Tell the children at the beginning of worship to go and find an object or a picture that gives a clue about who they are and one example of who they are not. Have an example such as, I might bring my running shoes as I’m an avid runner and a plant as I am not a gardner.

Tell the children to hold up their objects and tell why that object tells us who they are and who they are not. If it’s appropriate, remind them of your objects and why.
Then talk about the John the baptizer story: John was asked by some leaders who he was. They wondered if he was the Messiah, Elijah, or another prophet. He answered that he is not the Messiah, he’s not Jesus, or any of those other things, but he is someone who God sent to show others to Jesus. He’s important because he tells others about Jesus. And Jesus tells us about how much God loves us and who we are: God’s great joy. You are God’s great joy! You might be a dancer, a soccer player, a musician, an artist, etc. but most important, who you are is loved by God and God’s great joy! And our job for God is to be that joy to everyone we meet so that they know that they are God’s great joy too!

 

Let’s pray: God you sent Jesus to show us that we are loved and your great joy forever. Help us to never forget this and to always be who we are: yours. We joyfully pray in the name of Jesus, amen.

+You are God’s Great Joy+