Preparation: You will need two small tea light candles for each child or two glow sticks
for each child. If you give the candles PLEASE emphasize that only adults light candles.
Have the children gather around the Paschal candle (have it lit) if you
have one or the altar candles. Talk about the nature of light and how
even just one little candle can give enough light to let us see in the
dark and show us the way.
Say: “We read part of a letter this morning that someone named Paul
wrote to people in a place called Ephesus. Paul wanted the people their
to know how wonderful it was that they loved God. Paul also wanted to
remind them that God was working through them to reveal God’s love to
everyone that they talked to in their day. The people of Ephesus were
sort of like this candle. They showed people the way to God by just being who God
created them to be and and telling people about God.
Is there someone in your life who talks to you about God? Who is that person?” (Accept
all answers.) “These people are like lights that point us to God aren’t they? Do you know
that you also show people God? You do! You are a light to someone and show God’s
love!”
“I have two candles (tea lights) for you to take home today. One is for you-now never
light a candle with out mom or dad-and one is for you to give to someone who talks to
you about God. When you give it to them say, ‘you are God’s light to me!'”
“Dear God, thank you for all the people who tell me about you. Help us
to talk to our friends about God too. Amen.”
(Make the sign of the cross on one another) “You reflect God’s light.”
Tag Archives: Children’s sermon
Children’s Sermon, Oct. 20th, 2013, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 32: 22-32
Preparation: Have a small plant or a stuffed animal or a picture of your pet.
Bring the children together. Have them sit where they can see you and what you are holding. Show them the object that you have brought with you. (What you will say exactly will depend upon what you have brought.) Hold up the plant/or stuffed animal and say, “I just got this plant/toy this week. I really like it and it is special to me. But I don’t have a name for it yet. What should I name it? (As the children give you names, remind them that you want the name to mean something special to you or your family. If you have brought a picture of your pet already named, lead a conversation around how you named your pet.) Maybe you will settle on a name and you can say, “Yes! I like that name, it has a special meaning to me in my life. Have you ever named anything? A pet, a toy, a baby doll, or maybe you got to help name a younger brother or sister? How did you decide on the name? Did you pick a name that you didn’t like? No, you picked a name that was special to you and tells the world how much you love your pet, or sibling.
Today we heard a story about a man named Jacob. He loved God very much but had been having some troubles in his life. Jacob was moving his family which in those days meant walking and carrying your stuff or putting your stuff on animals to carry. So you couldn’t have everything you needed and it was hard work. One night he had sent his family ahead a bit and he was alone. Now this story is very old and a little different from some of the other Bible stories. A man came and wrestled or fought with Jacob all night. Jacob had his hip hurt and was very tired but refused to stop wrestling until the man gave him a blessing. Do you know what a blessing is? It’s when someone reminds you of how you belong to God and that God loves you very much. Well, finally Jacob got his blessing in the form of a new name! The man said that his name was now Israel which means, “he who strives with God.” Jacob, now Israel, had been wrestling with God! God doesn’t mind when we argue with God, as a matter of fact, God loves that we talk to God about everything!”
“Did you know that God has given you a special name as a blessing too? Remember what a blessing is? A reminder that God loves you and that you belong to God. God calls each of you not just by your name of…(fill in some names here) but “Child of God.” Just as you give your pets or toys special names, God has given each of us a special name too!”
Dear God, thank you for calling us “child of God.” May we share the good news that you love us all and call us yours. Help us to share your blessings with our friends, our family and our neighbors. In Jesus name, amen.
“You are called God’s child now and forever.”
*Special thanks to Lois Moss for the idea!
Children’s Sermon Luke 16:1-13 Pentecost 18C September 22, 2013
Preparation: a chalice filled with stickers or small candies or something that the kids can have.
Gather the children together and welcome them. Hold up the chalice and say: Anyone know what I have here? (take answers) Yes, this is called a chalice, it’s the cup that we can hold wine or grape juice in for communion.
So I was thinking about this cup and what we usually put in it. And our gospel story today tells about a master, a rich man with people working for him, who rewarded a manager who was not really honest with this money. **Use the Spark Storybook Bible to tell the story in a simple fashion. “Well, it’s an interesting story because it does not seem like the master should reward the manager; it seems like he should punish him instead. But he offers him what we would call grace instead. It certainly seems like a strange way to show grace–would you show grace if your brother or sister gave a way part of your allowance? No probably not, so that is where the chalice comes in.”
