Tag Archives: Baptism

Are we there yet? Mark 13: 1-8 Pentecost 25B Nov. 15th, 2015

 

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Gather the children together: When I was your age, when we went to see grandmas and grandpas or aunts and uncles, we always drove our car. Sometimes the trip was a day, sometimes two days and sometimes even when we planned for a trip to take a day or two it might take three or four because of things happening that we didn’t predict, such as a flat tire, someone not feeling well or bad weather. I’m not the most patient person, so if it seemed that the trip was taking a long time I would ask my parents, “Are we there yet?” I discovered that if I asked that a lot, they would stop answering me.

How many of you have ever been on a car trip? As you drive down the highway there are signs along the road. What do some of those signs say? (Accept all answers.) Yes, some will tell you where the next gas station is, where a restaurant or a hotel might be, or how far to the next town or rest stop. Does every sign you see mean that your trip is over? No. Sometimes we see a sign for the town that we are going to and get really excited only to find out we have a long way to go. Or we go for hours or days without seeing the name of the place we’re going and so we ask: “Are we there yet?” It’s really hard to not know how much time until we get to grandma and grandpas, or a friends house,  or whatever fun place we’re going. It can be hard to wait for fun things like our birthdays and what’s coming soon? Christmas! We don’t like to wait but to know when things will happen.

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Jesus had been telling his disciples, his friends, all about when he would come to see them again. Jesus wanted them, and us, to know that there will be a time when we are all with God forever… but not yet. We don’t know when Jesus will come back and the disciples were wondering if there would be a “sign,” like a road sign that would let them know exactly how long until Jesus comes back to us. But Jesus says that the signs may not help us to know. Jesus also says that we don’t need to worry about if we’re there yet, we don’t need to be scared about anything because God promises to be with us forever. The important thing for us to remember are the signs of Jesus’ love such as water at baptism and the bread and the wine at communion. What are other signs of Jesus’ love in our lives? (Accept all answers: homes, moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, friends, sharing, hugs, praying, etc.) Jesus wants us to share these signs of love with the whole world! We are a sign, almost like a billboard of Jesus’ love for the whole world to see!

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Have someone with a digital camera take pictures of people. Print them out and place them on a big piece of butcher paper or poster board. Have the title: Signs of God’s Love. You can also have pictures of the different ministries from your community to add to the sign. Or have people write stories or draw pictures  on the butcher paper (poster board)of who shows them signs of God’s love. Place the banner where it is seen as people enter your building or better yet, can be seen by those on the street!

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Thank you for all of the signs in our lives of your love, especially your son Jesus. Make us signs of your love and hope for the whole world to see. Remind us to not be afraid but to trust your promise to be with us always. Amen.

20130822-223908.jpg +You are a sign of Jesus’ love+

Children’s Sermon – 21st Sunday after Pentecost Year B, Mark 10:35-45

Prepare: You will need to be near a baptismal font with water in it for the children’s sermon.

For the worship station you will need paper, washable markers and a bucket of water (maybe a towel, too!)

20130822-223520.jpgHave the children gather around the font and ask if any of them remember being baptized, or if any of them remember the last time someone was baptized in your church.

20130822-223633.jpgThe Gospel text for today is about a bunch of things, but I caught Jesus talking about baptism again! Baptism comes up a bunch with Jesus, but this time is just a little different. Two of his friends, James and John, ask Jesus for a very high honor – they wanted to sit with him as he ruled over the world. Well, again, this story is about a lot of different things, but Jesus says to them, “Hey, if you can deal with the same Baptism I am going to go through then that will be enough.” We think of baptism as a beautiful ritual with water and words and prayer. Jesus had that, too, but what if Jesus is talking about something else?

When we talk about life with Christ we often say that we are baptized into his death, or we say in baptism we die to sin and are raised to new life in Christ. Jesus could be talking about what is coming up in his life, his own death and resurrection! He could be talking about the Easter story! When we baptize people, one of the things that we talk about is that we die to sin, and are raised up out of the water as new sisters and brothers in Christ. We are made part of the family of God, pretty cool!

In this story, Jesus  is telling us that we need to let the sinful parts of ourselves go, we need to let them die so that we can be reborn in Christ’s love.

