Tag Archives: Children’s sermon

Love One Another John 15: 9-17 Children’s Sermon Easter 6B Mother’s Day

May 5, 2015 bw 1 Comment

Have the children come forward. Have them stand in a line and join hands. Tell them that they are going to play a game of electricity. You will start it. When they feel their hand get squeezed, they squeeze the hand of the person to their right. So you will stand on the far left of the line. Start the “electric” chain. Have the person at the end of the line say “We love each other!” After a time or two of the game, pull someone out of the middle and leave the gap. Start the game again. What happens? Half of the chain doesn’t get the “electrical” flow. Have the children sit down right where they are.

In our story from John today, Jesus is talking about how God is with us in our lives and we are also part of God’s life. Because of this, the love of God is in us all and we are to share it with everyone. This is kind of like the game of electricity. It flows from person to person, and we need each other to transmit God’s love. What happened when we pulled someone out of the game? The flow stopped! God needs each and every one of us to spread God’s love! What are ways that we can share God’s love? (Accept all answers) Yes! Those are all good ways!

Do you know what day today is? Mother’s day! We have many women in our lives who show us love! Moms, aunts, grandmas, teachers, friends, SS teachers, pastors, mentors, all kinds of women who love us. We can show all of those women love too! In our worship station this morning we can all make a chain of love! (See Faith + Worship for instructions) We are all needed to show God’s love to one another.

Loving Jesus, you connect us together with your love. You tell us that love is the most important part of all of our lives. May we show all people your love. Amen.

Have construction paper hearts cut out and available (about 2×3 inches would be a good size). Have markers and tape available. Invite people to write names of women who they love and show them the love of God on a heart. Connect the hearts together to create a chain of hearts. Have a table top cross to drape the “heart chain” on or find a place to hang it. Depending on the size of your congregation, pray for the names on the hearts or invite people to pray as part of the worship station.

+Live in the love of Jesus+

Children's Sermons

New life in Christ John 12: 20-33

March 18, 2015 bw Leave a comment

Have some flower seeds, a tulip and tulip bulb, (or a poinsettia,) soil, small pots, and markers, etc. to decorate the pots if you desire as part of a worship station.

Have a tulip, a tulip bulb (or some other bulb flower) or the poinsettia. Gather the children around the tulip/poinsettia. If using the poinsettia ask the children when they last saw this plant. Christmas! The cool thing about poinsettia’s is that they “bloom” (red leaves) when it’s cold and actually need to stay in a dark closet with no light for much of the year. We bring them out in the fall when there is less sunlight and that is when they thrive. In the dark the poinsettias are renewing and getting ready to grow!

If using a tulip and bulb ask the children if they have every planted bulbs before. Does this bulb look like it could become a flower right now? No. It doesn’t. It just looks dead and pretty useless right now. But we plant the bulb in the fall about 6-8 inches underground so that no sunlight gets to them. All winter they stay a bulb in the ground, dead and not doing much. And then when the weather gets warmer and the ground unfreezes and becomes softer and warmer, the bulb begins to grow a stem. And a couple of weeks later you get these beautiful tulips that grow! This dead bulb will stay just the way it is unless we bury it in the dark and let it sit for a while. Beautiful things can come from the dark!

In our Bible story from John today Jesus talks about how new life can come from things that look dead and useless. In nature, tress, flowers and plants have parts of them that die, these become seeds that grow into new life. Jesus was trying to explain to his disciples that he too will die, but it’s not what they think. Jesus will die, they will be sad, but God will bring new life from Jesus’ death-like this flower. Jesus’ death and God raising him to life means that we have new life too! Each and every day God makes us new and we can grow like this flower to share God’s beauty and love with the whole world. When we die, we go to be with God in new life after we die. Jesus gathers us all up in this life and in the next and we are never alone! God brings life from EVERYTHING NO MATTER WHAT! Pretty cool, huh! We have new life and we are never alone.

For a worship station have soil, (small cup for scooping the soil), small terra cotta pots, and seeds. Permanent markers are the best way to draw on the pots so warn parents and have supervision. Have people draw symbols of new life on their pot and then plant a seed. You can have them take them home for the plants to grow during the Easter season, or give them away to an assisted living facility, half-way house or other places where your congregation can share the good news of new life and community forever in Jesus.

God, you bring new life from everything around us. You promise that we are with you always, even when we’re in the dark and can’t see the sunlight. Gather all your people so that the whole world will know your presence and love. Amen.