“See in this story it’s like God is saying grace is everywhere, really and truly everywhere even when it has no business being there. And this chalice is something that shows us grace every week by being here and being full”–now act like you are going to spill the wine and make show of it and let it start to spill out the stickers or small candies. “Uh-oh, if the wine spills it has no business being on the carpet, what will do, I will be in trouble with… (name janitor or pastor or whoever)”. Then let the other things spill and say, “What, these stickers/candies aren’t supposed to be in the chalice! Well, I guess I am glad that they were instead of wine! Grace shows up in all kinds of ways, even where we think that maybe it should not be and for that we can be grateful because God’s grace shows up for us.”
God, thank you for your grace that is surprising and present and for us in all ways. Amen
God in your head, God in your heart, God on your left, God on your right +
Children’s Sermon Luke 14: 1,7-14, Sept. 1, 2013 Pentecost 15 year C
Preparation: Have some party items available: balloons (use with caution as they can be choking hazards), party hats, streamers, maybe even noise makers, etc.
Gather the children to where you have children’s time. As they come up have someone help you divide them into two groups. Doesn’t matter how-randomly is best! Invite one group of children to come and sit with you just off to the side and tell the other children to just to sit on the opposite side of the area.
Say to the group with you: “Yay! You are all invited to my party this morning! Here have a balloon, a hat, etc. We are going to have fun!” If a child from the other group tries to come over or even looks over tell them, “I am sorry this party is for this group only over here. Just go and sit back over there.” Don’t spend too long with this one group but then say, “You know, I kind of feel bad about that group over there. Should we invite them to come over here?” Hopefully, they will say yes!
Say to the group who was not at the party, “How did it feel to not be part of the fun? (Accept all answers) Say to the other group: How did it feel to be part of the group having fun? Did you think that it wasn’t fair to the other children? Why? Today, Jesus tells us that God invites everyone to God’s party and to be a part of God’s people. Even the people we may not like or even know, God loves and knows. God wants us to remember that God not only loves us and cares for us but cares for all people no matter who they are, what they look like, or how they act. That can be hard for us as we like to hang out with friends who are just like us. Have you ever gone to school on the first day and not known anyone in the classroom? Well, did someone talk to you? Accept all answers and if it’s no talk about how that felt and if they would remember that and talk to a new child at school or in the neighborhood. It can be hard but God tells us that even we might feel on the outside of friends or groups God is there and if we think we are the inside of friends or groups God is there. We can work to not have separate groups like we did here this morning but try to make just one big group which is more fun anyway!
Dear God, you love us all and want us all to be part of your party. Help us to remember that you are with us when we feel alone and when we don’t. Show us how to invite our friends to be a part of you. In Jesus name, amen.
God is with you always. (Make the sign of the cross on one another.)
Children’s sermon Luke 13: 10-17, Pentecost 14, August 25th, 2013
Preparation: Have a “Hello my name is…” name tag for each child as well as some markers for them to write.
Gather the children and ask a couple of them if you can call them “hey you” or something silly like “male child” or “female child.” Hopefully you will get some giggles and some children insisting that you call them by their real names! You could also just decide to call all the children Joe or Fred…unless one of them has that name! Say: “Does your mom, dad, grandma or grandpa, etc. call you by a fun nickname? Why do they call you that? Is is because they know you really well and love you? Yes! More than likely your parents picked out your name because it means something special to them and because YOU are special to them. Our names and nicknames are ours and the people who know us and love us call us by them.”
Tell the children the story from Luke about the woman who was bent over for 18 years and how no one really saw her, talked to her or took notice of her at all. She was just an old woman in a crowd and no one even knew her name. But Jesus saw her. He called to her by saying “woman, come over to me.” Even Jesus just used a plain name for her. But then Jesus did something wonderful-but not what you think. Yes, Jesus healed her back and she could stand up and see all the people around her but Jesus did something even better than that! He gave her a name: “daughter of Abraham.” Now that name may not seem like much to you or me-but it would be like when your mom, dad, grandma, grandpa or someone you love calls you sweetie, or love, or a nick name that shows how much that person loves you. Jesus was calling her a name that meant that God loved this woman very much and knows who this woman is and will be with her always.
God loves each of us and calls us “children of God” that means that we belong to God first and foremost. In the water of baptism God says that our name that people on earth call us may be Ella, or Brigette or John but God calls us God’s child now and forever.
Have the blank “Hello my name is…” name tags for the children. Have markers for them to write their names on their name tags. Have the children put them on to remember that they are loved by their family, friends and God.
