Tag Archives: Ephesians

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon 2nd Sunday in Christmas, John 1:10:18, Ephesians 1:3-14, and/or Jeremiah 31:7-14 – January 5, 2014

Leave a comment

Prepare:  Bring a beautifully wrapped box.  There doesn’t need to be anything in it, it is just a visual aid. However, if you wanted to you could have a small baptismal remembrance in the box for each child.  Maybe a small shell, or a dove.  It would be a fun addition, but it is not necessary.

20130822-223454.jpg  Welcome the children with a big “Merry Christmas!”  You may get a few strange looks or “Christmas is over” comments, but that is exactly what you want.

FaithCross  What do you mean Christmas is over?  We still have one more day, today!  This is the last day of the Christmas season – it is the twelfth day of Christmas, just like that song, The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Do you know that song?  I can’t always remember all the gifts that were given in the song, but I do remember that a gift was given for each day of Christmas.  (This is where you would have the gift box out.)  I have a box here all wrapped up like a Christmas gift.  Maybe you got gifts on Christmas, I know that I got a few.

Maybe you are wondering why we are talking about Christmas gifts here?  Well, it’s because all of the readings from the Bible today talk about an amazing gift that God gives to each of us.  God adopts each one of us as God’s children.  Each of us are loved, forgiven, given God’s mercy, accepted by God for who we are.  God sets aside any and all bad things that we have done and loves us more than any of us could imagine.

Wow!  What a gift!  Now, what are you going to do with that gift?  Think about it – What did you do with your other Christmas gifts?  I, for example, got some new pants (ok, insert a gift that you got here) and I am going to wear them!  I might even point them out to people, “Hey, check out these great new pants!”  Well . . . maybe I won’t point them out to everybody, that might be a little weird . . .

Some of you might have gotten Legos, and I bet you will build them and show them to your parents and friends and aunts and uncles.  Some of you might have a new doll or toy truck – I bet you will play with that and take it with you friends houses.  Or maybe you got a new game or a bike!  You will probably play with all of them.

So, what will you do with God’s gift?  Will you keep it a secret?  Will you hide it and not let anyone know that God loves you?  Or will you share God’s amazing love and forgiveness with others?

(If you did bring a reminder for each child hand it out now)

Here is a little reminder that you are loved by God.  Take this with you and share God’s love with everyone you meet!

FaithCross_PrayALT  Loving God, we praise you for your generous gift of love and forgiveness.  We thank you for the grace that gives us another chance when we don’t get things right, and we thank you for the love that surrounds us when we are sad or afraid.  Help us to share your love and grace throughout our lives.  Amen

FaithCross_BlessALT  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

Children’s Sermon Pentecost 13 Aug. 26th, 2012 Ephesians 6: 10-20

Leave a comment

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20

Preparation: Have a bag with a hat labeled “salvation,” a vest labeled “righteousness,” a belt labeled “truth,” and a cardboard shield labeled “faith.” Have a Bible on hand as well.

Faith + Open: Invite the younger members (or the young at heart!) to a gathering space. Say, “I see that you are all wearing shoes and clothes today! Why do we wear shoes and clothing? Especially maybe a coat when it is cold or raining? (Accept all answers) Right we wear these things to protect our feet from the ground or our skin from the sun or from freezing temperatures! Shoes and clothes help us to be not only comfortable but safe and able to move around outside and do things that need to get done.

Faith + Share: Paul in a letter to some people in Ephesus talked about wearing some things that he called the “armor of God.” Does anyone know what armor does? (You may need to offer examples of medieval knights or police officers/firefighters.) Yes, armor protects our bodies. Paul here is talking about armor that protects our hearts so that we can talk about God to everyone we meet. Now I need a volunteer-begin to “dress” the young person-here is a belt. What word is on it? Truth. When we remember that the truth of God is that God loves us and everyone else we act loving to everyone we meet! Here is a vest-Paul uses the word “breastplate”-something that covers your body. It has the word righteousness on it. Righteousness is a long word that means we try to follow Jesus every day of our lives by loving God and our neighbors as best we can. Then we have a shield that has the word “faith” on it. Faith is a gift from God that keeps us close to God and helps us to remember that God is with us always. Let’s see, this hat has the word “salvation” one it. Salvation is another long word that tells us that Jesus died on the cross so that we can live with God forever, and we don’t have to worry about being separated from God ever! These are all pretty good things that help to us to know that God is with us always. But I think to wear them all the time would get cumbersome. You know, Paul also talks about the “word of God” which is what? The Bible that’s right! The Bible talks about all of these things (point to the clothes) and that God’s truth, righteousness, faith, and salvation are with us always and keep us close to God.