20130822-223749.jpgLoving and living God, we come to you seeking love and understanding. We come to you to live out our baptismal promises. We come to you with joy in our hearts at the new life you give us in the cleansing water of Baptism. Amen

20130822-223908.jpg(make a cross on all their heads with water from the font!) You are a clean and new child of God!

 

 

FaithCross_WorshipFor the worship station, set up an area where people can write down something that keeps them from God. It can be a confession, or a doubt, or an illness, or anger, or anything!

Have the bucket (or basin) near by full of water and let them say a brief prayer, then dunk the paper in the water and wash the words away.

You will want to test this BEFORE worship to make sure that your maker/paper combination is going to release the ink into the water.

 

 

 

You Belong to God Forever! Ephesians 1: 3-14 Pentecost 7B July 12, 2015

20130822-223520.jpg Gather the children. If you have video capabilities (and the appropriate licensing), show the short clip from Toy Story where Woody sees Andy’s name on the bottom of his boot. If you don’t have the video option-tell the story from the movie. Odds are someone has seen it!

Say, “Andy had written his name on his toys not just so that other people would know that they belong to Andy but so that the toys knew that they were so special to Andy as well. Do you write your name on some of your toys or school supplies? It doesn’t mean that we don’t share our special things but we often only put our name on stuff that is special to us. Your name that your parents gave you is special because your parents gave it to you.
20130822-223633.jpgSay “In our reading from the letter to the people at Ephesus, Paul is telling the people how much God loves them. God loves the Ephesians so much that he gave them a special mark through the Holy Spirit. Can you guess what that mark might be? We have that symbol here in our worship space. Look around….Yes a cross! Paul reminds the people and us that God marks us with the cross of Jesus! In our baptisms the pastor, your parents, sponsors and other people may make the sign of the cross on your forehead to show the whole world that you belong to God! Just like Woody had Andy’s name on his boot, you have the cross of Christ on you! All the time! Even when you can’t see it, it is still there because God promises that you belong to God forever and always. Let’s make the sign of the cross on each other (even people in the pews!) before we pray. (*Use the blessing below.)

20130822-223749.jpg Dear Jesus, Thank you for making us yours and marking us with the sign of the cross. Help us to remember that all people are loved by you no matter what and that Jesus’ cross connects us to one another.  May we share this specialness with the whole world. Amen.

FaithCross_Worship Have a large cross available that is also accessible. Have smaller pieces of paper in the shape of crosses available. Invite people to write their names on the cross and then tape the cross that bears their name on the bigger cross. Also, have the baptismal font available and someone to offer a blessing with water and to make the sign of the cross on people’s foreheads. Have the blessing on strips of paper for people to take home for the week.

20130822-223908.jpg +You are marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit now and forever+

Children’s Sermon Baptism of Our Lord, Mark 1:4-11 January 11, 2015

Preparation: evergreen sprigs that are wet or can be dipped in baptismal font or spray bottles that do a light mist, a candle (if you are doing the worship station you will need several candles and non flammable paint markers or permanent markers)

20130822-223520.jpgGather the children to you and around the baptismal font. Ask for them to tell you what they know about the font and what it is used for.

 

20130822-223633.jpgShare about baptism and how it is done in your setting. Then move on to talk about how water is a gift not just for life and our bodies and for the world but also for how we remember that God has come to us and made us God’s children. Say, “Today we hear in the gospel of Mark about the baptism of Jesus and that we received the same promise from God as God’s loved children. Each time we use water, we can remember this promise! Also in baptism we are given a candle–a light to help us know that we are called to shine God’s light that has been given to us in the world.”

Lead the children in sprinkling the assembly with the evergreens or spray bottles OR simple take this time to squirt them!

 

20130822-223749.jpgJesus–you are God’s beloved son and we are also God’s children. Be with us in water and in light and help us to know and show your love. Amen

 

20130822-223908.jpgUse the baptismal blessing: You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever +

 

FaithCross_WorshipLight of the world, Light of Our Lives: As we lit Advent candles in the season of Advent, waiting for Jesus to come, now we celebrate the light of Christ come into our lives. Decorate a white candle and take it home with you as a reminder of your baptism and the light of Christ throughout our next season of faith: Epiphany

 

John 4 “The Woman at the Well,” March 23rd, 2014, Year A, Third Sunday of Lent

ffjChildrenSermonPreparation: Have water at different “stations” around your worship space. Station ideas: a small table top water feature, a pitcher and a small cup for each child, a bucket with water in it with a picture of a well, the baptismal font (be sure that there is water in it-maybe have some evergreen branches available). Leave stations available for Open Space time.

