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Choose from the following children's sermons

• God Always Keeps a Promise, Genesis 18:1-15
  by Rev. Randy L. Quinn   (please scroll down)
   
• Practice Makes us Strong, Romans 5:1-8, by Rev. Frank Schaefer
  (please scroll down)
   
• Power to Help, Matthew 9:35-10:8 by Rev. Frank Schaefer
  (please scroll down)

Father's Day Children's Sermon:

Father's Day--Being a Blessing, a children's sermon by Kit MacLeod at http://www.christiancrafters.com/sermon_father.html

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God Always Keeps a Promise
a children's sermon based on Genesis 18:1-15
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn

            What would you say if I told you there was going to be a purple elephant in your bedroom when you got home from church today?  You wouldn’t believe me!?

            What if I told you that God said there will be an orange monkey in your garage when you got home?  You still wouldn’t believe me!?

            What if GOD told you that for Christmas you were going to find a green camel in your back yard?  You wouldn’t believe God!?  I find that hard to believe.

            Does that mean God can’t do those things?  (God could, but God wouldn’t.)

            In the story we’re going to hear today, God makes a pretty ridiculous promise.  And the people who heard it didn’t believe it, either.  In fact, they laughed at the idea.

            But God did it.

            That’s because God always keeps a promise.

            And the most important promise God makes is to keep on loving us, no matter what.  God will always love you.

            Let’s pray:

            God, thank you for being so faithful.  Help us to trust you and the promises you make to us.  Help us to believe what you say and do what you ask us to do.  Amen.
 

Practice Makes us Strong
a children's sermon based on Romans 5:1-8
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Props:  a sports trophy a church team has won; or a personal trophy

Good morning boys and girls.  Today I brought with me this trophy.  Our church volleyball team actually won second place two years ago.  They almost got the first place, the final was really close. 

Now, second place is very good, and we are very proud of our team.  They competed against 16 church teams and came in second.  Now that's good.

Why do you think they were better than 15 of the other teams?  Do you think it was luck that they won that many times?  If it was not luck, what was it?

How about practice?  Yes, you're right.  They practiced really hard to get that trophy.  There is a saying that goes like this:  no pain, no gain.  Have you heard that one?

It means that if you don't work hard and sweat a lot and practice until your muscles get sore, you won't get any better.

It's the same in our spiritual life too.  We need to practice to get better at being Christians.  In our bible lesson this morning, the apostle Paul says that if we continue to pray to God, if we continue to trust God, and if we continue to read our bible--even when it is hard to do it sometimes--then we will get stronger Christians.

And when we get strong as Christians that means that we will have power to carry others when they get tired.  Like, for instance, if one of our brothers and sisters gets ill, then we can be there for them, to pray for them, to encourage them, to help them get better and stronger again.

And when we are strong Christians we can also help other and serve them better. What are some of the things that we can do to help others?  We can give food to those who are hungry, we can share our toys with those who are so poor that they cannot afford to by toys.  We can be friends to those who have no other friends.

And God actually promised that when we are faithful Christians and do all these things that he will give us a trophy--much more beautiful than this one.  God will reward us for being good and strong Christians.  So let's keep practicing.

Let's pray together:  "Lord Jesus, help us to become strong Christians. Help us to practice so we can become strong.  Help us to pray in every situation, to keep studying your word--the bible, help us to love one another.  Amen."

Power to Help
a children's sermon based on Matthew 9:35-10:8
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Props: a police / sheriff's badge (if you have a congregant who is a police officer you may ask them to participate)

Pick a vocal child and tell him/her that you have a gift for them. Give them the toy police / sheriff's badge.   Then ask him or her what s/he can do with the gift--play cop and robbers, etc.

Bring out in the following conversation that the power that comes from the police badge is only meaningful  if it is used to serve the community--if it is used to protect others, redirect traffic to prevent accidents, etc.

So it is with the power that God gives to us.  It only becomes useful if it is used to server others.  If your children are older, you may want to explain that power can also be abused when it is used toward one's own personal gain and not to serve others.

Retell or read part of the gospel story:  Jesus gives power/authority to his disciples to serve and minister to people: to heal, to share hope, and to be their friends.

How has God given us power?  He has given us healthy bodies, so we can help out those who are weak.  The Bible speaks of spiritual gifts such as kindness and joy which we can use to make people feel better; it also talks about being helpful to others (e.g. you could help someone with schoolwork, etc.).  the Bible also talks about the power to be peace-makers.  All of these things are a certain kind of power that God has given to different people.  And God asks us to use these powers for good, to help others.  And if we use the power God has given us to help others, it makes us feel good on the inside as well.

Let us pray:  "Dear God, we thank you for the power we have received from you.  Help us, Lord, to understand this lesson that you have given us so that we can give to others who need our help. Amen."