Category: Children’s Sermon

Bring Easter Eggs. Make sure you have a chocolate egg replaced with a grape!

Hi everyone!

For those of you who don’t know me or remember my name, I’m Pastor Marc. And I am so glad that you are here today. Today is a very special day – it’s Easter. Even though Easter officially starts today, I know many of us have been celebrating Easter in different ways for weeks now. Most towns in our area have already had giant Easter Egg hunts. And the town I lived in had there’s yesterday. After everyone had left the field, I noticed there were this one egg that everyone forgot. So I picked it up – and brought it here – and let’s open it right now, to see what’s inside.

Open the egg. Show the two chocolate eggs.

Whoa! What does it look like that is in there? Candy! Chocolate eggs. Chocolate eggs! Wait…these aren’t just chocolate eggs. They’re caramel chocolate eggs. Oooh that is my favorite! Let’s open it up and see what’s inside…

Open the egg. Discover a grape.

Wait a second?! What’s this? A grape! A grape isn’t chocolate. Okay, okay. There must have been a mistake. There’s another egg in here. Let’s open that up and see what’s inside.

It’s another grape!

ARGH. Isn’t that unexpected? We thought there would be a chocolate in there but instead, there was a grape. And a grape, while delicious, is not the same as candy.

But do you want to know a secret? I actually didn’t find these yesterday at my town egg hunt. I actually made them to share with you as a joke. We expected chocolate but we got a grape. We got something we didn’t think was possible. And finding the unexpected – that’s what Easter is all about.

On that first Easter morning, the women who were Jesus’ friends found something unexpected. But it wasn’t a grape instead of chocolate. It was, instead, new life from a place they didn’t think was possible. Discovering joy and love and wonder in places we don’t expect – that’s Easter; that’s love; and that’s Jesus story – a story meant for you, and me, and everyone here. So we’re invited, I think, to look for the kindness, love, and joy that comes from the places and people we don’t expected – because that’s exactly the place where God is making something new.

Pass out Easter eggs and highlight that there are no grapes in them.

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 Easter, 4/1/2018.

Play the Quiet Game.

Hi everyone! I’m so glad you are here today.

So I was hoping to play a game with you today. Is that okay? And it’s a game called… The Quiet Game. The game is easy. Once we start, we’re super quiet…and then when someone makes a sound, they’re out. And the person who stays quiet the longest, wins the game.

Will you play the game with me? Okay. Let’s…start.

Be quiet. See how long kids last. If they keep making noise, great. If they play it and be super quiet, after a bit, you break the silence.

It’s hard to be quiet, isn’t it? Usually we want to say something, right? Or maybe be a bit loud? Or do something that ends up making noise – like playing with something or using toys or whatnot. For many of us, being quiet is hard….and makes us uncomfortable.

But being quiet – that silence – can sometimes be just as powerful and intense as the loudest noise. I was reminded about the power of being quiet yesterday when, as I was watching on tv, one of the speakers at the big march in Washington DC stood on the stage and was just quiet. She stood there, in silence, for over five minutes. Which is pretty amazing and really hard. Because she was talking about something that made her tear up and emotional. And she was speaking at an event where hundreds of thousands of people were staring at her. And she was hooked up to a microphone so her voice was super, duper loud. But she just stood up there, playing her own version of the quiet game…but even in her silence, everyone knew what she was saying and what point she was trying to make.

Today is Palm Sunday where we wave palms, play music, wave the palms around, and a make a lot of noise. And we do that because we’re remembering that Jesus, when he entered the city of Jerusalem for the last time, entered to a parade. His followers and others celebrated and shouted and waves palms and put clothes on the ground and made noise. They were loud. But that noise was matched by lots of periods of quiet that followed. The quiet when Jesus was praying in a garden. The quiet from people as they listened to Jesus teach in the temple. The quiet Jesus offered by not answering the questions a guy named Pontinus Pilate asked him. And the quiet when all of Jesus’ friends ran away from him.