+Grow in God’s love+

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Lent 4B 2015 John 3:14-21

March 12, 2015 lb 1 Comment

Scripture: John 3:14-21

Prep: For this children’s sermon you will need a blank white piece of paper, a pencil (no pens, markers, etc.) and a flashlight. On one side of the blank paper draw half of a heart. Flip the sheet, hold it up to the light so that you can see where you left off and then draw the other half. When you shine the flashlight from behind you will see a “whole heart.” You can also write the word LOVE with L-O on one side and V-E on the other. This must be done in pencil to be the most effective.

Invite the children to gather where you hold children’s time. Ask them about a time when they were looking for something in a dark closet, under a bed, etc. When it was dark could they see very much? What did they use to see better in those dark places?

Our Gospel story today tells about how Jesus is like that has come into the world. The first part might be familiar, the God so loved the world that God sent Jesus into it. And the promise is that we will be with Jesus for always. It goes on to tell us how sometimes we feel that we are walking in darkness–or maybe sometimes we really are like when we are looking for something in our rooms at night! But darkness can also be the hurtful, scary, or sad things in our world. Jesus promises to be even where it is dark. And Jesus wants us to shine like lights with God’s love for everyone so that everyone can see ALL of God’s love! Look at this piece of paper I have (hold it so that they cannot see the back at all). What do you see? (Accept all answers, someone may even guess half a heart or half of the word “love.”) When I shine a light from behind what do you see? The whole heart or the whole word. God’s love is like this in our lives; God’s love shines on us and through us so that ALL can see God’s love! What are some ways that God’s love “shines through” you? Maybe when you give a hug, or help at home…what else? (Accept all answers.) That’s right! God wants love to shine everywhere!

Dear God, your love shines through us for the whole world to see! Help us to share your love so that no one is in the dark about you! Thank you for your Son who is the light of the world, amen.

Let your light shine so that the love of God is everywhere!

Have paper hearts or paper and scissors to make hearts and flashlights at a table. Encourage people to write a message of love on the heart OR a word about what they are struggling with and then shine the light of Christ through it. Offer up a prayer together of thanksgiving for God’s light that shines through even the darkest moments.

*original heart and flashlight concept by Brigette Weier

Children's Sermons

Transfiguration Sunday Children’s Sermon Feb. 15th, 2015 Year B

February 14, 2015 bw 2 Comments

When you have something exciting to share who is the first person you tell? Your mom, dad, sister, brother, best friend? (Accept all answers) What was the last exciting thing that happened to you? (If they are stumped, suggest a birthday party, a new toy, new friend at school, new pet, etc.) We love to tell people about exciting events and experiences in our lives don’t we? Do we sometimes show pictures or even if it’s a toy, show people what it is that is fun and new for us? Yes! We like to share what’s important to us in our lives.

(You could read this story of Mark 9: 2-9 out of the Spark Storybook Bible or another children’s Bible if you like) In our story about Jesus today, Jesus and the disciples went up to a high mountain and Jesus began to kind of glow-like a glow stick. His clothes were bright white-they would have glowed in the dark! The disciples noticed that he changed and all of the sudden Jesus was also talking to Moses and Elijah who had been dead a long, long time! What do you think they were talking about? Maybe about God and how much God loves us all? I think so. How would you feel if you saw Jesus glow and talk to Moses and Elijah? Yes, scared and confused I think! This is how Peter, James and John felt too! They didn’t know what to do! But God did! All of the sudden God’s voice told them that this was God’s beloved son and that they should listen to him! How can we listen to Jesus? (accept all answers) Can we also watch what Jesus does? Yes! When Jesus helps people, should we help people too? Should we tell people that Jesus loves them? Should we treat people how Jesus treated everyone, as a loved child of God? Can we share the story of God with people? YES! Jesus is very important to us and we are very important to Jesus and we should tell everyone this exciting news just like if we have a new friend, pet, or toy! Jesus was bright like a light and this light shines through us to the whole world! This is the best story to tell of all!

*You can hand out glow sticks or the glow stick bracelets to remind everyone that the light of Jesus shines through them.

Jesus, we are so excited to tell the story of your love to everyone we meet. May the light of Jesus shine through us to your world. We know that you are will us always and thank you for loving us. Amen.

Have a large piece of butcher paper cut out to look like an open book or have it fashioned as a scroll. Invite people during worship station time to write about an encounter or experience about Jesus in their life. You may want to have this out for a few weeks as we journey into Lent.

+God’s story lives in you+

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Second Sunday After Epiphany, 1 Samuel 3:1-10 and/or John 1:43-51, January 18, 2015

January 8, 2015 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: You will need someone to help with this one. The idea is to have someone calling to you from an unseen place. For example, if you have access to a wireless microphone that can be used just outside your worship space, or maybe from behind a screen.