FaithCross_ConnectALT Gather the children towards the center of your worship space today. Briefly tell them that they are going to go on water walk.

FaithCross_BibleALT Say: God created water and God works in the world through water in many ways. Let’s go over here and this is our first stop on our water walk. God created rivers, oceans, lakes and waterfalls. Water is powerful isn’t it? What can water do? Do you know? (Water can smooth rocks, create new rivers, make sand, etc.) Water can create and change can’t it? Pretty cool. Ok, let’s keep walking.

Here is our second stop, a bucket and a well. Before people had sinks and bathtubs inside their homes people had to draw water from a deep hole in the ground called a well and sometimes carry the water a long ways home. Who can lift this bucket of water for me? Is it heavy? Would you like to carry it very far? But water is important-what do we use water for in our homes? If we lived on a farm who else would need water? Would only one bucket a day be enough? You would have to walk to the well several times a day! Jesus is at a well in our story today and talks to a woman. This woman is someone who doesn’t have many friends and almost no one speaks to, but Jesus does. He tells her that he is the living water and the water Jesus offers gushes with eternal life. Hmmm. I wonder what that means.

Let’s continue our water walk. Here is a pitcher of water and some cups. We’ve been walking a while, who’s thirsty? (Have a couple of helpers to pour water so that it doesn’t take too long.) Jesus says that those who drink from him will never be thirsty again. Do you get thirsty every day? I do! I don’t think Jesus is talking about our daily need for water. We are made up of mostly water and water keeps our bodies healthy. What do you think Jesus is talking about? (Accept all answers) I think maybe it might have something to do with our last stop on our water walk.

Let’s go to the baptismal font. When we are baptized we are declaring that God has acted first to say that we belong to God, God cares for us and we are part of God’s work in the world. Just like water in a river or from rain, the people of God working together can be powerful to spread God’s love all over the world. We can cover the world with love like an ocean covers a big part of the earth. (Sprinkle the kids with the water from the font.) This is water that is alive with the spirit and love of God, this is water that reminds us that God loves us and the whole world. This is water that we want to share with everyone we meet!

FaithCross_BlessALT Give the kids evergreen branches and have them dip them in the font and gently sprinkle the congregation and to say, “God’s living water for you!” (I have actually done this and yes, people get a little wet. J You can also have small bowls that you dip into the font to fill with water and have the kids use their fingers to sprinkle. )

FaithCross_PrayALT “God, you give us what we need. You know who we are and what we do and love us no matter what. Help us to share your living water with everyone we meet. Amen.”

 

Children’s sermon January 12th Baptism of Our Lord, Matthew 3: 13-17 Year A

ffjChildrenSermon Preparation: You will need several balls of blue yarn or ribbon and a couple of pairs of scissors. Depending on the size of your congregation, you will want to be able for the yarn to stretch down aisles and rows. If you are too large for that, have enough for everyone to make a yarn bracelet. Be sure to have water in your baptismal font as well!

FaithCross_BibleALT Gather the children at the baptismal font if possible. Read the story of Matthew 3: 13-17 from a children’s Bible. Ask them if they know if they were baptized or if they have ever seen a baptism. What happens at a baptism? Do we do a baptism alone or in a group of people? Do we pray? Why do we baptize?

FaithCross_ConversationALTToday we heard the story of Jesus being baptized by John. Jesus went under the water and when he came out God said that this was God’s son and God loved Jesus very much. Jesus came to show us how much God loves us and wants to be with us. We baptize because the water reminds us that just as Jesus died and was raised so we too will be raised to live with God. Water also reminds us that nothing separates us from God and anything that might has been washed away. (Sprinkle them with water!) We baptize in a large gathering because in Jesus we are all connected to God and to one another. This is very important because when we gather together we can pray for each other, we can work together to show God’s love in the world and we can learn from one another. 

