___________________________________________________

Choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• 99 Sheep, based on Luke 15:1-10

• Lost and Found, based on Luke 15:1-10

• Special Coins and Special People, Luke 15:1-10
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer

___________________________________________________

 

99 Sheep
 a children's sermon seed
 based on Luke 15:1-10
 

to demonstrate the children how important we are to God, I'll have 99 sheep/lambs (rather inexpensive at Oriental Trading Company, sorry about the advertisement) up front - let children count them. When they get to 99, I will express concern: I am sure I had 100! Must have lost it somewhere in the worship space. Will ask kids: do you think we should look for it? Or aren't 99 enough, who cares about no.100? To kids: imagine you were sheep no.100, wouldn't it be nice if somebody came looking for you? Then: search party for sheep no.100.

Happiness: everyone is important to God! If we do something wrong and stray, we can be assured that God will not let us down.
  

---

Lost and Found
a personal illustration
based on Luke 15:1-10

I recently moved and the last things to be unpacked were the toys for my daughters. As they opened the boxes and boxes of stuffed animals - they have well over a hundred if you count all the little ones, but at the end of it all they knew there was a particular cat gone astray.

It turned up at my Moms house many days later and the joy on their faces said it all. Ask the children to recall times when they lost something precious to them or may have been lost themselves, and how they felt when it was or wasn't found. God loves each of us and will not give up searching and will never give up loving us no matter how lost we feel.

---

 

Special Coins and Special People
a children's sermon based on Luke 15:1-10
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Objects and preparation: prior to the service, you need to hide a coin in an easy-to-find location in the area where you hold the kids' talk.  The coin should be legal tender, but perhaps a special edition coin (like a half dollar coin or a state-minted quarter in the US). 

Good morning my little friends, I am so glad to see you.  Today, I would like to share with you the story of the woman who lost a coin.  Jesus tells this story of a woman who had a collection of 10 coins.

When she discovered that she lost one of them in the house, what do you think she did?  That's right, she searched for it.  Would you search for a lost coin too?  How long would you search for it?  10 minutes?   Half an hour? All day?  (Let different children answer).

Guess what?  The woman in Jesus' story was so determined that she turned her whole house upside down and searched for it until she found it.  It took a long, long time.  But even if it had taken all her life, she would have never given up her search. That's how important that coin was to her.

How do you think she felt when she finally found the coin?    That's right, she was very, very happy.  In fact, she threw a party!

In order to understand the woman a little better I thought we could search for a coin ourselves.  So, I hid a coin somewhere in this area.  Who would like to help find it?

(Allow some time for someone to find the coin, have them bring you the coin and show everybody)  You see, this coin is not that valuable in the eyes of most people, and yet it is special.  It is a ______ (half dollar / state-minted quarter, etc.); there is only a limited number of those around.  So, if I were to collect coins, and I would lose this one for real, I would search for it long and hard.

Just as this coin is special to a collector though to most it is only worth ____ (25 cents / 50 cents), so is every single person special to God.  In the eyes of God every one of you is like a specially minted coin.

And guess what God would do if you got lost?  That's right, God would search for you, not just for a day or two, but as long as it takes to find you.    Isn't that good to know?

Let's pray: "Dear God, thank you for making everyone of us special.  Thank you for loving us and for taking care of us; and when we get lost, for finding us.  You are very special to us, too, and we love you, God. Amen."