Faith Formation Journeys

Walking Together in Grace

Tag: Luke

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

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

     

    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.

    FaithCross_ConnectALT  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)

    FaithCross_ConversationALT  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.

    FaithCross_PrayALT  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

    FaithCross_BlessALT  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 Sermon Easter Sunday, Luke 24:1-12 – March 31, 2013

    ffjChildrenSermon

    Faith+Open:  Greet the children with, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!”  If they do not know the response, teach them to say, “Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!”  This will be important at the end.

    Faith+Share:  Have you ever lost something important?  Or even worse, have you ever had anything important stolen from you?  (While this is a real story from my life, it can serve as a generic story for anyone to tell.  It would be even better if you had your own story!)  I remember one time when I had something stolen from me.  I was at work and when I came out after work and walked to my car I noticed a pile of broken glass.  Someone had broken the window on my car!  I ran to the car and looked inside, and they had stolen my radio!  That was a terrible feeling.  I was mad, I was nervous, I was sad, I was worried, and I felt completely helpless.  Now, let’s be honest about this, it was just a car radio, and I needed to get a new window.  Overall it was not a big deal, but it still made me feel all those bad emotions.  I never did get the radio back, but I had insurance that helped me replace the window and get a different radio, so I guess it turned out ok.

    Well, in today’s Gospel story we hear about something that starts out kind of the same way, but is much worse at the beginning and unimaginably better by the end!  This is day that we remember when some of Jesus’ friends went to see his body, remember he had died on the cross a few days before.  They were planning to clean and prepare his body the way that they always did when someone they loved died.  Well, when they got to tomb where the body was supposed to be it was not there!  They thought that someone had stolen Jesus’ body!  This isn’t a thing, like my car radio, it was the body of their friend, of their teacher, it was the body of Jesus.  Can you imagine how upset they must have been?  How scared they must have been?

    But then, two angels appeared and gave them amazing news!  Do you know what they said? (Give a little time for answers.)  That’s right, they said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here, but had risen.”  WOW!  Isn’t that exciting!  Sometimes it is hard for us to really be excited about it because we have heard this story before and we know the ending, but try to imagine how they must have felt then.  Amazed, confused, excited, maybe even more scared?  Let’s share the excitement of the story.  I want you to greet people today with Easter greeting that we used at the beginning.  We will practice again at the end, but let’s pray first.

    Faith+Prayer:   Risen and Living God, Alleluia!  We praise you for the miracle of the resurrection.  Help us to live in the excitement of the risen Christ today and every day. Amen

    Faith+Blessing:  Say, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” – Let then respond, “Christ is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”

    ~GB

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