of us make mistakes. We do things we aren’t supposed to and that makes us dirty. Maybe we disobey our parents. (Color a scribble on the egg shell with the marker.) Maybe we get into a fight with our brother or sister. (Color another scribble on the shell.) We may even tell a lie (color another scribble).
All these things leave their mark. (Show them the egg and ask them what they think. Would they want an ugly egg like that?)
Heavenly Father wants us to live with Him again but we can’t if we are covered in sin. That is why He gave us the gift of baptism.
(Using the spoon, carefully lower the egg into the water. You may have to stir the egg a bit as you are talking so practice this before hand to see how your washable marker will react.)
When we are baptized, Heavenly Father erases our sins. We come out of the water pure and perfect again. (Wait until the marker dissolves completely then remove the egg, wipe away the water and show them the white shell again. Let the children 'ooo' and 'aah' for a bit. Show them the egg. You may even want to walk around and let them see it.)
But after we are baptized, we still make mistakes, don’t we? We still do things we aren’t supposed to. We may watch a movie we shouldn’t watch (scribble on the shell with the marker). We may say something mean or unkind to our brother or sister, maybe even to our parents (scribble on the shell again).
All these things make us dirty again.
So what can we do? We can’t get baptized again. That is so sacred and special we can only do that once.
That’s why Heavenly Father also gave us the gift of repentance. He lets us repent so we can be clean again.
Repentance means we stop what we are doing. (When you say the word ‘stop’, hit the hard-boiled egg on the table to crack the shell. Roll it around a few times to further crack the shell.)
Then we have to do something that is kind of hard. We have to change. We have to get rid of the bad things in our lives. (Start peeling the egg.) It takes work to remove those sins from our lives but we can do it. When we are willing to change who we are and get rid of the bad things in our lives, then we can be pure and white again. (Show them the clean and peeled egg.) That is what Heavenly Father wants. That is why He lets us repent and change. He knows repentance is good for us. He wants us to repent so we can be pure and live with Him again.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Here are some more ideas for quick talks...
Tiny Talks, Vol. 8: I Am a Child of God
Creating Terrific Talks
