Category: Children’s Sermon

Bring a Night Light. Maybe bring something dark to cover the light. It’s based on this: https://dskidsermons.com/2018/05/29/june-3rd-2018-2nd-sunday-after-pentecost/.

Hi everyone!

I’m very glad to see you today.

So I want to talk about a sentence we’ll hear later, in our 2nd reading, and it’s something God says “let light shine out of darkness.”

Let…light…shine. That got me thinking – what are the different ways we can make light or help light shine? We can light a candle. Turn on a light switch. Light a fire. We can’t, on our own, make light – but we can use or create tools that can make light for us. And so I brought one of those tools today and that’s this: show the nightlight. And so when God says “let light shine!” I can turn this button on and….light shines!

Well, sort of. It’s a bit hard to see. This isn’t designed, like a flashlight, to give out light. It’s instead a light that is used at night. Use the cover to cover the light so that the kids can see how, a little light makes a big difference in a dark place. When we’re in a dark room, maybe in bed sleeping, and we wake up and can’t see anything – we can turn on this light – and we’ll be able to see. It’s not a lot of light so it won’t fill the room or hurt our eyes or what not. It’ll just be a little light to help us see – and to help us feel and believe that we’re okay and we’re not alone.

Now, there are times when we might feel like we’re a bit overwhelmed…or sad…or scared. We might feel like we’re in a room, in the middle of the night, and wondering if anyone can see us – or if there’s any light that can help us. We might even wonder where God is – thinking that, since we can’t see God, God isn’t really with us.

But what we hear in the 2nd reading is a promise that God has made to each of us. And that promise is that, no matter what, we’ve already been given God’s love – God’s joy – and God’s hope – through Jesus. So even in those moments when we feel really sad; even in those moments when we feel all alone; even in those moments when we feel alone – Jesus is right there with us. We might not see Jesus like we see each other. We might not feel Jesus like if we can feel our own hands. But Jesus has been given to us already. So we carry with us always, our own Jesus nightlight – who is always sending light to us when we’re sad; or afraid; or scared. He’s always telling us that we aren’t alone. And he’s making a promise that because we have him, in the end, we will be okay.

So always remember – no matter what – you’ve got Jesus. And there’s nothing in the night that can take that away from you.

Thank you for being 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 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 6/3/2018.

It’s Pentecost – so we’re going to light a fire in the baptismal font.

Hi everyone!

I’m very glad to see you today.

So it’s about look at clock and I don’t know about you, but it’s at this time of the day when I could use a little snack. What about you? They’ll say yes. So let’s see. What do I have? Pretzels! Mmm. Let’s have some of these pretzels.

Pass out pretzels. Start eating.

So did you ever look at these kinds of pretzels before? They’re kind of cool. They are like 3 different sections but they make one pretzel. There’s this part and this part and this part. And they’re all connected together. This kind of pretzel needs all these different parts to make it a full pretzel. If the pretzel was broken and it didn’t have this part Bite it so it’s missing a piece or this one bite it again or this one bite it – it’s still sort of a pretzel but it’s not exact. For this kind of pretzel to be whole – to be complete – it needs all 3 pieces together to make 1 whole pretzel.

Today is a special day in the church calendar and it’s called Trinity Sunday. Now Trinity is a word that doesn’t appear in the bible. In fact, the word itself didn’t show up until several hundred years after the bible was finally compiled and put together. The word Trinity is a word that describes God. And like this pretzel, the word Trinity talks about God’s 3 parts. And these parts are the ways we experience God in our lives. There’s the part that creates – that we sometimes calls Father. There’s the part that saves us – that we sometimes call Son. And there’s the part that helps us every day in our lives – and that we sometimes calls the Holy Spirit. Now these 3 parts aren’t distinct – they’re not 100% unique. Like this pretzel, they move and flow and are attached to each other so all parts of God are involved in making us who we are; all parts of God are involved in saving us; all parts of God are involved in helping us through our lives. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is 3 and one and One in Three. God is the Trinity.

Now the Trinity is confusing – so don’t worry if you don’t understand it. I don’t understand it fully either – and I don’t think I ever will. But the trinity does show us something. It shows us how God chooses to be – and that’s connected. Like this pretzel, with each part being connected to each other, so God chooses to be connected; to be in relationship; to reach out and form these bonds of love, friendship, and family that make God who God is. And since God chooses to be connected, we are invited to be connected to each other – to our friends, family, church members, and even strangers – just like God is.

