Children’s Sunday Sermon
January 1, 2012
Good morning girls and boys. Today is the first day of the Year 2012, and I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!
This is a good time of year to start off with a riddle boys and girls. Here goes: What did the snowman order at MacDonalds? Give up? The answer is, “Icebergers with chili sauce!”
As we begin the New Year boys and girls today is also a good time to start thinking about what we want to change in our lives in the months ahead. Maybe you have decided to keep your room clean this year. Or maybe you need to work a little harder on your school work. Most important of all now is the time to start working on the Lessons we have learned in our Bible — Lessons from the Greatest Teacher there ever was: Jesus. That’s right. And now is a good time to remember our most important lesson for the year which is to treat our brothers and sisters, Mothers and Fathers, teachers and friends the way you would want them to treat you!
LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Be kind to each other. Help those who need you. Think of others first.
Today is a very important day to remember these things. And if you promise to think about this not just today, not just on Sunday, but every day, this really will be a Happy New Year!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
January 8, 2012
Good morning girls and boys. Who are your heroes? Spiderman? Wonder Woman? Maybe Superman? Is there a sports figure that you look up to? How about policemen and women, firefighters and other people who are there to help in our communities. Hopefully some of you are thinking of your parents or teachers as heroes. But it’s really not hard to think of the greatest hero of all. By the way He lived His life, Jesus set the best example ever of a hero.
In today’s Lesson, it says that Jesus was “Baptized . . . in the River Jordan by John.” (Mark 1:9). Most of us were baptized when we were little babies to make us members of the Church. But why would Jesus, the Son of God, the greatest Teacher and Hero of all time need to be baptized?
Jesus always put Himself last and others first. By allowing John to Baptize Him, He showed us by His example what He meant when he said, “The first shall be last, the last shall be first.” That means that the person who thinks of others first, before thinking of himself will be rewarded by God.
Now think about the real heroes in your life. This week, let’s all think about those who follow the example of the Greatest Teacher of all — Jesus, the One who puts all others first.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
January 15, 2012
Good morning girls and boys. How many of you have ever played with model cars, or a model railroad set? Maybe you had a model train set racing around your Christmas tree this year — or maybe you saw one in a toy store. What other kinds of models are there boys and girls? That’s right. There are model airplanes, and model ships and model bridges and model buildings. Models are a good way to show us something that is much bigger. Did you know that when engineers and architects are designing a new skyscraper or a new bridge, or a new automobile that they usually start out by building a model? You see models are a good way to imagine how something big will look once it is completed.
Have you ever thought of Jesus as a model? Well Jesus is the Greatest Model ever. Through His wonderful examples Jesus has shown us in our Bibles how great we can be once we grow in our faith as one of His loyal followers. How do we grow into the person that God wants us to be? Just follow Jesus, the Greatest of all Models. Our duty is to live as best we can as Jesus lived. He tells us in the Bible: “Give food to those who are hungry, give drink to those who are thirsty, and as a child of God, love all the children of God as I have loved you.” In other words, share things with those who have less than you, and try to treat them the way Jesus would treat you.
Boys and girls, each one of you has special talents and abilities that God has given you. Some of you are good at sports. Some are good at art. Some of you like math and science. Perhaps some of you like music best. Whatever you like to do, whatever you are good at, each one of you, each child of God is special because that’s the way God made you!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
January 22, 2012
Good morning girls and boys. I have riddle for you this morning. What did the Atlantic Ocean say when it met the Pacific Ocean? Nothing. It just waved! Isn’t that funny boys and girls!
We read in our Bibles today that Jesus is walking beside the Sea of Galilee when He sees a man named Simon Peter and his brother. The two men were fisherman, and they were casting their nets into the sea. Jesus saw the men and instead of just waving, He said, “Follow Me, and I will turn you into fishers of men.” What did Jesus mean by this boys and girls?
What Jesus meant was that if the two men would put down their nets and instead, become good and loyal followers of Jesus, they could help Him spread His Good News message to others. And that is exactly what is expected of us today. As His loyal followers we too can be fishers of men when we decide to do the work that is expected of us. To become fishers of men we must follow the wonderful model that is always there for us — the example of Jesus. To become fishers of men we must show that we are here on earth to help others, and not here just to help ourselves.
Boys and girls when someone is exaggerating about something they did it is sometimes called a fish story. It’s called that because sometimes people go overboard in describing the size of the fish they caught. Maybe they boast that it was this big (hold your hands far apart) when it was really only this big (hold your hands a few inches apart). But what I’m telling you in today’s lesson boys and girls is no fish story. It’s the Gospel truth. It is right here in our Holy Bibles. The story is simple. If you are following the Model of Jesus, and are doing the good works He expects, then you are a fisher of men. And that’s one of the greatest jobs ever!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
January 29, 2012
Good morning girls and boys. I hope you are all doing better in school than a little boy named Johnny I heard about this past week. Johnny told his father that he didn’t want to go to school. His Dad asked: “Why not, do you have a head ache?” “No,” said Johnny. “Do you have a runny nose.” “No,” he said. “Do you have a cough?” “No,” answered Johnny. “Well, then what do you have?”
Johnny cried, “A spelling test!”
I’m sure all of you have felt like staying home when you weren’t prepared for a test in school. But you know that the right thing to do when that happens is to be honest, and ask your teacher and your Mom or Dad for help.
Did you know that Jesus is called the greatest Teacher that ever lived! We have learned in the Bible that Jesus did many things in His life. He went fishing with the Apostles, He prepared dinner for crowds of hungry people, He read the Scriptures at services, He visited the sick, attended weddings, spent time with little children. But wherever He went, whatever He did, He always turned it into a lesson for life.
And through the Gospel Lessons, Jesus continues to teach us to this day. Let’s remember what some of these lessons are:
To help each other;
Not to fight with each other;
To give something to those who need us;
To take care of those who are weaker than us;
To be patient with everyone;
To forgive others who have been mean to us;
To do what is good for others.
And we do these things because that is what God expects us to do. We know this through the teachings of Jesus — the Greatest Teacher of all time!
