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Please choose from the following children's sermons:
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Prince of Egypt
Exodus 1:8 –
2:10
Rev. Randy Quinn
Have you seen the movie The Prince
of Egypt?
(I suspect most of the children have seen this recent animated movie;
it not at the movie theater then on video.)
Do you remember what that movie was
about? (It’s about Moses.)
For the next several weeks, we will be
hearing the story of Moses in church, and I thought it would be fun to
watch parts of the movie each week, too – the parts that show the story
we’ll be reading in worship.
Of course not all of the stories we
will read are in the movie. In fact, only a part of today’s story is in
the movie. But the part that is in the movie is pretty memorable.
Do you remember the part where the baby
is put in a basket and sent into the river? That part of our text today
is in the movie. But I want to show a different part of the movie.
This is where Moses is now grown up and begins to remember that he was a
Hebrew baby. He falls asleep and has a dream about being put in the
river.
We’ll start the movie where he starts
his dream. (I’ll show about 4 minutes of the movie, ending with
Pharaoh telling Moses that the babies that died were “only slaves.”)
I don’t like that part of the story.
Do you? It’s sad. But it reminds me that sometimes we all do things
that aren’t very nice. Moses now knows that; and from this point on in
the story he wants to make things right.
Maybe we can all do that, too.
Let’s pray:
God, help us to always do the right
thing. And when we do the wrong thing, teach us to make it right. But
also teach us to forgive people who have done things that hurt us – just
like you have forgiven us. Amen.
Be Different
a children's sermon based on Romans 12:1-8
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
props: a brand name article of clothing, like a sweater, etc (kid's size if you
can get it) and a fashionable, no-brand name piece of clothing.
A lesson that works esp. in suburban settings.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your minds"
Good morning, boys and girls. Today, I have brought with me two pieces
of clothing. I need two helpers to hold them up for us (pick two
volunteers from the children).
Now, let me take a poll. Who thinks this piece of clothing is prettier
(more fashionable) of the two? And who thinks, this one is prettier? Let
me ask you another question : "who thinks that both pieces of clothing are kind
of nice?"
Ok, here is the thing about these clothes. This one here is a so-called
brand name item. The other one is a so called no-name item. Now,
believe it or not, the first one--the brand name one--is actually 4 times as
much as the no band item.
In other words, you can buy 4 of the no brand items for each brand name item.
That's a big difference! And yet, a few of you said that they liked the
no-brand item better and almost all of you said that both items are kind of
nice.
Now, one more question: what do you think is the smart thing to do? To
spend a lot of money on this item or spend a little money on this one here and
have enough money left over to buy other things?
Our bible lesson this morning talks about being different from the rest of
the world. It talks about not being like the people in the world that
sometimes do things that are unwise, but rather to be smart and use God's
wisdom.
Now, most people in the world think that just because this item here has the
brand name Oshkosh, Gap, or Abercrombie and Fitch printed on it, it is worth 4
times as much as this one here. And yet, there is nothing else to this
item that makes it better.
God asks us to be wise, not to be swayed or tricked by shallow values such as
brand names, but to look deeper. Now, sometimes the brand name stuff can
be worthwhile buying, like when the quality is better.
But God does not want us to just blindly follow cultural trends and do what
most people do. God wants us to be smart about things. Because sometimes
the world is telling us things that are bad for us too. But, God wants us to
make a difference in the world--to make the world better.
So, let us pray this morning that God will give us wisdom to live according
to his will and commandments in this world: " Lord, help us live right in a
world that sometimes goes terribly wrong. Give us wisdom to know what is
good for us and our neighbors, and help us to always obey you and your
commandments. Amen."
How Can I Know You?
a children's sermon based on Matthew 16:13-20
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
props: none
Open with a bunch of questions to the kids concerning
who they are and how people know them:
Who are you? What kind of person are you? What
makes you you?
Do people know who you are? Do people know
you the right way? Or do some people just think they know you?
Do you think you know who I am as a person?
There are a lot of different things that make up the
"who" of a person. What kind of things can you know about a
person:
looks -- hair / eye / skin color, style of hair,
clothing,
personality -- adventurous, cautious, inquisitive,
sharing, happy, funny, thoughtful, sensitive....
how people live in community -- big or small
families, dorm room, religious community, military, etc.
what people do -- job, hobbies, volunteer work,
projects, community service, etc.
What are some of the things you want people to know
about you? e.g. hobby, favorite color / food, what kinds of friends you
have, etc.
Are there things that you don't want people to know
about you? (I won't ask what things =)
In today's bible lesson, Jesus asked his disciples: "who
do you think I am?" and spending a lot of time with Jesus, Peter
knew. And so he answered: "you are the Messiah, the Son of the
Living God."
Just imagine Jesus would walk into our sanctuary this
morning and ask us the same question today: "who do you think I am?"
What would we say? What would you say?
What do we know about Jesus? How do we know things
about Jesus?
The thing is, if you want to really know a person you
must spend a lot of time with the person. And you have to learn
things about the person.
If we really want to know who Jesus is, then we need to
spend some time with him. Spending time with Jesus is also called
prayer.
And we need to spend time learning about Jesus life and
personality. We can do that best by paying attention in Sunday
School when our teachers talk about Jesus, and of course, by reading the
bible which have a lot of stories about what Jesus did and what he
taught.
I think it would be really cool if all of you would
learn more about Jesus in this coming week and if you would spend some
time with him in prayer. What do you think, would you be able to
tell better who Jesus is?" You bet.
