Childrens Sermon Service

Today's reading introduces the word "church." One dictionary defines the word "church" as "the company of all Christians regarded as a mystic spiritual body." Until the Gospel of Matthew relays the conversation that Jesus has with Peter, the idea of this "mystic spiritual body" hadn't been offered.

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought our church bulletin with me this morning. (Show the bulletin.) The bulletin tells us many things about our church. First, it tells us what today's service will be about. It also tells us who many of the important people are in our church. It says here that (name) is our minister, that (name) is our education director, that (name) is our choir director, that (name) is our organist ... (change this to fit your congregation).

Good morning, boys and girls. I want to share (name the object and the person that made it) with you this morning. (Name the person) has a real gift, or talent, for creating something like this. Very few members of our church could create something as beautiful as this. This (name the object) reminds me of this morning's lesson. In the lesson, Paul tells us that members of the church have different talents, or gifts. One person may have a talent for one thing. Another member may have a talent for another thing.

Teachers or Parents: Jesus was a great many things. The people in Jesus' day did not understand him. They thought he was John the Baptist raised from the dead or Elijah, Jeremiah, or another ancient prophet resurrected from the past. The disciples, however, understood Jesus to be who he was: the Messiah, the anointed one of God who was sent to be so much more than a great teacher, powerful preacher, miracle worker, or healer. As Jesus said to them, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but God has," so it will be that God will reveal this to your students. Pray for God's working in their lives.

Who is this? (Let them answer.) We all know who this is. We have never seen Jesus, but we know that Jesus is God's son. We know that Jesus is the Messiah -- the Christ. Jesus is our Savior. We know who Jesus is and what he did. We know he was born in Bethlehem and that he lived a good life and taught people many stories and lessons about life and God. We know that Jesus healed people. We know he preached some powerful sermons. We also know that he died on the cross, was buried, and rose again from the dead. We know that he is with us even now -- even though we cannot see him.

Parents and Teachers: This lesson tells the story about Peter receiving the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Tell your students the story.

See if you can obtain one skeleton key (or another old key) for each student to keep. Bring the keys to class. Also bring yarn or ribbon and small pieces of paper (a 3 1/2 by 4 card stock would be best).

Depending on the age of your students, you may either create some of this project before class, or have the students help. On one side of the sheet of paper write or have your students write either:
"Key of the kingdom of heaven," or

Teachers or Parents: When Peter identified Jesus as "the
Messiah, the Son of the Living God," he did so under the
inspiration of the Father in Heaven. Only those who have been
given faith by the Holy Spirit are able to know the truth about
who Jesus really is. We are blessed with this knowledge because
we too, through the word of God, have come to know Jesus. While
only the Holy Spirit can instill faith in the heart, we can
strengthen that faith through reading God's word and talking
about its meaning with our children.

*Show the children a pile of books, magazines, comic books,
and one Bible. Select one child to look through the pile looking

Good morning! I'd like for us to play a little game today.
The game is called, "WHO AM I?" Here's how we play it. I will
pretend that I am a famous person and tell you some things about
myself. Then you try to guess who I am talking about. Here's the
first one: I am called the Father of my country. I was the first
President of the United States. Who am I? (Let them answer. If
the children are quite young or have any problems answering,
continue to give clues until they get the right answer.)

Okay, now let's try another one. (Use another one or two
famous people and let them identify whom you are speaking about.)

Now here's the final one. Let's see if you can get this one.

Good morning! Have you ever put one of these together? (Show
the puzzle and let them answer.) This particular puzzle has _____
pieces, so it would take us quite a while to put it together.
What if we worked hard on the puzzle and we got it almost
completely together and than found that there was one piece
missing? How would you feel about that? (Let them answer.) Yes,
that would be discouraging, wouldn't it? Has that ever happened
to you? (Let them answer.) The puzzle may be a really pretty
picture, but we can never see how good it is because of that one
missing piece.

You know, the church is a lot like that puzzle. All the
members are the pieces of the puzzle, and when they are all

Good morning, everyone! In today's lesson Jesus and the disciples are talking. He asks them to tell him what people are saying about him. Who do they think he is? The disciples tell him that some people think he is the ghost of John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the important prophets that has lived before. People aren't really sure who he is, because he is so different from anyone they've ever met before. Peter, though, knows exactly who Jesus is. Peter says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." This makes Jesus very happy. Peter has recognized Jesus for who he really is.

Hello again! You probably don't know it, but each of you brought with you something that will help me teach today's lesson. Your bodies! Our bodies are a perfect example of what today's lesson teaches. Think about your own body. What part of it is most important? (see what they think) I'm not sure I can answer that question, because I think every part of my body is important. My ears help me hear, my eyes help me see, my feet help me walk, my brain helps me think. I can't think of one part of my body that I don't need.

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought our church bulletin with me this morning. (Show the bulletin.) The bulletin tells us many things about our church. First, it tells us what today's service will be about. It also tells us who many of the important people are in our church. It says here that (name) is our minister, that (name) is our education director, that (name) is our choir director, that (name) is our organist ... (change this to fit your congregation).

Parents and Teachers: This lesson tells the story about Peter receiving the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Tell your students the story.

