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Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon 12th Sunday After Pentecost (Lec. 19), Genesis 15:1-6 and Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, August 11, 2013

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Prepare:  Bring a tent.  It does not need to be set up, it can just be a tent in a bag.

20130715-114218.jpg  Talk a little about your tent as the children gather, when you got it, why you got it, how often you use it (this is the important one).  Ask them if they have tents at home.

FaithCross  Today we hear about Abraham and Sarah in two different readings.  Abraham and Sarah lived in a tent!  It wasn’t just a fun thing to do on the weekend, it was their house.  Actually, they probably had several tents, because they had a big household.  There were two of them, then they had many servants to help them, because Abraham and Sarah had a whole bunch of animals.  It was kind of like a moving farm.

So, they had tents, they had servants, they even had animals, but do you know what they didn’t have?  They didn’t have any children!  This was a problem because Abraham had all these things, he was really kind of rich for when and where he lived, but there would be no one to take over his herds and tents when he died.  What made Abraham even more upset was that God had promised that he would have a son to take over the herds, but now Abraham was old, much too old to have children, and so was his wife Sarah.  So, he complained to God about it.  Do any of you do that sometimes?  I know that I do.  I usually don’t get very far when I complain to God, but for Abraham God showed up and said, “Don’t you remember what I promised?”  God promised Abraham again that he would have a son, and that his descendants would be as many as the stars in heaven!

Abraham and Sarah kept their faith in God’s promise and God gave them a son!  Abraham had to wait a long time for God’s promise.  We, too, should keep our faith in God, and hold on to God’s promise of love and grace and mercy for us in our lives.

FaithCross_PrayALT  Gracious God, we rejoice in your promise of love, mercy and grace.  Help us to stay faithful to you like Abraham and Sarah did, and keep your faith in us like you kept your faith in Abraham. Amen.

FaithCross_BlessALT  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you are loved by God. (have children repeat this)

~GB

Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon 11th Sunday After Pentecost (Lec. 18), Luke 12:13-21 – August 4, 2013

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Prepare:  Bring a toy of some kind.  Anything will work.20130715-114218.jpg  Have the toy out as the children gather.  Ask them about their favorite toys, and what toys they would like to have.

FaithCross  The story we hear from the Gospel today is about some people who really, really like things.  Kind of like us and the toys that we like, or toys we wish that we had.  Jesus says some things that are hard for us to understand, and maybe even harder to do!

It all gets started by a man who is mad at his brother for not sharing.  He asks Jesus to make his brother share with him, and Jesus says, sorry, that isn’t really my problem, it is your problem.  I’m not here to make your brother share with you.  In fact, Jesus says, it isn’t really something you should worry about either.  He wanted his brother to give him half of his money (Ok, it’s more complicated than this, but we are talking to children.  Feel free to tell more of the story if you want) and the brother wouldn’t do it.  Jesus told him that he was worrying about stuff, and he was ruining his friendship with his brother because he wanted more stuff.

I think that most of us do that sometimes.  We see things that we want that belong to other people and we want those things so much that we don’t think about how upset or angry we are making other people.  Jesus says that the amount of stuff that we collect doesn’t really matter, that there is more to being alive than collecting stuff!  Instead of filling our lives with stuff we should fill our lives with the love of God and share that love with everyone that we can.

FaithCross_PrayALT  Loving God, fill us with your love!  Fill us so full of love that it spills out of our hearts and into the hearts of the people around us.  Amen

FaithCross_BlessALT  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you are loved by God. (have children repeat this)

~GB

Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon 4th Sunday After Pentecost (Lec. 11), Luke 7:36-8:3 – June 16, 2013

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Prepare:  You will need an empty cookie jar, with crumbs in it would be even better.  If you want to have a cookie or small treat ready at the end that is fine, but not necessary.  Just make sure you think about allergies!

20130520-224945.jpg  As you invite the children to gather, make a big show of the empty cookie jar.  Things like, ”Oh man, where did all my cookies go?”

FaithCross_ConversationALT  I know what you’re thinking.  It’s pretty disappointing to see me come in with an empty cookie jar, isn’t it?  Well, I think that I ate them all.  I didn’t mean to, but I just couldn’t help myself!  Do you forgive me?  Oh, good.

You know, today’s Gospel story is about forgiveness, too, but it’s kind of funny how Jesus talks about it.  In the story there is a woman who has had a bad life, and she has done some bad things so that she could survive and have food to eat.  When the other people see her with Jesus, they tell Jesus that he should leave her alone, that she is not a good person to be seen with.  Instead, Jesus turns to the woman and tells her that all of her sins are forgiven!

Well, that makes the other people a little angry.  They know that she has done bad stuff, most of them think that she has done far worse things than any of them, and they tell Jesus what they think.  Now here’s the funny, or strange part.  Jesus says, “She has done lots of bad things.  When I forgive her she loves me more.  You have done very few bad things, so for you my forgiveness is not such a deal.  But for her, forgiveness is life and love.”

Hmmmm.  So, do you think that means that we should do bad things so that God forgives us, so that we can love God more?  Should I be happy about eating all the cookies because that means I can love you more?  That seems a little backwards, doesn’t it?

I think what Jesus is saying is God love all of us enough to forgive whatever we do wrong, whether it is something big or something small.  We should not be angry about God forgiving other people, because they deserve forgiveness, too.  It also means that we should live like people who are loved and forgiven.  Always doing our best to love each other as God loves us.

FaithCross_PrayALT  Merciful God, thank you for the amazing gift of forgiveness in our lives.  Thank you for the forgiveness that you show to us, and thank you for the ways that we can forgive others.  Teach us to live in your love and to share your love with everyone we meet.  Amen

FaithCross_BlessALT  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you are loved by God. (have children repeat this)

~GB

Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.