Sometimes we may not feel close to God but Paul says to pray all the time and for everything that happens in our life, good and bad. God hears our prayers and protects our hearts with faith, salvation, righteousness, truth and most importantly, love.

Faith + Prayer: Let’s pray: “God you are with us always. Thank you for giving us what we need to love you with our whole heart. We want to share your love with everyone we meet so that they know that you protect their hearts no matter what too! In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Faith+Blessing: May your eyes be opened to see all the amazing works of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

BW

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Aug 12, 2012 Pentecost 11B John 6: 35, 41-51

Leave a comment

Scripture: John 6:35, 41-51

Preparation: canned food or loaves of bread–or whatever items you are collecting for a food bank or other project. Take your items and ‘hide’ them around the sanctuary where they will be visible from where the children sit, but not too obvious. You are going to play a version of “I Spy” with the kids looking for these items.

Faith+Open: Gather the children up front with you. Say, “Good morning! I am wondering if you can help me find some things. I think there are some items like this one (hold up a sample) hidden around this room. Raise your hand if you can spy anything from where you are.” Take a few minutes and let kids find things. You go get the items as they spy them.

Faith+Share: Say, “Wonderful job! You have found all of them-good thing we won’t be finding pork and beans behind the altar at Christmas! Do you know what these items are for?” Take answers. Then go on to explain what you are collecting the items for and how they can help. One idea for food is to have grocery bags with needed items listed on them to hand out for the kids to take home and bring back next week.

Say, “In our gospel story Jesus says that he is the bread of life and in our reading from Ephesians we are hearing about how we live together as a community, as people who care about one another. When Jesus says he is the bread of life he is talking about how he gives life and love for you and for all people. Bread is food and we need food to live. We also need the word of God and Jesus to live as Christians. We then take what we have and share with others. So we will take this food (or other item) and share with those who need it so that they can know they are loved and cared for by us and by God.”

Faith+Prayer: Jesus, we love you. Thank you for giving us the bread of life. Thank you for giving us gifts to share. We pray for everyone who is hungry or thirsting or lonely or sad. Be with them God as we know you are with us. Amen

Faith+Blessing: May your eyes be opened to see all the amazing works of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

~LB (adapted from original children’s sermon by Pastor Michael Stadtmueller)

Use with permission for non profit. Intellectual property rights apply

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon August 5th, 2012 Pentecost 10

Leave a comment

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 4: 1-16

Preparation: Find a Mr. or Mrs. Potato head with all the pieces.

Faith + Open: gather the children to where they will have room to move around a bit.

Faith + Share: Say “so many of you know what this is! I think we all had one when we were kids (if you did not then share that!). It is fun to put him/her together isn’t it? You can put in the eyes, the hat, arms, legs, nose, mouth. Be putting it together as you speak. What if I put the eyes where the arms go and the arms were the legs go? Would that work? What if your feet were where your ears were!? How silly is that! (make a silly potato person) No our arms and legs are where God wanted them to be so that we could walk and do many things easily.

Paul talks about how all of us together are like one body. Just as legs are very good for walking but not for hearing and arms are great for carrying and hugging but not for seeing, so each of us has something that we are good at that no one else is. What are you good at? Accept all answers. God gave you those special gifts to show God’s love to someone else. While we sometimes wish we could do something that someone else can do like being a fast swimmer or a good drawer, we can be happy about all the things We are good at. That doesn’t mean that we don’t try fun things and draw and swim but we know that we have special gifts from God that no one else does. So when we are bigger that means that some of us may be teachers, or computer people, or writers or doctors or lawyers whatever you want! But does a teacher work in a hospital? No in a school, does a doctor work at a school? No in a hospital. So it matters where we are and how we use our special talents! A doctor in a school would have a harder time teaching math than a teacher and a teacher would have a hard time doing surgery! God makes sure that we are exactly where God wants us to be to show God’s love to the world. God is good!

