Faith Formation Journeys

Walking Together in Grace

Author: gb

  • Children’s Sermon Matthew 16:21-28 Pentecost 11A

    Follow Me… (not me, Jesus)…

    Faith+Open: Before the service enlist a couple of older children who will come up and follow you wherever you go. Think about how they could follow you as you go to the front, etc.
    Gather the kids. Have the 2-3 children who are trailing you stick close and walk around a bit.

    Introduce the story by saying something like, “Today we are going to hear readings about love and following. Jesus in Matthew tells his disciples to follow him and Paul in Romans is talking about how to love one another…”

    Now, ‘notice’ the children following you. Ask, “What are you doing?” Prompt them to respond, “Following you”
    “Oh is this kind of following we are to do when we follow Jesus? So you are just going to follow me whatever I do… So if I do this.. (jump, or skip or hop or do some silly things–end with sitting down and having the kids sit with you.”

    Faith+Share: How many of you have followed someone or played follow the leader? How about when you are not playing a game, can you think of people that you follow or that follow you? (get answers about teachers, or parents, siblings, etc). When we follow other people we sometimes are trying to be like them. Which if they are teaching us good things about living in the world that is a great thing! What about following Jesus, how do we follow Jesus when we can’t walk right behind him and jump when he jumps?
    (get answers)
    We can read scripture and stories about Jesus to know how to follow and we can remember that Jesus asked us to follow him with love. We love the people around us and we love those we don’t even know. We love people by being kind, helping them, and praying for them. Is it always easy to do this? Is it easy to love or pray for people that aren’t nice to you or that are difficult? Do you know people at school or in your neighborhood that it might be hard to love? Jesus even wants us to love those people, we don’t have to play with them all the time or hang around them if they are mean but we do follow Jesus by praying for them and by showing that we care about people. This is not always easy but the good news is that Jesus is with us and loves us and all people first so we can follow Jesus.

    Faith+Prayer: God, help us to love and care about people. Thank you for your words and your love that we can follow. Amen

    Extended: 
    1. There is children’s book called Miss Tizzy that is review on Children’s Literature blog. This could be read as the children’s sermon or used in children’s church or another time.
    2. Have a simple service project, like filling backpacks with school supplies or baggies with health care items for a local shelter.

  • Children’s Sermon Matthew 16:13-20 Pentecost 10A

    Children’s Sermon Matthew 16:13-20 Pentecost 10A

    Faith+Open: Gather the children around you and ask them, who am I? Get their answers (if they can only come up with ‘pastor’ or ‘youth director’ or whatever your role may be help them along and name some things that you are (mother/father, son/daughter, fisherman, hiker, etc). How do you know who I am?

    Faith+Share: You know who am by things you see me do or by what I tell you or teach you. Give an example–you would know that I like bike riding if you saw me out on my bike enjoying a ride. Or you might know that because I have told you a story about one of my bike rides. How do we know who Jesus is? Gather their answers–help them along if needed.

    We know who Jesus is because of the stories we have in scripture, the prayers we say in worship and on our own. The disciples are with Jesus in our gospel today. (If you have time use the book mentioned in the extended activities). They know who he is because they have been following him for awhile now. But there are many people who aren’t sure who Jesus is and Jesus is asking what people are saying about him. Some think he is one of the prophets who lived before him who has come back. Peter says to Jesus that he knows who Jesus is, That he is the messiah, the Son of God. Peter knows this because of what he has seen and because of what Jesus has told him.
    We might not live in the time Jesus did but we still know who he is–can you think of some words or names that you have heard to talk about Jesus?

    Do you know what else we know because we know who Jesus is? We know who we are! You could say to that you know who I am because I am a child of God and I know who you are because you are a child of God. We all belong to God and we are marked with that blessing in our baptism and in our prayers and in our confessions and when we come to the table–we are a child of God all the time and everywhere. Each and everyone of you is a loved child of God–the most important part of who you are!

    Faith+Prayer: God, you love your son Jesus who is our Messiah. Help us remember that we are your loved children so that we always know who we are and who we belong to. Amen

    Faith+Blessing: Have children repeat this blessing with you using your hands to make the cross. May you always know you are loved child of God. Invite them to go give that blessing to someone they are sitting with in the congregation.

    Extended Idea:  Read Jesus, This Is Your Life: Stories & Pictures by Kids edited by Jeff Kunkel summary found at Children’s Literature: A Resource for Ministry and have children draw their own story of Jesus’ life in their own life.