Gather the children together. You will need some fruit (any kind is fine) and an already made fruit salad. Depending on how many children you have, have small cups of the fruit salad scooped out for the children. Or you can just show them the made fruit salad and have it available after worship.
Say: In one of the Bible readings this morning who heard something about fruit? (Accept all answers) I know, I did too and it’s making me hungry! Luckily, I brought this fruit with me today. I love fruit, it’s healthy for us and gives good things to our bodies so that we can have energy and not be sick. What is your favorite kind of fruit? (Again, accept all answers) Mine is________. I eat this fruit whenever I get the chance. I like to eat all kinds of fruit too! When I make a fruit salad I put all kinds of fruit in so that everyone eating the fruit salad will have a fruit that they will really like. It takes all kinds of fruit to make a great fruit salad!
There was a man named Paul who wrote one of our Bible stories this morning. He talked about having the “fruit of the Spirit” which is not actual fruit but good things like this salad we can share with one another. Paul wants us to share love, joy, peace, patience kindness, generosity (sharing), faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (You can teach the song if you know it!) These are all things that help us to get along together and to share God’s love! Just as some of us like different fruits, each of us may be really good at one of these things. If you are a good hugger, you are showing love, or if you are good at sharing your toys then you are good at generosity. Are we all going to be really good at all 8 of these things? No, but we can try and we can notice when our friends are good at not fighting or smiling, and try and learn from them. Just as it takes lots of fruit to make a yummy salad it takes all of us to share God’s love to everyone we meet!
God of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, thank you for giving us our friends and our families. Just as you show us all of these good things let us share them with the world. In Jesus name, Amen.
(make the sign of the cross on each other) May you be guided by God’s loving Spirit.
Might be using this one Sunday. Thanks!
You guys are incorrect. The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Not love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
Thanks! I think that it might be a translation issue. We typically use the NRSV translation of the bible where “goodness” is translated as “generosity.” I do see that in the NIV it is “goodness.”
Strange, that. I don’t find another translation that calls it generosity. All the Bibles on my shelf say goodness. And even the NRSV, where agathosune appears in Rom 15:14; Eph 5:9; 2 Thes 1:11 translates it good or goodness. Why the translators chose to us generosity in Gal 5:22 is curious. My Greek lexicon defines agathosune as “positive moral quality characterized esp. by interes in the welfare of others.” So an argument can be made for generosity, I guess.