Children’s Sunday Sermon
November 1, 2026
Good morning girls and boys. Today is All Saints’ Day. When you hear the word “saint,” you may think of someone whose name is on a church or someone in a picture with a golden circle around his or her head. But what exactly makes someone a saint?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us some clues. He tells His followers, “Blessed are the merciful.” “Blessed are the peacemakers.” “Blessed are the clean of heart.” These sayings are called the Beatitudes, and they describe the kind of people God wants us to become.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Blessed are the people who never make a mistake.” Saints were not perfect people. They were people who kept trying to live God’s way. They learned to forgive. They cared about people who were hurting. They tried to make peace instead of starting arguments. They trusted God even when life was difficult.
Some saints have names that almost everyone knows. But there are many others whose names will never appear in a history book. Maybe there was a grandmother who spent her life caring for her family. Maybe there was a teacher who quietly helped children who were struggling. Maybe there was someone who always noticed the person sitting alone and made room at the table.
Those people may never have statues made of them. But they understood what Jesus was teaching.
And here is something important, boys and girls: becoming the kind of person Jesus describes in the Beatitudes does not begin when you grow up. You can be a peacemaker on the playground today. You can be merciful when someone hurts your feelings. You can notice the child who is left out. You can tell the truth, even when it would be easier not to.
All Saints’ Day reminds us that holiness is not something far away. It begins whenever an ordinary person decides to live in the way Jesus taught.
And that means the story of the saints is still being written.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
November 8, 2026
Good morning girls and boys. How many of you need something to wake you up in the morning? Maybe it is an alarm clock. Maybe it is a phone. Or maybe it is a parent standing at the bedroom door saying, “Time to get up!”
Getting awake is one thing. Being ready is another.
Suppose you wake up on time for school but your backpack is empty, your homework is still on the kitchen table and you cannot find your shoes. You are awake, all right. You just are not ready.
Jesus tells a story in today’s Gospel about ten young women waiting for a wedding celebration. Each one has a lamp. Five of them have brought enough oil to keep their lamps burning. Five have not. When the bridegroom finally arrives, the ones who came prepared are ready to welcome him.
At the end of the story Jesus says, “Stay awake.”
Jesus is talking about more than keeping our eyes open. He is telling us to live ready.
And some kinds of readiness cannot be borrowed at the last minute. You cannot suddenly borrow someone else’s habit of telling the truth. You cannot borrow someone else’s kindness when you see a person who needs a friend. You cannot wait until tomorrow to begin learning how to forgive or how to pray or how to care about other people.
Those are things we practice a little at a time.
Every time you choose kindness instead of meanness, you are getting ready. Every time you tell the truth when it would be easier to lie, you are getting ready. Every time you notice someone who needs help and do something about it, you are getting ready.
So when Jesus tells us to “stay awake,” He is not worried that we might fall asleep in church.
He is reminding us not to sleep through the chances God gives us every day to live the way He taught us.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
November 15, 2026
Good morning girls and boys. Imagine that someone gives you a brand-new box of crayons. There are sixty-four colors, every crayon has a perfect point, and the box has never been opened.
Now suppose you decide that the crayons are so nice that you do not want anything to happen to them. So you put the box in your closet and leave it there.
A year later, the crayons still look perfect.
But how many pictures did you make with them?
None.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a story about a man who goes away on a journey and leaves some of his money with three servants. The first servant is given five talents, which was a very large amount of money. He puts it to work and earns five more. The second receives two talents and earns two more.
The third servant receives one talent. But instead of using it, he digs a hole and buries it in the ground.
When the master returns, the money is still there. The servant has not lost it. But he has not done anything with it either.
Jesus is teaching us something important about being good stewards. A steward is someone who takes good care of something that has been placed in his or her hands. But taking care of something does not always mean hiding it away where nothing can happen to it.
God has placed many good things in your hands. Maybe you are good at drawing. Maybe you make people laugh. Maybe you are a good listener. Maybe you notice when somebody is lonely. Maybe you have a strong voice, a curious mind or a generous heart.
Those gifts are not meant to stay in a closet.
God gives us good things so that we can use them to make something better — to help someone, encourage someone, solve a problem, create something beautiful or bring a little happiness into another person’s day.
A box of crayons can stay perfect forever if no one uses it.
But it will never make a picture.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
November 22, 2026
Good morning girls and boys. Today Jesus tells His followers something that may sound surprising. He says that when we help another person who needs us, it is as though we are helping Jesus Himself.
Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
The people listening to Him are confused. They ask, “Lord, when did we ever see You hungry or thirsty? When did we see You as a stranger?”
And Jesus gives them the answer: whenever they cared for one of the least of His brothers and sisters, they were caring for Him.
That means we should learn to look at people a little differently.
Imagine a new student arrives at your school and does not know anyone. At lunchtime, you see that student sitting alone. You could walk past. Or you could say, “Come sit with us.”
Maybe someone in your class forgets a pencil. You have two.
Maybe your church is collecting food for families who need help, and you choose something from the grocery store to put in the box.
Maybe someone you know is sick, and you make a card or call to say hello.
None of those things seems very big. But Jesus tells us that they matter.
Sometimes people wonder where they can find God. Today Jesus gives us one answer. Look for the person who is hungry. Look for the person who is lonely. Look for the person who needs help. Look for the person everyone else has overlooked.
And then do what you can.
We may never see Jesus standing in front of us asking for a sandwich or a glass of water. But Jesus tells us that every time we care for someone who needs us, He is closer than we think.
Children’s Sunday Sermon
November 29, 2026
Good morning girls and boys. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Christmas is coming, and I am sure some of you have already started getting ready. Maybe decorations are going up at your house. Maybe you have begun thinking about gifts. Maybe there is already a Christmas tree waiting to be decorated.
Getting ready takes time. We do not usually wait until Christmas Eve and then suddenly remember that Christmas is coming.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells His followers to “Be watchful! Be alert!” He wants them to be ready.
But Jesus is not talking about shopping lists or Christmas lights. He is talking about the way we live.
Advent is the season when Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We remember that God came into the world in a very ordinary place, as a little child. And while we are waiting for Christmas, Jesus asks us to pay attention to the ways God may be coming into our lives right now.
Maybe God gives you a chance to help someone at school. Be ready.
Maybe someone has hurt your feelings and you have a chance to forgive. Be ready.
Maybe someone at home needs a little extra patience. Be ready.
Maybe you notice someone who seems lonely. Be ready.
We can put lights on the house, decorate a tree and wrap every present perfectly. Those can all be wonderful parts of Christmas. But Advent asks us to prepare something else too.
Our hearts.
During these weeks before Christmas, we can practice being more patient, more generous, more forgiving and more aware of the people around us.
That is what it means to stay awake.
So while you count the days until Christmas, remember that Advent is not only about waiting for Jesus.
It is about becoming ready to welcome Him.