So much of today is about Loud…and Quiet…Loud…and Quiet…and how God is both in those loud and quiet moments. God isn’t only with us when life is good and we’re marching in a parade. God is also with us when we are sad, or lonely, or feel like all we have is silence. But even when we think God isn’t speak – Jesus is right there, in our quiet moments with us, because – as the Holy Week story shows – there is nothing we go through that Jesus won’t go through with us.

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 Palm/Passio Sunday, 3/25/2018.

Bring your Honduras Cross, the processional cross, and a World Map

Hi everyone! I’m so glad you are here today.

So I brought some props with me today. What do you see? A map. A cross. And a big cross.

Now let’s look at these things. This cross is on a long pole. It’s called a processional cross. On special holidays in the church, we use it during worship. Someone carries it high above them and the choirs, pastors, and others follow it. It serves as a reminder that, in everything we do, we follow Jesus.

This cross is a cross I received as a gift. It’s colorful and bright and comes from the country of Honduras. What do you see on it? Describe what the cross is all about.

And this is… a map of the WHOLE world. This is where we are point to NJ. This is where that cross came from. Point to Latin America. And waaayyy over here is where Jesus was in the story we’re going to hear about today. Point to Jerusalem.

So why did I bring all three of these things today? It’s to show a connection to something we’re going to hear Jesus say. Jesus will say “when I’m lifted up, I’ll draw the whole earth to me.”

And that’s a weird thing for Jesus to say. Jesus was all the way over here when he said that. He also said that 2000 years before any of us were born. And being lifted up is…a weird thing to say. But I think all these 3 things can help us understand a little of what Jesus was saying.

Jesus was making a promise to all of us – to everyone who came before and everyone who came after. He is saying that his story was going to make a difference. He is going to be lifted up on a cross and everyone around him will be sad because they will think this bad thing that is happening to him is the end of his story. But Jesus says it isn’t. Instead, God is going to do something else. And it’s through Jesus’ story – from his birth, life, death, cross, and all the way to Easter, he is going to invite everyone around the world to follow him.

Which means his story makes a difference to everyone here and here and here point to map even if they don’t know his story. And Jesus’ story makes a difference for people in Hondoras, who made this cross, and for all of his here in New Jersey. Jesus’ story shows us who God is, what God wants for us, and how far God will go to show that everyone is valued, loved, and matters.

And that’s good news. Because that means, even you, right now – matter to Jesus. And Jesus will do everything he can to help you know that he sees you, values you, loves you, and will never let you go.

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 Fifth Sunday in Lent, 3/18/2018.

Miniatures. Bring Lego Batmen, Action Figures, and More. Bring a bible too with John 3:16-17 marked. From https://dskidsermons.com/2018/02/27/march-11th-2018-4th-sunday-in-lent/

Hi everyone! I’m so glad you are here today.

So a happy daylight savings time to each of you. I’m…pretty tired. How about you? Accept answers. When I get tired, it’s hard for me to focus. So I tend relax and instead play. And I like to play with…action figures. I brought some of my favorite ones to play with and, if it’s okay, I’d like to share them with you.

Walk through the different figurines. Explain who they are. Ask the kids HOW we know who they are.

Now all these figures are miniature. They’re smaller versions of what they might look like in real life. Since these are smaller versions of the big versions, these little versions can’t have all everything that the big versions have. This one doesn’t have all everything of Batman – but it does have the details that are important – the helmet, the symbols, the color of the suit. We know what they represent because they have bits and pieces that are the essential – that tell us who this character is.

Today, in our story about Jesus, we’re going to hear some verses that we might have heard before. And these verses, according to Martin Luther, can be described as the “gospel” in miniature. They’re from the gospel according to John. One verse is John 3:16 – that talks about who Jesus is and why Jesus came. I would also add the next verse to that as well, 3:17 – to show a bit of what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. These verses are the essential bits of the faith we all have, describes a little bit of how and why God loves us, and invites us to discover more about what being with Jesus is all about.