For the worship station you will need a large piece of white paper – like a large piece off an art roll – to make a banner.

Invite the children to gather and ask them if anyone has ever called to them – no, not on the phone – but called to them in a loud voice? Like a friend on the playground, or parent calling for them to come inside, etc. As the children are offering ideas, have you partner call to you. They should keep calling every 10 seconds or so until you find them (so they should be in an agreed upon place to save a little time!), but there needs to be time in between calls for you to talk to the children.

Wait! Did you hear that? I think someone is calling to me right now! Let’s listen. Oh well, what were you saying about being called?

There it is again! Is it one of you calling me? No? Really? Huh. Well, since we are talking about being called we should talk about the Bible stories for today. They are both stories about being called – Hey, there is again! Is it one of you out in the congregation? No? hmmmm. . .

Well, in the stories God calls to people. God calls to Samuel as he is sleeping in the temple, and Jesus calls to Philip and Nathanael to follow him. In both stories the calls are unexpected, and in both stories the people being called have to trust and believe in the call, even though they either cannot see the person calling, or don’t know where the call will take them . . . Listen, there’s that call again! Alright, let’s go find them!

(now go searching for the person, take as longs as you need to find them, make a fun game out if it.)

When you find the person calling, have them ask for help with something simple, like carrying in the communion elements, or with lighting some candles, or collecting offering, etc.

I’m really glad I heard that call, and I’m glad that I could help. Samuel, Philip and Nathanael also answered when they were called and they became some of God’s most important helpers.

Loving God, praise and thank you for all the work you do in the world. Teach us to hear your call, and to work every day to be your hands and feet in the world. Amen.

God calls you by name.

Either hand the blank banner on the wall or lay it out on a table. Have various colors available (crayons, pencils, etc). Invite people to write where they hear God’s call in their lives on the banner.

~GB

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

Children's Sermons

Children’s message January 4th, 2015 Christmas 2 Year B John 1: 1-18

December 31, 2014 bw Leave a comment

Preparation: Have a nightlight, a flashlight, the candle shape printout (click here to download) and some cross or heart stickers to hand out to each child.

Have a flashlight and a nightlight handy. Gather the kids around the Christmas tree if you have one in your worship space or around the altar candles (wherever you have light!).

Talk about how wonderful the lights are this time of year when it gets dark so early. “Is it nice to have candles and Christmas trees to add lights to your house? Did you put lights on the outside of your house this year? We love lights don’t we! Ask the children if they have a nightlight or a flashlight in their room. Why do they have that? (Accept all answers.) Yes, no one, not even adults, likes the dark. Why do you think that is? (accept all answers: can’t see, trip over stuff and get hurt, kind of scary to not know what is in the same room with you…etc.) Light makes us feel safe, makes us feel not alone and lets us see what and who is around is. Light is good!”

Say, “Today’s Bible story has a lot of talk of light. It’s kind of confusing, even for adults, but the writer of the story is telling us that Jesus is the light of the whole world! God sent Jesus to let us know that we are not alone, God is always with us and Jesus’ love shows us all of the people in the world that Jesus wants us to love. God shows us God’s light through Jesus. Jesus is sort of like a nightlight for the whole world. When you look at your nightlight or your flashlight you can remember that Jesus is always with you! He is the light of the world! And do you know what? God says that Jesus’ light shines through us! You can light up someone’s life with God’s love! How can you do that? (Accept all answers) Yes! We can love, help and care for people and be Jesus’ light to them.”

*”If you parents say it’s ok, you can put this cross/heart sticker on your nightlight or flashlight to help remind you of Jesus’ love for you!”

Have a table of tea light candles (electric ones are great too!) and have the congregation light a candle and write a prayer for where they would like Jesus’ light to shine or a thanksgiving for Jesus’ light in their lives. Have a candle shape cutout (link here) for people to write their prayers on. You can have a basket at the base of the Christmas tree or the cross for the prayers to go into. *You can also have people write how they will be the light of Christ to others this week and take their candle piece of paper home. You can also find inexpensive candles for people to write on and take home.

Jesus you are the light of the world! Help us to share your light with everyone we meet. Thank you for being with us always. Amen.

+Jesus’ light shines in you+

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon First Sunday of Christmas, Luke 2:22-40, December 28, 2014

December 19, 2014 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: For the children’s sermon you will need a nativity set plus two more figures to be Simeon and Anna. Set up a table with blank paper doll cut outs and crayons and/or colored pencils for the worship station. You can also just have plain paper and pencils for people to write on in you don’t have time for the paper dolls.

Gather the children around the nativity set and ask them to tell you about the figures that they see. Once they have gotten to everyone there, ask them if anyone is missing.

