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Choose from the following Children's Sermons:
1)
Seeing People the Way God Sees Them,
John 9:1-41, by Rev.
Randy Quinn
(see below)
2) Opening
Eyes of Faith,
John 9:
1-41
by F. Schaefer
(scroll down)
3) This Little Light of Mine
by Rev. F. Schaefer (scroll down)
4)
Changing Sides, a children’s
sermon with the entire congregation based on John 9:1-41,
by Rev. Hollis Wright
(scroll down)
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Seeing
People the Way God Sees Them,
a children's sermon based on
John 9:1-41
by Rev.
Randy Quinn
Do you know what we call a person who can’t see? Right. We say they
are blind.
Do you know anyone who is blind?
Have you ever seen someone who is blind?
Sometimes people who are blind use a cane to walk. (I have a cane
with me, though it isn’t a ‘white cane’, it’s actually a broomstick.)
They use it to help them “feel” the ground as they walk. (I’ll
demonstrate a little using my cane.)
But most people who are blind use a cane that is white. Do you know
why it would matter to someone who is blind what color their cane is?
(This may bring some interesting responses!)
They can’t see it, so it doesn’t really matter to them what color
it is.
The real reason is so that OTHER people will know they are blind.
It’s so we will help watch out for them.
But you know what? I think Jesus wants us to watch out for people,
whether they are blind or not. I think it shouldn’t matter to us if
they use a white cane or a plain cane or a walker or if they can see
perfectly and can run a marathon. We should always be looking for ways
to help other people.
Let’s pray:
God, help us to see people the way you see them. Help us to see
ways to help them, no matter who they are or what kinds of gifts they
may have. Help us share your love with them. Amen.
Opening
Eyes of Faith
by Rev. Frank Schaefer|
based on John 9: 1-41
props: a blindfold or use the kid's power of imagination
Ask for a volunteer to allow themselves to be blindfolded and
then fall backwards into your arms. Most likely it will be
difficult to get the child to do it.
Instead of the dramatic blindfolding exercise, you could also
have the children close their eyes and not open them at all. Tell
them that this is like they are blind. Ask them to pretend that they
have NEVER been able to see. Ask them to keep their eyes closed
and think about what it would be like to suddenly get their sight.
What do they think that they would see? Light, colors, people,
building, etc.
Ask them to open their eyes and tell you the first thing they
see. But how would you know that that is your mom? The pew? The
cross? Me?
Talk about how difficult it must be for people with impaired
vision. They have to trust others often with their
lives. Sometimes they rely on dogs, too.
Make a correlation to faith: by nature we cannot see God, we may
be blinded to seeing reality and truth; it takes for God to open our
eyes, to reveal his light to us, to take off our spiritual
blindfolds.
End the session by sharing how Jesus healed the blind man and how
Jesus wants to make us see with our eyes of faith as well.
If you want to experiment with experiencing blindness more,
try this:
Ask for a volunteer from among the children. Explain that the
volunteer would be blind-folded and then receive directions from you
to walk from predetermined points A to B in the sanctuary. The goal
is to get the volunteer there without bumping into things.
Ask before blindfolding the child: "do you trust me to talk
you through this? "Do you have faith in me to get from here to
there without being able to see where you're going?"
This Little Light of Mine
by Rev. F. Schaefer
Object: a battery operated electric candle.
Tell about the meaning of Epiphany as God's Light
coming into the darkened world. Turn on the electric candle
and ask the children what light is useful for (vision, beacon,
warmth--let them feel the heat of the bulb).
Tell them that "God's Light" is a picture
word (metaphor) for a person who came into the world and whether
they know who it is. Ask them why they think Jesus is called
God's Light (he made blind to see, he helped us understand God in a
new light, he saved us from sin...).
God's Light is still in the world today, shining in
the form of the church of Christ. We are the church, you and I
are God's little lights and we are called to shine in the darkness
around us--to make this world a better place. Examples?
Changing Sides
a children’s
sermon with the entire congregation based on John 9
by Rev. Hollis Wright
I need everyone to get into a game of
pretend with me: the whole church.
Let’s divide the church into halves
(sort of halves). On this side – you are righteous, holy, people.
Your parents were righteous and your grandparents were righteous and
your children will be righteous, and their children will be
righteous. You come from a long line of righteous. Hold your heads
up high. You know what is right and proper, and it is you!
On this side – not so holy. You mean
well, but there have been problems in your family. Maybe it was an
alcoholic uncle. Or a daughter that became pregnant too soon. Maybe
your son uses drugs. Or one of your children has asthma. Oh, I heard
that for one of you, your child gets earaches all the time. Someone
else, your child has diabetes. One of you lost his job. You’re the
losers. Oh, somehow you were all born blind. Please shut your eyes.
OK – people with your eyes open, please
begin to tell these people why you are better than they are.
Especially let’s hear from the kids. Please tell them.
People on the losers side. As you hear
then, slump down in your chairs. Put your hands over your ears when
you just don’t want to hear anymore.
Now, “X” you can open your eyes, you’ve
just become a winner. Also your parents – get up and go to the holy
side. People on the holy side – do you want to make room for them?
You don’t have to.
OK. Please sit up straight everyone.
Let’s start with the people we said were not holy. How did you feel?
Let’s go with the other guys. How did
it feel to be a winner?
How about you, “X”, how did it feel to
change sides?
This morning we’re going to hear the
story of the man born blind. As we listen, let’s think about that
man. He was born blind, so he was a loser. And when he was born, his
parents became losers too. And no one wanted that to change.
We proceed with
reading of the gospel of John, chapter 9, in parts.
