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Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon for November 22, 2015 – Christ the King Sunday

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Prepare: Get a big piece of paper to make a banner and some markers.

20130822-223520.jpg Start with a big “Happy New Year!” Wait for a few funny looks from the children then talk about how Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday of the church year, so this is a good time to sat “Happy New Year!”

20130822-223633.jpg What do you know about the year? Let’s start with the seasons.  If we are talking about the regular calendar, it starts in January, kind near the beginning of winter. Then we move on to spring, them summer, than autumn, and the we start all over again!  It goes in a big circle, and we notice the seasons as they change, and we know what is coming 

The year for the church is kind of the same, except that is starts with Advent. There are seasons in the church year, too, but more than in the regular calendar. We have Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Just like the regular calendar, we know the church year and we know what is coming next! Next week we start Advent, which leads us to Christmas!

The regular calendar marks out the seasons of the earth going around the sun. The church year focuses on the life and the stories of Jesus. His birth and ministry. His death and resurrection, and the way that we tell the stories of Jesus. On this last Sunday of the church year we celebrate Christ as the king of all creation! By this time in the church year we have heard the stories, celebrated the miracles and mercy of Christ, and look forward to the time when he comes again.

Next week we start over! Next week we are once again waiting for Christ to be born. We are following Mary and Joseph on their journey. We are preparing to start the story of Jesus all over again, so Happy New Year!

20130822-223749.jpg God of renewal and hope, we celebrate your power and grace today! Hear us as we shout praises to you, and proclaim you as the ruler of all creation. Bring joy to our hearts and prepare us for life in your kingdom here with us. Amen.

20130822-223908.jpg In Christ you are made new!

 

 

FaithCross_Worship The worship station is a time for New Year’s resolutions!  Take a moment to talk about some of the standard New Year’s resolutions – save more money, go to the gym, get in shape, etc. These are not bad things to want to change, but today we are going to focus on Spiritual resolutions!

Have the banner paper and markers out in the worship space. You are welcome to decorate the banner in some way! Invite people to write a spiritual resolution on the banner. Some ideas might be to read the Bible daily or to join a Bible study group, to pray before EVERY meal, to spend one day each month volunteering at a soup kitchen, etc.  Encourage people to think about doing things that help their community or enrich their spiritual life.

After worship, hand the banner somewhere in your building where people will see if throughout the season of Advent.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon – 24th Sunday after Pentecost – November 8, 2015 – Mark 12:38-44

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Prepare:  See if you can track down a  copy of “Should I Share My Ice Cream?” by Mo Willems (here is a link to Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Should-Share-Cream-Elephant-Piggie/dp/1423143434).  You can also probably find a copy at a local library.  If you cannot find this book, look for a book about how fun it can be to share something. The premise of “Should I Share My Ice Cream” is the tension between wanting to share and wanting to keep something for yourself.

For the worship station you will need access to the bread portion of your communion service, a basket of some kind and some small pieces of paper.

20130822-223454.jpgGather the children around and ask them about their favorite flavor of ice cream, or something that relates to the book that you found. Then ask them what it feel like to share that flavor, or thing with other people.

20130822-223633.jpg I have a book for us today, it’s a short book about how sharing can be hard, and how it can also be really fun.

Read the book!

What do you think about the story? Why do you think that it was so hard for Gerald to decide what to do with his Ice Cream?

In the Bible story that we hear today, Jesus points out a woman who is giving a very small amount of money to the church, something like giving a penny. Jesus notices her and says that she is actually giving much, much more than most of the other people. That penny is all that she had to live on, to buy food, clothes, and she gave it all away – she shared it!

The idea of sharing the all that we have is pretty scary, but when we all share together, then we can all have enough, just like Gerald and Piggy both getting some ice cream.

20130822-223749.jpg God of abundance, help us to see and know that there is enough. Help us to share what we have, and accept the gifts of others. Amen

FaithCross_Worship

Have the paper ready

Go get the communion bread, or go near it and talk about how this small amount of bread feeds all the people in the room. One person could certainly eat it all, but there is enough to go around, it we all share.

Invite the congregation to think about other things in there lives that can be shared so that all have enough – have them write those things on one side of the paper. Then have them turn the paper over and have them write what it feels like to share something wonderful with someone else.

Gather the papers together and use them as part of the prayers of the church. The whole basket can be blessed, but also pull a few out to read as part of the prayer. Use some for the things we know we should share, and use some to praise God for the gift of sharing.

 

20130822-223908.jpg You are filled with God’s love and grace.

Children's Sermons

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

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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.