Tag Archives: Children’s sermon

Children’s Sermon 3rd Sunday After Pentecost (Lec. 10), Luke 7:11-17 – June 9, 2013

May 31, 2013 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: The best possible set up for this is to find some “Pied Pipers,” Maybe a group of youth who are willing to follow you first and help call some of the children along. The idea is to generate excitement about something that has yet to be seen. You will also need something fun at the other end, like a Martin Luther bobble-head, or a cool poster of Jesus, or a beautiful cross, or . . . It almost doesn’t matter, as long as it’s something unexpected. Hide it somewhere so that you can lead the children around for a little while.

Start in a different spot than you usually would, and call for the children to follow you. Make sure that you “Pied Pipers” are ready to get up and encourage the children to come along, too. When you find the object, be excited about it and show the children what you found as you head the usual spot.

Well, that wasn’t what I expected to find! What did you think we were looking for? (take a few answers) I think that we were a little like the crowd in the Gospel story today. See, they were following Jesus even though they didn’t know where he was going or what he was planning to do. They were just following to see what would happen – kind of like you following me! Now I have to admit that what we found was fun, but it was nothing compared to what Jesus showed them.

The story goes like this, Jesus had just healed a slave that belonged to a Centurion (a Roman soldier) and the people were amazed that Jesus could heal him, and that Jesus would help a Roman soldier! So they all started to follow him. Then, as people saw the crowd, more people started to follow, even though they didn’t know what they would see. When they got to the next town they saw something amazing and unbelievable! Jesus talked to a widow! Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, why is that amazing? Well, a widow is a woman whose husband has died, and when Jesus was teaching widows were worse to talk to than Roman soldiers! People couldn’t believe that Jesus would talk to her. To make things worse, Jesus was interrupting a funeral – the widow’s son had also just died. Jesus, seeing how hard this was for the woman raised her son from the dead! Now the crowd was blown away by the things they had seen. So much better than the (whatever your object was) that we found.

I think that this is still true for us today. We often try to follow Jesus, even though we don’t know where Jesus is leading us. But, it we do our best to follow, and keep our eyes and ears open, we might hear and see some amazing things!

Amazing God, we do our best to follow you and see the things that you do in the world. Teach us to rejoice in the work that you do. Teach us to not just follow you, but to help you do the work that needs to be done. Amen

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you are loved by God. (have children repeat this)

~GB

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

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon 2nd Sunday After Pentecost (Year C, Lec. 9), Luke 7:1-10 – June 2, 2013

May 21, 2013 gb 2 Comments

Prepare: Find several action figure toys, some that are inherently good and some that are inherently bad, and two boxes or baskets to sort them into.

Have the action figures out for the children to see as they gather (yes, this will be “dangerous” in terms of distraction). Ask them if they have a favorite superhero (or whatever relates to what you have with you)

It sounds like you guys have some good favorite heroes! I have some here with me, and I think that I have some good guys and some bad guys, but I’m not sure. Can you help me sort them out?

(Take some time to sort the good guys and the bad guys into the baskets or boxes)

Wow, thanks! So, I’m going to guess that we all like the good guys, right? Those are the ones that we want to play with most of the time, right? I like having some bad guys around so that the good guys can be heroes and save people, but I always want the good guys when I play. But, which box do you think belongs to God, the good guys or the bad guys? We will get back to that question later.

That makes me think of the Gospel story that we hear today. Jesus is walking through a town when a Roman soldier comes to him and asks Jesus to heal his servant, who is really sick. Well, really the Roman soldier sends some of the Jews in the town to talk to Jesus, because the soldier thinks that he is not good enough to talk to Jesus! When Jesus goes to his house, the soldier says that Jesus should not come in because he is not worthy to have the Lord in his house, Jesus needs only to speak the work and his servant will be well. Jesus is amazed by the soldier’s faith and heals the servant with a word.

I think that everyone would agree that most of the Roman soldiers were the “bad guys” where Jesus lived. People were afraid of the soldiers and would do what they were told to do. So, why would Jesus help this soldier? (See if you get some answers – but steer them to – ) Because God loves everybody! So, back to our heroes and villains. Which box belongs to God? (Steer them toward both boxes!)

Yes! Both boxes belong to God, because God loves everybody.

God of Love, we rejoice in the love that you shower on us! Teach us to rejoice with you in loving the people we would call our enemies. Help us to share your amazing love throughout all our days and with all people. Amen

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you are loved by God. (have children repeat this)

~GB (thank you to Pastor Michael Stadtmueller for the great idea!)

