Tag Archives: Jesus birth

God’s great joy! Christmas Eve Children’s Sermon on Luke 2



Bring the children forward and have a plain amazon box.

I’m sure you recognize this! It’s an Amazon box! We seemed to have many of these come to our door this week! And I’m sure you did too! Every time a box came to our home, it was a reminder that someone who lived far away in our family or from our friends was thinking of us and we are not alone! Now, the plain box itself is one thing, but then when we open it, the gifts inside are decorated with fun paper or bows, like this, on them. When we wrap gifts, we often think of how special that person is to us and we hope that the gift we send makes them happy. But it’s not really about the gifts. Maybe in the past you’ve received a toy that you really wanted, fun new pajamas, a new bike or gaming system and that made you happy. But toys break, we outgrow pajamas or bikes and technology will stop working. Does that mean that the person who gave you those things no longer loves you? NO! Those things made us happy, being loved never stops and that is what joy is all about. Joy is about being connected to love: people who love us: moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, friends, teachers, and that we love all of those people too.

In our Christmas story tonight we heard an angel tell the shepherds good news of great joy for ALL people. What was that good news? Jesus was born!!! God loves us so much that God came to us as baby Jesus, to connect us to God’s love and to each other and this is great joy! Everyone, you, me, everyone here, everyone in the world, is connected to God and God’s love and are filled with Great Joy! God wanted the shepherds, Mary, Joseph and us to know that we are loved, and are God’s Great Joy. We are part of God forever. And God’s Great Joy can’t be put in a box or under our tree, It’s so big that it covers the whole world! And so as people who are God’s Great Joy-our job is to tell everyone we see that they are God’s Great Joy too! Just like we put bows on presents to remind the person that they are special, I have a bow for each of you tonight to remind you that you are special, connected to God and God’s Great Joy forever!

Dear God, thank you for loving us and connecting us to you! May your Great Joy , through Jesus, be for all the world to see! Amen! Merry Christmas!


+Glory to God in the highest, you are God’s Great Joy!+

See God’s Love With Us! Matthew 1: 18-25, Advent 4 Year A, December 18, 2016

 Have a crèche or the nativity scene where the children can gather around. If you already have the baby Jesus in the manger in your congregation, have the baby removed for this message. Ask the children “what’s missing from our scene?” Hopefully they will say Jesus! Say, “Jesus isn’t in the manger yet, as we celebrate his birthday next week. We have been waiting these last four weeks to finally see the baby Jesus, haven’t we? It’s hard to wait and it’s hard to know what we can’t see. We keep looking for baby Jesus, don’t we!”
 Our story today is about Jesus being born and that finally, Mary and Joseph saw baby Jesus! Have seen a new baby? They are very tiny and everyone is very excited about them aren’t they? Moms, dads, brothers and sisters have waited to see what this new baby will look like and it can feel like someone is missing. And when the baby is born, it’s almost like the baby has always been with us because we immediately love them . When we love someone, it feels that we have always loved them. This is what God wants us to know and so had Jesus come as a baby. When Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and Wise men looked at Jesus, they were looking at God’s love! When we look at each other we are also looking at God’s love! God has always loved us and will always love us. God wants us to see this love and to know that this love is forever. In sending Jesus as a baby, God says that love is never missing from our lives, Jesus and his love is always with us. This love is with you, and you, and you and you and everyone here, and everyone not here. Jesus tells us that when we love other people with kind words and actions, that we are showing people Jesus’ love for everyone to see! Let’s put the baby Jesus in the manger to remind us of this love and sing “Jesus Loves Me.”

Have the phrase “See God’s Love With Us.” printed out with each letter of the phrase printed on a separate sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 paper. Hang the letters up so that it reads as the phrase and have pens, markers, etc. available. Invite people to write words of where they see God’s love and action in the world that begin with each letter of the phrase “See God’s Love With Us.” (You can also have more than one phrase/word.)

Dear Jesus, you came to the world as God’s own love to be with us. Your love never leaves us and is always with us. May we not be afraid to share this love so that evryone sees you and your love! Amen

 +God’s love is with us+