Gather the children around the suitcase or bag that you have packed with some essentials for travel. Include the items listed in the text (purse or wallet, bag, sandals). Ask the children if they have ever packed a bag for vacation, over night to grandparents or a friends house. What did they take with them? What could they not leave behind?

     Say: Today our story in the Bible is about Jesus sending people out to travel around and tell people about God. Jesus told them not to take anything with them as they went from town to town! Does that seem like a good idea? No, not really to me either! They did not have extra money to buy food or to buy something that they needed. Jesus said that they should trust that the people in the towns will give them what they need. The disciples job was to stay focused on telling people about God and God’s love for everyone.

Jesus did not want them to have heavy bags to carry or to think about collecting more stuff as they went from town to town. If we have too much stuff with us we get worried about carrying it, storing it, if someone will take it, etc. We would forget why we were there: to tell the story of God! Sometimes we think that in order to tell someone about God or show someone God’s love we need lots of stuff, We might think that we need a Bible with us, or our Sunday school papers or  that we need to know a lot of details or have read every single word of the Bible in order to tell someone about God. Jesus is saying that we don’t need anything but ourselves. All we need is to just take time with people-stuff and lots of knowledge isn’t the most important thing. But our love and time is! Jesus promises to be with us as we share God’s love so we don’t have to worry about anything else. So I don’t need this bag of stuff to go another town and tell people about God. But I still might enjoy my toothbrush, huh? 🙂

  Dear Jesus, thank you for being with us always. We pray that we can tell other people about you even if we feel we don’t have everything we need. You are all that we and the world needs. Amen.

(Make the sign of the cross on one another) Jesus is all that you need as you go on your way.