Faith Formation Journeys

Walking Together in Grace

Tag: Year A

  • Children Sermon Pentecost 15A: Matthew 21:23-32

    Children Sermon Pentecost 15A: Matthew 21:23-32

    Faith+Open: Gather the children. If they have not heard the gospel story yet, recap it. If they have remind them of what was said along the lines that a father had two children and one said he would do something and didn’t and the other said he wouldn’t but did.

    Faith+Share: Say, “Hhhhmmm… this sounds familiar to me! I think I hear this at home a lot from my own two kids. But you know, I can remember times that I have said I would do something for another person and then either forgot or got busy and didn’t do it. One time I told my son that I would help him out by sewing his cub scout badge onto his uniform shirt and then it was time for the meeting and guess what, I hadn’t done it yet. Or another time, I told a friend I would pray for her when I got him but then I just plain forgot. Has this ever happened to you? Where you said you would do something but then didn’t do it?” Take some answers.
    “I am thinking that one of the things that Jesus wants us to know is that what we say AND what we do matter. It is another way for us to think about being in service to one another. Once my daughter told me she WAS NOT going to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer and I was pretty tired and didn’t want to fight with her so I sighed and walked away. But then I came upstairs and she had done what I had asked. That meant a lot to me. It was a way for her to help me out in a busy day.”

    Now get quiet and whisper and make a deal out of this being a ‘secret surprise”
    “Let’s think of some kind of act of service you can do at home for someone you live with. Any ideas?”
    Get their ideas and then challenge them to go home and do a mystery act of service for someone in their family.

    An extra idea would be to have little “mystery service” cards to hand out to them so they could leave the card wherever they had helped out.

    Faith+Prayer: God, help us to remember to talk about you and be in service to others, showing them our love and your love. Amen

    Faith+Blessing: God in my head, God in my heart, God on my left, God on my right Amen.

  • Children Sermon Matthew 20:1-16 14A

    Summary: The parable of the labors in the field could be summed up by saying “that’s not fair,” a familiar phrase in households with children. They will understand the idea of something not being fair so we emphasize living in God’s grace means that mercy trumps being fair in the kingdom of God. 

    Preparation: a small something to give away (i.e., candy, small crosses, pencils)

    Faith+Open: Gather the children with you. Have the line up from oldest to youngest (or tallest to shortest if that is easier. You can also do a just a few kids if you have too many to do it with all of them) and spend some time examining them in this order making sure it’s right.

    Faith+Share: “Let’s see here. We have the oldest/tallest here at this end of the line and the youngest/shortest here at this end of the line. I have here these (candy or small crosses or some small giveaway) to give out but who should go first?” If you don’t get kids vying to go first right away then prompt them a bit by asking should oldest go first? Or tallest? Or those who got up her first?, etc.

    “Do you have line leaders at school? And what is the line leaders job? So they go first for the day? Hhmmm. Well if this is my line leader then it means the kid at the very end is very last right?” (You may want to have the kids sit at this point, but stay in their line)

    “Well we heard/will hear this gospel story from Jesus that there were workers in a field and some worked from the beginning of the day and some didn’t work until the end of the day but they all got paid the same. Do you know what the workers who got their first said? Yep, they said, ‘That’s not Fair!’ we worked longer and harder and we should get more. But they were given what they were promised, it was just the same as what the workers who came later were promised. Have you ever had something be not fair? So we know what it feels like think that we didn’t get treated the same. BUT Jesus tells this story to teach us about GRACE. See the workers who were hired later still had families to bring home food to and the landowner did not want anyone to go hungry so they were all paid the same. Jesus says that God is like this. God gives us what we need and loves us all so much that we don’t get what we deserve, we get GRACE. Jesus said the last will be first and the first last! This might sound unfair to let the last go first but with God we are all included and we are all a part of God’s GRACE and we are all God’s Children.”
    “We are going to say a prayer of thanks and then I will hand these out. Can you guess which way I will hand them out? The last shall be first!”

    Faith+Prayer: God, you give us grace and love. Thank you for your love for us and for all people. Help us to remember that no matter whether we are first or last we are your children. Amen

    ~LB