14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20
The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five.
‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have
gained five more.’ 21
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have
been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many
things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you
entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have
been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many
things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said,
‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and
gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I
harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered
seed?27
Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so
that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29
For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Materials: Puzzle pieces that spell out "LOVE". I used foam board and just cut this into 15 squares. To keep the children from playing with the pieces, I put them into paper lunch sacks: two bags with 5 pieces each & two bags with 2 pieces each. Keep the last piece, from the center of the puzzle, in your pocket. Dry erase board of piece of cardboard onto which you can build the puzzle. (I also gave the children puzzle piece magnets with the word 'love' written on them)
Message: Good Morning. How are you all today? Great! I'm sure glad you are here.
Before we get started, can I get a few volunteers. Would you just hold on to this bag for me? And you hold this one? Would you hold this other one? and you hold this last one? Thank you.
Do any of you like to build puzzles? Good. I like them too. I was building a puzzle at home yesterday and thought we could build one together this morning. Will you help me with that?
Okay, well Zach, you have 5 puzzle pieces in your bag, can you hand them to me? Thank you for holding those for me. Look, they make the top row. What do you all think? Can we stop now? no? what would happen if we stopped? That's right, our puzzle would not be finished; it wouldn't make anything.
So, we need more pieces don't we? Would you like to add the pieces you have now? Thank you. You did a good job holding on to those and you have 5 pieces too. Look, they make the bottom row. That makes a lot of the puzzle, but can we stop now? No? You're right. It still wouldn't be finished would it.
Okay, Alex, let's add your pieces. You have two. You don't have as many as five, but look where they go? They fill in part of the middle row. So even though there are only two, they are a very important two and the puzzle can't be made without them.
Can we stop now? No? Okay, let's add what you have. You have two more from the middle row. Look, how close we are now!
Oh, but there is a hole in the middle. I have that piece here in my pocket. And you know I was thinking about keeping it--I could keep it in my pocket or i could take it home and put it someplace safe. What would that do to our puzzle? You're right, it would ruin the puzzle. So do you think I should keep it to myself or should i put it in the puzzle? Okay, let's put it in and take a look at it. That's great! We did a good job and now we have a full puzzle.
So the pieces you had--your 5 and your 2 and your 5
and your 2 and my 1 --didn't make anything on their own, but when we put them to
work together in the puzzle, look what we've made. Can anyone tell me what it says? it says "Love"
Now, why would I have us build a puzzle that says love? [One child today said 'because we're in church']. Just like I gave you pieces of this puzzle to hold, did you know that God gives each of you his love?
Who here is good at giving hugs? [give out a puzzle piece magnet to those who raise their hands in answer to this question or the following ones] who is very good at sharing? Who is a good helper? [Be sure each child gets one puzzle piece magnet]. Each of those things: Hugging, helping, sharing--are parts of God's love.
We built a puzzle that says "Love" and I gave each of you a puzzle piece magnet that says "Love" because I want to remind you that God has given you His love. And just like I wasn't supposed to keep that puzzle piece in my pocket, we aren't supposed to keep God's love to ourselves. I want you to take your puzzle piece magnet home and put it on your fridge to remind you to share God's love with each other and with everyone else every day!
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
Thank you for giving us the ability to love and to share and to care. Help us remember not to keep your love to ourselves but to share it with everyone else every day.
Amen
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Matthew 25:1-13
1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5
The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Materials: None
Message: Good Morning! How is everyone doing today? I'm glad you are here. I had something important I wanted to ask you about.
I wanted to ask you some questions about Heaven today. Do you know where Heaven is? [let them answer] "Up in the Sky"? okay. Do you think people fight in heaven or do you think people get along? "Get along". Okay--I think so too. Do you think anybody is hungry in heaven or do you think everyone will have enough to eat? I'll bet you are right; I don't think anyone will go hungry in Heaven either.
