Category Archives: Children’s Sermons

Children’s Sermon – “Light the Fire” Acts 2 May 15, 2016 Pentecost Year C

May 6, 2016 lb 1 Comment

Prepare: You will need rubbing alcohol, a large sturdy pot and a smaller pot or metal bowl. Fill the large pot with water and place the bowl in so it floats. Fill the bowl with rubbing alcohol and light on fire. This fire will be protected in the pot/bowl but still visible. It will last about 5 – 10 minutes and then go out on it’s own. We recommend you practice first.

Gathering–One way is to gather at the beginning and do your children’s sermon at the beginning instead of in the middle of worship. You can light the fire with them in the back and then lead a processional to the front. Or you can gather at your normal time and have a helper who lights the fire and brings it out. Do not light it close to the children as they may lean in too close.

ooo, we have a fire today! Wow! Not just the candles are lit but there is a fire. Does anyone know what today is? yes it is the day of Pentecost. We hear the story of when the people were gathered for a festival and a great wind blew in and then flames of fire appeared. (The Jesus Storybook Bible would be a great way to tell this story by reading it)

Have you ever heard the phrase… “I feel on fire”–what does that mean? It means that there is a light a passion an excitement for something. The Holy Spirit has an excitement and a passion and a love for each of you here and for the world. The Holy Spirit is here to unite us with others, no matter how different or alike we are, and the fire is one way for us to remember to be excited about sharing God’s love and living as people who are loved by God.

sing together: Light the Fire or This Little Light of Mine

Holy Spirit, thank you for your excitement for us, for your ongoing time with us and for sending us your love so that we may love too. Amen

+ May you know the fire of love inside you always +

Spirit Windsock: Make a Holy Spirit Fire Windsock with these materials to remember that the Spirit is blowing in your life all the time and sending you out with an excitement for living with Jesus.

Have sheets of cardstock paper with the words “Come Holy Spirit” written on them. Have markers, crayons, or those fun dot/bingo paint markers for stamping and decorating the paper. Next roll the paper and staple it closed. Attached string with staples or with a hole punch and then tying the string to make a handle. Next, have red, orange and yellow streamers and a stapler for attaching the streamers to the bottom. Make a sample ahead of time.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon – “Many Parts, One Body” – John 17:20-26, May 8, 2016

May 4, 2016 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: You will need a LEGO mini-figure for this. Have it taken apart and be ready to put it together.

For the worship station you will need a large piece of poster board or banner paper with the outline of a tree on it, and a bunch of permanent markers and a few washable stamp pads. (more information below!)

Gather up the children and get out you disassembled mini-figure. Ask if they know what it is (this should cause excitement).

Yep, it’s a LEGO figure! What can you tell me about it? (wait for a few answers) The think that I like about it is that it comes as a bunch of little pieces, and all these little pieces come together to make a person. Let’s see if we can put it together!

You might have one of the children put it together if you think that will work without too much frustration!

This little figure is made up of a bunch of parts, and I thought of it when I read the Gospel today. Jesus is talking about being one with God. Jesus and God are like two pieces of a whole!

Even more than that, Jesus talks about us being parts of one whole with God! Without God and without each other we are like the pieces of the mini-figure. We certainly have some value, because we are usable pieces, but we are not complete and whole until we join with the others.

That’s kind of what being part of a church is all about. We are a bunch of pieces that have value, but we really become something special and complete when we are a whole church together!

+ You are one with God+

God of all things, in you we are made whole. Encourage us to live in community with each other, and help us to live in ways that make those around us whole. Amen

Yes, this idea is stolen from a wedding idea, but it will work for this, too! You are going to make a fingerprint tree of your congregation. If you have a big congregation you might need a couple of trees or more.

The idea is to have a bare tree on a big piece of paper, and each member of the congregation gets to use their fingerprint to make a leaf on the tree. The markers or pens are then used to write a blessing or prayer next to their leaf.

Here is a picture of one.

Children's Sermons

My Peace I Give To You, John 14: 23-29, May 1, 2016 Easter 6C

April 26, 2016 bw Leave a comment

As the children come forward give them a handshake or a high-five and say “I give you peace.” They might think that’s a bit strange but that’s ok!