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

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Trinity Sunday Year C Romans 5:1-5

May 20, 2013 lb Leave a comment

Guest writer–Pastor Michael Stadtmueller

Scripture: Romans 5:1-5

Prep: On Facebook or through other social media ask your members to share some ways that they have experienced God in the world this week. Let them know you maybe using some of their answers in this weeks upcoming worship. Make sure you can share a few different short stories collected in one sentence answers.

Gather the children. Welcome them to worship

Read from verse 5 of Romans, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Tell them that we believe that God is revealed to us in many ways through the Holy Spirit, and that today we celebrate the 3 separate ways in which God has been made revealed to the church.

(Trinity Sunday can be difficult to grasp when we get caught in the doctrine, so instead speak through the ways we experience God.) Share the images of how God has been revealed to your congregation members. And ask the children to share where they have seen God. Then ask the kids… which one was the right answer? Remind them that God is most certainly revealed through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that we know this means that all of these answers are ways in which God has been revealed.

Remind them that a joy for a Christian is seeking to find how God is being revealed in their own lives and sharing that joy with others.

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit we know that you are active and present in our world today. We pray that you would help us to point others to your ever present Grace by revealing yourself to us. Amen

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you are loved by God. (have children repeat this)

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost Year C May 19, 2013

May 17, 2013 lb Leave a comment

Scripture Acts 2:1-21

Preparation: optional–streamers or ribbons or pom poms in red/orange/yellow colors like fire.

Gather the children–If you have streamers or pom poms, hand them out. Hey kids! Look around, what colors do you see? What colors are you holding in your hands now? Does anyone know why I would pick those colors?

Today is Pentecost! It’s a day in the church that we do a little celebrating and remembering of the first Pentecost. Anyone know what happened on the first Pentecost? (take answers or move on if no one answers) When he went to heave, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to be with us. Peter and the disciples had no idea what this would look like, they just knew that Jesus was gone and they were not sure what to look for in a coming Holy Spirit–they felt sad and maybe scared so they stayed all together and they did a lot of praying. Well, Pentecost was a festival day and so they were doing their festival prayers and not sure what to think about Jesus not being there with them and then–the Holy Spirit came! It came as a big wind and flames were dancing above their heads but not hurting them and people spoke different languages but could also understand one another. Has that happened to you before? No? Yeah… it’s an amazing story that is why we want to remember it each year–but did you know that the Holy Spirit did not just come once and go away? Do you know where the Holy Spirit went? Yes–it went EVERYWHERE! And it’s still moving and talking to people and the Holy Spirit is here with us and in us.

I think that’s pretty exciting so I thought we could use our ribbons and say a cheer for the Holy Spirit–do you know any cheers? One we used to do a lot when I was in High School and we were cheering for our team at a sport event goes like this–We’ve got Spirit yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how about you? and then the other people in the stand on the other side would yell the same thing back. I am thinking we can change it just a little and say We’ve got Holy Spirit, yes we do, we’ve got Holy Spirit how about you? –Let’s try it. Try out the cheer. Great job! (or do it again if it wasn’t great!) Ok, so now we are going to try it again, but this time we are going to stand up and look at all those people and see if we can get them to say the cheer back to us. You can wave your ribbons in the air while you are doing this.

Have kids do the cheer and have the assembly cheer back to them!

Holy Spirit–we praise you for being here with us and in us. Help us to remember we always have your spirit and that we can share this spirit with others through our cheers, shouts, prayers and actions. Amen

God the Holy Spirit is in your head, in your heart, on your left and on your right. Amen

Children's Sermons

May 12, 2013 John 17:20-26 Easter 7C

May 9, 2013 lb Leave a comment

Prep: carnations for each woman in your congregation–or you could do a paper heart or leave out this part.

Gather the children. Welcome them to worship

Read them verse 26, “I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus says these words to his disciples–do you know who disciples are? (take answers)

Jesus is talking to the first disciples who were with him but Jesus is also talking to all of us! Disciples are those who follow Jesus and here Jesus wants us to know that we are all a part of God’s children and that we are all made one in God’s love. This verse also got me to thinking about how it’s mother’s day and that God gives us mothers of all kinds. Sometimes they are the mothers who are the ones who gave birth to us or take care of us everyday or maybe sometimes they are our grandmothers too, but because Jesus says we are all one, we have other mothers too. Jesus is praying in this verse that we may know the love of God that he has shown us and that we can show it to others. So really, that means that all of us need to work together to show God’s love to eachother and to the world. When you are baptized all the people promise to help you raise you in God’s love and promises–so all the women and all the men who are here today and who are in our lives showing us about faith are like our Christian parents. Today we are going to share a special blessing for all the women because it’s mother’s days and we want to say thank you to all women–old and young, those who have children here today and those who do not–because they are a part of the oneness in God’s love that Jesus prays for and God promises.

