Tag Archives: Time after Pentecost

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon 21st Sunday After Pentecost (Lec 28), Luke 17:11-19 – October 13, 2013

Leave a comment

Prepare: Bring something with you that is “broken”, but that a child could obviously fix.  Something really simple, like two pieces of wood that fit together.

20130822-223520.jpg  As the children gather be trying to fix whatever it is you that brought, and then ask them for help.  Once it is fixed be sure to NOT say thank you!  Just grab it back, maybe be even a little rude.

FaithCross  Wait, was that what I was supposed to do?  Shouldn’t I say something to (name of child who helped)?  Yeah, what is it that I should say?  Oh!  “Thank You!”

We all know to do that, right?  We all say “thank you” when someone helps us, right?  Here’s a question for you, though – how often to you say thank you to God when you ask God for help?  I don’t know about you, but I pray most often when I am scared or worried, or when I just want God to do something for me.  I pray for God to give me good weather when I want to be outside, I pray for God to help people feel better, I pray for God to comfort people who are scared.  You know what else I say when I pray?  I say, “thank you.”

In today’s Gospel story there are ten people who are really sick, and the disease that they have is really easy to give to other people, so they are not allowed to live in town with all the other people.  They ask Jesus to heal them so that they can go back home, and Jesus does it.  What should they do next?  They should say thank you, right?  Well, only one of them comes back to Jesus and says thank you, just one!  That’s not good!  I said thank you for help with a simple toy, Jesus healed them!  They should all say thank you, and so should we.

Let’s try it together.  I’m going to start a prayer and then I’m going to stop talking so that we can all say thank you to God for something that we prayed for.  (If you children’s sermon happens as part of the main worship at your church invite the whole congregation to do this!)  Ok, think for a minute of something that you prayed about that you would like to say thanks to God for. . . ready?

20130822-223749.jpg  Gracious God, we pray to you all the time for help and comfort, but sometimes we forget to say thank you.  Please accept our thanks for these wonderful gifts you have given us ___________.  Amen.

20130822-223908.jpg  Make the sign of the cross and say, “God be in your head, God be in your heart, God be on your left, and God be on your right.  Amen”

~GB

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

Weekly Devotions

Weekly Devotion Pages for October 6, 2013

Leave a comment

Here are the Weekly devotion pages for the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – October 6, 2013

46a October 6 - 20th Sunday Pentecost Lec 27 Year CFor the month October we have two devotion pages for each week.  There is a set that has a “Faith on the Go” section based on the Gospel readings for the month and as set focused on stewardship and using the 2 Timothy readings.

Download the Gospel text version

Download the 2 Timothy version

Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon (Updated!) 20th Sunday After Pentecost (Lec 27), 2 Timothy 1:1-14 and/or Luke 17:5-10 – October 6, 2013

Leave a comment

Prepare: Find a broom that can be a used as a horse.  Don’t dress it up!  If you are planning on focusing on the Luke passage you should also bring some poppy seeds.

NOTE:  You could modify this for a different imagination-based toy, but the important part is to make the clear distinction between imagination and faith.

20130822-223520.jpg  Ride in on your broom “horse” and round-up the children as they gather together.  Make this into something fun!  Maybe a little “YeeHaw!” would be good.  Try to get them into the game.  Once you have them all rounded up and sitting down move on.

FaithCross  Wow!  That was fun!  Don’t you love playing imagination games?  I just got to ride a horse in church!  Do you like to use your imagination?  That’s great!  Imagination is fun.  For example, I can imagine that this broom is a horse, like I just did, or it could be balance pole and I could be a tight-rope walker, or it could be a shovel as I dig for dinosaurs, or it could be almost anything!  Now here is the tricky question, what is the difference between imagination and faith?  (Give them a little time to think, maybe even take a few answers.)  Maybe I could say it this way, I can imagine that this broom is a horse, but I don’t have faith that I could really ride it someplace far away.

When we imagine something we know that it isn’t real, that we are just pretending, no matter how real the fun is.  When we have faith in something we know that it is real and true even if we can’t always explain why we know that.  Like our faith in Jesus, we have faith that Jesus loves and came to save us, but sometimes it is really hard to explain why we know it is true, or why we believe it.  (Here is where you can choose between 2 Timothy and Luke, or you can use both!)  We heard part of a letter that is in the Bible today, it was written to a man named Timothy.  In that letter we hear that the faith that we have is a gift from God.  We have faith in God’s love and forgiveness.  There is nothing that we can do to earn more love from God and nothing we can do to make God stop loving us.  We know this is true, but we can’t always explain why we know.

Faith can be a powerful thing, too.  We heard Jesus say today that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could tell trees to go jump in a lake and they would do it!  Do any of you know how big a mustard seed is?  Well, I brought some seeds, these are really poppy seeds, but they are about the same size.  Here, take a look, I brought more than enough in this little jar for each of you to have one!  (Had out some poppy seeds).  See how small that is?  Now, I think that Jesus picked something just silly and crazy when we talked about trees jumping into lakes to show just how powerful faith can be.  We don’t really ever expect trees to jump into lakes, but sometimes those kinds of crazy things happen.  And it’s not our actions or even our faith, it is God’s love and grace moving through us and through the world.

So, I can imagine that this is a powerful horse that I can ride across the mountains, but I know that it is just a broom.  I have faith that God loves me and cares for me, and I know that it is true, even when I can’t explain why.

20130822-223749.jpg  Gracious and Loving God, thank you for the amazing gift of imagination!  What fun to be able to pretend to be people and things that we are not and to have things that we don’t.  Thank you also for the gift of faith, to know that you are real and that you care for us, love us and forgive us everywhere and all the time.  Amen.

