Matthew 25:14-30

   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