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Choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• A Penny for Your Thoughts
  a sermon based on Mark 12:38-44
  by Rev. Randy Quinn  (see below)
   

• "Sharing" (Mark 12:38-44)
  based on the children's poem "Falling Up" (see below)
   

• Offering One of Ten, Mark 12:38-44
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer (see below)

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A Penny for Your Thoughts
a sermon based on Mark 12:38-44
by Rev. Randy Quinn
 

I have a penny here. What can you do with a penny? (You can save it; you can throw it; you can ‘flip’ it; you can spend it.)

What can you buy with a penny? (Not much . . . you really need more than a penny to buy anything nowadays, even small pieces of candy.) You know, it used to be that you could buy things with a penny; now you need more than one penny, don’t you?

Have you ever heard the saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned”? I think it was Ben Franklin who said it. What he meant was that if we saved money instead of spent it we wouldn’t need to earn as much.

But just one penny can’t do much, can it? But it is a start. And if we collect one penny at a time, it can add up to a large amount.

Tuesday is Veteran’s Day. Do you know what a Veteran is? (Some of the older children will likely know.) A Veteran is someone who served in the Armed Forces of our country.

The Veterans who are here today are individuals who joined other individuals and served our country in places near and far. But they were never alone. They were always a part of a larger unit – from a rifle squad to a battalion, from a gun crew to a battleship, from a team of mechanics to a wing of bombers. Together they made a big difference.

They were like these pennies. You can be, too.

None of us seems very important by ourselves, but when we join with others – whether it’s on a ball team or a part of a church or at the election booths – we can make a big difference in our world.

Let’s pray:

God, thank you for caring about each of us. None of us is very important by ourselves, but you still love each one of us. And we know that when we work alongside others we can make your love and grace known throughout our world. Amen.

 

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"Sharing" (Mark 12:38-44)
based on the children's poem "Falling Up"

There is a children's poem, called Sharing, by Shel Silverstein, from his book "Falling Up" which is humorous, but so . . . .true.

Here is an excerpt of the punch-line: "I'll share your toys, I''ll share your money
I'll share your toast, I'll share your honey. I'll share your milk, and your cookies too-- The hard part's sharing mine with you."

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Offering One of Ten
a children's sermon seed based on Mark 12:38-44
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Use the regular collection plate/basket you use for the offering in your church.    Ask a child volunteer an easy bible trivia quiz question and, upon answering correctly, give the child ten dimes.  Show the children the offering plate and tell them that God asks us to give back a portion of what he gives us.  Ask the child who has the 10 dimes how many of the 10 dimes he/she thinks God wants him/her to give back.   

Most likely the child will think it is more than one.  Ask the child to put one dime in the offering plate and say to the children: "God only asks us to give one--one out of ten.  Do you think that is asking too much?  No it isn't, especially if we consider that God has given us all we have in the first place...