Children’s Sunday Sermon
December 3, 2017
Good morning girls and boys! Is everyone awake? Good, because I want to start with a funny story and I don’t want you to miss any of it. A mother and her son were arguing about whether or not the son would go to school that day. “I don’t care what you say, I’m not going to school today,” the son said to his mother. “I don’t want to stay awake. I want to go back to sleep!” “Wake up, you must go,” said the mother. “You don’t understand, mother,” said the son, “the kids don’t like me; the teachers don’t like me. The bus driver hates me. The custodians have it in for me. And the superintendent wants to transfer me.” “Now you listen to me” replied the mother. “You must get out of bed and go to school. You have a lot to learn and you have a lot to offer. Besides, you are forty-five years old and you’re the principal”
That’s a funny story boys and girls. I’ll bet you didn’t guess it was going to be about a principal who didn’t want to stay awake!
Did you know that the Bible tells us to “Stay awake?” That’s right! It doesn’t mean that we should stay up past our bedtime and then be too grumpy in the morning to go to school like that principal. No, instead it means that we should be alert— just like you are after a good night’s sleep and you are ready to learn your school lessons. Yes, the Bible tells us that we need to stay awake. In other words, we should always be alert and ready to practice our faith. We must always be alert and ready to do the good works that are expected of us as loyal followers of Jesus.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
December 10, 2017
Good morning boys and girls. Today we read in our Bibles of “The Good News about Jesus Christ” (Mark 1:1). What is this Good News we are reading about here? Well, we have learned in our earlier lessons that the Word Gospel, means Good News. And it is the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John who tell us of all of the wonderful works that Jesus did while He was here with us on earth. The Good News is that God loves us so much that He sent His own Son to live with us here on earth so that we could have eternal life with God.
While traveling to spread the Good News of Jesus, the Apostle Paul encountered many dangers from storms and raging rivers and people who wanted to persecute him. He worked without sleep. He went hungry and thirsty. He suffered in the cold without proper clothes (II Cor. 11:26-27).
And that is just a partial list! Later He was put in prison, and even in the midst of all of his suffering, Paul tells of the joy he has found. He says. “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Why would a man who suffered so much experience so much joy? Paul answers: “The Lord is very near. There is no need to worry” (Phil. 4:5).
We may not experience the same pain and suffering that the Apostle Paul did but sooner or later we all face tough times in life. And when that happens, what we need to remember is that no matter what the difficulty, no matter what the suffering, “The Lord is very near. There is no need to worry.”
Children’s Sunday Sermon
December 17, 2017
Good morning boys and girls. Can I see a show of hands of all those here who are afraid of the dark? I don’t see too many hands raised boys and girls. For most of us when we are little there are times when we are afraid of the dark, but I know you are all too grown up now for that! And these days, in case you need to get up at night when the lights are out, you may have one of those little night lights that will help guide your way in the dark.
Today we read in our Bibles that Jesus is the “Light of the World.” That’s right. We know that Jesus is here in our lives to shine His bright light of love into our hearts. We have read before in our Bibles that Jesus is like a bright light shining on His loyal followers. And His bright light is there for each one of us to help guide us on our way when things seem dark. In other words, boys and girls, when things are not going so well for us and the day seems dark and gloomy, Jesus is there to change all of that.
Now let’s read further from our Bibles. We read that Jesus said that we are the light of the world! That’s right He says that we must shine our light on those who need us. You see Jesus wants us to reflect His bright light from our hearts into the hearts of others. And as loyal followers, you already know from our lessons when we need to shine our lights most. That’s right, when someone is lonely and needs a friend we should be ready to light up their day with a smile. Or when someone is sick, we should be ready to light up their day with a special visit. Or when a little brother or sister or cousin wants to spend time playing with us, we should be ready to light up their day by sharing our things with them.
Boys and girls, each of us is expected to be like a mirror, reflecting Jesus’ bright light of love into the lives of our friends and family and neighbors. And when you do that boys and girls you will be a shining example of God’s love for us. The next time you hear your mother or father call out to you to “rise and shine,” I want you to think about today’s lesson and how you can shine your light that day for someone who really needs you! That’s what I call a bright idea!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
December 24, 2017
Good morning boys and girls. Christmas will soon be here and I know all of you are very excited as you get ready for this very special day. And so am I. As you know, Christmas is the day that we celebrate the birth of the Savior, the Baby Jesus. And like the gifts you will unwrap on this Christmas morning, the Baby Jesus is a gift for each and every one of us. When God sent His Son to live among us on earth it was the greatest gift ever!