20130822-223908.jpg  Make the sign of the cross and say, “God be in your head, God be in your heart, God be on your left, and God be on your right.  Amen”

FaithCross_Worship

You will need postcards or something similar and some poppy seeds.  Invite people to tape a (or some) poppy seed to the card. Write “Our faith is a gift from God” on the card.  Then write or draw 3 ways that they can live out their faith this week.  These can be individual cards, or household cards, or cards with friends.

~GB

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

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Luke 16:19-31 Pentecost 19C September 29, 2013

1 Comment

20130822-223520.jpgGather the children up front with you and welcome them. Divide the children in half by something like boys and girls, or by hair color –  something so that they are obviously ‘different’ groups. Talk about what is different. Then have a boy and girl or a couple boys and girls create a ‘bridge’ between the two groups. Have each child go under the bridge to show that they are all in one group now. (an alternative idea would be to show the children pictures of bridges that go across a chasm and describe how a bridge connects two sides)

20130822-223633.jpg Summarize the gospel or read from the Storybook Bible pg. 387.

Say, “Lazarus and the rich man were divided by this big space. What were the things that made them different?” (take answers, getting across the idea that they lived totally different lives, wealth and poverty and that the rich man did not even see Lazarus as a person deserving his help or attention) “Jesus is telling this story to show that it does not matter what kind of differences or chasm is between us and other people we are free to reach out and help anyone, no matter if they are a different person or different religion or different way of living. Also, Jesus is like this bridge. Because he came to show that God has love for all people, Jesus bridges all those things that divide us and connects us together. We are all one through Christ. So just like you came through that bridge from your two different groups, Jesus brings all people together no matter their differences.”

20130822-223749.jpgGod, Thank you for sending Jesus to be like a bridge. Help us to see others who are different from us and be your love in the world. Amen

 

20130822-223908.jpgGod in my head, God in my heart, God on my left, God on my right +

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon 13th Sunday After Pentecost (Lec 20), Hebrews 11:29-12:2 – August 18, 2013

Leave a comment

Prepare:  Bring a mixed up Rubik’s Cube, or other similar puzzle, and a Bible with a bookmark on the Hebrews passage.

20130715-114218.jpg  Be working on the puzzle that you brought as the children gather and talk about how difficult it is (make a good show of this, even if you do know how to solve it!)  Ask the children if they have ever had to do something that was hard or scary as you continue to work a little.  After a few answers . . .

FaithCross  Well, I give up on this!  Let’s look at the Bible story for today instead.  I think that we should look at this story from the book of Hebrews.  (Grab your Bible – you may want to be ready with slightly more gentle language for all the horrible things that happen to the people – and read or paraphrase the text through 11:38.)  Wow!  I thought I had trouble in my life!  Can you imagine what these people went through?  Not having enough food, people who wanted to hurt them because of what they believed, no place to sleep or keep safe and warm?  There’s more, listen to this, (Read or paraphrase 12:1-2).

So all these people who had to endure horrible things are encouraging us so that we should be strong in our faith in God and work to do all those difficult and scary things that we need to do.  Some of you are probably starting school soon, and that can be scary.  A new teacher, or a new school, or maybe even school for the first time!  Sometimes when we get ready for the first day of school we have to go to the Doctor for shots, that can be difficult and scary, too, no matter how nice the doctors, nurses and assistants are.  This Bible story tells us that we should face these scary things with confidence because there is a whole bunch of people who are cheering us on and who are ready to celebrate with us in success or console us when we fail.  We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and by the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Well, with all that in mind, I think that I’ll give this puzzle another try, but let’s pray first!

FaithCross_PrayALT  Jesus, help us to face our fears with the faith that all the heroes in the Hebrew Bible did.  Help us to celebrate your victory over death and to keep our trust in your guidance.  Amen

FaithCross_BlessALT  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 12th Sunday After Pentecost (Lec. 19), Genesis 15:1-6 and Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, August 11, 2013

Leave a comment

Prepare:  Bring a tent.  It does not need to be set up, it can just be a tent in a bag.

20130715-114218.jpg  Talk a little about your tent as the children gather, when you got it, why you got it, how often you use it (this is the important one).  Ask them if they have tents at home.

FaithCross  Today we hear about Abraham and Sarah in two different readings.  Abraham and Sarah lived in a tent!  It wasn’t just a fun thing to do on the weekend, it was their house.  Actually, they probably had several tents, because they had a big household.  There were two of them, then they had many servants to help them, because Abraham and Sarah had a whole bunch of animals.  It was kind of like a moving farm.

So, they had tents, they had servants, they even had animals, but do you know what they didn’t have?  They didn’t have any children!  This was a problem because Abraham had all these things, he was really kind of rich for when and where he lived, but there would be no one to take over his herds and tents when he died.  What made Abraham even more upset was that God had promised that he would have a son to take over the herds, but now Abraham was old, much too old to have children, and so was his wife Sarah.  So, he complained to God about it.  Do any of you do that sometimes?  I know that I do.  I usually don’t get very far when I complain to God, but for Abraham God showed up and said, “Don’t you remember what I promised?”  God promised Abraham again that he would have a son, and that his descendants would be as many as the stars in heaven!

Abraham and Sarah kept their faith in God’s promise and God gave them a son!  Abraham had to wait a long time for God’s promise.  We, too, should keep our faith in God, and hold on to God’s promise of love and grace and mercy for us in our lives.

FaithCross_PrayALT  Gracious God, we rejoice in your promise of love, mercy and grace.  Help us to stay faithful to you like Abraham and Sarah did, and keep your faith in us like you kept your faith in Abraham. Amen.

FaithCross_BlessALT  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.