Tag Archives: Children’s sermon

Children’s Sermon Third Sunday of Easter, Luke 24:13-35, May 4, 2014

April 23, 2014 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: Find a very simple puzzle, like a preschool puzzle, you really only want about 6 or 7 pieces for this. Bonus points if it is an Easter puzzle! Also bring along some cardboard scraps that are a similar size to the puzzle pieces, but just squares or rectangles so that the puzzle piece is still pretty obvious.

As the children gather, get all the puzzle pieces facing up except for one. Let one piece sit surrounded by the cardboard so that it is obviously a puzzle piece, but so that the picture cannot be seen on it. Start getting the puzzle put together, let the children help if you want, but keep them away from the upside down piece. Once the puzzle is together be really sad and confused about the missing piece.

Oh no! I’m missing a piece! I thought they were all here! I even asked the person who gave me the puzzle and they said all the pieces were here. (At this point it is good if you let them see the missing piece.) Well, I guess I’ll just throw it away, if I can’t find the piece. What? You say it’s over here? No, this is all just cardboard, no puzzle piece there. Oh, wait! You’re right, there is the missing piece! I don’t know why I didn’t see it, but there it is! Now the puzzle is complete. Thanks.

This reminds me of the Gospel story that we hear today. The story happens on the day we call Easter. Jesus’ friends are walking away from Jerusalem when they meet a stranger on the road. They start talking and they find out that the stranger has no idea about what just happened in Jerusalem. He doesn’t know about Jesus, he doesn’t know about Jesus being killed, or buried, he doesn’t know any of it, so they tell the stranger all about it.

Here’s the fun part of the story, the stranger was Jesus! He was walking with his friends and they didn’t even know that it was him. They were so sad and worried that they couldn’t see Jesus walking with them. Just like me with that puzzle piece, I was so upset that it was missing that I didn’t even want to look for it. They didn’t know that they were with Jesus until they sat down to eat and Jesus broke bread and poured wine, then they suddenly recognized him. Just like I didn’t see the piece until someone turned it over.

A missing puzzle piece is not really a big deal, is it? No, not really. But forgetting to look for Jesus? We do know something that those disciples didn’t know, we know that Jesus is alive and among us, so we know that we should always be looking for Jesus, we should always be finding people who need our love and care.

Risen Christ, we sometimes forget that you are here with us, we forget to look for you in the people around us, and we forget to be loving to everyone we meet. Help us to see the good in the world and to live with your forgiveness and grace in our hearts and on our lips. Amen.

Send them out with a traditional Easter greeting! You say, “Christ is risen!” They respond, “Christ is risen indeed!”

~GB

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Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Second Sunday of Easter, John 20:19-31, April 27, 2014

April 17, 2014 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: Bring a digital camera or your phone – something that will let you take a picture of the children and show them the picture (a tablet with camera would be ideal). Also bring a stuffed animal, you will need someone to hold the animal secretly in the background of the picture, so make sure you have that set up in advance, don’t let the children see the animal!

Gather the children together and take a group picture, make sure they are looking at you and that you can get the stuffed elephant in the frame of the picture behind them. Odds are good that at least one of them will want to see the picture, but if no one asks to see it, then start saying how great it is. As soon as one of them asks to see it, gently tell them no, tell them that it is a great shot, they will just have to trust you. Then take it over to another adult in the room and show them, and get them to say that it’s a great picture, but still refuse to show the children. Then put the camera/phone away.

So, do you believe me that it was a good picture? I even have a second opinion! It must be good, right? But you still want to see, don’t you?

That is kind of what happens in the Gospel story today. Jesus shows up and talks to his friends, but one of them, Thomas, isn’t there. We don’t really know where Thomas was, but he was not with the others when Jesus appeared to them. When the other disciples tell Thomas that they saw Jesus he say, “I don’t believe it. And I won’t believe it unless I can see him with my own eyes, unless I can touch the places where he was injured.” This is a little different than you trusting that the picture was a good one, it would be like me saying that there was an elephant in the background of the picture I just took. Would you believe that? No, you would have known if there was an elephant in the room, right? And if there had been an elephant in the room, and you told your friends at school they wouldn’t believe you either, right? They would want to come and see the elephant, just like Thomas wanted to see Jesus!