Because even though these verses are the gospel in miniature, that doesn’t mean that all we need is to memorize or know these verses and that’s it. These verses are not just “the right answer” to life and if we can repeat them back to someone, we’re okay. Rather, these verses about Jesus, God, love, belief, and life invite us to do more – to spend time figuring out what God’s love is actually is; to discover what belief and trusting God looks like; to spend a life in church, in worship, and in prayer – because when we focus on what’s essential, we learn more about what God wants our life to be about. And that journey…well…never ends but there is joy, peace, and a sense of purpose when we engage with our faith in that way.

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 Fourth Sunday in Lent, 3/11/2018.

Heart. Bring papers, clipboards, and crayons to color a heart.

Hi everyone! I’m so glad you are here today.

So I want to talk about a word today that shows up all over the bible and it’s something that you and I all have. It’s in here point to chest. What’s inside each of us? Our heart! Right! Our heart.

Hearts are pretty amazing. We usually draw them like this draw a heart but the heart inside of us usually looks like this show the heart coloring picture. That’s sort of similar to this one but it’s a little different. And our heart is part of our body, and it pumps and beats over and over again, helping to send blood all over our body. Blood comes through one side, and then gets pushed out through the other. It takes about 1 minute for blood to start at the heart and go through our arms, lungs, stomach, legs, back, brain, head, neck, and back to the heart. And our heart does this work all the time.

In our first reading today, we’re going to here a guy named Martin Luther use the word “heart.” And he’s going to use that word – heart – to represent something about all of us. Like I said before, our heart is inside each of us. It’s deep inside. And in the bible and in Luther’s writing, the word “heart” is the word used to mean all of us. It’s a stand-in for everything that makes us who we are. Our heart is our identity; it’s who we are; it’s about what we like, what our lives are like, all the thoughts we’ve had, all the decisions we’ve had to make, and all the things that we lived through in our past and what we’re going to experience in the future. When we hear the word ‘heart’ in the bible, our writings are trying to tell us to pay attention to what makes us everything who we are. Because everything that makes us who we are is something that God cares about too.

God cares about everything you’ve experienced in the past and what’s going to happen in the future. God cares about the thoughts you’ve had and the thoughts you’re going to have. God cares about you when you are at church, school, sitting in your car seat, and when you are asleep at night. And God cares so much about who you are, that God helps all of us try and do the right, caring, and loving thing. And God does this by giving us a bible we can read, giving us a church where we hear God’s story, a church community where we all try to help and support each other, and the ability to pray to God – so that we can tell God what’s on our mind and we can listen to what God wants to tell us.

God cares about your heart. And God does everything God can do to help our heart be kind, loving, and caring to ourselves and everyone else too.

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 Third Sunday in Lent, 3/04/2018.

Bring a Lent box with Easter Eggs at the bottom.

Hi everyone! I’m so glad you are here today.

So today is the first Sunday of Lent! Can you say the word “Lent” with me? Lent! Very good. Lent is what we call a “season” of the church. And just like the seasons of “Spring, Fall, Summer, and Winter,” we have different “seasons” in the church too. And this 46 day long season began last Wednesday and continues all the way through Easter.

Now, I don’t know about you, but at my house, we usually store the things we need for each season in a box that we label. For example, I don’t need my snow shovel all year long. I only need it during what season? Winter. And in the summer, what kind of clothes do we wear that we don’t wear in winter? Shorts. Flip flops. I store those clothes in a box labeled “summer” so I know when to wear them.

So I brought my lent box! Let’s see what in it.

Go through the box. Pull out stuff we need during Lent. [Note: Build this stuff at the office!]
the book we’re studying
the Lenten devotion
a soup bowl because we’re having soup & studies
oil for a healing service
communion stuff because we do communion
something that’s purple because it’s our purple season
Bible because some read the bible more
Chocolate because some of us give up chocolate
Our worship book because some of us will go to church more
And then, buried at the bottom, is several Easter Eggs.

What’s this at the bottom? Easter Eggs. Easter is the day and season after the Lent so we won’t actually use these during Lent. But I keep them in my Lent box to remind us what we’re doing: this season is about preparing for Easter, preparing for when Jesus rose from the dead, preparing for when Jesus promised us that he is here with us, right now, whenever we gather. And this serves as a reminder that we need the season of Lent to really feel, experience, and be in awe of Easter. Lent is the season when we spend time growing our faith, spend time with Jesus and God, and spend time with the promise that Jesus is here; Jesus loves you; and Jesus will be with us, no matter what, forever.

