Faith Formation Journeys

Walking Together in Grace

Category: Children’s Sermons

  • Children’s Sermon – May 29, 2016 – Luke 7:1-10, Lec 9C

    Children’s Sermon – May 29, 2016 – Luke 7:1-10, Lec 9C

    Prepare:  Make two big signs, one that says “faith,” another that says, “trust.”  These can be used for both the children’s sermon and for the worship station.

    Even better! Make single really big sign/poster with a Venn diagram of faith and trust!

    You may also want a dictionary – or you can use these from dictionary.com

    Trust

    Faith

    20130715-114218.jpg As the children gather around ask them if they know the difference between “faith” and “trust.  Let them wrestle with that a little bit.  Once they have had a few minutes to work on it, tell that in the dictionary (or at least at dictionary.com) the definition of faith includes trust, but the definition of trust does not include faith!

    FaithCross_BibleALT Well isn’t that strange? If you have faith in something that means you also trust it, but if you trust something you might not have faith in it.  Maybe one way to think about is that we trust the things that we can see and feel, and we have faith in things that are hard to see and feel.

    Well, in the Bible story we hear today, there is a centurion (a Roman soldier) who shows both trust AND faith in who Jesus is and what God can do. He has a servant who is dying and has faith that Jesus can heal the servant, but he also trusts that Jesus is powerful enough that the servant will be healed without Jesus even coming to his house!  This amazes even Jesus!

    Let’s play a little game with trust and faith.  I have these two signs, (or one, whichever you did!) and we are going to come up with some things that we trust, some things that we have faith in, and some things that fit into both!  I’ll start – I trust that the building we are in is not going to fall down.  I have faith that Jesus is present with us now, and I have trust and faith in God’s everlasting love. Now you try!

    (Give them a little space to come up with some ideas)

    That was great!  Think about trust and faith this week as you meet people and play with friends.

    FaithCross_PrayALT Loving and healing God, thank you for giving us things to put our trust in, like (add some things from the poster!). Thank you for giving us things to have faith in, like (______________). Thank you for being someone we can trust and have faith in!  Amen.

    FaithCross_BlessALT May the Holy Spirit burn in your heart today and everyday!

    FaithCross_Worship Simply invite the congregation to participate in the faith/trust/faith and trust exercise with the children!  You can make a big poster that people can come up and write on, or you can have more of an interactive discussion about it with the whole assembly.

  • Children’s Sermon Dance of God’s Love Trinity Sunday Year C

    Children’s Sermon Dance of God’s Love Trinity Sunday Year C

    Preparation: Pick a song that you know well and/or your children knows well and that you can dance to. Some ideas: Lord of the Dance, Dance with Me, Canticle of the Turning, Marching in the Light of God–do the dancing verse!

    You will also need two willing dance partners to start.

    20130822-223520.jpgGather the children up front with you. Say, “Have you ever played the game framer in the dell?” Explain the game. It’s a game with a song that goes “the farmer in the dell, farmer in the dell, heigh ho the merry-oh the farmer in the dell” and all the kids stand in a circle and dance and sing the song. During the verses, one kid at time they are pulled out of the circle until there is only one person left.

    Well I have another dance for you today. Invite your partners to stand up with you and hold hand sin a circle. Start singing your song and dancing in a circle together. Sing one or two lines and then take the hands of a few more kids. Sing some more and then invite them all to join you. You may need to drop hands at this point and just dance together. Now invite the congregation to join you by standing and dancing.

    (For example, if you use Marching in the Light of God you can sing half the first verse, get a few kids and finish. Then get them to all stand up and say we are singing  in the light of God and then invite the congregation to do the dance verse. You can modify for time or size of congregation. You can also pick a shorter song, like Alleluia-Praise ye the Lord or Love , Love, Love, that’s what it’s all about. )

    OR go up front with your dance partners before you invite the children up. Start singing your song and dancing with the other two (so there are three total, cause.. trinity 🙂 Then get some other kids to join you. Then invite the whole group up front to join the song. Then invite the congregation to dance and sing with you.

    20130822-223633.jpgWhen the song is over have everyone sit down. Say, “God’s dance is different than the farmer in the dell dance, isn’t it? How is it different?” Take answers and then say, “Yes, see, we talk today about one way we can think about how we see God, as a trinity, a three in one. There are many ways God shows us where God is and who God is and there are three that we talk  in the trinity–God the father or creator, God the son in Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. That is why I started with 3 people dancing. And God does not stop there, because the Holy Spirit wants to bring everyone in to know Jesus, to know God’s love, to know that God is everywhere they go, so it’s kind of like a dance where all are invited to participate with God and that is what sends God’s love out to the world. Just like we added people, the Holy Spirit’s love keeps getting added.

    20130822-223749.jpgGod of the dance, thank you for showing yourself to us. Help us to dance with you and bring in more and more people to your love. Amen

     

    20130822-223908.jpgMay you know and do God’s dance of love in your heart.

     

    FaithCross_WorshipDance of God Footprint Wreath: Have cutouts of a footprint or have people trace their feet and have some done and glue or taped onto a cut out circle or an actual wreath. You will be making a wreath out of the feet. Instructions say: Write a way you can join in God’s dance on the foot and then put your foot on the wreath as you say a prayer to join in God’s dance.