Do you know who is in charge of Heaven? God! That's right! God is like a King isn't he? He's the King of Heaven. Is he the king of anywhere else? Yes, he is--he's the king of the earth too. He's the king of everywhere.
Do you think there is anything that God wants us to do here in his Kingdom on Earth? [let them answer] 'be nice', 'love', 'help', etc. You're right. While we are in God's Kingdom here, he wants to us to love each other and help each other. And every time we do that--every time we show love to someone, or bring food to the food pantry for someone who is hungry, or help someone who needs help--we are helping to show God's Kingdom on Earth.
That's pretty special isn't it. We don't have to be in Heaven with God to be part of his Kingdom--we are part of his Kingdom now. And we don't have to know exactly where Heaven is or what it looks like to share God's love with each other here on earth.
Let's say a prayer about that:
Dear God:
We thank you for being King of Heaven and of Earth. Help us show Heaven on Earth by sharing your love with everyone everywhere. Amen
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Materials: None
Message: Good Morning! How is everyone doing today? I'm glad you are here. I had something important I wanted to ask you about.
I wanted to ask you some questions about Heaven today. Do you know where Heaven is? [let them answer] "Up in the Sky"? okay. Do you think people fight in heaven or do you think people get along? "Get along". Okay--I think so too. Do you think anybody is hungry in heaven or do you think everyone will have enough to eat? I'll bet you are right; I don't think anyone will go hungry in Heaven either.
Do you know who is in charge of Heaven? God! That's right! God is like a King isn't he? He's the King of Heaven. Is he the king of anywhere else? Yes, he is--he's the king of the earth too. He's the king of everywhere.
Do you think there is anything that God wants us to do here in his Kingdom on Earth? [let them answer] 'be nice', 'love', 'help', etc. You're right. While we are in God's Kingdom here, he wants to us to love each other and help each other. And every time we do that--every time we show love to someone, or bring food to the food pantry for someone who is hungry, or help someone who needs help--we are helping to show God's Kingdom on Earth.
That's pretty special isn't it. We don't have to be in Heaven with God to be part of his Kingdom--we are part of his Kingdom now. And we don't have to know exactly where Heaven is or what it looks like to share God's love with each other here on earth.
Let's say a prayer about that:
Dear God:
We thank you for being King of Heaven and of Earth. Help us show Heaven on Earth by sharing your love with everyone everywhere. Amen
Sunday, October 30, 2011
John 8:31-36
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33
They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been
slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Materials: Dry Erase board with marker. Divide in half, and write 'true' on one side and 'False' on the other with room for 'tick marks' beneath each word.
Message: Good Morning! How are all of you today? That's good to hear. Today, we're going to do something a little different. We're going to take a special kind of test together. The first thing to know about this test is that we're going to answer either 'true' or 'false--that means 'not true' to some questions. And, to answer 'true', it has to be true for everyone one of us. And, we're not going to be free to go back to our seats until we've answered 'true' to one questions. Okay?
Okay! Here's the first one: I always share my toys. Is that True for all us ? Yes? That's terrific that all of you ALWAYS share, but you know I can think of a time when I didn't, so we're going to have to say 'false' to this question. [put a tick mark in the 'false' column]
Number two: I always keep my room clean. What do you think? Is that true? (let the kids answer as they choose--I had one little girl say, 'I do but my sister doesn't). We'll, you know I left my bed unmade this morning, so I don't always keep my room clean either. so that's another 'false' (put second tick mark in the 'false' column]
Number three: I never ever get mad or yell at my brothers or sisters or friends. 'never ever' ? That's pretty hard isn't it. I'll bet we've all been mad before. So, we'll have to put another mark here under 'false'.
Hmmm. Look at our board, we have 3 that are not true and 0 that are true. We're not free to go back to our seats until we get one answer as 'true'--so if it keeps going like this, we might be here a while. But let's see what is next.
