Children’s Sunday Sermon
February 3, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. Do any of you have a fish tank at home? That’s great. Fish can be really fun to watch as they swim around the tank. And if you have a salt water tank, sometimes called a reef tank the fish are especially colorful and interesting to watch. This morning I want to tell you a little fish story. Actually it was a kind of scientific experiment that used two fish in a fish tank. The scientists who were conducting the experiment placed a clear sheet of glass right down the center of the fish tank, with one fish one each side. And every day the two fish would swim to the partition and then turn around and repeat the same pattern over and over again. After they did this for several days the scientists removed the glass in the middle, and guess what happened? The fish swam to the middle and then turned around just like they did when the glass was there. They had gotten so much into the habit of this behavior that they didn’t change once the glass wall was removed. That’s kind of sad, isn’t it boys and girls?
It’s the same way with some of us, boys and girls. Sometimes we set up barriers between ourselves and other people. Or even worse, sometimes we set up a kind of barrier between ourselves and God. But unlike the fish in the tank who are powerless to change their situation, we can remove the barrier any time we really set our minds to it.
How do you break down the barriers, boys and girls? It’s simple. When you follow the example of the Greatest Teacher there ever was, that’s how! When you are kind to a friend who was mean, you will break down the barrier of anger that has been keeping you apart. When you give to someone who has less you will break down the barrier of greed that has keeping you from sharing your things with others. When you visit someone who is lonely you will break down the barrier of selfishness that has been keeping you away. And when you do these things you can be sure that there will be no barrier between you and God.
Boys and girls, this week let’s try not to be like the fish who only stays on its side of the tank. Instead, remove the barrier that has been keeping you from doing the good work that is expected of you. In other words boys and girls, don’t be SELF-FISH, when you can be a real live STAR-fish!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
February 10, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. How many of you have a pet dog at home? That’s great. Dogs can be good and faithful members of the family, especially if they are well behaved. If you have a puppy, maybe he is a bundle of energy who doesn’t always do what you want him to do. Maybe some of you have even sent your dog to obedience school so she can learn to listen and do what you ask of her.
We read in our Bibles today about another kind of obedience. We learn about the story of some men who were not having very good luck fishing. Jesus sees them and tells them to cast their nets and try again. Even though they had been fishing all night and caught nothing, they obey Jesus and throw out their nets. And when they do, their nets fill to overflowing with fish! Jesus says to these fishermen, “Follow Me,” and again they obey.
Boys and girls we are also called to be obedient to the word of God that we read about in our Bibles. We know that our Bible is the greatest instruction book for living good lives that was ever written. And in order to be good and loyal members of our Christian family, we must be obedient to the instructions we read. And as we learned in an earlier Lesson, we must “do whatever He tells us.”
Children’s Sunday Sermon
February 17, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about the word, “Temptation.” What does this word mean? Let me give you an example. Have you ever wanted to sneak into the kitchen and eat some cookies that you mother just baked even though she said not to until after dinner? Now that’s what I call temptation! When we want to do something that we know we shouldn’t but we feel like we can hardly resist the urge, then we are tempted.
We read in our Bibles today that Jesus went into the desert alone for forty days to pray and to think about His work. He had been fasting (that means that He didn’t eat anything) and He was weak and hungry. And this is when Jesus is tempted by the devil to do things. The devil asks, “Why not change a stone into a piece of bread.” And Jesus was lonely so the devil asks, “why not perform some miracle to attract a lot of attention and people will gather around you.” Imagine boys and girls if you were alone without food or other people in a desert for forty days. What sorts of things would tempt you? But Jesus was prepared for the temptations from the devil. Jesus was strong enough to resist the temptation of the devil. And we read in our Bibles that after trying all sorts of ways to tempt Jesus, the devil left him.
Boys and girls each of us throughout our lives will encounter many temptations. Sometimes we may even feel lonely and hungry for things — sort of like we’ve been in the desert for forty days and along comes the devil to tempt us. But if we have prepared ourselves by listening to the voice of God, by doing the work that is expected of us, then can be strong enough to do what is right. We can be strong enough to resist temptation! We can be strong enough to do not what the devil wants us to do but what God wants us to do!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
February 24, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. In the Old Testament part of the Bible, the people of God are often called, “God’s Chosen people.” That means that God had chosen them to do certain things to make the world better. But there were times when they disobeyed God and didn’t act the way He wanted them to act.
In our own lives, we have been chosen to do things God’s way. And when we don’t act this way, instead of being God’s chosen people, we act more like God’s “frozen people.” When you hear the word “frozen,” what do you think of? That’s right. We think of something cold, and hard and unmoving. And it is the same way if we don’t obey the Will of God. You could say that our hearts are cold, and hard and not willing to change. But as God’s chosen people we know what is expected of us. We know the warm hearted work that we can do. We know that our hearts can change when we want them to. We know instead of being hard-hearted we can be kind hearted. And what are some of the things that are expected of us as kind and warm hearted “chosen people?”
We are expected to be kind and warm to those who are sick or lonely. We are expected to be kind and warm to those who have less than us. We are expected to be kind and warm to our family and friends and neighbors. And when we act this way, the way God expects us to act then we will be proving that we are not God’s frozen people. No, instead we will be proving that we are God’s “Chosen people.”
