Category: Children’s Sermon

Bring 52 marbles in a bag.
This is just from Dollar Store Children’s Sermons. Click that link and watch it!

I’m so happy you’re here today!

So I want to talk today a little about the story we’re going to hear about Jesus today and we’re going to use this: a bag of marbles. There’s a lot of marbles in here and we’re going to pretend that each marble counts as one time when we forgive someone. So this is a bag full of forgiveness marbles.

Now Peter, one of Jesus’ friends, asks Jesus “how many times am I supposed to forgive someone? If Someone breaks a promise to me or my trust, and it hurts, as long as I’m safe – should I forgive the other person more than once? Should I forgive them like…7 times?” So we have this bag of forgiveness – so let’s count out 7 marbles. Have the kids count out with you seven marbles. Phew! We did it. 7 is something we can do.

But Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to forgive someone 7 times. He says forgive them 77 times. 77! That’s a big number! So okay….let’s see if we can use this bag of marbles to count out 77 times forgiving someone. Count the marbles. As you go higher, get tired and talk about it being hard. And then…run out. Oh my gosh. We’re out of forgiveness. And we didn’t make it to 77! So what can we do? What can we do when we run out of forgiveness? Ask kids. Accept answers. What we need is God’s help. God invites us to forgive and love like Jesus does and that’s usually more than we can do. So we ask God to help us love and love and love. Because God and Jesus forgives us all the time. That isn’t hard for God. But it’s sometimes hard for us. When a friend breaks a promise, that’s hard. There are sometimes things that happen to us that we might not be able to forgive right away or for awhile. So we ask God to help us forgive like God does. To help us be safe so we can forgive those who might hurt us and also ask God to help those we might have hurt. And we ask by saying our prayers and praying – something I do all the time and something we’ll do later in this worship service. We ask help God always to help us love like God loves – so that this world can be a kinder, gentler, and more forgiving place.

Thank you for being up here and I hope you have a blessed week!

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 15th Sunday After Pentecost, 9/17/2017.

Bring a cardigan.

I’m so happy you’re here today!

I hope you all had a good week last week. How many started school? What grades did you start? Accept answers. Mention we’ll bless bags, students, and teachers at the end of worship. A new school, new grades, new friends – that’s a lot of change!

And I noticed there’s something else that’s changing: the weather! It’s cooler outside, especially at night. I sometimes wake up cold because I haven’t put my fall blankets on my bed yet. I have to wear different things to stay warm when the weather gets colder. What’s something you wear? Jacket. Hoodie. Sweater. Another thing we can wear is this – a cardigan!

Now there’s someone famous who loves to wear cardigans and his name was Mr. Rodgers. You might have seen him on tv – or hear about his neighborhood or maybe where Daniel Tiger lives. Now Mr. Rodgers told me something that I would like to tell you. And it’s something important and helpful when we see something that might confuse, scare, or worry us. Right now, there’s a hurricane about to hit Florida. There was a big flood in Texas. And tomorrow, people will remember something awful that happened on September 11th. When someing big and scary happens, it can make us scared. It can cause us to worry. And it can sometimes make us wonder where God is when bad things happen.

But Mr. Rodgers says, and it’s something he learned from his mom, when we see something scary and awful. Look for the helpers. Look for the people trying to help. Look for the people rescuing people in boats, making sure popped are safe, giving people shelter and making sure people are fed. Look for the helpers because they helpers are there. And the helpers show us how God is there and how God is loving us. Always look for the helpers – and, when we are scared or put in a scary situation, know that God is helping us be the helper God calls us to be.

So keep Texas, Florida, and all places that are scared and worried, keep those people and places in your prayers today and this week. And look for the helpers – you’ll see them.

Thank you for being up here and I hope you have a blessed week!

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 14th Sunday After Pentecost, 9/10/2017.

Bring little rocks and a sharpie that you can write things on.

I’m so happy you’re here today!

We’re still talking about the liturgy this week – the different things we don on Sunday morning that make up our church service. Last week, we talked about the puzzle of the Creed – words that we say because they show us who Jesus is and why Jesus matters. We don’t always necessarily believe all of it, or maybe there are parts that we don’t understand or that confuses us, and all that. But we share it because it helps us realize who Jesus is. So after the Creed, we do something else. We say a lot of prayers. And to talk about that – I’ve got these. Show rocks.

So what are they? Rocks! These are small rocks I found outside. What do these rocks look like? Small. Round. Gray. Blue. Do they look like special rocks? Nope. Just boring rocks. These are totally just everyday rocks. You can find these kinds of rocks everywhere.