Once you’ve greeted everyone say, “Did I tell each of you “I give you peace”? Good! Why do you think I did that? (Accept all answers) Yes, those are all good reasons! In our Bible story this morning Jesus says that he gives his peace to the disciples. Do you think that they were confused by that too? I think so! It’s a strange thing to give someone peace…it’s not the same as giving a sandwich, a toy or a sticker…Jesus knew that he would not always be with the disciples or with us. He would be going to be with God in heaven. Jesus also knew that sometimes the disciples might get scared because there are scary things in the world.

Do you ever get scared? What scares you? (Share something that scares you.) Those things can scare us! When you get scared what do you do? Who do you run to? (Hopefully they will answer, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa or some family/close friend.) Yes! We run to someone who loves us and will help us! Does that make us feel better? It does me! I don’t like to be scared and alone…I think that’s what Jesus means by giving us peace, Jesus reminds us that we have each other to help us remember that we are never truly alone. If we’re scared and our mom, dad, etc. are not around, Jesus is! This makes us feel better! Did you know in church we offer each other peace in our worship service? We call it the passing of the peace and we shake hands or give hugs and say, “Peace be with you.” We do this to remind ourselves that we are not alone! We have this whole community around us! Praise God!

Have strips of cloth cut out from one piece of fabric so that everyone receives the same color. Invite the congregation to write with a fine tip permanent marker the words “I give you the peace of Jesus.” Have them take the strip of cloth with them to their seats. If your congregation has as part of you liturgy the “Passing of the Peace,” invite them to tie this strip of cloth around the wrist of someone as they offer a sign of peace. If not, choose a time to do this in your worship.

God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, you are one and we are also connected as one. May we share your peace and love with everyone that we meet. Remind us when we are scared that you are with us and will never leave us. We pray for your peace to reign in our hearts and our world. Amen.

+The Peace of Christ be with you always+

Children's Sermons

What is Love? – John 13:31-35 April 24, 2016

April 20, 2016 gb 2 Comments

Prepare: Get a large piece of poster board or a big piece of banner paper and write on it (it can be fancy!) “What is Love?”

Ask the children to start naming things that they love. You are kind of looking for one of them to say something like, “my Xbox!” When you get a few of those objects use that as a segue to ask, “What is love?”

In the story today, Jesus tells his disciples that people will know who they are because they love each other. Every time I read this story it gets a little more difficult for me to understand because “Love” is such a difficult word! We had a whole list of things that people love, from our parents to toys! How can one word describe how we feel about such different things?

Even more than that, Love is more than liking something or someone. For example, I can love someone but be really angry with them at the same time. Stranger still? Sometime I find that I am upset with people BECAUSE I love them! If I didn’t love them I wouldn’t really care what they were doing, and I wouldn’t be upset.

So, today, let’s make a list of what it means to Love someone. Ready? Go!

(make the list on your board or banner)

Wow! What a list! Think about how you show your love this week, and think about some of the things on this list.

Jesus loves you!

Loving God, be with us as we work to be loving disciples. Help us to love each other even when we don’t really want to, and grant us your forgiveness when we don’t love the way we should. Amen.

For the worship station – Make the “What is Love?” list an all congregation project. Either as a prayer station or as a group activity where you write items on the list as people say the,

Children's Sermons

Unbelievable – John 10:22-30, April 17, 2016

April 11, 2016 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: You will need a pencil and (if possible!) a diamond, or a picture of a diamond. The diamond can be an engagement ring, or in an earring, etc. It doesn’t need to be loose or even big. The idea is to show the difference between the two.

Gather the children as you normally do, and as they gather, ask them to tell you the name of someone whom they trust. Could be a parent, a teacher, a coach, sibling, etc. Just get them thinking about people they trust.

Jesus talks a little bit about trust in today’s Gospel reading. He is being questioned by some people who really want to know who he is. They just want Jesus to tell them who he is! Jesus says, “I already told you, you just don’t trust me.” Well, really the word Jesus uses is “believe.” They don’t believe, even though they have heard the truth.

That got me thinking – Jesus, to them, just looks like a traveler, or at best a carpenter. There is nothing fancy about him. He doesn’t have fancy robes that make him look like a king, he doesn’t boss people around like he is in control of them. He doesn’t ACT like God! . . . but, sometimes he does. They were all just really confused.