So after we pray, we will say a blessing together to all the women here and then you can each take a few carnations and hand them out to all the women.

God-thank you for making us one, for giving us Christian adults in our lives to help us know your love and grace. We pray especially for all the gifts the women of our community bring to us your children. Grant them love, peace, and joy in you. Amen

May you know God’s love today and always. (have children repeat this and then hand out carnations if you have them)

Children's Sermons, Communications

May 5, 2013: Children’s sermon Acts 16: 9-15 6th Sunday of Easter

April 29, 2013 bw Leave a comment

Bring the children either to the back of the worship space or another spot but not up front or where you usually gather for the children’s message. Have a simple map (hand drawn is fine!) of the worship space. Also have a simple compass on the map.

What do I have here? (a map, guide, picture of the worship space, etc.). Yes, this picture or map shows me what the space looks like and how maybe best to walk around in here. It guides me to where I need to go!

In today’s story Paul and and some of his friends were traveling all over the region. Paul and other early Christians traveled quite a bit to tell other people about Jesus and God’s love and forgiveness for the whole world. God came to Paul in a vision, like a dream, and told him to go to a distant place where people needed to hear about Jesus. Paul went and when these people heard about Jesus and how much Jesus loved them, they believed in God and were baptized to show the whole world that they were a child of God. Paul didn’t go there because PAUL thought it was a good idea-Paul and his friends went because God led them there and told them to go. God was like Paul’s map or guide. Paul wasn’t on his own but had God with him and all of his friends with him. God makes sure that we have people with us so that we are not alone.

Let’s use this map to walk from here the back of the room to the front of the room (or whatever you want to do). On our way let’s see who will join us on our journey. (Weave your way through the congregation and every now and again stop and tell someone “Jesus loves you. Come with us!” Gather the larger group at the front or even by the font.

Wherever we go we can share God’s love and not worry because God will guide us! What are ways that you can share God’s love at school, on the playground or at soccer practice, etc.?

Pray: God you guide us everyday throughout our whole lives. Thank you for being with us always. We will tell everyone we meet about you and your love! Amen.

God is with you always. (Make the sign of the cross on one another.)

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon April 28th, 2013 John 13:31-35

April 24, 2013 bw 1 Comment

Read the children these verses out of a children’s Bible (my two favorites are the Spark Storybook Bible and the Jesus Storybook Bible). Many of the children’s Bibles will incorporate this story with the foot washing scene. Adding those verses is a wonderful idea!

Ask the children, “How can you tell if someone is a good reader? How about a good soccer player? Or a dancer? (Accept all answers) We know when someone can do something when we see them do it right? Just talking about it doesn’t always tell us what a friend can do. We have to experience them doing it don’t we? How do people know that we love God? (Accept all answers) When we do things that help others, are nice to others or stand up for people who other people are not being nice too, right? What if we SAY that we love God but then treat someone not very nicely? Do you think that people will know that we love God? No, maybe not. Jesus says that if we love one another-each person we meet-then the world will know that we follow Jesus. That’s kind of hard though all the time isn’t it? I know that I am not nice all the time to people! Does that mean that I don’t love God or that God doesn’t love me? NO! It means that God loves me enough to say “try again” and “again” and “again” and “again….” You get the point! But we should try every day to let people know that we love God, God loves us and God loves all people.

We are going to show everyone here that we love them and God. I have little cards printed up that say “Jesus loves you” (see attachment). We are going to give those to everyone here and give them a hug or a high five or give a blessing (see below). You can even take some of these cards with you to give to friends or other family members. (Have enough printed up for all people to take a few with them when they leave.)

Dear Jesus, you love us so much. Let us show the whole world how much you love all people. Amen.

(Make the sign of the cross on one another) Jesus loves you and so do I.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Psalm 23 April 21, 2013 Fourth Sunday of Easter

April 17, 2013 bw 1 Comment

Preparation: You will need several small bowls that you can dip into the font to fill with water. The more children you have the more bowls you will need.I would make sure that the font is very full this Sunday!

Gather the children around the baptismal font.