Number four: I never ever borrow anything from my brothers, sisters or friends without asking first. Is that true for all of us? No, I can think of a time when I borrowed a toy without asking, can't you? So that's another mark under 'false'.
Number five: I am always nice to my brothers and sister or friends. There's that word 'always' again! Are we 'ALWAYS' nice? If this questions said, 'once in a while' or 'sometimes', we might be alright. But since it says 'always', we'll have to put another mark under 'false.
Okay, we'll we're not doing so great here. Let's try another one.
Number six: Jesus loves me. Is that true for everyone here? Yes? Yes! It sure is. Jesus loves each & every one of us. So, let's make a mark under true. [put a tick mark under 'true']. Now, watch what happens [as you are talking, erase the tick mark's under 'false.']. Do you see how the other marks disappeared?
Jesus loves us. He knows that we are not always going to do the right thing--even when we try very very hard--but he loves us anyway. So, each day we have a new chance to love each other and the most important 'true' thing we can know is that 'Jesus loves us' and because he loves us, he wants us to keep trying to love each other and he will help us do that.
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
We thank you for sending Jesus to show us the truth of your love. Thank you for helping us keep trying to show your love to each other.
Amen.
Children--you are now free to go back to your seats. Thank you.
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Materials: Dry Erase board with marker. Divide in half, and write 'true' on one side and 'False' on the other with room for 'tick marks' beneath each word.
Message: Good Morning! How are all of you today? That's good to hear. Today, we're going to do something a little different. We're going to take a special kind of test together. The first thing to know about this test is that we're going to answer either 'true' or 'false--that means 'not true' to some questions. And, to answer 'true', it has to be true for everyone one of us. And, we're not going to be free to go back to our seats until we've answered 'true' to one questions. Okay?
Okay! Here's the first one: I always share my toys. Is that True for all us ? Yes? That's terrific that all of you ALWAYS share, but you know I can think of a time when I didn't, so we're going to have to say 'false' to this question. [put a tick mark in the 'false' column]
Number two: I always keep my room clean. What do you think? Is that true? (let the kids answer as they choose--I had one little girl say, 'I do but my sister doesn't). We'll, you know I left my bed unmade this morning, so I don't always keep my room clean either. so that's another 'false' (put second tick mark in the 'false' column]
Number three: I never ever get mad or yell at my brothers or sisters or friends. 'never ever' ? That's pretty hard isn't it. I'll bet we've all been mad before. So, we'll have to put another mark here under 'false'.
Hmmm. Look at our board, we have 3 that are not true and 0 that are true. We're not free to go back to our seats until we get one answer as 'true'--so if it keeps going like this, we might be here a while. But let's see what is next.
Number four: I never ever borrow anything from my brothers, sisters or friends without asking first. Is that true for all of us? No, I can think of a time when I borrowed a toy without asking, can't you? So that's another mark under 'false'.
Number five: I am always nice to my brothers and sister or friends. There's that word 'always' again! Are we 'ALWAYS' nice? If this questions said, 'once in a while' or 'sometimes', we might be alright. But since it says 'always', we'll have to put another mark under 'false.
Okay, we'll we're not doing so great here. Let's try another one.
Number six: Jesus loves me. Is that true for everyone here? Yes? Yes! It sure is. Jesus loves each & every one of us. So, let's make a mark under true. [put a tick mark under 'true']. Now, watch what happens [as you are talking, erase the tick mark's under 'false.']. Do you see how the other marks disappeared?
Jesus loves us. He knows that we are not always going to do the right thing--even when we try very very hard--but he loves us anyway. So, each day we have a new chance to love each other and the most important 'true' thing we can know is that 'Jesus loves us' and because he loves us, he wants us to keep trying to love each other and he will help us do that.
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
We thank you for sending Jesus to show us the truth of your love. Thank you for helping us keep trying to show your love to each other.
Amen.