So, to help think about this in a different way, I brought a couple of things – a pencil and a diamond ring (or a picture of one, whichever you can manage!). Two very different things, right? This one you can write or draw with, and this one is, well, a diamond ring! But, at their heart they are the same thing. Both the diamond ring and pencil are special because the thing at the very center – and that thing is something called carbon. The black part at the middle of the pencil is made mostly of something called graphite (there are other things in there, too, but it’s mostly graphite). Graphite is made out of carbon. The center of the ring is a diamond, and diamonds are carbon crystals.

So, both of these things, the pencil and the diamond ring, have carbon at the center. The pencil is a simple tool, something that we use everyday. The diamond is something special that we display because it is beautiful. (If you happen to have an engagement ring you can talk about why that particular diamond is special!) Even though they seem very different on the surface, at their heart they are the same stuff.

Back to Jesus! To the people standing around him he looks ordinary, like the carbon graphite in a pencil. But his disciples know that he is something really special, like a diamond. And just like the carbon, Jesus can be both!

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen, Indeed!

Alleluia!

Loving God, you are the very thing that we need everyday. We rely on your love and mercy day in and day out. We give you thanks that you can be so close to us in our ordinary lives, and we praise the special treasure that is your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

What is something that you take for granted?

Have you congregation think about things that are “everyday” tools, or “everyday” staples in their lives. Create a space where people can write a prayer of thanks for the ordinary parts of their life and praise God for the simple and wonderful things that make life go better. (You can also have them tweet the prayers, or post them to your church’s FB page, etc.)

Collect the prayers and include them in the prayers of the people.

Children's Sermons

Caught in Jesus’ Love! John 21: 1-19 Easter 3C 2016

April 9, 2016 bw Leave a comment

Have a large rope or a really big net if you have one and spread it on the ground where you want the children to gather. Invite them to sit on the net or in the circle of the rope. That might mean that they will have to get cozy! Be sure to sit with them on the net or within the rope.

Say, “Today’s Bible story is kinda interesting isn’t it? The disciples go fishing as they are probably hungry. They don’t catch anything at all, all night despite being life-long fishermen. Suddenly a stranger on the shore yells out to them, “Hey put your nets on the other side!” It worked!!! They had so many fish that it nearly broke their nets! They realized that the stranger was Jesus! They went back to shore and Jesus had breakfast of fish and bread waiting for them. Do you remember another story of fish and bread with Jesus and the disciples? Yes, he fed 5,000 people with two fish and 5 loaves of bread! Jesus sure likes fish and bread! Then Jesus says something strange to Peter after breakfast: Jesus asks him three times if Peter loves him. What did Peter answer? Yes! Of course he loves Jesus! Then Jesus tells him to “Feed his sheep.” Now Jesus didn’t own sheep, but we call Jesus the good Shepherd who takes care of us and so Jesus told Peter that if he loves Jesus to care for those who Jesus takes care of-everyone!

Ask them, “Do you love Jesus?” (Hopefully they will say yes, but be prepared!) “I love Jesus too! So what should we do? Yes, take care of everyone whom Jesus would take care of-the whole world! Jesus gathers us all as his sheep or his people, just like the disciples gathered all of those fish in their nets. Jesus “caught” the disciples with his love and we are to “catch” everyone with the love of Jesus too! If they need food, feed them, if they need clothes, clothe them, if they need shelter, house them, if they are lonely, visit them, if they feel unloved, LOVE THEM!

Have a large net hanging on a wall or on a large table with simple cut out of fish (one for everyone in worship) and some pens and markers. Invite people to write on the fish who “caught” them (or showed them) with the love of Jesus in their lives. Invite people to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for those people in our lives!

Jesus, you know that we love you. We don’t always show that perfectly to the world, but you are with us and love us so that each day we can try anew. Thank you for sending people to catch us in your love and may we catch everyone we meet in your love too! Amen!

+You are caught in the love of Jesus+

Children's Sermons

What do you wonder about Jesus? Children’s sermon Easter 2, Year C, April 3rd, 2016

April 1, 2016 bw Leave a comment

Invite the children forward. Have some bread, a cup/chalice of wine, a bowl of water and some index cards. Ask the children this, “If you could say one thing to Jesus or ask him one question what would it be?” (Accept all answers and even share your own!) Say, “yes, we have lots of questions don’t we? We’ve never really seen Jesus like the disciples did, and we don’t necessarily hear Jesus’ voice (remember that you may have some mystics among you who might hear Jesus!). And sometimes I have lots of questions too and I don’t always know who to talk to about what I’m wondering about Jesus and God. (Repeat some of their questions here.) What do we do with all of those questions? (Accept all answers.) Yes, we could talk to each other! Jesus breathed on the disciples and reminds them and us that we all have the breath of God in us and share that breath everywhere we go!