Thank you for being 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 Trinity Sunday, 5/27/2018.

It’s Pentecost – so we’re going to light a fire in the baptismal font.

Hi everyone!

I’m very glad to see you today.

So I want you to stand right about there….and look straight ahead. What do you see? The altar. The baptismal font. The pretty red paraments. Everything looks great, doesn’t it? We have the baptismal font setup here. We have the altar with almost everything it needs so we can share in communion with each other later in the service. There are red flowers on the floor and there’s red all.over.the.place. What shape/images are on the red paraments? Yellow flames of fire.

We’re surrounded by red which is a color that can represent fire. It represents how bright a fire can get. It represents the color a fire can get. And it represents the heat – the red hot heat a fire gets out. Where do you see fire? Fireplaces. Forest Fires. The altar candles.

We usually imagine fire in all those places – but we don’t usually think about fire in the church. But today…we will. Today, we’ll hear a story that’s full of fire. We hear how Jesus’ friends, after his resurrection, are gathered together just like we are. They’re hanging out together in the city of Jerusalem when, suddenly, a sound like a mighty wind – like the winds we heard this week when that storm came through – shows up. And scripture tells us that these little images of flames seemed to float and land on each of Jesus’ friends heads. Once they landed on their head, they didn’t hurt them. Instead, these little flames of fire helped Jesus’ friends do something amazing. It let them tell about Jesus – about God – and how much Jesus loves them and the world – in such a way that people, from all over the world, heard that story in a language they understood. The little flames of fire helped these friends of Jesus, when they talked about Jesus to people they didn’t know, be understood. And those little flames of fire, that mighty wind, is a description of what the Holy Spirit can do. The Holy Spirit – this part of God that comes to us – inspires us – and fills us up – helps us share Jesus’ story that the people around us – our families, friends, neighbors, and even strangers – can understand just how much Jesus loves them.

But the Holy Spirit doesn’t only show up on a windy day or when a little flame of fire appears over our head. In fact, it’s probably already showed up to you. When do you think the Holy Spirit showed up to you? Accept answers. Those are great – but there’s one place where the Holy Spirit met you – and that’s here – light the baptismal font on fire.

When we were baptized, even if we don’t remember it, we were given a precious gift. We were given Jesus. We were made part of Jesus’ family. And we were given this Holy Spirit – this force, presence, and active part of God that inspires us to be like Jesus, to follow his teaching, and to share Jesus no matter if we’re 3 years old or 93. Our baptism is the fuel that feeds our faith, our relationship with God, and helps us be the kind, caring, loving, and Christian people God wants us to be.

So now look at the scene again. What do you see? Fire. The Holy Spirit. All of us, right now, are filled with the fire of the Spirit. And because you have that Spirit – each of you – and all of you out there – can share Jesus with everyone.

Thank you for being 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 Pentecost, 5/20/2018.

Bring your wallet (not too many things in it) but make sure you have your Lutheran card.

Hi everyone!

I’m very glad to see you today.

So I have a question: when you want to buy something, what do you need? Money. Credit Cards. Apple Pay. Accept answers. Right! And I usually keep many of those things in this: show your wallet. Let’s go through my wallet and see what’s in there.

Go through what’s in your wallet. Show credit cards, health care cards, random cards for ice creams, and your clergy card. Even show cash (if you have any – you millennial you). But then stop when you have your Lutheran card.

Now this card is a very special card. What do you see on it? Go through it. Luther’s face. My name. Luther’s seal. Old Lutheran logo. I got this as a gift for my birthday and I like it because it’s very funny. This card makes me, a literal card carrying Lutheran. If anyone wanted to know what faith I am or what I believe, I can just take out this card and show it to them: I’m a Lutheran. I’m a fan of Jesus. I dig the church. I worship, pray, and hang out with Scripture. And this card says that there is a certain point of view, a certain flavor, a certain perspective of talking about Jesus – this Lutheran thing – that feeds my soul.

But let’s imagine for a moment that I don’t have this card. And you weren’t going through my wallet. And you didn’t know me. You just saw me walking down the street, dressed like I normally am. How could you tell if I was a Christian? Or even a Lutheran? Accept answers. But, in general, you can’t.