Children--you are now free to go back to your seats. Thank you.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Matthew 22:34-46
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Materials: Bag with opening or slit in lining. Lots of slips of paper with items written on them such as: share toys with my brother, help my mom around the house, be nice to my little sister, etc. A slip of paper with Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind written on it. A slip of paper with "Love your neighbor as yourself written on it. (note: leave the two slips in the bottom of the bag; when you put the many slips in the bag, put them in the lining--so that they are between the outside and inside of the bag.)
Message: Good Morning! I'm sure glad you are here today. I need your help with something. Have any of you ever been told to 'be good'? You have? Then I'm sure you can help me out. I was thinking about all of the things that I should do to be good and I started writing them down last night. Here are some of the things I wrote. (Show them the stack of slips). Here's one: 'Share my toys with my brother'. And, 'Be nice to my friends'. And, 'Help out around the house.' Those would be good things to do, wouldn't they? Can you think of any others? [solicit answers from the children and add them to yours] "Share my trains"? That's a good one! 'Share my cookies'--that's a very good one.
I sure have a big stack here, don't I? I think I'll put these in the bag and take them home with me so I can study them later. [put them in the liner of the bag]. Being good is hard sometimes isn't it? Do you think I can always do all the things that are on those slips of paper? You know, i don't think so either. I wonder if i can't do all of those things, if we could tell which ones are the most important. Let's take them out of the bag again to see if we can tell which ones are the most important. Okay?
Hey, look at that! [show the kids that the bag is now empty except for two slips]. There are only two slips left in the bag. This one says: 'Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This other one says 'Love your Neighbor as yourself.'
There's only two left to remind us that God loves us, even when we can't always do the 'right' thing. And what he wants us to do is to love each other--and he will help us do that when it is hard for us. He will help us to share and care and help and to show love to one another.
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
We thank you for showing us your love. Help us to show our love for you. Help us to share and care and help and love each other because you love us.
Amen
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Materials: Bag with opening or slit in lining. Lots of slips of paper with items written on them such as: share toys with my brother, help my mom around the house, be nice to my little sister, etc. A slip of paper with Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind written on it. A slip of paper with "Love your neighbor as yourself written on it. (note: leave the two slips in the bottom of the bag; when you put the many slips in the bag, put them in the lining--so that they are between the outside and inside of the bag.)
Message: Good Morning! I'm sure glad you are here today. I need your help with something. Have any of you ever been told to 'be good'? You have? Then I'm sure you can help me out. I was thinking about all of the things that I should do to be good and I started writing them down last night. Here are some of the things I wrote. (Show them the stack of slips). Here's one: 'Share my toys with my brother'. And, 'Be nice to my friends'. And, 'Help out around the house.' Those would be good things to do, wouldn't they? Can you think of any others? [solicit answers from the children and add them to yours] "Share my trains"? That's a good one! 'Share my cookies'--that's a very good one.
I sure have a big stack here, don't I? I think I'll put these in the bag and take them home with me so I can study them later. [put them in the liner of the bag]. Being good is hard sometimes isn't it? Do you think I can always do all the things that are on those slips of paper? You know, i don't think so either. I wonder if i can't do all of those things, if we could tell which ones are the most important. Let's take them out of the bag again to see if we can tell which ones are the most important. Okay?
Hey, look at that! [show the kids that the bag is now empty except for two slips]. There are only two slips left in the bag. This one says: 'Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This other one says 'Love your Neighbor as yourself.'
There's only two left to remind us that God loves us, even when we can't always do the 'right' thing. And what he wants us to do is to love each other--and he will help us do that when it is hard for us. He will help us to share and care and help and to show love to one another.
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
We thank you for showing us your love. Help us to show our love for you. Help us to share and care and help and love each other because you love us.
Amen
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Matthew 22:15-22
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 1617 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,”
they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach
the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by
others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Materials: A few possessions with names or initials on them. A hand mirror.