Faith + Close: Prayer: Wonderful God, we are so glad that none of us are exactly alike! Thank you for our special talents and gifts! We want to use them to love you! Amen

Faith + Blessing: May your eyes be opened to see all the amazing works of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon July 29th, 2012 Pentecost 9

Leave a comment

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 3: 14-21

Preparation: Pen and paper if desired

Faith + Open: Gather the children to where you have children’s time and open in prayer today. Dear God, we love to talk to you! Sometimes it’s a prayer in a group like today or by ourselves! We talk to you so that we can give you our love! Amen

Faith + Share: Say: We don’t normally open our time together with prayer but pray at the end of our time. When do you pray in your day? (Accept all answers.) That’s right, we pray for our meals, at night, in church, in Sunday school, maybe in the car, on the soccer field. What kinds of things to you talk to God about? (Again accept all answers) Yes, we can talk to God about all kinds of things can’t we? God listens to us no matter what we are saying. Well in the letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians what we read today in church is not just about praying but is a prayer that Paul prays to God about the Ephesians! What did Paul pray for, a new puppy, or a new toy? No, it’s fine to pray about those things too! God likes to hear everything we have to say, but Paul is praying for the Ephesians to be rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus (v. 17) that they are filled with Jesus Christ, that they are given strength and that they give glory to God always. Those are pretty good things to pray for too don’t you think? So the Ephesians were learning that there are all kinds of things we can pray to God about! What should we pray to God about right now? If you need, write down their prayers and then pray them together!

Faith + Close: Prayer: Dear God, fill our hearts with your love. We also pray:…(Insert prayers here) Amen

Faith + Blessing: May your eyes be opened to see all the amazing works of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

BW

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon July 22nd, 2012 Pentecost 8

Leave a comment

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 2: 11-22

Preparations: Gather some Legos of all different sizes and colors. You will also want one of the bases to build upon. You will need enough to build a small structure.

Faith + Open: Gather the children to a spot where they can sit around you to watch you build.

Faith + Share: Say, “One of the things I love about building with Legos is that you can use all different sizes and colors to make a cool building! All kinds of sizes are needed as I try to make corners, window spaces, door spaces, the roof, etc. How many of you build with legos or blocks of some kind? Do you have only one size of block in your collection? (The answer will probably be “no.”) Right! It takes all kinds of blocks to make this one structure. And it can take many people to help build a big lego building. Can each of you add a piece to what I am building?

(While the children are building say) Well, today in our letter from Paul, Paul is talking to some people in a place called Ephesus who were wondering what kind of people God could use in the family of Christ. Paul tells them that God loves and needs everyone! Every person no matter what size or shape is needed to build the family of Christ! We all build upon each other and we all need each other! When we work together we build up the family of God so that we can learn, love and teach other people about God! And do you know who is our foundation? Jesus! That’s right! Just as this base we are building our structure on keeps the building solid, building on the love of Jesus in our lives keeps us solid with our friends, family and neighbors! What a wonderful thing!

Faith + Prayer: Dear God, thank you so much for Jesus in our lives! Help us to work together to build a strong family of people who love you. Amen

Faith + Blessing: May your eyes be opened to see all the amazing works of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

BW

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon July 15, 2012, Ephesians 1:3-14 – 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Leave a comment

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 1:3-14

Preparation: Bring a baptismal certificate from your church, or even better, bring your own Baptismal certificate.

Faith+Open: Gather the children near your baptismal font if possible and ask them if they know what this place in the sanctuary is for. If you cannot gather at the font, talk about baptism as the children come up, maybe remind them of the last time someone was baptized at you church.

Faith+Share: That’s right, this is where we baptize people! (In my setting we always have water in the font and the children are used to being splashed with water as we gather.) I bet you are wondering why we’re here, since the stories today don’t really seem to talk about baptism at all. Well, it’s because one the part of the letter to the Ephesians that we read makes me think about baptism! In that letter it seems like Paul, or whoever wrote the letter, is writing to a group of people who don’t think of themselves as children of God. He says this great thing in the letter, he says, “He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:5 NRSV)

Many of the people in this part of the Bible were totally new to the stories about Jesus and God. Many of them probably felt like they did not deserve the grace and love of Jesus. Maybe because of where they were born, or what they used to believe, or because of things that they had done. The author of the letter is telling them that even if they were not born into a community that believes in God and Jesus, they are still part of the family. God adopts them as God’s own children and gives them all the good things that Jesus promised.

We hear the same message today! Even when we might not feel like we deserve God’s love or forgiveness we still get them! God loves us and seals us with the Holy Spirit, which brings me back to baptism. Baptism is one of the ways that we are reminded that we are all one family in God’s love and care. When we baptize people we give them a certificate to remind them of the amazing gift of God’s love and our adoption into God’s family.

Faith+Prayer: Loving God, thank you for this amazing family! Teach us to love and care for each other the way that you care for us. Amen.

Faith+Blessing: May your eyes be opened to see all the amazing works of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

– GB

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