“Dear God, thank you for calling us yours. Let us see all the people in our lives as your children too. Thank you for being with us always. Amen”
Make the sign of the cross and say: “You are called a child of God.”
Children’s Sermon Luke 11:1-13 Pentecost 10C July 28, 2013
Preparation: Bring with you at least 3 different phones. One with a cord, one cordless, and one cell phone. Also make a play phone with 2 cans and a string
Gather the children to you. Welcome them and let them see your play phone. Show them how you love your phone, and especially that you love to talk to your friends on it, but tell them you want to get the best phone possible. And show them the 3 phones and let them help you decide which is the best.
Say, “In today’s gospel the disciples were also trying to learn the best way to talk to God in prayer. And Jesus shared a prayer with the disciples in today’s gospel that we say in church every Sunday. Do you know what we call that prayer?” (Wait for the answer) And then say, “But Jesus is clear that it isn’t about having the best prayer. It’s about praying to God and knowing that God hears our prayers.
Point to the phones again and say, “So Jesus knows that we don’t always know how best to pray. Sometimes we think our prayers aren’t the best kind.” (Hold up the tin cans and string.) “We worry that God won’t listen, but Jesus Promises they are heard no matter what our prayers look like. (Pointing at all the phones)
Jesus hear our prayers. Help us to always come to you with our joys, and our struggles and fears. Thank you for listening. Amen
May your words be a gift to God and the world. Amen
Submitted by Pastor Michael Stadtmueller
Children’s Sermon Luke 10:38-42 July 21, 2013 Pentecost 9C
Preparation: get an assistant to either flash a light or make a small noise to distract you as you begin. Tell them to start out subtle before becoming more obvious to everyone.
Gather the children to you. Welcome them and start to tell them about the gospel story today. Prompt your assistance to start the light or noise distraction. As you start talking, fade off,lose your place, etc as you are distracted by the noise or light.
Say, “wow I really want to focus on this Bible story but it’s hard, I keep getting distracted. Anyone else distracted?” Have the kids point out to you the distraction and then invite your assistant to join you. “This is like our bible story today. Jesus’s visiting sisters Mary and Martha. Martha is making dinner and trying to get this ready to be welcoming to her guest. Well she gets distracted by her sister Mary of helping her and she gets upset and tells Jesus to help her get Mary to come help. Jesus knows Martha is distracted by her worry and frustration and tells her that Mary is focusing in on Gods word and has also chosen a good thing. Jesus wants Martha to remember what the main focus is of being welcoming and that is to show care for others in Gods name.”
“Do you ever get distracted? What kinds of things distract you?” (Take answers, be prepared to prompt… Could mention the movie “Up” where the dog is always distracted by the squirrel or electronics, etc.). “Many things that are good and things that are not so food can distract us from remembering we are to focus on Jesus words and live our life base don his words and promises, even our thoughts and feelings can get in the way. I think I need that reminder to focus on Jesus and that many of us do. What are ways we can do this?” (Take answers, mention prayer and worship and reading scripture. If you use the inserts or other daily devotional in your congregation this is a great time to show it and teach again how to use it.
Jesus, you are our God. Help us focus on you. Thank you for your words of love for us. Amen
May your heart, hands, feet, head, words, and actions be focused on Christ.
Children’s Sermon: Luke 10:25-37 Pentecost 8C July 14, 2013
Preparation: purchase bandaids and have markers
Scripture: Luke 10:25-37
Gather the children and welcome them to their time with you. Show them the bandaids and ask, “Have you ever used one of these? What are they for?” Be prepared, children usually love band aides and owie stories! Say, “Yes, they are helping to protect and owie and for giving the cut or scrape time to heal.”
Our Gospel story today, the story about Jesus, is one where a man is very hurt and needs help. Two people who seemed like they would be friends and ones to help just go past him and then a third person who is someone from a place where the man doesn’t think they will help is the one to stop and give him water and take him to a place where he can get bandages. And Jesus tells this story saying that God asks us to love God and to love our neighbors and then he asks who is the neighbor? So who do you think the neighbor is? (take answers) Yes the one who helps.
Now there are all kinds of ways we can talk about our hurts and how we need help. Sometimes our hurts are those that we can see like this cut (show one you have or one that the kids have shown you) or maybe they are bigger hurts like someone having surgery or breaking a bone. And how do we help someone like that? (take answers) Yes, we can carry things for them, open doors, bring them food, make sure they have medicine. But sometimes our hurts are on the inside and we can’t see them on other people and they might not even tell us about their hurts. How do we help those kinds of hurts? (take answers) Yes, we might be able to give hugs or listen to people’s words or maybe someone has held you or given you comfort. And we can pray for them too. Jesus story can also help us to know that we can share the hurts we have on the inside and let others pray for us and care for us and help us to know God’s love and healing and we can do that for other people too.