How can someone, by just looking at us, learn, hear, and get to know Jesus? They can’t.

People can only hear about God’s love for them if we tell them about it. People can only get to know Jesus if we show them who Jesus is. It’s great to be a Lutheran Christian. It’s awesome to follow Jesus. But if we keep Jesus to ourselves, like if we leave our Lutheran card in our wallet so that no one can see it – then we keep a part of ourselves hidden from the world around us. Jesus doesn’t want us to keep his love hidden. He wants us to show it, to share it, and to live a life where that love compels all of us to just keep talking about Jesus. Because if you or me or your parents or all your friends out here don’t talk about Jesus, who will?

Thank you for being 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 7th Sunday of Easter, 5/13/2018.

Bring a box of Matchbox cars someone gave you at T&T.

Hi everyone!

I’m very glad to see you today. I want to share with you something that happened here at the church yesterday. We had our big Trash and Treasure sale. We fill the entire place full of toys, housewares, plates, clothing – basically everything – and then in one day, sell as much as we can. People start showing up at 6:30 in the morning, lining up to get in. It’s pretty amazing if you’ve never had a chance to see it.

So I was there yesterday morning, preparing our welcome tent. It’s a place in front of the line where we serve coffee, water, and take prayer requests for people waiting to go to the sale. So as the line was filling up, and we were busy getting ready for the sale, and right when the doors were about to open – a car drives up to me. And a guy gets out. And he’s carrying a big box – much bigger than this one. He dropped it at my feet. He looked me in the face, he said “here’s a bunch of things for your sale!” and then he jumped into his car and…drove away. Before I could even understand what he was doing, he was already gone and I was left with this big box – at my feet.

Now, imagine for a moment, you were me in that moment. I’m busy trying to get everything ready for the hundreds of people coming to the church – because we want to treat them well. The last time someone was supposed to bring things to the sale was two days ago – so this guy was obviously breaking the rules. And before I could even respond, he was off! How would you feel?

Accept answers.

What do you think were different ways I could have responded?

Accept answers.

I could have said “hey! Wait a minute!” and explained we didn’t have time to go through the stuff in the box or price it or get it to the right place so someone would buy it. And that would have been okay to do. I could have said “nope!” and been a time firm and stern about it because we were here, at the church till 11 pm the night before, trying to get everything ready. And I could have ignored the box – just left it there – and hope someone else take it so I don’t have to worry about it. Or just wait until the end of the sale, and toss it into the dumpster. All of those options – would have been right because that person didn’t follow the rules, assumed that I could just take them, and decided to make his problem – his box full of things – my problem without even asking. He put me in a tough spot where I didn’t even have time to think.

So I didn’t think. I instead chose to act in the most loving way possible. And I opened the box.

Open the box. Show the cars inside.

It was a box full of matchbox cars! So I put them outside, and gave them away free, knowing that these cars would bring someone joy.

In our story about Jesus today, Jesus is going to tell his followers that they should, when they can, always love. There will be times when we get caught in an unexpected moment or someone will make their problem our problem or that will be stressed out and overwhelmed and we won’t know what to do – and so when that happens – you know what we do? We do what Jesus asks us to always do – love. When we’re stressed out, we love. When we’re angry, we love. When we’re scared, we make sure to love ourselves and others if we can. We always just love – because when we love, we do what Jesus does for us each and every day – he loves us – always!

Thank you for being 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 6th Sunday of Easter, 5/6/2018.

Bring some seashells you got from your trip of Cape Cod.

Hi everyone!

I’m very glad to see you today. Last week, my family and I were able to take a vacation and we went to one of our favorite places: the beach. We love the sand, the ocean, the waves, and everything there is about the beach. Now, usually, we go to the beach in the summer when it is warm. Then we get to wear bathing suits, go swim in the water, and lay on the beach reading good books or building sandcastles. But…this time…the weather was cold and rainy and wet. In fact, one day I was at the beach and it snowed. So it wasn’t my typical beach vacation but I did get to hear the waves and water. And I also got to bring back these. What do you see?

Seashells!

Right. Seashells. And all sorts of different kinds of seashells. What do these look like? Let the kids describe the shells, hold them, and see them.

