Children’s Sunday Sermon
July 3, 2016
Good morning boys and girls. Today I want us to think about some of the “shapes” that we can see in nature — shapes that we see in the world around us. Can you name some of those shapes? That’s right! Mountains sometimes have a triangular shape. With their high peaks that form a point at the top and their wide base at the bottom, they do look like a triangle.
How about a farmer’s field? With corn or other vegetables planted in neat rows the farmer’s field does form the shape of a square or a rectangle. How about when you look far out at the ocean or a big lake? There you will see a straight line that forms the horizon.
And now comes the best shape — the circle. That’s right! The sun and the moon and the earth all look like a circle. And so do many flowers and seeds and other wonderful creations of God. The circle is my favorite shape. And unlike the triangle or the square or the rectangle, or the straight line that all have distinct points, you can’t find a beginning or an ending point of a circle, can you? It just goes ‘round and ‘round and ‘round!
You know what boys and girls, our Christian community is kind of like a circle. Each one of us, joining hands together form a great big circle — and the inside of our faith circle is overflowing with God’s love for us. And each one of us in the circle is very important! If just one person in the circle lets go, we wouldn’t have a circle anymore, would we?
Let’s all get up right now and join hands and form our own circle to show God that we are thinking of him today. And don’t let go! Now this week, as you look up at the sun and at all of the wonderful flowers I want you to think of God’s Circle of Love made up of all of his children joining hands. And that’s a good reminder for us every day boys and girls to keep on practicing the Bible Lessons that we learn here each week!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
July 10, 2016
Good morning boys and girls. Last week we talked about shapes, especially circles, and I hope each of you has been practicing looking for those wonderful examples of God’s love all around you. When we think of circles, we also thing about things like a spinning top, or the hands of a clock, or a merry-go-’round. Maybe you have heard the expression, “what goes around comes around.” What does that mean, boys and girls? Let’s pretend you are watching your friend riding on a merry-go-round. For the first second or two that friend would be traveling away from you, and then, in just a few seconds more that friend would be back around the circle coming toward you. The horse he or she is riding on would leave from a certain spot and come right back to that spot — over and over again. So when people say “what goes around comes around,” they mean that something that goes out in a circle will come back. And what they really mean is, sort of like that circle in the merry-go-’round — when you do something nice, when you send out good things — maybe something good will come back to you. And likewise, if you do something mean, maybe what comes back won’t be so good. Another way to think of it is that we are all responsible for our actions. We are all responsible for the things that we do — and the things that we do will have consequences later on — some good and some bad, depending on how well you’ve been practicing your Bible Lessons!
You know what boys and girls? One of the things that should be going around, one of the things that Jesus has instructed us to send all around is our love for one another. And when we start to send our love and our good deeds around to our friends and our neighbors, just like the circle, that love, and those goods deeds will come back to you.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
July 17, 2016
Good morning boys and girls. Let’s find out what are some of the things you like to do best. You love soccer? That’s great. Soccer is a fun sport and great exercise too. You like to listen to music? That’s wonderful — but I hope not too loud! Does anyone here like school more than anything else that you do? Great! I see a few hands — learning is one the best things to be excited about, though I’m sure a few more of you would say recess, or maybe even lunch is what you like best! Those are all great things that make you happy and excited. When someone is really, really, really excited about something all of the time we say that person has a “passion” for that thing. Henry Ford who invented the automobile had a “passion” for building things. The famous artist Picasso had a “passion” for painting. Some of the groups that you listen to have a “passion” for music. I’m sure you can think of many more examples of people, including yourselves, who have a “passion” for something.
Boys and girls the same can be said about Jesus. Jesus was so passionate about the Lessons He has given us in the Bible that you could say his entire Life was the Lesson. He wasn’t just a great Teacher — He was the best Teacher ever. He wasn’t just a great Healer — He was the best Healer ever. He didn’t just care about others — He loved others so much that he was willing to give up His own life for them!
Boys and girls it is not possible for us to be just like Jesus. But we can follow his passionate examples. It is not possible for us to be able to teach just like Jesus, but we can share His teaching with our brothers and sisters in our faith community. It is not possible for us to heal like Jesus, but we can send around the healing love that he asked us to share with our neighbors. And now I hope boys and girls that you all have a “passion” for practicing the Lessons we have learned in our Bibles. The Lessons from the most passionate Teacher ever!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
July 24, 2016
Good morning girls and boys. Father’s Day was just about a week ago and so now is a good time to talk about fathers and mothers too. Our human families include our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers. And God has a very important role for Fathers and mothers to play in our families. What are some of the important things that God wants our parents to do here on earth? That’s right! Fathers and mothers work hard so they can earn enough money to provide you with food and clothing and a nice place to live. What else? Fathers and mothers are there to teach important lessons especially learning right from wrong. What else? That’s right, most of all fathers and mothers are there to take care of you whenever you need them. Mothers and fathers are there to provide for you, to protect you, to keep you healthy and strong, to feed you, and to keep bad things away from you. And for all of us, no matter how old we are, we will always have our heavenly Father right by our side!
Boys and girls today we read in our Bibles that when we pray we should say ‘Father.’ Why is this important boys and girls? That’s right, when we pray to God, we are praying to our heavenly Father. God is the Father of Jesus — and God is the Father of us all. And that includes every living creature, that ever was, in all of the universe. God the Father is the source of all life.
Boys and girls when we say The Lord’s Prayer, we begin by saying “Our Father.” The next time you say “Our Father,” think about the One who is always there, just like your parents, to feed you and clothe you, to keep you healthy and strong and to keep bad things away from you. And remember also, since God is Father to us all then all of His children are our bothers and sisters. I’ll bet you didn’t know you had such a big family, did you?
Children’s Sunday Sermon
July 31, 2016
Good morning boys and girls. Have you ever asked your mom or dad if you could do something that they didn’t want you to do and they said “NO!” And then came your response: “Well, all my friends are doing it, so why can’t I?” Well boys and girls it is times like that when you have to trust that your parents or grandparents or teachers know what’s best for you! And you know in your heart that just because others are doing a certain thing doesn’t mean that’s it is best for you. Have you ever played “follow the leader?” That’s a fun game where you do everything that the leader is doing. You put your hands up when the leader does, you scratch your head when the leader does, you stick your tongue out when the leader does. But I’m sure you wouldn’t jump off a bridge just because the leader did, would you? That’s silly, but of course you don’t always have to do what everyone else is doing. You don’t always have to “follow the crowd.”
There is a big word that describes doing what everyone else is doing. The word is “conformity” and it means that you will make your behavior match everyone else’s behavior. Boys and girls in many parts of our lives this is a good thing, like obeying the law and following the rules at school. When you cross on the green light you are conforming to the rules of the road. But sometimes it’s not so good like getting a tattoo just because “everyone else is doing it!” Did you know that these days there are nearly as many people going to the Doctor to get old tattoos removed as there are people having new ones made? Maybe those people thought it was a good idea to follow the crowd when they got the tattoo but now they’re not so sure!
Boys and girls this is certain: If everyone would conform to the Lessons that we have learned in our Bibles this would be an awesome world!
What if we could say, “love your neighbor,” because everyone’s doing it!
What if we could say, “help those who need you,” because everyone’s doing it!
What if we could say, “listen with your heart because,” everyone’s doing it!
If we could say those things, then we would know that everyone was following the greatest leader ever. We would know that everyone was following the recipes in the greatest book ever written. And that’s when God would be very pleased that “everyone is doing it!”
