Childrens Sermon Service

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (v. 4)

Good morning, boys and girls! Do you know what this is? (shake tambourine; allow for answers) It's called a tambourine. It's used just like this, to make music. Doesn't it sound pretty? (shake again) The Bible verse we're going to talk about today says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!" There's a Bible song that uses these same words. Do any of you know it?

He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. (v. 3)

Good morning, boys and girls! Today's lesson talks about a king who invited many people to a party. But when he sent invitations to those people, they refused to go! Have you ever been invited to a party? (allow answers each time) How did that make you feel? Were you excited? Have you ever invited people to your party? Did everyone come that you invited? How did you feel if people didn't come to your party?

SHARING THIS WEEK'S GOSPEL THEME AT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND AT HOME

Materials:
Clothespins
Wiggle eyes
Magnets (preferably sticky-back magnets)
Bat "bodies" (black paper cut into ovals)
Bat wings (black paper cut to look like bat wings -- one piece for both wings)
Bat "ears" (black paper cut into small triangles)
Glue

Directions:

1. Give each of the children a clothespin, bat wings, bat body, and a set of bat ears.

2. Tell the children to glue the bat wings perpendicularly onto the clothespins.

3. Instruct the children to glue the bat bodies over the clothespins. The clothespins should be completely hidden.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (v. 4)

Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we are going to talk about joy. Who can tell me what "joy" is? (allow answers) Joy is when you feel very, very happy. Who can tell me about a time when you have felt joy? (allow answers) We feel joy when good things happen to us. We might feel joy when a baby is born, when people get married, when someone gets a job, and when someone graduates from high school or college. Many times when we are joyful, we have a party so that we can share our joy with others.

And he said to him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?" And he was speechless. (v. 12)

Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we're going to talk about clothes. How many of you have gone somewhere that you had to wear special clothes for? (allow answers) What kinds of things did you have to wear? (allow answers)

SHARING THIS WEEK'S GOSPEL THEME
AT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND AT HOME


Materials:
Dress-up clothes (beads, sunglasses, blouse, T-shirt, overalls, snow hat, and so on)


Directions:

“and gathered all whom he found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (v. 10b)

Good morning boys and girls,

How are you this morning? I am so happy you are here in worship today. I'm happy because I get to see you and I get to tell you about God.
Did you know that Jesus told made-up stories we call parables?
Made-up stories, are like windows to see through, to see the real meaning of something.

Here's my made-up story like one that Jesus told:

The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. (vv. 8-9.)

Hello everyone! Have any of you ever been to a wedding? (Let them answer.) Sometimes weddings are small and simple, and sometimes they are really big and fancy, but they are always special, aren’t they? (Let them answer.)

Jesus told a story about a wedding, and boy, it was really special. Do you know why? (Let them answer.) The father of the boy getting married was a king! I’ll bet it was a really fancy wedding, don’t you? (Let them answer.)

Object: A small card with the words “I CARE!” printed in big letters on one side to give to each child. Business card sized or index card sized works well.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But before we begin, I need to tell you that this story sounds kind of a mystery. Some people think it is a little confusing, but let’s see if we can figure it out, okay? (Let them respond.) This is a story Jesus told one day when some of the Pharisees came to try and trick him and make him stop telling people about God. Do you remember the Pharisees? (Let them respond.) They thought they were special and that God loved them more than anyone else.

Have you ever seen a movie or a television show that was scary? (Let them answer.) I have! Sometimes a show will get so scary that my heart starts pounding and it seems so real. When an action scene gets too real, what are some things people can do to remind themselves that this is only a show and not real? (Let them answer.)

If a show scares me too much, I will look away from the movie screen. This helps remind me that I am not in the movie -- I'm just watching the movie. That really helps me remind myself that everything is going to be okay because the movie is not real.

The Point: Jesus asks us to join God's family and how we respond is important.

The Lesson: Welcome, boys and girls. Thank you for coming forward to share this teaching moment with me.

Yesterday I received a special note in the mail. I brought it with me this morning. It's a birthday invitation. I love to go to birthday parties. How about you? (get responses) It is fun to be with friends and to play games. (get responses) Eating cake and ice cream isn't so bad either. (get responses) Finding a special birthday gift to give is fun too. And it is always exciting to watch the birthday presents being opened. (get responses)

Macaroni or other pasta, beads, etc. (something with a hole to string through) in the following colors (one for each child): Black, Red, White, Green, and Gold or Yellow
Plastic lacing, yarn, or ribbon

Instructions
1. The greatest prize we can ever receive is the gift of heaven and it is there for each of us if we love God.

2. To help you remember the prize of heaven, let's make a necklace where the colors each stand for one part of your path to heaven.

