Faith Formation Journeys

Walking Together in Grace

Category: Children’s Sermons

  • Children’s Sermon & Worship Station – Nov. 13, 2016 – Luke 21:5-19

    Children’s Sermon & Worship Station – Nov. 13, 2016 – Luke 21:5-19

    Prepare:  You will need something to distract you at least a couple times.  Be creative!  It can be someone coming into the room to ask you a question, or an alert on your phone.  Or you could just pull a “Dori” and keep losing track of what you were saying!  Just make sure you have something set up ahead of time.

    20130822-223454.jpgThis is the part of the children’s message where you need the distractions.  Welcome the children as you usually do, but make sure you are interrupted/distracted in the middle. the distraction should be enough that you feel the need to start over.  Do this a couple times to get the point across (and because it’s fun to be silly!)

    20130822-223633.jpgWait!  I’m getting distracted! You know what’s weird about that?  Not getting distracted is exactly what the Gospel story is about today!

    I would add that the little distractions that just happened to me are nothing like what Jesus is describing, but they did keep me from talking to you, and that’s what I’m here for right now. The disciples waiting for something big from God, and they figured that Jesus – being who he was – would have some inside knowledge about it.  And maybe he did, but he basically says, “Don’t worry about it!” All kinds of crazy things are going to happen in your life. People will be mean, people will be nice. Good things will happen and bad things will happen. But none of these things is the end of world.

    You just need to do your best to stay focused on the good things that are coming, and be working to help everyone be part of the good that is to come.

    Maybe it wasn’t a satisfying answer for the disciples, or for us either, but it is an encouragement to us to keep spreading God’s love to everyone we meet. No matter how distracted we get by what is going on around us.

    20130822-223749.jpgGood and patient God, We get so caught up in the distractions of life. Forgive us for missing out on things that we should have done, and help us to keep our hearts and minds focused on your love and our love for each other. Amen.

    20130822-223908.jpgGod is focused on you!

     

    FaithCross_Worship

    You are going to make a distraction cover-up wall!

    Find a bunch of stickers that say, “God Loves You,” or that have other Christian images on them. (Look for a Christian Book store or check Hobby Lobby).  Then hang a long piece of art paper on the wall, or put it over a table, whichever works if you space.

    Put out some pens, crayons, markers, etc, and invite people to write or draw the thing that most distracts them from being engaged with God’s love.

    Have a container of stickers our so that they can cover the distraction with God’s love!

  • You Are a Saint of God! All Saints Sunday, Nov. 6th, 2016 Year C

    You Are a Saint of God! All Saints Sunday, Nov. 6th, 2016 Year C

     

     

    20130822-223520.jpgAsk, “How many of you have grandmas, or grandpas? Do you see them all of the time? (Some will, some won’t.) If you don’t see them very often, (or at all) are you still their grandchild? (Yes!) I have grandmas and grandpas but my grandma (or grandpa or other relative) has died. That means that they no longer live here on earth, they are with God now and I don’t see them anymore but I know that I will someday! We know that God promises that we will all someday be together and with God. God created us to be together. We have families, friends, church community, all kinds of places where we are with people. When we’re together, we can teach each other about Jesus. What would you want to tell these people here about Jesus?” (Have the children turn and face the congregation and say what they think is important about Jesus.)

    *Then invite up a parent and a baby, a teen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety (if you have one present!) something up with the children. Say, “All of these people are part of our community. Even if we don’t see them every day know their name, can they still teach us something about Jesus? Can a baby teach us about Jesus? Yes! A teenager? A grandma or grandpa? YES! Can you teach them about God too? YES!”

    * Invite each generation to say one sentence that they want the children to know about Jesus. Say, “We need each other to teach each other about God! This is what All Saints is all about! You are a saint when your words and actions teach someone about Jesus. God says that we are all saints to each other! Pretty neat! To remember this today, during the passing of the peace you can make the sign of the cross on each other and say, “Saint (name if you know it), God’s peace be with you!”

    20130822-223749.jpg God of all faithfulness, you created us to be in community with each other. Help us to remember that we need each other: babies, children, teens, young adults, middle age adults and our mature adults. We remember today those saints who are not with us but still live in love in our hearts. Thank you for weaving us together in your love now and forever, amen.

    FaithCross_Worship A few ideas to do today:

    *Have paper clouds cut out and on a table with pens and markers. Invite people to write names of saints living and dead on their “cloud of witnesses,” people who have passed the faith on them. They can either take them home, or place them on a cross.
    *Have bowls of water available as people come for communion, in order to remember their baptism. You can also have a bowl of water with a candle lighting station if you do that. Connect baptism to communion, to our daily lives.
    *In addition to commemorating those saints who have completed their baptismal journey from you congregation, celebrate those who were born/baptized this year as well. Light a candle for those past and ring a bell for the new lives!

     

    20130822-223908.jpg +You are a saint of Jesus Christ+