The good news for Thomas is that Jesus does come back, and Thomas does get to see and touch and experience Jesus. Then Jesus says, “blessed are those who have NOT seen and still believe.” Jesus isn’t really saying that Thomas was wrong for what he wanted. Jesus is saying that Thomas got an amazing gift that almost no one else will ever get – the chance to touch Jesus! We believe without Jesus appearing to us, we believe without touching Jesus hands and feet. Thomas was blessed with the experience of Jesus alive in front of him, we are blessed because we believe in the risen Christ without proof we can see or touch.

So, what about that elephant in the picture? Do you believe that there was an elephant in the picture?

Let’s take a look . . .

Living God, we are blessed with your love for us, we are blessed in our believe and, like Thomas, in our unbelief. Teach us to trust in your love and grace in all things. Amen.

Send them out with a traditional Easter greeting! You say, “Christ is risen!” They respond, “Christ is risen indeed!”

~GB

Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon: 1 Samuel 16: 1-13, March 30th, 2014, Year A-Lent 4

March 28, 2014 bw Leave a comment

Bring the children to you and have them sit where they can all see you. Have a needle, some fabric, thread, and a band aid. Show the kids the needle and ask what it is used for. (Accept all answers.) “Yes, we can sew or fix clothes with the needle, fix fabric covered furniture, create toys, sometimes our moms and dads use them to get out splinters, and medical needles at the doctor give us shots that keep us healthy. Needles are very little but are very important in our lives. They are very sharp and so they are not toys and should only be used for their important jobs with an adult. Ok?”

say, “In today’s Old Testament story from 1 Samuel God tells Samuel to go to a man named Jesse’s house. God says that one of his sons will be the king of Israel! Usually, a long time ago, kings were big, strong and the oldest of the sons. So, Samuel figured that Jesse’s oldest son would be chosen, but God said no, not that one! So Samuel went through ALL of Jesse’s sons, except one, and each time God said, not that one! Samuel asked Jesse if he had anymore sons and Jesse said, ‘well, my youngest, but he is little and is with the sheep.’ But Jesse called him in from the fields. His name was David. Samuel looked at David and he was small! But God said, ‘Yes! This one! He is special, anoint him king!’ So Samuel did! And when David was a little bit older he was the king! Even though he was small, David was very important and able to do great things.

Do you think that God can use each of us no matter how big or small, old or young we are? Or how much we know, or what we do? Yes! God, can use all of us and does! Even if you are three or four years old or 83 or 84, God says, ‘yes, you are special to me!’”

Have a small bowl with some oil in it (I would use a well oil saturated paper towel in a bowl to keep the oil contained.).Samuel anointed David with oil and we do that at baptism as well. Give each child a blessing with the oil and say, “The Spirit of the Lord is with you always.”

“Dear God, you use us all to share your love with the world. It doesn’t matter if we are big or small, or old or young. Thank you for loving us. Amen.”

Children's Sermons

John 4 “The Woman at the Well,” March 23rd, 2014, Year A, Third Sunday of Lent

March 21, 2014 bw Leave a comment

Preparation: Have water at different “stations” around your worship space. Station ideas: a small table top water feature, a pitcher and a small cup for each child, a bucket with water in it with a picture of a well, the baptismal font (be sure that there is water in it-maybe have some evergreen branches available). Leave stations available for Open Space time.

Gather the children towards the center of your worship space today. Briefly tell them that they are going to go on water walk.

Say: God created water and God works in the world through water in many ways. Let’s go over here and this is our first stop on our water walk. God created rivers, oceans, lakes and waterfalls. Water is powerful isn’t it? What can water do? Do you know? (Water can smooth rocks, create new rivers, make sand, etc.) Water can create and change can’t it? Pretty cool. Ok, let’s keep walking.

Here is our second stop, a bucket and a well. Before people had sinks and bathtubs inside their homes people had to draw water from a deep hole in the ground called a well and sometimes carry the water a long ways home. Who can lift this bucket of water for me? Is it heavy? Would you like to carry it very far? But water is important-what do we use water for in our homes? If we lived on a farm who else would need water? Would only one bucket a day be enough? You would have to walk to the well several times a day! Jesus is at a well in our story today and talks to a woman. This woman is someone who doesn’t have many friends and almost no one speaks to, but Jesus does. He tells her that he is the living water and the water Jesus offers gushes with eternal life. Hmmm. I wonder what that means.

