Faith Formation Journeys

Walking Together in Grace

Category: Children’s Sermons

  • Children’s sermon Sept. 23rd, 2012 Pentecost 17 Mark 9: 30-37

    Children’s sermon Sept. 23rd, 2012 Pentecost 17 Mark 9: 30-37

    Scripture: Mark 9:30-37

    Prepare: Copy of verse 37 for each child present.

    Faith + Open: Gather the children to your children’s sermon space. Begin by asking them a series of questions about themselves. Such as what is their favorite color, food, brothers and sisters, favorite games, etc. Then say, “Wow! By asking all of these questions I have learned a lot about all of you this morning! Have I learned everything about you though? (NO!) I will need to ask you a lot more questions and talk to you for a really long time to learn everything about you! It would take me my whole life to learn everything about even one of you!! Now I am going to tell you something about myself. (Say something in a foreign language if you can or say something with ridiculously big/difficult words.) So what do you now know about me? What did I just say? (Looks of confusion should abound!) You didn’t understand what I just said about me? What questions could you ask to find out? (Accept all answers.)

    Faith + Share: Well, in the first part of today’s gospel lesson from the book of Mark, Jesus is telling the disciples something about himself that they did not understand. Jesus told them that he was going to be hurt by people, so hurt in fact that Jesus was going to die. BUT Jesus also told them that he would rise again. The disciples didn’t understand this at all but they were afraid to ask Jesus questions about it! Jesus wants us to ask questions. Jesus welcomed children and their questions and says that welcoming children and questions is welcoming God into our lives. Just as I learned things about you by asking questions, questions are also how we learn about Jesus. Do we always know all of the answers? (No) but we can talk together, read the Bible together and learn about Jesus together! I want you to write, or have mom/dad/adult you came to church with, one question that you have about God or Jesus and talk about it in your family this week. If you want you can ask another adult in the congregation too!

    Faith + Close: Prayer: Dear Jesus, we want to know more about you. Thank you for hearing our questions and thank you for the people in our lives who learn about you with us. Thank you for loving us so much! Amen

    Faith + Blessing: Give each child a copy of verse 37 to go in to their Bibles to remind them to ask questions about Jesus!

    ~BW

  • Children’s Sermon for September 16, 2012 – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, year B, James 3:1-12

    Scripture Focus: James 3:1-12

    Prepare: If you can find a bridle or a bit for a horse it would be a great illustration piece. You could also bring a leash or a dog harness, but a bit would be the most impressive.

    Faith+Open: As the children gather ask them if they have ever heard anyone say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” Ask them if they know what that means. Then ask if they think it’s true. Do words really not hurt?

    Faith+Share: We’ve been reading this long letter from the Bible from a man named James. He says that is wrong, words do hurt! And more than that, he says that it is really hard to never say anything mean. James says that this is really important, and he gives a bunch of great examples. One I really liked was about a horse. Do you guys like horses? Have any of you ever had the chance to ride a horse? It’s pretty fun, isn’t it! Well, horses are big animals, and I don’t know a whole lot about how to work with horses, but I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t control a horse with just my hands. Fortunately we have some tools to help us control them (and people who know how to train them, that helps a bunch, too!) I brought this with me, does anyone know what this is? Yeah, it’s a bit. This goes into a horse’s mouth and then a rider can control the horse. This little piece of metal let’s you control the whole big horse!

    James says that our tongues are kind of like a horse’s bit. What every our tongues say usually becomes how we feel. So, when we use mean words against people, we often start to believe it ourselves. And when other people use mean words against us we start to believe what they say, too. He says that we should think before we speak, because the same tongue that praises God should not be used make other people feel bad. We should try our best to praise God with our tongues, and to share God’s love with each other.

    Maybe we should update that saying from the beginning of children’s time. How about, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, and mean words hurt, too.”

    Faith+Prayer: Loving God, we praise you for all the love, mercy and grace that you pour out on us. Help us to speak loving words that show your love to other people. Amen.

    Faith+Blessing: May your eyes and ears be opened to see all the amazing works of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

    ~GB

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