Children’s Sunday Sermon
June 2, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. How many of you have ever been to a 31 Flavors ice cream parlor? It’s a lot of fun boys and girls to have so many choices. Decisions… decisions! I once heard a story about an ice cream parlor that had six hundred flavors! Can you imagine that? Believe it or not they had eggplant flavored ice cream, onion flavored ice cream, a flavor that tastes like smoked fish and a spinach flavor, of all things! Whether it’s 31 or 600 flavors, we all like to try new and different things — don’t we boys and girls? But it seems that some people are never satisfied, no matter how many different flavors of ice cream they can choose from. It seems that some people live their lives that way. They always have to be going somewhere or doing something new or exciting and they never seem satisfied with what they have.
Jesus had the same problem with the people of His day. He said to them, “if you really want to be satisfied in life then you must follow Me.” And even though Jesus gave the people all the spiritual food they needed to have eternal life with God, they didn’t always accept it. They didn’t always follow the examples He gave to them. We read in our Bibles that Jesus said, “I am the Bread of life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry.” What Jesus is saying is that as one of His loyal followers you will have everything that you need to live a good life. You will have everything that you need to be happy. You don’t need 600 or even 31 flavors of ice cream to be happy. All you need is the One Lord Jesus Christ!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
June 9, 2013
Good morning girls and boys. How many of you have thought about what you’d like to be when you grow up? Let’s hear some ideas. Excellent! How about a carpenter? Building things is a wonderful profession and Jesus learned carpentry from his foster Father, Joseph. Have you thought about being a teacher? Teaching young people is one of the most important jobs of all, and Jesus was a superb teacher. How about a storyteller? Public speakers and teachers are storytellers and Jesus may have been the greatest storyteller of all time! How about a Doctor? Taking care of people and helping them get well is an awesome job. And in many ways Jesus was a Doctor because He had incredible healing powers — powers far greater than any Doctor living today. In our Bibles we learned about a man who Jesus brought back from death. He restored eyesight to a blind man. That’s awesome. He cured people of terrible disease. Yes, Jesus was a Great Healer.
But just as awesome is Jesus’ power to heal our hearts. You know that He is always right there for people who are lonely, or sad, or who need peace of mind. He’s right there to heal anyone who needs Him.
As loyal followers, we also need to be healers to anyone who needs us to listen, to care, to share with, to help, to be a friend to, to love. Those are all powers of healing that we can use. As members of the Christian family, we are expected to do God’s good works here on earth.
Boys and girls I’m sure some of you will be Doctors someday. But I also know that all of you can be healers for all of God’s children. And that’s awesome medicine!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
June 16, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. Today we read in our Bibles that Jesus said to a woman who was in trouble, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” What does it mean to have faith? What is faith? One of the meanings is the belief in something without being able to prove it. Another meaning is trust. Of course the most important meaning for us is our belief in God — our trust in God. And we can prove it!
For us members of the Christian family it can be easy to trust in God. We see signs of God everywhere. In the miracles of the plants and animals and all of the good things that God created on earth; in the love that we have for each other. But sometimes it’s not easy to have faith.
Boys and girls did you know that the radio was invented just a little more that 100 years ago? And television an even shorter time ago. And the radar that helps planes fly through the sky an even shorter time ago? And all of those inventions have one thing in common. They use invisible radio and other kinds of “waves” to transmit music and pictures and other important information through he air.
The remote control that you use everyday for your TV uses invisible “waves” to work. Amazing, isn’t it! Believe it or not these “waves” were first discovered by a teenager named Giuglielmo Marconi who believed that this invisible energy existed, and he wanted to prove it.
At one end of a table he placed something like a doorbell, and at the other a switch. He pressed the switch and electric sparks flew into the air and the bell rang at the other end of the table — and there were no wires connecting them! Amazing, isn’t it! Marconi had discovered that he could use invisible “waves” in the air to transmit things.
Boys and girls when you turn on your cell phone and place a call, you expect to hear a voice on the other end. But when Marconi pressed the switch and expected the bell to ring he had faith that it would work. He believed that these invisible waves did exist. And because of his faith in his experiment he made the invention of so many wonderful things we have today possible.
And so it is with our faith. Through our faith in God all things are possible. We can’t see God exactly but we can see Him through His miracles — the miracle of the birds and the bees and the mountains and the moon and the stars. And the biggest miracle, the biggest proof of all is the miracle of you! Oh, one more thing boys and girls. God also created the invisible waves that wirelessly connect your computer to the Internet. Amazing, isn’t it!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
June 23, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. Today we read in our bibles that Jesus said, if we really want to be His loyal followers then we must carry our own cross. What do you suppose this means boys and girls? You have already learned that God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to live here with us on earth. And you have also learned that Jesus was nailed to a cross and died a painful death so that our sins may be forgiven. And as loyal followers, Jesus has instructed us to pick up our own cross. You see boys and girls we all have “a cross to bear.” This means that we all have things that we must do that are expected of us, even if they are hard to do. What are some of these things, boys and girls?
What if your grandmother or other relative got really sick and needed you and your family, but the problem was that it was at the same time you were supposed to go on your spring vacation? If your mom or dad said to you that the vacation would have to be postponed, that would be a big disappointment, wouldn’t it? But if you stayed at home instead of going on your trip, you and the rest of your family would be able to give the love, and support and friendship, and care to the person who was sick. And if you did that, you would be doing the good work that is expected of you as a loyal follower of Jesus. Your cross in this situation boys and girls would be the sacrifice that you made when you canceled your trip and instead stayed at home to help someone who really needed you. I’m sure all of you can think of some other examples of picking up your cross. And remember, when you do this, even though it might hurt, you are doing the work that is expected of you here on earth. So this week let’s all get ready to do some heavy lifting!
Children’s Sunday Sermon
June 30, 2013
Good morning boys and girls. If you are planning a family vacation this summer think about this: People who travel a lot say that there is an “art” to knowing how to pack their suitcase correctly. Most of us tend to overload our suitcase with clothes and things we think we need but never use. It’s the same if you carry a backpack to school: if you don’t take time each day to look through it to see what you really need it will become overloaded and weigh you down. Boys and girls, as we go about our daily lives, we can get weighed down with things that might keep us from doing the work Jesus would like us to do. Sometimes bad feelings about others and grudges and jealousies and selfishness can weigh us down. Think of those feelings as things that Jesus would like us to unpack and replace with good things and good feelings
As we travel on our journey through life, all of us — all members of our Christian family are like ministers of Jesus. God expects every one of you girls and boys to do His good works here on earth. And you already know what some of those works are — being kind to your friends, helping others, listening with your heart, obeying your parents and teachers, and most of all — to show your brothers and sisters, how much you care about them as members of your Christian family.
Pack those things into you travel bag for your journey through life!