Thomas missed Jesus coming and breathing on the disciples and when he came back and heard about it, he had lots of questions. Jesus doesn’t mind our questions-as a matter of fact, Jesus came to Thomas to talk to him about his! Jesus knew that he wouldn’t be able to talk to all people so that’s why Jesus told the disciples and us that we are sent out with the love of Jesus to talk about our questions and wondering together and to look for Jesus everywhere around us. We might not think that we “see” Jesus like Thomas and the other disciples saw him, but Jesus gave us ways to see how much he loves us and is with us always, in our questions, in our wondering and when we feel God’s presence. Jesus said to look for him in bread and wine: which we do every week! When we eat and drink we know that Jesus fills us with what we need to be his hands and feet in the world. In water that is found in our baptismal font, we know that Jesus says we belong to God forever, no matter what. Jesus wants everyone to know that what God really wants is to love us and be with us. Even if we wonder if God is real or what God is doing. I have some blank index cards here. You can take one back to you seat and write or draw your questions for Jesus or what you wonder about Jesus. *During our worship station time, you can place them in the basket on the table and take with you a heart to remind you that Jesus loves you now and always. (If you don’t do worship stations, have index cards in the pews for all people. Invite them to place them in the offering plate.)

Have index cards and pens on a table. Invite people to write their questions for God on them and either place them in a basket. (You could also have a large question mark on a piece of poster board hanging on a wall and people can write their questions on post-it notes to place on the question mark. The question mark could be inside a big heart.) Have heart stickers or paper hearts cut out for people to take as they leave their questions. Perhaps offer a time of wrestling with those questions in adult education, confirmation or some other forum.

Jesus, we love you and we are so glad that you love us! Thank you for hearing our questions, our wondering and our doubts. Be with us as this community grows and learns from those questions. Send us out to listen and talk with other people who also wonder about you and may we share your love and peace with them. Amen.

+Peace be with you+

Children's Sermons

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Jesus is Risen! Luke 24: 1-12 (or John 20: 1-18) Easter Year C 2016

March 21, 2016 bw Leave a comment

*Offer this children’s time near the beginning of your worship service. After the opening hymn or even prelude (depending on how your worship is structured) invite the children to come forward. Have someone from the congregation come running in toward the children (Idea: could be Mary Magdalene, or one of the disciples in costume!) saying: “The tomb is empty! Jesus is not there! He is raised from the dead like he said he would be!” (Or if you are using the John 20: 1-18 text change it to Mary saying, “I have seen the Lord!”) “Do you remember that just on Friday we laid him in the tomb but now-it’s empty! The stone was removed and there were men, like angels, saying that Jesus would rise from the dead! It’s true! We’re so happy! We could shout happy words all day long such as Hooray, Yippee, or I know Alleluia! Jesus is alive and now we can live with Jesus forever too! We need to shout this to the whole world! Alleluia!

It would be fun to have a way to make the “Alleluia” even more exciting…let’s see I know! Every time you hear the word Alleluia today you can… (here is your choices from easiest to pull off to more planning: the children and adults can clap, ring jingle bells, wave a streamer, wave their hands, use a clapper, or if you have chime bells to hand out). We might be singing Alleluia or saying Alleluia, it doesn’t matter! Wave, clap, ring every time! Let’s practice! (Hand out the objects if you are choosing to do that.) “Alleluia!” Alleluia!” “Alleluia!” Listen for that word all morning!

*If your pastor can, add the word “Alleluia” into his/her sermon a couple of times at least to engage the children. And let’s face it, the adults too!

Have a large drawing of the tomb with the stone rolled away either hanging where it’s accessible to people, or on a large table. Somewhere on the tomb or around the tomb have verse Luke 24: 5c “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” As people enter worship or during a dedicated worship station time, invite people to write in the empty space of the tomb where they look for and/or experience Jesus in their daily lives. Where do they see new life each day?