Say: Today one of our stories from the Bible is called a Psalm or a poem or song. We have 150 of these songs or poems in our Bible and they talk about all kinds of things from being sad or mad at God, worrying about the future, praise and saying thank you to God. Today’s poem is about life with God and how much God loves us. The writer of this song says that God’s love and goodness pursue us-chase us down everyday of our lives! God is chasing you with love! Have you ever played tag? What if when we played a game of tag we were giving hugs! We might have to be careful so that we don’t knock anyone over-that wouldn’t necessarily be loving, but would you maybe want to be caught if you were getting a hug or a high five instead of getting “out” of the game? (Accept all answers-maybe they don’t want to be caught even for a hug!) Just as God chases us with love God wants us to show love too! Maybe we don’t really run after people to attack them with a hug or a high five, but anytime we talk to someone, or are with someone it’s a time to catch them with God’s love. In Psalm 23, God catches the writer by being with them when it is scary, giving them food when they need it and by putting oil on their head which a long time ago was a way to show someone that they were very special. When we baptize some one we pour water on their head to show that they are very special to God and to tell the whole world that they are a child of God.

We have water in this baptismal font and it is where we tell people how God has caught them in God’s love forever. I am gong to make the sign of the cross on each of you with water to remind you that you have been caught. Do you know what else? All people have have been caught in God’s love! We can’t sprinkle water on all the people of the world but we can sprinkle the people sitting here today! Should we gently sprinkle water on all of these people to remind them that just like the writer of Psalm 23, God chases them with God’s love and catches them always? Yes!

(Have some small bowls that you can dip in the font to fill with water. The kids can dip their finger in the water and “splash” people in the congregation.)

Dear God, thank you for chasing us with your love! Help us to show everyone we meet that we are all caught by your love and forgiveness. Amen!

As the children and youth sprinkle with water have them say, “You are caught in God’s love.”

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon March 3rd, 2013 Luke 13:1-9 Third Sunday in Lent Year C

February 27, 2013 bw Leave a comment

Have a plant or a little tree for this children’s sermon. You may also want a picture of a fig tree to show the children. Gather the children (and the young at heart!) to a spot where all can see the plant.

Show the children the plant and say, “I have this plant here that I have had for some time. When I first got it, it was small. So I watered it and gave it some plant food. What do you think happened when I watered it and fed it? (Accept all answers) Yes, it got bigger! This plant maybe wont grow to be too big but have you ever seen a big tree like an apple tree or a orange tree? They started out small as well and then with love and care grew to be quite large. And those kinds of trees when they reach a certain age, if they have been cared for, will grow fruit to be shared with people and animals.

In part of our Bible story today Jesus talks about a fig tree (show the picture if you have it) that is cared for by a gardener. It doesn’t give fruit yet and the gardener tells the owner of the tree to be patient and give it more time. The gardener wants to give the tree a little more love and care and time. God is like that gardener for us. God gives us people like our moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas and all kinds of loving adults to take care of us. We grow in that love and care don’t we? Now we don’t grow apples or oranges like trees to share with people but we do have love to share with friends and our family. Do we have to wait to be a certain size or age to share God’s love? NO! We can do that no matter how old we are! What are some ways that we can share love with others? (Accept all answers) We can pray with people, open up our church to those who need a place to sleep, give people food to eat, blankets to be warm (list off ministries that your congregation participates in).

Dear God, thank you for loving us and caring for us. No matter how big we are or how old we are we will share your love with the world. In Jesus name, amen.

Make the sign of the cross on one another and say, May you grow in God’s love and care.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Baptism of Jesus Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

January 3, 2013 lb Leave a comment

Preparation: Baptismal font down front or where you can gather children.

Faith+Gather: Gather the children around the baptismal font. Ask them if they know what this is? What happens here?

Faith+Connect: Yes, baptisms happen here. In our gospel today we hear that Jesus was baptized and we know that he said to go and baptize others. So baptism is what we call a sacrament. Does anyone know what it means? Take some answers. Explain that baptism is about God’s gift of love and grace being give to us totally free. Ask what water does, what is for? Take answers. Yes, water can also be for cleaning and washing so we use water to help show us that God washes all the sin away and promises to love us no matter what we do in our lives. It’s a way that we remember that we belong to God. When we baptize someone we say ‘You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever’ and we mark the sign of the cross on their forehead either with water or with oil. And this is one way we can remember our baptisms too–anytime and anywhere! Let’s do that now. Put your finger in the font and make the sign of the cross on your forehead while I say the words “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever” Now we are going to pray but then we are going to dip our fingers one more time and you can go back to your pew family and make the sign of the cross on them!

Faith+Prayer: Thank you Jesus for your love with us every day. Thank you for water and words that help us remember we belong to you. Amen.

Faith+Blessing: Today you are taking the blessing back to the people around you. Dip your finger in the water and head on back and say to them, “Jesus loves you always”

May use for non profit. Intellectual property rights apply

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.