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 First Sunday in Lent, 2/18/2018.

Transfiguration. Idea came from Worship With Children.

Hi everyone! I’m so glad you are here today.

So today is a special day in the church calendar that also has a special name. It’s called the Transfiguration. Can you say that word with me? Trans.Fig.Ur.A.Tion. Right! Good job. It’s a big word with lots of syllables and we usually don’t use that word on any other day of the year except for today. So I want to talk about that word with you a bit.

Bring out 3 sheets with – Trans. Figur. Ation. On it.

Here’s the word! And there are two parts of the word that are importants. The first part, “Trans,” means change. The second part, “figur,” means figure – which is a shape or form. When we put these two parts together – trans and figure – “change” and “shape/form” – that means today is about someone or something changing their shape and form.

So let’s stand up. And let’s think about the ways we can change our shape and form.

Now, that’s a bit hard. We’re people. We all look like people. Some of us might be taller or shorter or have more hair or less – but we’re all people. But there are ways we can have fun to change our form.

For example – we could become a letter. Stick your hands up and out to make a Y. Let’s do this! What letter do we look like? Y. Right! And what letter is this? Make an M. and what letter is this? C. And what letter is this? A. Y M C A. Great job. Now I know who to recruit for my next Village People cover band.

So we can use our arms to change our body. We can also form fun shape. Let’s bend and be like a ball. Squat and be a ball. We can stand on one foot, put our arms out like a bird, and we can look like a flamingo. Do that. We can, by using our body and our imagination, transfigure ourselves into new shapes.

And using our imagination is important. When we listen to these stories from the bible and Jesus, God wants us to use our imagination to visualize the story. So I want you, today, to use your imagination too. When you hear me share the story about Jesus, I want you to try and draw what you think the story looks like. And I’m going to give your crayons, a clipboard, and paper, to draw it. You might need to ask your parents to remember it – and you might need awhile to draw it – but I want you to take your time, imagine the story, and then share with me at the end of the service your picture if you are done.

Because today’s story about Jesus is a story that we don’t really have to explain. Instead, it’s a story that is meant to be experienced. And that’s why God gives each of us an imagination to imagine and dream what Jesus means to us.

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 Transfiguration Sunday, 2/11/2018.

Super Bowl Sunday.

Hi everyone! I’m so glad you are here today.

So today is a big day in the world of sports. It’s the….Super Bowl! That’s right! If you watch football, and not everyone does and that’s ok, you’re going to see a lot of people using their bodies to play the game. And before the game, they are going to warmup and make sure they are ready to play. They’ll go out on the field and jog, stretch, and make sure their body feels warm. So I figured for today’s children sermon, why don’t we do the same? Let’s warm up but instead of warming up for a football game, let’s warm up for something that also uses our body: let’s warm up for a church service.

Okay, so are you ready? So copy what I do, ok? And we’re going to do many of the actions we do at church. So here we go. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up. Sit down!

Phew! That gets a little tiring, doesn’t it? It sometimes feels like all we do in church is stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down. We stand up at the beginning, sit down for the readings, stand up when we hear about Jesus, sit down when we read out prayers, stand up to sign, and sit down after communion. We actually use our body a lot during worship.

And we might not know why we do all this standing. We might want to sit down the entire time. But we don’t. We stand at very specific times – at those points when we are specifically being aware that someone special is here when we worship. Who can you guess that special person is? Jesus. Right! Jesus. It’s like when a friend comes over to our house or walks into the room we are in: we stand to welcome them. We stand to thank them for being here. We stand to invite them to come closer to us, to connect with us, to be with us. So when we stand during worship, we are welcoming Jesus into this place. Because when we gather together, Jesus promises to be here. And since Jesus is here, since Jesus shows up, we stand to welcome him, to say hello, and celebrate that his love, Spirit, and peace are here, in this space.

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 5th Sunday After Epiphany, 2/4/2018.