Message: Good Morning! How are you all today? This morning, I brought some things to show you. This is a football. Can you read the name on there? it says "Todd". This was my brother's and it was important to him, so now I take good care of it because it was his. And this is my cup; see my names on the bottom. We put our names on things that are important to us and on things that we want to show belong to us. now, look at this--what do you see? [hold up mirror so each child can see themselves]. yes, I see Zach and Peyton and Alex--and do you know who you belong too? Yes, your Moms and Dads--that's right. But you and your moms & dads belong to someone else too--you belong to God.
The Bible tells us God made us like Him. We don't know if we look like God--like some of you look like your Moms & Dads. But we do know that God will help us love like he does. And that the most important things we have--our ability to love and to share and care--all these things belong to God. God wants us to be like him by loving and caring for others.
Let's say a prayer about that:
Dear God:
Thank you for loving us. Help us love others like you love us.
Amen
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Materials: A few possessions with names or initials on them. A hand mirror.
Message: Good Morning! How are you all today? This morning, I brought some things to show you. This is a football. Can you read the name on there? it says "Todd". This was my brother's and it was important to him, so now I take good care of it because it was his. And this is my cup; see my names on the bottom. We put our names on things that are important to us and on things that we want to show belong to us. now, look at this--what do you see? [hold up mirror so each child can see themselves]. yes, I see Zach and Peyton and Alex--and do you know who you belong too? Yes, your Moms and Dads--that's right. But you and your moms & dads belong to someone else too--you belong to God.
The Bible tells us God made us like Him. We don't know if we look like God--like some of you look like your Moms & Dads. But we do know that God will help us love like he does. And that the most important things we have--our ability to love and to share and care--all these things belong to God. God wants us to be like him by loving and caring for others.
Let's say a prayer about that:
Dear God:
Thank you for loving us. Help us love others like you love us.
Amen
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Matthew 22:1-14
1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4
“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been
invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have
been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Materials: Invitation
Message: Good Morning! How are you all today? Well, I'm glad you are here. I wanted to get your help with something. Do any of you know what this is? (Hold up invitation) that's right, it is an invitation. I haven't looked inside yet, but I don't want to go to whatever it is, so I was wondering if you could help me come up with some excuses I could give to get out of it. (let the kids help, but add to their answers as needed.) I could say that I am going to be busy, or that I have a tummy ache, or that I will be out of town. Thanks--those are good ideas. But I guess I need to look at the invitation to see who I need to tell that I can't go.
let's see. First, it says that there will be lots of people there that I know. That doesn't sound too bad does it? Then it says that there will be singing and music. I like that--don't you? And it says it is going to be on Sunday, October 9th. Hey that's today. And it says at 11:00--we're just a little past that now. And it says that it will be at our church. Hmmm. Guess what, this thing I was trying to get out of -I'm already here. And you know what else this says? It says that God has invited me here. I wonder what I was thinking by wanting to get out of this.
Do you know that God has invited me and you and all of these other people here--not only to sing and pray and worship each week, but also to go out and share His love with others. We wouldn't want to get out of that would we? That would be like missing God's party.
Each Sunday when you come here, it is like coming to God's party. And each day when we share God's love with each other, that's like being part of God's party too!
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
Thank you for inviting us into your love. Help us show others that they are invited into your love too.
Amen
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Materials: Invitation
Message: Good Morning! How are you all today? Well, I'm glad you are here. I wanted to get your help with something. Do any of you know what this is? (Hold up invitation) that's right, it is an invitation. I haven't looked inside yet, but I don't want to go to whatever it is, so I was wondering if you could help me come up with some excuses I could give to get out of it. (let the kids help, but add to their answers as needed.) I could say that I am going to be busy, or that I have a tummy ache, or that I will be out of town. Thanks--those are good ideas. But I guess I need to look at the invitation to see who I need to tell that I can't go.
let's see. First, it says that there will be lots of people there that I know. That doesn't sound too bad does it? Then it says that there will be singing and music. I like that--don't you? And it says it is going to be on Sunday, October 9th. Hey that's today. And it says at 11:00--we're just a little past that now. And it says that it will be at our church. Hmmm. Guess what, this thing I was trying to get out of -I'm already here. And you know what else this says? It says that God has invited me here. I wonder what I was thinking by wanting to get out of this.