Yep, there are the kings, and the shepherds, the angel (or angels!), some animals, Mary and Joseph and the baby. It does seem like everyone is there, doesn’t it? I think, though, that we could add some people to the story.

Today in the Gospel lesson we heard about Simeon and Anna. These two people had been waiting for Jesus for a long time! God had told them that they would see Jesus before they died and they were very old when he was born, but like the shepherds and the kings, they were some of the first people to see Jesus and to know who he was!

Simeon and Anna were waiting and preparing, just like we all did during Advent. They know that Jesus was coming, just like we all knew that Christmas would be here soon. There was a difference, though, because we all knew that Christmas would be December 25^th, just like it always it. Simeon and Anna didn’t know when Jesus would be born, they just had to wait and trust that God would fulfill the promise. They heard the good news, and felt the same joy as the shepherds and the kings, so I think we should add them scene, so I brought two more figures to add to this nativity. Let’s put them in place.

Faithful God, we thank you for the witness of Simeon and Anna, and their long wait to see Jesus. Be with us when whenever we wait for news, good or bad, in our lives. Give us patience, faith and courage to be faithful followers of Christ. Amen.

Just as we added Simeon and Anna to the nativity set, invite the congregation to add someone of their own to the set. Simeon and Anna were witnesses to God’s promise, and are for us today a witness to faith in God’s good works. Who in your life has been a faithful witness? Who has been a steady and patient believer in God and in you?

Make a paper doll of that person (or write a little about them) and add them to your nativity set at home!

God’s promises are fulfilled in you!

~GB

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

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Fourth Sunday in Advent, Luke 1:26-38, December 21, 2014

December 16, 2014 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: You really don’t need anything for the children’s sermon. For the worship station we are going to make a paper chain with the whole congregation. So you will need enough 1 inch by 4 inch (2.5 by 10 cm) pieces of paper for everyone to have one, and several rolls of tape. People will be writing on the paper, so pencils or pens would be good, too!

Gather the children and ask them if they have ever done anything scary. Invite a few responses if you have time.

Wow, those are some scary things! How about this, though, have you ever done something scary that turned out to be a great thing? Let me give you an example (Please insert your own story! I will write mine so you get the idea, but please use one of your own.) One time, when I was in college, I was given an assignment that I really didn’t take very seriously. Part of the assignment was to make a presentation in front of the whole class. Well, I think I am pretty good at talking in front of people, so I decided that I would be fine just going in a talking without really preparing myself, or making any notes. I was wrong! Not only did I get a terrible grade, but the teacher was also really mad at me for not taking the assignment seriously. I really had two choices, I could ignore it and take the bad grade, which would have been the easy thing to do. Or I could set up a meeting with the teacher, who was a really scary guy, and see if there was any way I could try again.

The first choice, to just ignore it, was easy, mostly because I didn’t have to admit that I did anything wrong. I could just say that the teacher was mean, which everyone agreed was true, and that he didn’t like me. I could just kind of lie about the whole thing. The second choice was scary because first I had to meet with the mean teacher, and second I had to admit that I had not really tried to do the assignment well.

Well, I met with the teacher, and he was upset about the assignment, but he was pleased that I had taken responsibility. He and I talked for a long time, and he decided to give me a second chance. He and I became friends, and he helped to guide me through the rest of my time at college, and even became one of the biggest influences in my choice to become a musician.

In our Gospel story today, we hear a classic angel phrase, “Don’t be afraid!” The angel is talking to Mary, who is going to be Jesus’ mother! Usually we think about the angel not wanting Mary to be afraid right then, I mean and angel of God appearing right in front of you has to be a little scary! I think the angel’s message is more than that, though. I think the angel is telling Mary to make the scary choice, to go tell Joseph what is happening, to stay with her family and to become Jesus’ mom. Mary could have tried to run away from the whole situation, like I could have just ignored my bad grade. But the angel tells her to not be afraid, that things will work out and be good! So she does it, and look at the amazing things that happened because she did.

Faithful God, we pray often that you keep us from evil, and we pray also that you keep us safe. Today we also pray for the courage to do things that are difficult, because we know that they are the right and good things to do. Amen.

Paper Chains! Have the congregation make pairs and talk briefly about a scary time in their lives that turned out well, or that ended up bringing good things.

After they have had a chance to talk, each person in the congregation is invited to write about a scary time that turned out well on a piece of paper. Then use the tape to make a chain with all the people in their row, then link to the rows in front and behind until the whole congregation is holding one long paper chain. Hang the chain in somewhere in the church, even on the Christmas tree, if you have one in the your church!