I have this big ball of blue yarn (or large spool of ribbon, have several). I want your help! Can you stretch all of this yarn all over the worship space so that everyone is holding a part of the yarn? Ok, go! When the yarn is stretched out and everyone can touch a strand say: “I am going to hand out these scissors. Everyone is to cut a piece of the yarn they are holding and tie that piece around their wrist.” (Allow time for this.)

We are all connected in the waters of baptism to God and to one another. Let this yarn remind you this week that you are connected to this community. 

FaithCross_PrayALT Let’s pray: Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to love us. Thank you for connecting us to you and to each other. Help us to connect everyone we meet to you. Amen.

FaithCross_BlessALT Make the sign of the cross on one another and say: You are God’s beloved child.

Children’s Sermon Psalm 23 April 21, 2013 Fourth Sunday of Easter

ffjChildrenSermonPreparation: You will need several small bowls that you can dip into the font to fill with water. The more children you have the more bowls you will need.I would make sure that the font is very full this Sunday!

FaithCross_ConnectALTGather the children around the baptismal font.

FaithCross_BibleALTSay: Today one of our stories from the Bible is called a Psalm or a poem or song. We have 150 of these songs or poems in our Bible and they talk about all kinds of things from being sad or mad at God, worrying about the future, praise and saying thank you to God. Today’s poem is about life with God and how much God loves us. The writer of this song says that God’s love and goodness pursue us-chase us down everyday of our lives! God is chasing you with love!  Have you ever played tag? What if when we played a game of tag we were giving hugs! We might have to be careful so that we don’t knock anyone over-that wouldn’t necessarily be loving, but would you maybe want to be caught if you were getting a hug or a high five instead of getting “out” of the game? (Accept all answers-maybe they don’t want to be caught even for a hug!) Just as God chases us with love God wants us to show love too! Maybe we don’t really run after people to attack them with a hug or a high five, but anytime we talk to someone, or are with someone it’s a time to catch them with God’s love. In Psalm 23, God catches the writer by being with them when it is scary, giving them food when they need it and by putting oil on their head which a long time ago was a way to show someone that they were very special. When we baptize some one we pour water on their head to show that they are very special to God and to tell the whole world that they are a child of God.

We have water in this baptismal font and it is where we tell people how God has caught them in God’s love forever. I am gong to make the sign of the cross on each of you with water to remind you that you have been caught. Do you know what else? All people have have been caught in God’s love! We can’t sprinkle water on all the people of the world but we can sprinkle the people sitting here today! Should we gently sprinkle water on all of these people to remind them that just like the writer of Psalm 23, God chases them with God’s love and catches them always? Yes!

(Have some small bowls that you can dip in the font to fill with water. The kids can dip their finger in the water and “splash” people in the congregation.)

FaithCross_PrayALT Dear God, thank you for chasing us with your love! Help us to show everyone we meet that we are all caught by your love and forgiveness. Amen!

FaithCross_BlessALT As the children and youth sprinkle with water have them say, “You are caught in God’s love.”

Children’s Sermon Baptism of Jesus Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

ffjChildrenSermonPreparation: Baptismal font down front or where you can gather children.

Faith+Gather: Gather the children around the baptismal font. Ask them if they know what this is? What happens here?

Faith+Connect: Yes, baptisms happen here. In our gospel today we hear that Jesus was baptized and we know that he said to go and baptize others. So baptism is what we call a sacrament. Does anyone know what it means? Take some answers. Explain that baptism is about God’s gift of love and grace being give to us totally free. Ask what water does, what is for? Take answers. Yes, water can also be for cleaning and washing so we use water to help show us that God washes all the sin away and promises to love us no matter what we do in our lives. It’s a way that we remember that we belong to God. When we baptize someone we say ‘You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever’ and we mark the sign of the cross on their forehead either with water or with oil. And this is one way we can remember our baptisms too–anytime and anywhere! Let’s do that now. Put your finger in the font and make the sign of the cross on your forehead while I say the words “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever” Now we are going to pray but then we are going to dip our fingers one more time and you can go back to your pew family and make the sign of the cross on them!

Faith+Prayer: Thank you Jesus for your love with us every day. Thank you for water and words that help us remember we belong to you. Amen.

Faith+Blessing: Today you are taking the blessing back to the people around you. Dip your finger in the water and head on back and say to them, “Jesus loves you always”

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