Do you know that God has invited me and you and all of these other people here--not only to sing and pray and worship each week, but also to go out and share His love with others. We wouldn't want to get out of that would we? That would be like missing God's party.
Each Sunday when you come here, it is like coming to God's party. And each day when we share God's love with each other, that's like being part of God's party too!
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
Thank you for inviting us into your love. Help us show others that they are invited into your love too.
Amen
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Matthew 21:23-32
23
Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief
priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are
you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Materials: A large box of canned goods. Write "ACTIONS" on the side of the box, close it and put a slit in the top large enough for a 3x5 card to go through. A few 3x5 cards with words written on them such as: share, care, help, feed .
Message: Good Morning. How are you all today? I'm glad you are doing well and I'm very glad you came up to talk with me this morning. I want to tell you about something that happened to me yesterday that made me feel sad. I saw a family that looked very hungry and it made me think of certain words. In fact, I wrote some of them down. Do you have any ideas about what words I thought of? (let the children answer and then add to their answers as needed.)
That's right. I thought I should SHARE some food with them--see I have that written down here. And I thought I wanted to CARE for them and to HELP them. And that I could FEED them (as you say each word, show the children the card with that word.)
But look at these cards. They are just words aren't they. Do you think that these cards made that family feel less hungry? No? I don't think so either. For us to help each other, we have to turn our words into actions. I brought this magic box with me today; let's see what happens to these words when we put them in the box (put the words in the slot and then open the box.)
Look, we took our words about caring, sharing, helping and feeding and turned them into cans of corn, spinach, peas, etc. Now, we can help families like the one I saw yesterday. I want each of you to take a can of food from this box and as you and your family leave church today, put the can in the grocery basket at the door. That food will go to the food pantry to help families who are hungry.
When we think about caring, sharing, and helping, we want to find ways to turn those words into actions so that we can show God's love to others.
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
We thank you for caring for and loving us. Help us to turn our words into actions so that we can help, feed, share, and care for others and so that we can show your love to them.
Amen.
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Materials: A large box of canned goods. Write "ACTIONS" on the side of the box, close it and put a slit in the top large enough for a 3x5 card to go through. A few 3x5 cards with words written on them such as: share, care, help, feed .
Message: Good Morning. How are you all today? I'm glad you are doing well and I'm very glad you came up to talk with me this morning. I want to tell you about something that happened to me yesterday that made me feel sad. I saw a family that looked very hungry and it made me think of certain words. In fact, I wrote some of them down. Do you have any ideas about what words I thought of? (let the children answer and then add to their answers as needed.)
That's right. I thought I should SHARE some food with them--see I have that written down here. And I thought I wanted to CARE for them and to HELP them. And that I could FEED them (as you say each word, show the children the card with that word.)
But look at these cards. They are just words aren't they. Do you think that these cards made that family feel less hungry? No? I don't think so either. For us to help each other, we have to turn our words into actions. I brought this magic box with me today; let's see what happens to these words when we put them in the box (put the words in the slot and then open the box.)
Look, we took our words about caring, sharing, helping and feeding and turned them into cans of corn, spinach, peas, etc. Now, we can help families like the one I saw yesterday. I want each of you to take a can of food from this box and as you and your family leave church today, put the can in the grocery basket at the door. That food will go to the food pantry to help families who are hungry.
When we think about caring, sharing, and helping, we want to find ways to turn those words into actions so that we can show God's love to others.
Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
We thank you for caring for and loving us. Help us to turn our words into actions so that we can help, feed, share, and care for others and so that we can show your love to them.
Amen.
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