Let’s continue our water walk. Here is a pitcher of water and some cups. We’ve been walking a while, who’s thirsty? (Have a couple of helpers to pour water so that it doesn’t take too long.) Jesus says that those who drink from him will never be thirsty again. Do you get thirsty every day? I do! I don’t think Jesus is talking about our daily need for water. We are made up of mostly water and water keeps our bodies healthy. What do you think Jesus is talking about? (Accept all answers) I think maybe it might have something to do with our last stop on our water walk.

Let’s go to the baptismal font. When we are baptized we are declaring that God has acted first to say that we belong to God, God cares for us and we are part of God’s work in the world. Just like water in a river or from rain, the people of God working together can be powerful to spread God’s love all over the world. We can cover the world with love like an ocean covers a big part of the earth. (Sprinkle the kids with the water from the font.) This is water that is alive with the spirit and love of God, this is water that reminds us that God loves us and the whole world. This is water that we want to share with everyone we meet!

Give the kids evergreen branches and have them dip them in the font and gently sprinkle the congregation and to say, “God’s living water for you!” (I have actually done this and yes, people get a little wet. J You can also have small bowls that you dip into the font to fill with water and have the kids use their fingers to sprinkle. )

“God, you give us what we need. You know who we are and what we do and love us no matter what. Help us to share your living water with everyone we meet. Amen.”

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon First Sunday of Lent, Matthew 4:1-11, March 9, 2014

February 25, 2014 gb Leave a comment

Get the children organized into a quick game of Simon Says as they gather together. It doesn’t need to be log or involved, just enough to get them thinking about listening to instructions.

Simon says game over! That was fun, thanks for playing! I was thinking about that game, and it seems like the only reason that it works is because we all agree on the rules. In fact, the only reason any games work is because we all agree on the rules. In Simon Says we agree that one person will be able to tell the other people what to do. What if, instead of one person being the leader and giving instructions, we all started giving instructions? Like if you were saying, “Simon says sit,” and I was saying “Simon Says stand,” and someone else was saying “Simon says jump?” Would the game still work? Probably not, no.

That is kind of what the devil is hoping for in today’s Gospel story. See, Jesus is out in the desert and doesn’t have any food or water, or a place to sleep. It’s just Jesus and the desert. The devil thinks that he can get Jesus to try to take control from his Father because Jesus is probably weak with hunger and thirst. The Devil is probably hoping that Jesus and God the Father will fight for control, which is kind of like God fighting with herself (himself, whichever works for you), but that’s a longer story. Jesus won’t do it, though. Jesus says that it is not his place to challenge God’s power, or to tell God what to do. He tells the devil that God is in charge and that is how it should be. If Jesus can’t tell God what to do, should we?

Now I know what you’re thinking, isn’t prayer like telling God what to do? I say, no, it’s not! Let’s think about our game again. Remember how we said the game works because we all agree on the rules? The person in charge isn’t giving commands, really, it’s a game! And what about when we are not playing a game? How many of you like to be told to do something? Like, “Go clean your room,” or “Eat your asparagus!” Or think about the adults in your life. They will probably do good things for you if you ask them. Like asking, “May I please have a cookie?” or “May I please wash your car?” But if you try to command them to do something it probably doesn’t work out so well, right. When we pray, we are asking God for help, or giving God thanks, or praising God for the good things in our lives. We aren’t telling God what to do.

Let’s practice that and pray together using the Lord’s Prayer (ask the congregation to join if that works in you setting).

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

May God’s love go with you always.

~GB

Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Transfiguration, Exodus 24:12-18; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9; March 2, 2014

February 20, 2014 gb 2 Comments

Prepare: Gather some hiking gear. If you can go all out with a big backpack, tent and sleeping bag, even better! You will not need to set anything up.

Come in from a different place than usual, and make a big show of carrying so much stuff. Talk to the children gathered about heading out for a long hike up into the hills or mountains or just out into the “wild.”

I was reading the scriptures for today, and it seems like the place to see God is out in the wild, or up on the hills, so I heading out! I’ve got some water, and a tent (just go through your gear a little to show how ready you are), with all this stuff I should be able to stay out there for a long time. I’m sure to see God if I just stay there.

Then, once I find God I can just hang out there and always be in with God. So, if you want me, I’m going to be out in the middle of nowhere, hanging out with God.

