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Choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• Pearls of Wisdom, Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
  By Rev. Randy Quinn      (see below)
   

• God's Faith Exam, Mark 7:24-37
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer  (see below)
   

• Thank God for Grandparents
  a children's message for Grandparent's Day
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer  (scroll down)

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Pearls of Wisdom
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
By Rev. Randy Quinn

I have some beads with me.  There are all kinds of colors and shapes of beads.

What can you do with beads?  Do you have any ideas?

Ø  We could just leave them like this.

Ø  We could take one or two out and glue it onto something.

Ø  We could take all of the blue ones and make something blue.

Ø  We could set them in a repeating pattern.

Ø  We could put them on a string and make kind of a necklace out of them.

We could do lots of things with them.  But if we made a necklace, I suspect that each of you would make a different necklace, wouldn’t you?

Ø  Some would keep it all one color – your favorite color.

Ø  Some would use just two colors and alternate between those two.

Ø  Others would make three or four of the same color in a row and then another color.

Ø  Some would use three or four beads and lots of string while others might fill the string with beads.

The book of Proverbs is filled with little sayings.  I like to think of them like a bunch of beads in a container.  There isn’t necessarily a pattern to them like they are – so you can choose one or two and make something out of it or you could try and arrange the whole thing.  It’s up to you how you will use them.

But, the Proverbs are a gift from God for us to use.  And when we learn how to do that, God will use them to make us wise.

Let’s pray: God, thank you for the Proverbs.  Thank you for these little pieces of wisdom that we can take and use in ways that will help us live better lives.  Show us which ones you want us to listen to today, we pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

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God's Faith Exam
a children's sermon based on Mark 7:24-37
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
props: none

Welcome, my little friends.  In our bible reading this morning we read about a woman who had traveled a long way to ask Jesus for a favor.  In fact, she was not even an Israelite, she was from another country.  But her daughter was very sick and she loved her so much and did everything to make her well.  One day she must have heard about Jesus and how he healed people.  She loved her daughter so much that she traveled a long way to ask Jesus to heal her.

What do you think Jesus said to her request?  Did Jesus heal the woman?

You would think so, wouldn't you, but to everyone's surprise, Jesus did not say: "sure, I heal your daughter."  Instead he said: "Sorry, I was sent to heal the people of Israel, not foreigners."

How do you think the woman felt when Jesus said that to her?

That's right, she probably felt awful, embarrassed, hurt, disappointed . . .

To tell you the truth, had Jesus said that to me, I would probably have turned on my heels and stormed out of there.  But this woman did not do that.   She was very persistent.  She probably thought that Jesus was just testing her faith.  Jesus wanted to see how much she believed in him.

So, the woman kept arguing with Jesus.  She said: well, Lord, you may have been sent t the Israelites first, but I know that some of your grace also spills over to us foreigners.

When Jesus heard that, he was amazed at the faith of this woman, and he said to her in so many words: "you have passed the test; because of your faith, I have healed your daughter.

You know, sometimes when we don't feel God, or it seems that God is not answering our prayers right away, it may just be that God is testing us.

When a situation seems hopeless, it is important for us to keep praying.   Never give up on God; God will answer our prayers in time.  Amen.

 

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Thank God for Grandparents
a children's message for Grandparent's Day
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Props: a picture of grandparents (preferably yours)

Good morning boys and girls: today, we want to give God thanks for Grandparents. I brought a picture of mine; the grandparents that lived close by, I used to call "Omie" and "Opa," and this is what they looked like [show picture].

They are both with Jesus in heaven now, but when they were still here with me, they used to take care of me and my brother. We would visit them and my grandma would cook us anything that our little hearts desired. And grandpa was a lot of fun. We would play tricks on him, and he would get mad at us and chase us around the house. But what I liked best about "hanging with" my grandparents, I would always ask them if the stories my parents told me were true. I remember asking them: "can you tell me a story from when my mom was little?"

But enough about my grandparents, what about yours? Who of you has grandparents? Who of you see your grandparents for holidays? Every month? How many see your grandparents every week?

[Ask the children to share about their grandparents] Helpful lead questions: what do you call them? What do you like about visiting them? What do you do when you go see them/when they come over for a visit? Do they hug you? When you tell them about something good that happened, what is their reaction? Are they happy for you? What kind of things do they give you? . . .

Wow, we have shared a lot of good things about our grandparents this morning; a lot of things we can be thankful for. Do you think we should say "thank you" to God for our grandparents (nod head lightly to encourage a "yes")?

But before we say a prayer of thanks to God, I would like to share one more important thing: Some of you may not see your grandparents a lot, some of you may hardly ever get to spend time with them. But you know what? I bet you, they would love to hear from you. You see, it's not just that we need our grandparents, but they need us too. If you haven't heard from your grandma or grandpa in a while, chances are that they may miss you just as much as you miss them. I have an idea: we could all write a letter to, or draw a picture for our grandmas and grandpas today. That way they will know that we love them. You could ask your parents to help you with that. What do you think? Is that a good idea?

Let's bow our heads and close our eyes and let us say "thank you" to God for our grandmas and grandpas.

Prayer.