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Living God, we look for you in our lives. We look for all of the ways that you give us life, hope and love. Like Peter, we are amazed and like the women at the tomb we can’t wait to share this good news! Alleluia! Jesus lives! Amen!

+You are made alive in Christ+

Children's Sermons

Palm Sunday Year C Luke 19:28-39

March 19, 2016 lb Leave a comment

Preparation: some pathetic looking palms or sad looking palm plant or other plant .
An alternative image that goes with the text better is a coat. Bring a coat and after talking bout the palms tell about the coats being laid to honor Jesus and as gifts. Talk about the gifts we bring and how Jesus sees us as gift. Instead of palms at the worship station have people write on images of coats.

Gather the children and have them bring their palms or use this as a time to hand them out. Ask, “who can tell me why we are holding these palms today?” Take answers and explain that it is a ritual and tradition of the church to have palms on this day to remember the part of Jesus life where he went into Jerusalem for the last time and had his last week with is friends and followers. The palms were waved as he came into town to honor and praise him.

Some of your palms look really good but look at the ones I have here. (Show your pathetic palm/plant). This one is kind of small and too old maybe to be used for Palm Sunday. I am not sure it is good enough. But you know what I like about this palm? It is real, it was grown from this plant and it has lived in this worship space (or my house or wherever) for a long time. And it makes me think how sometimes we think we are not good enough for things. Are there times you feel like you are not good enough or that you have let someone down?

Jesus sees all these palms as a gift. There may be some that are too old or new or some that are dried out or just too small, but they are all real and a part of creation. Jesus sees you and me this way too. Even if you feel that you have let someone down or you feel that you have not done something well or you that you are just not big enough or smart enough yet–Jesus sees you as totally enough just as you are right now. Jesus looks at you like these palms, as a gift. As someone who can share love and live as a beautiful part of God’s creation. Jesus goes into Jerusalem today and he will go to the cross there. He dies on the cross to show you that God already loves you and forgives you always.

Jesus, we praise you with our palms and with our voices. Let us know your love for each one of us in all our gifts and in all the ways we need to grow. Amen

May you know Jesus love always rescues you+

Have palm branches for people to make into crosses. Or have construction paper and have people trace their hands and write in the ways they see God’s love and forgiveness for them on the inside of their hand (their palm)

OR for LOTS Of fun have washable markers and let people write on their very own hands (like the picture).. I know, crazy-ness. Let me know if you tried it!

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon/Worship Station – March 6, 2016: Lent 4c – Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

February 29, 2016 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: One of my favorite ways to tell this story is to act it out. So your preparation for the children’s sermon can be as simple as just making sure you know the story well enough to tell it, or as complex as having actors and costumes. Up to you!

For the worship station, set up a “voting booth” with a two large jars or containers and beads or small rocks for people to vote with.

As the children gather ask them if they have a favorite story. If they do, ask them how they like to tell the story?

Today’s Gospel story is a really fun story to act out, but first we need to some actors.

OK – from here on you are on your own! But I will tell you what I would do. I would have a short list of the important characters in mind, and maybe even on a piece of paper in front of me. I would look for “volunteers,” and by that I mean that I would ask, but would ultimately end up choosing some people to play certain parts. Once I had my cast I would start to narrate the story and encourage the actors to act out what I am saying.

One really fun way to do this is to have the prodigal son stay with you, and pretend to walk away while the father and other son back away from you. Then you can keep the action of the story close by.

To get the two groups back together you can have them kind of meet in the middle.

My simple cast would be:

Father
Prodigal
Other Son

Expansions on that would be:

The people the prodigal celebrates and eats with
the farmer he works for
the pigs that he eats with
the people who live near his father
his fathers’s other servants
etc . . .

You are God’s Beloved child

Loving and forgiving God, bring us back to you when we wander far from your love and care. Teach us to show your love, mercy and forgiveness in all parts of our lives, and lead us in ways that keep us close to you always! Amen.

For the worship station, ask the question, “where does your pride end?” To keep it simple have two jars: “I would return to my family when the money ran out,” and, “I would be eating with the pigs.”

Have people vote and see where you congregation ends up! Make sure that being forgiven for pride is part of your prayers AFTER the worship station, so that the idea of returning to God is part of your focus in worship this day.

Let us walk with you on the journey of faith. Whether your feet are big or small, fresh or worn, running or crawling, God's love goes with you and you stand on holy ground.