Now rocks are fun because we can do a lot with them. We can make a wall with them, play with them, take them to a lake and trip to skip them over the water. Rocks are hard, they can be heavy, they can be strong – but they can also, over time, be worn down by water and wind and more. I like playing with rocks and I like being careful with rocks too. But I think rocks are important today because of a story we’re going to hear. Jesus is going to tell his friend Peter that he is a “rock.” Jesus tells him that because Peter is going to be someone who tells Jesus’ story, love like Jesus does, and be a leader. So Peter will need to make decisions, and keep talking about Jesus even when he doesn’t want to or he’s tired or maybe he’s not feeling very faithful. Jesus tells Peter to be a rock, a strong foundation, and a leader so that people can hear how much God loves them.

And one way we share that love is by prayer. Prayer is something very active. It’s something we do. And it’s something God tells us to do. So we say a lot of prayers. We pray for the church, for the government, for creation, and for all sorts of people. We pray for those who are sick or happy, tired or scared, and those who have no one to pray for them. We pray because Jesus tells Peter to be a rock – and Jesus tells us to be a rock – and being with Jesus means we pray. And we pray even when we don’t want to.

So let’s write our own prayers. On each rock, we’re going to write a name of someone or something to pray for. Write the prayers. Hand the rocks to the kids. Now this is your prayer rock. I want you, later today, to take this rock out and pray the name or word on it. It reminds us that Jesus calls us to pray – because prayer is how we are strong, like a rock, with Jesus. So make sure to go back to the pews and give these rocks to your parents. They’ll keep them safe until later!

Thank you for being up here and I hope you have a blessed week!

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 12th Sunday After Pentecost, 8/27/2017.

Bring a puzzle. Show the VBS 2017 video.

I’m so happy you’re here today!

We’re back to talking about the liturgy this week – the different things we do on Sunday morning that make up our church service. We’ve talked about a lot so far – why we preach, sing, shake hands, and confess our sins and ask God for forgiveness. Today we’re going to talk about this thing we do right after my sermon and right after we sing a song together. And that’s….the Creed.

Creed is a funny word. Can we say that word together? Creed. There are three different creeds that we could use in church but usually we only use 2. The one we’re using today is the shorter one and it’s called the Apostles’ Creed. We call it the Apostles’ creed because legend says that the apostles, Jesus’ friends, put the Creed together. And how did they do that? By thinking about this – show a puzzle.

This is a puzzle that has a few pieces still to put together. And that’s house puzzles work – we look at the picture and try to use different pieces to put it together. Do the puzzle with the kids for a bit.

Look! Here’s our finished puzzle. Each piece was needed to show the rest. And that’s how this creed works. The creed is made up of different part of Jesus’ story and why Jesus’ story matters. Each piece is important because, without it, we won’t know fully how God loves us. We recite it each week because it helps remind us just how much Jesus loves us and why Jesus is important. And we also recite it because, sometimes, there are different parts of the puzzle that don’t make a lot of sense to us, or parts we don’t understand. Or parts that we don’t necessary think are true that day. The creed isn’t here as a test – as if we have to understand or get or fully believe every single part to call ourselves a Christian. The Creed matters for us because it’s a complete picture of who Jesus is. And when we don’t understand pieces of the puzzles, we know that the person next to us might get it. And we might understand the pieces of the puzzle that the person next to us doesn’t get. The creed helps remind us that we are all, as a community, growing closer to Jesus. All of us, together, are needed to figure out who God wants us to be. The creed is, then, what we as a community, teach and share, the fullness of Jesus’ story. The creed is a picture of Jesus and faith that helps us see Jesus – and live out the Christian faith.

So, in honor of the creed and how it’s a statement that shows what this community teaches, we’re going to show a short slideshow about how we taught, and sang, and ate, and played this Jesus thing out in last week’s VBS.

Thank you for being up here and I hope you have a blessed week!

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 11th Sunday After Pentecost, 8/20/2017.

Blessing our VBS Volunteers and More. Bust out the superhero gear.

I’m so happy you’re here today!

So we’re going to do something a little different today – we’re not going to be talking about the liturgy – about what we do on Sunday morning. We’re taking a break – we’ll do it again next week. Today, instead, I want to do something else: I want to talk about….being a hero.

Start putting on all the different gear. You’re becoming all the superheroes. Now, I know we talk about superheroes quite a bit during children sermon’s. And I know you have your favorite ones. I went through all the stuff I have at my house to see all the different kind of superhero stuff that I have. Walk through it. Explain each one. Who they are, etc. Then put on all of it.