But, you know, there’s a problem. In the Bible stories we read today the people who went to the mountains to be with God came back down! When they found God on the mountain they were given something. Moses got the 10 Commandments, and the disciples with Jesus learned who he really was. They had to come back so they could share the things that they learned with the rest of us. What would our world be like without the 10 Commandments? Or what would it be like if we never learned about who Jesus is?

You know what else? I don’t really even need to leave to find God. god is here with us right now! We can learn about God’s love right here with each other, and we can share the good news of God’s love with everyone we meet. It is great to hang out with God, and with the rest of God’s people, but we can’t stay there, we have to take the good news out to everyone.

So, maybe what I should do with all the gear is go out and help people learn about God! I’m going to go do that, but let’s pray first.

God of the mountains and valleys and everywhere in between, give us the strength to be your hands and voice in the world, and the courage to not just hide in the places where our faith feels safe. Amen

May God go with you wherever you are.

~GB

Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Seventh Sunday After Epiphany, Year A, Matthew 5:38-48, February 23, 2014

February 13, 2014 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: Find a picture of Baljeet and Buford from “Phineas and Ferb” (and if you have not watched any “Phineas and Ferb” go watch some!)

As the children gather have your picture of Buford and Baljeet out for them to look at. Some of them will probably know these two characters, so ask them to describe their relationship.

Yeah, Baljeet and Buford! Buford is a bully and Baljeet is his usual target, right? Buford picks on him all the time. So, I imagine that Baljeet is always plotting a way to get back at Buford, right? Baljeet is smart and has a good reason to find some way to embarrass or hurt Buford. He probably has secret plans and is building a Doofenshmirtz-style ‘Inator (if this doesn’t make sense – go watch the show!), like an anti-bullyinator.

That’s not true though, is it? Baljeet and Buford actually care about each other. Buford protects Baljeet, and Baljeet stands up for Buford when people say mean things about him. They have even saved each other’s lives several times! Isn’t that a little strange? Buford is a bully! Why would Baljeet stand up for him?

I think that Baljeet and Buford have gotten to know each other, and understand how the other person feels. They know what really hurts the other person, and they know how to help each other feel better. This is something that is easy in a cartoon, but how well can we do that?

Alright, this next part is just in your head, don’t say anything out loud! I want you to just think about someone that you might call an enemy. This is probably someone who is hard for you to love, right? What do you think would happen if you acted with love around them? I don’t mean that you should try to give them a hug right away or anything, but what if you treated them like a friend? What if you got to know them and let them get to know you? It’s harder to really not like someone when work hard to understand them better. You might never be good friends, like Baljeet and Buford, but maybe you can find ways to be more caring.

Let’s listen to what Jesus has to say about this, too. (Either read the Gospel text here – or re-read Matthew 5:42-48 if it has already been read).

God of love and kindness, give us the courage to act with love even when we want to be mean and cruel to others. Help us to love everyone we meet with the same love that you give to us. Amen

May God’s Word shine a light into your life today and always.

~GB

Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.

Children's Sermons

Matthew 4: 12-23 Children’s Sermon Year A January 26th, 2014

January 23, 2014 bw 1 Comment

Start from the back or side of your worship space (whatever makes sense but just not from where you usually gather the children). Call the children to come to you. As they come move closer to the doors or area that leads out of your building. (If you have cordless mics you will be able to go further but be aware that you want the adults to hear this as well.)

Ask the children: “Why do you think we are by the back doors and not up front where we usually are with the altar and the candles?” (Accept all answers) “Well, in today’s Bible story we see Jesus calling people to follow him and to help him tell the whole world about God. Does Jesus tell only pastors or priests to follow him? No, he tells ordinary fisherman to help him talk about God’s love for the world. Does Jesus tell the fisherman to go to the temple or the church in Jerusalem? No, he tells them to follow him out into the world with all kinds of people. This is what Jesus means by “fishing for people.” The fishermen didn’t actually throw nets on people and drag them to Jesus. But Jesus knows that showing love “catches” people and lights up their lives with God’s love and care.”

“Does Jesus ask us to follow him, too? Should we only tell people here in this church about Jesus and not anyone else or should we tell everyone who is outside of these doors (point to the back doors)? Jesus knows that all of us have a special way to tell others about God and that we don’t need special powers or to have read special books to know how to talk about God. All we have to do is to talk about God in our own words. We don’t need any special powers or classes; God says that God will help us. God’s love lights up our lives and we want that light to be everywhere for everyone. So let’s move our candles by/on the altar to the doors to remind us that we are to take God’s love and light to the whole world every day and in every place that we go.” (Have some adults prepped to help move candles or if your altar candles don’t move have some special candles on the altar this day that can go by the door. Or have some tables by the doors and lots of votive candles for each child to move from the altar to the door.)