Hand out the bandaids. On this bandaid you can write a prayer or a hurt that you have or a hurt that you know someone else has. Then put it on and let it remind you to talk to God about that hurt.
Another option: if you have an open space or time for people to go to stations in your service, have bandaids and markers there and invite the children and the rest of the assembly to participate in that station.
Jesus, you know all our hurts. Help us to let others know when we need to hear about your love and when we need their help. Also be with us when are helping others. Amen
Mark the sign of the cross and say: May you know Jesus’ healing of your hurts today and always.
Children’s Sermon Luke10: 1-11, 16-20, July 7th, 2013 7th Sunday after Pentecost
Gather the children around the suitcase or bag that you have packed with some essentials for travel. Include the items listed in the text (purse or wallet, bag, sandals). Ask the children if they have ever packed a bag for vacation, over night to grandparents or a friends house. What did they take with them? What could they not leave behind?
Say: Today our story in the Bible is about Jesus sending people out to travel around and tell people about God. Jesus told them not to take anything with them as they went from town to town! Does that seem like a good idea? No, not really to me either! They did not have extra money to buy food or to buy something that they needed. Jesus said that they should trust that the people in the towns will give them what they need. The disciples job was to stay focused on telling people about God and God’s love for everyone.
Jesus did not want them to have heavy bags to carry or to think about collecting more stuff as they went from town to town. If we have too much stuff with us we get worried about carrying it, storing it, if someone will take it, etc. We would forget why we were there: to tell the story of God! Sometimes we think that in order to tell someone about God or show someone God’s love we need lots of stuff, We might think that we need a Bible with us, or our Sunday school papers or that we need to know a lot of details or have read every single word of the Bible in order to tell someone about God. Jesus is saying that we don’t need anything but ourselves. All we need is to just take time with people-stuff and lots of knowledge isn’t the most important thing. But our love and time is! Jesus promises to be with us as we share God’s love so we don’t have to worry about anything else. So I don’t need this bag of stuff to go another town and tell people about God. But I still might enjoy my toothbrush, huh? 🙂
Dear Jesus, thank you for being with us always. We pray that we can tell other people about you even if we feel we don’t have everything we need. You are all that we and the world needs. Amen.
(Make the sign of the cross on one another) Jesus is all that you need as you go on your way.
Children’s Sermon Galatians 5: 1, 13-25 Fruit of the Spirit, 6th Sunday after Pentecost – June 30, 2013
Gather the children together. You will need some fruit (any kind is fine) and an already made fruit salad. Depending on how many children you have, have small cups of the fruit salad scooped out for the children. Or you can just show them the made fruit salad and have it available after worship.
Say: In one of the Bible readings this morning who heard something about fruit? (Accept all answers) I know, I did too and it’s making me hungry! Luckily, I brought this fruit with me today. I love fruit, it’s healthy for us and gives good things to our bodies so that we can have energy and not be sick. What is your favorite kind of fruit? (Again, accept all answers) Mine is________. I eat this fruit whenever I get the chance. I like to eat all kinds of fruit too! When I make a fruit salad I put all kinds of fruit in so that everyone eating the fruit salad will have a fruit that they will really like. It takes all kinds of fruit to make a great fruit salad!
There was a man named Paul who wrote one of our Bible stories this morning. He talked about having the “fruit of the Spirit” which is not actual fruit but good things like this salad we can share with one another. Paul wants us to share love, joy, peace, patience kindness, generosity (sharing), faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (You can teach the song if you know it!) These are all things that help us to get along together and to share God’s love! Just as some of us like different fruits, each of us may be really good at one of these things. If you are a good hugger, you are showing love, or if you are good at sharing your toys then you are good at generosity. Are we all going to be really good at all 8 of these things? No, but we can try and we can notice when our friends are good at not fighting or smiling, and try and learn from them. Just as it takes lots of fruit to make a yummy salad it takes all of us to share God’s love to everyone we meet!
God of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, thank you for giving us our friends and our families. Just as you show us all of these good things let us share them with the world. In Jesus name, Amen.
(make the sign of the cross on each other) May you be guided by God’s loving Spirit.