With all this stuff, I look like a pretty whacky superhero, don’t I? It’s almost like, if I took all the different parts of a superhero and put them together, I’d be a super-super hero. If I had the strength of Iron Man, the speed of the Flash, the eating habits of Michelangelo, I would be awesome. Each superhero has different strengths, different abilities, that help them make a difference. And you know what? Just like superheroes have special strengths, you have special strengths too. Because God loves you, because God is with you, and because you are a beloved child of God, you have strengths too. You have your own gifts that help you make a difference in this world.

So this week, at VBS, we’re going to spend the week talking about the qualities God gives us to be heroes. God’s Heroes have Heart, Courage, Wisdom, Hope, and Power. They do good, seek peace, and go after it. They always love and never let hatred win.

We aren’t heroes on our own. Instead, we need help, and guides, and people to show us how God helps us be heroes. And that’s why God has blessed us with these super volunteers to help with the week. And since they’re helping us this week, we’re going to say a special prayer and blessing for the week.

So let us pray.
Dear Jesus, we are honored to have the opportunity to serve the children you will bring to us during Vacation Bible School. Please be with us as we prepare to do the work you have given us. Help the children to experience your live. Help us teach them about faith as we guide them to see your love in action. This is a week showing children the active life of God through Jesus Christ – a life that let’s us, in the words of Psalm 34, Do Good, Seek peace, and go after it. In your holy name we pray, Amen.

Thank you for being up here and I hope you have a blessed week!

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 10th Sunday After Pentecost, 8/13/2017.

Bring the book “Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks.”

I’m so happy you’re here today!

So this is week seven of our time talking about worship – about liturgy – about what we do on Sunday mornings. We’ve talked about the prelude and the lighting of candles. We’ve talked about making announcements and being a welcoming space for all kinds of people who gather here to talk about God. We talked about Confession & Forgiveness – where we start our worship by being honest about the ways we make mistakes and how God, through forgiveness, helps us be more like Jesus. We talked about shaking hands and sharing peace with each other cuz that’s what Jesus today. We’ve talked about why we sing and why we read bible verses during church.

But before we get to our next section, I have a joke for you.

Knock knock. Who’s there? Interrupting Cow. Interrupting cow wh—moooooo!

Do you like jokes? I like jokes. And there are a bunch of funny jokes out there. Recently, I found this book called “Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks.” It’s a book full of math jokes. Now, you might not know much math yet. But math is all about numbers and addition and subtraction and all of that. And I used to know a lot of math…once…since I studied a lot of it in college as an engineer. So let’s looks some of these jokes: go over some of the simple jokes.

So now you know some new jokes! And hopefully you found them funny. And you know what? You laughed and smiled and looked confused because I told you these jokes. You needed someone to tell you them before you experienced all these things.

And that’s sort of why, each Sunday, I share a children’s sermon and another sermon with everyone. After we hear some of God’s words from the Bible, I…talk. And I talk not because I like hearing myself speak. I share a sermon because, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I try to unpack a piece of God for all of us. I pray and pray and think and think and, hopefully, the Holy Spirit shows all of us a little bit of who Jesus is, who we are, how much God loves us, and how God wants us to live our lives. Not every sermon is great or perfect. But each sermon spends time with God and the Holy Spirit, inviting us to know God more because…I honestly believe that having Jesus in your life truly makes a difference. And how can we know how important Jesus is unless someone shares that love with us through their words and their actions?

Part of our job is to share Jesus in our words and actions. That’s what we’re doing here every Sunday and what God helps us do every other day do the week too.

Thank you for being up here and I hope you have a blessed week!

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 9th Sunday After Pentecost, 8/06/2017.

Bring a bag of books! We’re also showing our publicity video today.

I’m so happy you’re here today!

So this is week six of our time talking about worship – about liturgy – about what we do on Sunday mornings. We’ve talked about the prelude and the lighting of candles. We’ve talked about making announcements and being a welcoming space for all kinds of people who gather here to talk about God. We talked about Confession & Forgiveness – where we start our worship by being honest about the ways we make mistakes and how God, through forgiveness, helps us be more like Jesus. We talked about shaking hands and sharing peace with each other cuz that’s what Jesus today. And last time, 2 weeks ago, we talked about why we sing.

But before we get to worship, I have a question for you: do you like stories? What’s your favorite story?

