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Choose from the following children's sermons:

• When the Going Gets Rough, Gen. 21:8-21, by Rev Frank Schaefer
  (see below)
   
• Counting Hairs, Matthew 10:30, by Rev. Frank Schaefer
  (please scroll down)

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When the Going Gets Rough...God Hears Us.
a children's sermon based on Genesis 21:8-21
by Rev Frank Schaefer

Good morning boys and girls. Today's OT lesson is about a woman named Hagar.  She was a single mother and one day she lost her home and was stranded in the wilderness with her little boy.  Have you ever been in a wilderness or a desert?  Is this a good place to be, do you think?

What do you think, Hagar and her little boy met with in the wilderness?

• No food
• no water
• no bed to sleep in
• no roof over their heads . . .

You know, life can take a wrong turn for anybody.  One day, even we might find ourselves in the wilderness. Of course I am not necessarily talking about a real desert.  I am talking about hard times we may face;  maybe when we get into a fight with someone; or when we get in trouble in school and get a detention; or when we get ill, or when we get into an accident; or when we loose something  or someone that we love; etc.

You know there is one thing we can always do when the going gets rough.  And guess what?  Hagar in our OT story did the very thing I am talking about.  What do you think we can always do when we're in trouble?  That's right, we can pray.

We can pray that God will help us through.  We can pray that God can give us courage; that God can give us strength, and that he can save us.  Because when we pray, we talk to God. Do you think that God hears you when you talk to him?  You better believe it.  God deeply cares for us and God will always help us when we need him.

God also heard Hagar's prayer and saved her from the wilderness.  God said to Hagar: don't worry, I will take care of you and your son.  She and her son were able to find a new home and made a new life for themselves and lived happily ever after.

So don't you ever forget: when the going gets rough, start praying, because God is listening and he is ready to help us.  Amen.

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Counting Hairs
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
Text: Matthew 10:30: "And even the
hairs of your head are all counted."

Greetings, young church.  Today I'd like to share with you a verse from our Gospel lesson.  In it Jesus says: "And even the hairs of your head are all counted."

How many hairs do you think you have on your head?  10?  more than 10?  How about 20?  A lot more than 20?  How about 100?  hands up; who thinks its 100?  Only a few hands?  How about 1000?  Who thinks there are 1000 hairs on your head?

Can anybody count all the hairs on your head you think?  No, that's right; there are just too many.  It would take a long time.  And, furthermore, once you'd be done counting all of them the number would probably not be correct anymore, because a few hairs fall out every day, and perhaps a few will grow on your young heads.

(Tongue-in-cheek:) Of course, with some of the men in the congregation the counting wouldn't be that much of a problem, because some don't have that many hairs left on their head.

The point is that God knows everything about you; every little detail.  There is nothing that God doesn't know about you; that's how much God cares about you. That's what Jesus is saying with his example of the hair.  And that is a great thought, that God cares so much for you and me.

Let us give thanks to God for his great love and care for us.  Let us bow our heads and pray: "Dear God, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you love and care for us so much that you even know the exact number of hairs on our heads.  Thank you for watching over us and for being with us.  Amen."