See if you can obtain one skeleton key (or another old key) for each student to keep. Bring the keys to class. Also bring yarn or ribbon and small pieces of paper (a 31/2 by 4 card stock would be best).

Depending on the age of your students, you may either create some of this project before class, or have the students help. On one side of the sheet of paper write or have your students write either:

"Key of the kingdom of heaven," or "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 16:19

Materials:
Rocks or pebbles from a streambed
Polished rocks that can be purchased at a craft store
Plaster of paris
Plastic or metal lids from jars
Permanent markers

Directions:
1.
Ask each child to write his/her name on the bottom of his/her lid.
2.
Make sure that all of the rocks are washed and dried so that they don't have any dirt or mud on them.
3.
The teacher should prepare the plaster of paris before the class begins.
4.
Read the Bible passage to the children and then talk about how we build our church on the rock of faith.
5.
Fill each child's lid most of the way with the plaster mix.
6.

Good morning, boys and girls. Isn't it wonderful how God made us different? He gave us so many gifts that we can use to build his church and bring peace to the world. All of us have gifts. What are some of your gifts? (let them answer) Those are all wonderful. The one gift I really like to share is encouragement.

What does it mean to give encouragement? (let them answer) Sometimes we really need encouragement, don't we? Let's suppose we are going to try to ride a bike for the first time. We get on the bike, put our feet on the pedals, grab hold of the handlebars, and push forward. There are people there and they are cheering us on. They tell you that you can do it. That is encouragement.

Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever thought about how blessed you are to be able to speak words? (let them answer) You don't whistle or grunt, you don't bark or meow, instead you say words and other people understand you. Our language is called English, and it is made up of thousands of words. With those words you can ask questions, tell a story, get directions, praise God, and many other things.

Object: The object for today is a cell phone or digital tablet of some kind.

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a question for you today. Are you ready to hear it? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

Good morning! This morning I want to see if we can think of all the rooms in this church building. Let's start. We can begin here. What is this room called? (Let them answer.) Now, let's think of every room in this building. Who would like to name a room? (Let them answer. You could list each name on a blackboard, clipboard, or large sheet of newsprint.) Every one of these rooms is important. We have this room where we worship. That is important. We have the room where we meet for Sunday school. That certainly is important. We have closets where we keep things stored. Those rooms are important. We have restrooms. Those rooms are important. Do we have any rooms that are not important? (Let them answer.) Every room is good for something.

Simon Peter answered, “You are Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” (v.16)

Good morning girls and boys,

How are you this lovely day? If you ask me “how am I ?” -- I would say “splendid!” And one reason why I am “splendid” is because you are here. And because God is here too.

Now I have a question for you. What does an owl say?  (have children guess) Yes. Whoo whoo. Ever heard an owl say “whoo whoo?” Could be scary. Could also be charming.

The Point: Jesus wants us to understand who he is and why he came to earth.

The Lesson: Good morning boys and girls. Thank you for coming up and sharing this time together.

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


Materials:
Paintings or photographs with ambiguous subjects


Directions:
1. Show painting or photograph to children. Have them take turns telling a story about what is happening in each image.

2. Talk about how we may see the same thing as someone else, but it may mean something different to each of us or we might each interpret it differently.

Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Who can tell me what they think this is a picture of? (show image, allow answers) We all might have different answers for this picture. Have you ever seen a picture like this before? (allow answers)

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (v. 3)

Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have ever seen someone juggle? (allow answers) Do you know what it means to juggle? (allow answers) Juggling is when you toss balls or some other object in a circle. Many people have a hard time learning to juggle. It's difficult to keep all the balls in the air.

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

Materials:
Smooth, fist-sized rocks
Enamel paints
Decals, beads, sequins, and other decorating materials
Spray lacquer

Directions:
1. Give each of the children one of the smooth rocks.

2. Allow the children to paint designs on the tops of the rocks, using enamel paints.

3. Allow time for the rocks to dry.

4. Have the children decorate their rocks with the decals, beads, sequins, or other decorating materials.

5. Have each of the children paint the name of the person he or she will be giving the paperweight gift to on the bottom of the rock.

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16)

Good morning, boys and girls. (show them the rock) Does anyone have a big rock in his or her yard? (let them answer) How many of you like a good rock? (let them answer) When you think about a rock, what do you think about? Is a rock soft or hard, is a rock something to eat or not to eat, and is a rock something you can play around with like a ball or a kite? (let them answer)

Rocks can be beautiful. Some rocks are as big as our church and maybe even bigger. A rock can also be pretty small and not have much color. I have a lot of gray rocks around my house.

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. (Romans 12:4-5)

Good morning, boys and girls. How many parts of your body can you name? (let them answer) Pretty good. We also have a lot of parts inside of our bodies that most of us do not know anything about. There are many parts to the body. Do they all do the same thing? (let them answer)

Good morning, boys and girls. Do you ever talk with your friends about things that puzzle you? (Let them answer.) Sometimes when you get together as a group you can talk about something that you don't understand and soon you will all understand it. This morning I want to tell you a story about four friends who were trying to understand just how wise God is. Maybe that's a question that you've wondered.