And now it is time for us to prepare for next Sunday’s celebration of the birth of Christ. Now is the time for us to get ready to give thanks for the greatest gift ever. How do we get ready boys and girls? Well by now, most of the material preparation for this celebration is over. All of the presents, (or most of them) have been purchased and wrapped. Maybe you already have a big turkey waiting in your freezer for Christmas dinner. That’s all great. But we must also be preparing for our spiritual celebration. We must prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus who was sent to earth as a precious Gift to us to show us how much God really loves us. In the Christ Spirit, we celebrate the birth of Jesus who taught us by His wonderful examples how we can do the good work of God here on earth. We learn in the Bible that Jesus is the “true light that enlightens all men.” And this Christmas we celebrate the day the true light first came to light up our lives. And we can prepare by being ready to shine that bright light into the hearts of others.
On Christmas morning boys and girls it might be hard to think of the deeper spiritual meaning of the day as you open your gifts with your family and relatives. But as you look at all of the sparkling lights that are all around us on Christmas Day, just remember the One who came here to shine His light on each one of us. Remember the reason we celebrate Christmas Day, and then say thank you to God for the most precious gift of all: Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
December 25, 2017
Good morning girls and boys. I want to wish each of you a very merry and a very blessed Christmas on this day as we gather together to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Today we celebrate the greatest Christmas present ever — and it has been given to each one of us. You see boys and girls, God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to live here with us on earth. He sent us His only Son to show us the wonderful example of His good works. He sent His only Son to us to shine His brilliant light into our lives.
Boys and girls, I’m sure many of you received some nice gifts this morning. And I know many of you spent a lot of time and effort planning and maybe even making some of the gifts that you gave to your family and friends. Did anyone make a gift for your Mom or Dad or brother or sister? That’s great! Sometimes the nicest gifts we can give are those that we make ourselves — like a picture you drew or something you made in your workshop at home or a special Christmas project at school. Many times a gift like that tells the person who receives it just how much we care about them and how much we are thinking about them. And we can do even better than that boys and girls. We can give the gift of ourselves, not just on Christmas Day but every day of the year. What does this mean to give the gift of ourselves girls and boys? That’s right when you give your gift of time by visiting someone who is sick or lonely you are giving them a beautiful gift of yourself. When you give the gift of sharing with a friend or family member you are giving them a beautiful gift of yourself. When you give the gift of listening to someone with your heart you are giving them a beautiful gift of yourself. These are among the greatest gifts that we can give to each other. Gifts to show how much we really care. Gifts that show how well we have been following the example of Jesus, the greatest gift ever!
Boys and girls, it’s okay to buy a present at the store. That can be a very nice sign of how much you are thinking about someone. But when you give the gift of yourself you are sharing the greatest gift of all — and that is a reflection of God’s shining Love for each one of us. Merry Christmas boys and girls!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
December 31, 2017
Good morning boys and girls. I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year!
Today we read in our Bible about Jesus growing up. The Bible says, “the Child grew to maturity and was filled with wisdom” (Luke 2:40). Of course, we already know that Jesus was a very wise Man. He has been called the greatest Teacher of all time. When Jesus was only twelve years old He went to the Temple in Jerusalem and surprised the teachers there with His great knowledge of the religious law. Jesus was very wise indeed. Just like Jesus growing in wisdom you too are expected to grow in wisdom by following His example and practicing what you have learned. Just like your other school lessons, if you don’t study and practice what you have learned you will not get any wiser. And the Lessons that Jesus has for us are meant to be practiced our whole life long. Practicing our faith is a life long job!
Boys and girls as you grow older, and hopefully wiser, you will learn many things at home and in school. You will be given many text books for studying your math, and history and science lessons. And as you complete each of your courses of study you will be finished with that particular text book. But is not the same for our Holy Bible boys and girls. Our Bibles are our text books for living that we must refer to for our entire lives. You see boys and girls there is more wisdom available to us in this book than in all the other books ever written. And to continue to grow wise you must keep up your Bible Studies on how to live the good life Jesus offers you.
Boys and girls as good students of your Bible Lessons I see already that you are growing wiser. Now keep up the good work!
