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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