God gives you comfort and courage.

~GB

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

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Third Sunday in Advent, Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, December 14, 2014

December 9, 2014 gb Leave a comment

Prepare: You will need a few mission statements from companies, churches and organizations. I included a few, but you may want others, too. For the worship station people will just need paper and pen or pencil.

Ask the children if they know what a mission statement is. You might get a few interesting answers, but see if any of them can really tell you what a mission statement is.

Yes, a mission statement is a simple message that tells the world who you are and what you are about. Here are a few mission statements from companies and organizations that you might know:

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

The ELCA’s mission statement is “Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered and sent for the sake of the world.”

The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

You should also include your own churches mission statement!

Ok, so why are we talking about mission statements? I’ll tell you! I think that this passage from Isaiah might be Jesus’ mission statement. Here, listen to the first part of it again –

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;

Doesn’t that sound like Jesus? Jesus even reads that passage in his home synagogue and says, “That’s me! That is what I came to do!”

That is the Jesus that we prepare for during Advent, the Jesus that will bring good news, bind us up, give us freedom and comfort us, so go get ready!

God with us, bring us freedom and release. Bring us healing and hope. Bring us light and life and joy. Amen

Advent Mission statement time! You can have the paper in the seats or you can set up a station for people to move to.

Think about how you prepare your own heart for this season. What do you look forward to? In what ways are you more generous in Advent and Christmas? What would it be like to prepare your heart in that way every day?

Write down a few words or sentences that describe how you would like to prepare for every day. Something that talks about how you would like to treat others, how you would like to see the world, and what you can do to make it better every day.

This is your mission statement.

Go and be God’s light in the dark.

~GB

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

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Matthew 25: 31-46, We are all connected in Jesus! Christ the King Sunday

November 19, 2014 bw Leave a comment

Preparation: Have enough name tags with different identifications on them such as: “sick,” “hungry,” homeless,” “thirsty,” “stranger,” “lonely,” etc. You can have more than one child with the same “label.” Expand upon labels as is appropriate in you context. Have enough name tags with “Jesus” written on them for each child (or even congregational member).

Gather the children and give them each a name tag with the label on it as they come up. Ask them, “Have you ever needed help and didn’t get any? How did that feel? (Accept all answers) It doesn’t feel that good does it. Have you ever helped a friend or even someone that you didn’t know?” (Hopefully, they will say yes.) “We all have helped someone, even if we may not know it! When we offer a hug, a smile or say a kind word, very simple things, we can help someone know the love of God can’t we? Here at our church we help people we know and people we don’t know in many different ways. (List some of the internal ministries (meals for the sick, visits, etc.) and outward ministries here. If you have any that children participate in be sure to say so and invite more children and youth to be a part of that ministry!) Some of the people we work with are the people that Jesus talks about in our story today and are on your name tags. Why do we do that? Is it just to be good? Is it just because Jesus says so (Jesus does but…)?”
“In our story today, Jesus does say that we should feed hungry people, give water to those who need clean water to drink, give people clothes, care for sick people, etc. And we do that! But it’s not just so that we can feel good about ourselves or make sure that God loves us right? No, God loves us no matter what. You each have on a name tag with a label of a type of person on it. We’ve all been sick, we might need shelter one day or food. We never know, one day we help someone else and the next day someone is helping us. That’s what we call “partnership” or working together. We all need stuff sometimes!”
“Here is another name tag for each of you. Whose name is on it? Jesus! That’s right! Jesus says that he loves us all very much, is with us always and we know that each one of us reflects Jesus to the world with every word, smile and action. Jesus says that you are a part of Jesus and Jesus is a part of you! And you, and you, and you and you (point to all of the children and all of the adults!)! Jesus says that we are connected to God and so we are also connected to each other-EVERYONE matters! We want everyone to know God’s love and to know that Jesus is with them and a part of their lives. So this name tag today reminds you that Jesus is part of you and your life each and every day and you are also connected to all of God’s people!”

We are all connected and share in the life and love of God. Have a large wooden cross or a large poster board cross that can be attached to a wall or free standing. Have several post-it notes and pens on the table with the cross. Invite each person to write a way that they need that community to pray for them this week on a post-it note and stick it to the cross. Then invite each person to take another person’s prayer off the cross and pray for them that week. You can choose to have names on them or not.

We are grateful that you love us all and bring us together for community, support and help when we need it. We pray for all of those who do not have enough to eat, do not have clean water, shelter, or are lonely in anyway. We pray to look for ways to be your love and mercy to all in the world and we long for the day when all of your people have what they need for daily life. In the name of Jesus who is with us always, amen.

+You matter to God+

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.