“God of love and light, you ask us to share your love with the whole world. May we share your love at school, work, piano lesson, baseball, soccer, volleyball,____, and all places in our day. In Jesus name, amen.”

“God’s light is with you always.”

Children's Sermons

Children’s sermon Epiphany 2, Jan. 19th, 2014, John 1: 29-42 Year A

January 16, 2014 bw 2 Comments

Gather the children around you. Have some sort of treasure with you (maybe a neat rock, or something special that you found). Ask the children if they have ever found something that was really cool and exciting. Maybe it was a rock, a bird feather, or an animal. What did you do when you found it? Did you keep the excitement to yourself? No, you went and told your mom or dad or a brother or a sister. Why did you do that? (Accept all answers) Was it to have that person share in your excitement and to see with you what you found? It’s much more fun to share exciting things with other people than just by yourself isn’t it?

In today’s story from the Bible, John the Baptist sees Jesus and points him out to other people around him. One of those people is Andrew, a friend of John. Andrew is so excited about Jesus and the first thing he does is find his brother Simon and tell him about Jesus! Andrew tells his brother that he has found God’s son. Simon is also excited and goes with Andrew to see Jesus.

Have you ever told anyone about Jesus? A friend or a family member? What would you tell someone about Jesus if they had never heard of him? Jesus shows us what about God? (Accept all answers) These are all wonderful things aren’t they? These things are exciting enough to tell people about! But it can be hard can’t it? So let’s practice right now (invite everyone in the congregation to join in!) telling people about why Jesus is good news and exciting for our world.

Find someone in the worship space to tell about why you are excited about Jesus in your life. (Have the kids find someone in the chairs/pews and invite the adults to leave their seats to talk to someone new if they would like.) You can also word it differently: maybe ask how they have experienced the love of Jesus in their week.

Invite the congregation to join hands as one people of God and pray: Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to show us your love. Help us to share the excitement of your love and forgiveness with the world. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Make the sign of the cross on each other’s hands and say: May you see Jesus in your life today.

*Thanks to Rob Moss for the idea!

Children's Sermons

Children’s sermon January 12th Baptism of Our Lord, Matthew 3: 13-17 Year A

January 11, 2014 bw Leave a comment

Preparation: You will need several balls of blue yarn or ribbon and a couple of pairs of scissors. Depending on the size of your congregation, you will want to be able for the yarn to stretch down aisles and rows. If you are too large for that, have enough for everyone to make a yarn bracelet. Be sure to have water in your baptismal font as well!

Gather the children at the baptismal font if possible. Read the story of Matthew 3: 13-17 from a children’s Bible. Ask them if they know if they were baptized or if they have ever seen a baptism. What happens at a baptism? Do we do a baptism alone or in a group of people? Do we pray? Why do we baptize?

Today we heard the story of Jesus being baptized by John. Jesus went under the water and when he came out God said that this was God’s son and God loved Jesus very much. Jesus came to show us how much God loves us and wants to be with us. We baptize because the water reminds us that just as Jesus died and was raised so we too will be raised to live with God. Water also reminds us that nothing separates us from God and anything that might has been washed away. (Sprinkle them with water!) We baptize in a large gathering because in Jesus we are all connected to God and to one another. This is very important because when we gather together we can pray for each other, we can work together to show God’s love in the world and we can learn from one another.

I have this big ball of blue yarn (or large spool of ribbon, have several). I want your help! Can you stretch all of this yarn all over the worship space so that everyone is holding a part of the yarn? Ok, go! When the yarn is stretched out and everyone can touch a strand say: “I am going to hand out these scissors. Everyone is to cut a piece of the yarn they are holding and tie that piece around their wrist.” (Allow time for this.)

We are all connected in the waters of baptism to God and to one another. Let this yarn remind you this week that you are connected to this community.

Let’s pray: Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to love us. Thank you for connecting us to you and to each other. Help us to connect everyone we meet to you. Amen.

Make the sign of the cross on one another and say: You are God’s beloved child.

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.