They’re neat, aren’t they? I like to collect seashells when I see the beach. They’re amazing because of what they are. Shells are a hard, protective outer layer that an animal creates o protect itself in the sea. It’s like body armor, able to keep the animal inside safe. The shells we find are the beach are old, the only thing left from the animal that created it. Shells protect, keeping safe what’s precious and vulnerable inside it. The shell lets the animal inside grow big, strong, healthy, and above all – thrive.

Which is why, I think, we use a seashell in the church when we baptize. I use the shell to get some of the water and then pour it over someone’s head. The water flows, so it’s moving, reminding us that Jesus is “living water” for us – and when we are baptized, when Jesus becomes our friend and protector, Jesus helps us thrive. Our baptism is our connection with God. And since we’re connected to God, God helps us grow big, strong, and healthy – in love. Our baptism helps us grow in love – helping us love all people – by being kind to them, listening to them, helping them, and protecting them – like how the seashell protects what’s inside it. Our baptism, our faith, helps us become like a seashell to all sorts of people – to classmates, playmates, and even strangers – so that we can help them grow big, strong, healthy – and thrive.

That’s why a seashell is a symbol a baptism. And why we, whenever we are at the beach, and we see a shell – we can remember that Jesus loves us, that Jesus has made us his friend, and that Jesus is helping us to protect and take care of everyone.

Thank you for being 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 4th Sunday of Easter, 4/22/2018.

Bring a small mirror so you can find the scar on your forehead.

Hi everyone!

I’m very glad to see you today. Today in our story about Jesus, we’re going to hear something that sounds a bit odd. We hear every year the week following Easter – so you might remember it. It involves Jesus, all of his friends gathered in a room with the front doors locked, and a disciple of Jesus named Thomas. But before we get to the story about Jesus, we need to talk about some of our stories too. And to do that, I need this.

Show the mirror.

What’s this? A mirror! Right! And this is a small mirror that lets you might use to look at your face when you want to put on moisturizer or makeup or whatnot. But I’m using it today because I’m looking for something specific on my face…and…yep, there it is. You see up here, on my forehead and up to the left? That’s a big scar. It’s faded now – and blends into my skin – and it’s usually more noticeable in the summer when my skin is darker. But it’s there, a scar, that I’ve had for over 30 years. And I got this scar because, when I was little, younger than some of you right now, my brother and I were playing at our house. We were having fun. We put the pillows on the floor from the couch in a large circle. And we were jumping from pillow to pillow, round and round and round. My brother started to pretend to chase me and I was running from him and it was awesome…until it wasn’t. I don’t remember exactly what happened – either I tripped over the pillow or it slipped under me – either way, I know that I fell down and hit my head on the corner of a big stereo speaker. I cut my head pretty bad. It was scary and I hand to go to the hospital. The doctors and nurses took care of me, gave me a bunch of stitches, and I was better pretty quick. As the cut healed, it started to turn into a scar. The scar is a place where the wound we have is repaired but the tissue, the skin, ends up being a little different than before.

Over the years, that’s the biggest scar I’ve got. But I’ve got plenty of smaller ones too on my knees and fingers and arms and legs. Do you have any scars?

Share scar stories.

Now we end up with scars for a lot of different reasons. And every scar, I think, is a reminder of a challenge or situation or experience that we lived through. Even if we think that scar was caused by something we did or we’re ashamed of it or if we’re embarrassed about it – if we have a scar, that means we’ve lived through it; we’ve grown through it. A scar is a sign of what we’ve been through – and since a scar is full of new skin – each scar is a sign of how we can, no matter what we’ve gone through, we can still heal and become who we are supposed to be. And we also, regardless of that scar, deserve and will receive from God – love.

Jesus today is going to visit his friends when they are afraid. He’s going to walk into the room and come to his friend Thomas. Jesus is going to show Thomas his hands, feet, and the the side of his chest – the places where Jesus was hurt. But, unlike us when we get hurt, Jesus doesn’t have a scar in those places. Instead, he’s still wounded. His hurts are still apart of him. Everything Jesus went through is part of who he is. But his hurts, and his past, aren’t – with God’s help – the limit of who he, or us, will become. Your scars will always be apart of you. And you will carry different kinds of scars that others won’t be able to see. But no matter what your scars are – Jesus loves you. Jesus is with you. And Jesus, who himself still carries his own hurts, will help you become exactly who you are supposed to be.

Thank you for being 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 2nd Sunday of Easter, 4/8/2018.