I know I’ve shared books here before of stories I share with my two kids. And these are all books that we read a lot during bedtime. Go through the stack of books. You might know these or you might have your own. And we learn about these stories in a lot of different ways. We might hear stories our parents or guardians liked and then they shared them with us. We might learn new stories at school or daycare. A friend might tell us a story to read or we might just find one when we are at the library, browsing through books. Stories are important and it’s good to read and share these stories.

Which is why, every Sunday, we hear God’s story. And we hear that story in….show a bible. Every Sunday we hear different part of God’s story. We hear about God’s story with the people of Israel. We hear something that Jesus did or said. We hear a bit of a letter or special writing that others shared as well. We hear god’s story each and every Sunday because when we know God’s story, we know how much God love us and we learn how God wants us to live our lives. So the more we hear God’s story, the more our story become God’s.

So in honor of telling stories, we’re going to watch a story about this church that we just created. It was organized and devised by Mr. Scance, one of the musicians here, and it’s a 10 minute film about the story of this church – about who we are, what we do, and where we are going!

So go back to your seats and get ready to watch CLC’s story

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 8th Sunday After Pentecost, 7/30/2017.

Bring a bag of puppets.

I’m so happy you’re here today!

So this is week five of our time talking about worship – about liturgy – about what we do on Sunday mornings. We’ve talked about the prelude and the lighting of candles. We’ve talked about making announcements and being a welcoming space for all kinds of people who gather here to talk about God. Last week, we talked about Confession & Forgiveness – where we start our worship by being honest about the ways we make mistakes and how God, through forgiveness, helps us be more like Jesus. Last week we talked about shaking hands and sharing peace with each other cuz that’s what Jesus today.

And today we’re gonna talk about singing! And we’re gonna use puppets to do it.

Pass out puppets. So which puppet do you have? What noises does that animal make? What noises would that animal make if it sang? Some of these animals would probably have beautiful voices. But some of them….might sound bad. Some might be loud or scratchy or hissy or just hurt our ears. A moose and a snake sing differently and not always good to our ears.

Now, this week, I got to sing the song Happy Birthday to someone. And that’s a song most of us know. But I want to tell you something: I didn’t always like singing happy birthday. I didn’t always like singing. I didn’t like my voice. I never took lessons. I still get nervous singing because I still sometimes struggle with my voice. Learning to sing takes time, and effort, and work. And sometimes we don’t sing as well as we want to.

But we sing in church – loudly, no matter how we think our voice sounds. We might sing beautifully, or we might think we sound like a moose. We might sing a song that we’ve never seen before or one we’ve seen a million times. But whatever we see, we sing. We sing because music moves us; songs inspire us; and when we want to share how much God loves us and how big a difference jesus makes in our lives – sometimes only a song will do.

Thank you for being here! And I hope to see you next week (except I’ll be on vacation).

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 6th Sunday After Pentecost, 7/16/2017.

Bring a family photo

Hello! I’m so glad you’re all here today!

So today is a special day in the church where we celebrate God. Now, we always celebrate God, but today we celebrate who God is and that’s by focusing on the word Trinity. Now Trinity is a fun word. Have you heard that word before? Accept answers. Now Trinity means 3 – and you can hear that in the word. Trinity starts with tri – like tricycle which has words. So God has something to do with 3.

So how can we think about the Trinity? Well, I have something in my hand: what is it? A picture frame. And what’s in it? A picture of my family. Right! This is me and my immediate family. Now if you look at the picture, you see my kids and who do you think they look like: me or Kate? Accept answers. I think O has my hair – or when I use to have hair. They both have my eyes but I think O has my nose. They have the same face structure like Kate has, etc. When we look at the picture, we can tell they’re related to each other. They have parts and personalities that look like each other.

So imagine if we were looking at God’s family picture. We’d see the Father, the Creator. And then we’d see Jesus. And then we’d have the Holy Spirit. They are all related because they are God – they do God things – but they are during as well. Jesus lived like us, the Holy Spirit is God being with us, walking around and helping us all the time, and the Father/the creator is busy creating new things all the time. The Trinity, that word, is a way to describe God’s family.

But besides those three, there’s some more people in God’s family photo. Who else would be in there? Accept answers but we are! We are! Through Jesus, we are part of god’s family. So I’m in the picture, and so are you, and you, and you, and you, and everyone out there. How big of a picture would we have if we showed everyone who is part of God’s family? Giant! It would be huge. So remember that when we talk about God’s family, you are in that picture too.

Thank you for coming up here and I’ll see you next week!

Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on Trinity Sunday, 5/22/2016.