3. Have the children take one of each color pasta or bead.

4. Give each child a piece of lacing or yarn long enough to make a necklace.

5. String the pasta or beads on the lacing for a necklace.

6. These colors represent the "path to heaven."

Good morning! Have you ever been to a circus? (Let them
answer.) What are some of the things that you see at a circus?
(Let them answer.) At every circus, one thing you always see is
one of these. (Show the picture.) Every circus has clowns, and
clowns always seem to be happy. They seem to have a lot of fun,
and they make us feel happy. Do you suppose there are times when
the clowns are really unhappy because of some problem, but they
still act happy? (Let them answer.) Yes, I'm sure that happens.
They may be really sad, but they continue to act happy because
that's their job.

The Bible tells us that we should always be happy too, even
at times when we have problems. Paul wrote that we should

Good morning! There are several radio or television shows
where they make random telephone calls to homes, and if you are
lucky enough to be home when they call and you have the right
answer to their question, you win something. Sometimes you win
money or a trip or something else, but it's always a very nice
prize. Would you be happy if one of those shows called you? (Let
them answer.) But, how would you feel if they called and you
didn't have the right answer? Would you still be happy? (Let them
answer.) No, I guess we would all be really unhappy if we were
lucky enough to get a call and then didn't have the right answer.

Jesus once told a story about a king who gave a wedding

Teachers or Parents: The simple Gospel truth that we are
saved as a gift of God through faith and not by our own works is
the hardest truth for Christians to hold on to. Human reason
keeps insisting that we are saved, at least to some degree, by
our own actions. If we can instill in our children an
understanding that Jesus has done all that is required for us to
get into Heaven and those who believe in him will have eternal
life as a gift, we will have accomplished the most important part
of their Christian education.

* Make up several cards with all kinds of good works printed
on them. Label them as "Perfect attendance at Sunday school,"
"Giving money to the church," "Helping the poor," "Doing my

Good morning! Once Jesus told a parable about a king who had a big wedding for his son. He made wonderful preparations because it was a wedding to be remembered. The king spared no expenses in decorating the reception room. He paid a huge sum of money so that they could have a wonderful banquet with every kind of food. This was to be the most marvelous of weddings. So the invitations went out. (Hand out the cards to each of the children present.)

Teachers or Parents: Encourage your children to use the invitation they received in today's children's sermon to give to friend or neighbor.

*Brainstorm with them to come up with a person they can invite.

*Make more invitations and color them. Make them special, individualized, sincere.

*Photocopy more of the invitations used in today's children's sermon to give to others -- perhaps even parents.

*Bring pictures of your wedding or a recent wedding at church. Ask for the children's experience of weddings. "Are they happy?" "Why are they happy occasions?" "How is church like a wedding?" "How is Sunday school like a wedding?" "Why are people invited to weddings?"

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you enjoy eating at (name the restaurant)? That's where this is from (hold the box). Whenever I go there to eat I see children eating one of these meals. What is so great about this meal? (Let them answer.) You get a prize with the meal and that makes you happy.

I believe that anyone who would get a prize for eating would be happy. The box makes me think about Christians. Christians are like people who get a (name the meal). Christians are pretty happy people also, aren't we?

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever been invited to a party, or had a party where you invited others to attend? (Let them raise their hands.) Did you receive or send invitations to the party? (Show the invitation.) Parties are really fun. What is the best part of a party? (Let them answer.) If it is a birthday party, I think the best part is when someone blows out the candles that are on the cake. Then everyone gets a piece to eat.

Teachers: Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a king giving a wedding banquet for his son. In the parable, persons who come to the banquet are those who have faith in Jesus.

This week, plan a party for your class. Decorate your room for the party. A sign on your classroom door might read "Welcome to God's faithful."

Tell your students the story about today's Bible story. Explain that the banquet in the story is open to those with faith in Jesus.

Good morning! How many of you like to play games? (let them answer) Good. Today I want to play a game with you, and the winner will get a special prize. Everyone will get something, but only one will get the prize.

Here is the game. I brought with me a broom straw that looks like this. But I cut up the broom straw into many different lengths. Now, I want everyone to choose one piece of the broom straw and hold it. (let them select a piece of the broom straw) I have in my pocket another piece of the straw that is a perfect match to a piece one of you have. Whoever has the one that matches mine wins the prize. (have each child measure his or her piece against the one you hold; try to make sure that the match is the last one)

Good morning, boys and girls. I am so glad you are here today because I have really been struggling with a problem and it has me befuddled. Do you ever struggle? (let them answer) What kind of struggling do you do? (let them answer) I struggle with lots of things. I struggle with my diet. I want to lose weight, but it is hard because I keep eating things I should not eat. I want to lose weight, but I like ice cream, donuts, apple pie, and mashed potatoes with butter and gravy. It is a struggle.