Childrens Sermon Service

But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." (Matthew 9:12)

Good morning, boys and girls. I want to ask you a question. When your hair gets long and shaggy, where do you go? (let them answer) That's right, you go to the barbershop or the beauty parlor. Every so often you visit the barbershop to get rid of your shaggy hair or you have your mom or dad cut your hair so that it looks good. The older we get, the more important it seems to become. Hair is something we have to take care of every day with a brush or a comb.

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

Materials:
Simple hair comb
Heavy glue
Beads and sequins

Directions:
1. Give each of the children a comb.

2. Tell the children they are going to give their combs as gifts to special females in their lives and have the children decorate their combs as they see fit.

3. Tell the children when each of them gives his or her comb to his or her mother or other special female, they are to tell the special person, "God loves you and so do I."

4. Discuss why it is important to do nice things for others.

No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. (Romans 4:20)

Good morning, boys and girls. There are some words that I don't like to say. I don't like the word maybe. I do not like the word perhaps, or the words I'm not sure. Do you know why I don't like those words? (let them answer) Maybe, perhaps, and I'm not sure do not tell me anything. I don't know if you want to go swimming or if you are going be on time or if you won or lost the game. Maybe I will go swimming. Perhaps I will be on time. I'm not sure what the score was of the game I played.

Object: A pair of medical gloves for each child. It is best to avoid latex gloves in case anyone has an allergy to that material.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) This morning I want to talk about gloves. Sometimes we wear gloves to help keep our hands warm, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes we wear gloves to protect our hands from things that are too hot or cold, don’t we? (Let them respond.)

Good morning! Have you ever seen one of these? (Let them
answer.) Yes, this is a container of medicine. There are probably
some in the medicine cabinet at your home. Have your parents ever
told you anything about this kind of medicine? (Let them answer.)
Yes, I'm sure they have told you never to open one of these
vials, and, for sure, not to eat any. Why do you think they tell
you that? (Let them answer.) Yes, this medicine is for a
particular sickness, and if you take it when you don't need it or
take too much, you might get sick and you might even die!

Once, Jesus was eating with some people who everyone knew
were very sinful people. Some religious leaders asked his

Who can tell me what this compass does? (Let them answer.) A compass always points north. It always knows which way is north. Sometimes I get mixed up. If I'm in a strange place and get turned around, I might think that south is north or east is north. If I have a compass, then I can always tell which way is north. It always points in the same direction. Does anyone know which direction a compass will point? (Let them answer.) It will always point north. Some cars even have a compass built in the dash so that the driver can always tell which way is north.

Good morning! I'm glad to see you all again. (hold up the kit) Who knows what this is? (get responses) Why would someone use this? (responses) This is a first-aid kit. It's got all sorts of bandages, ointments and other stuff to help people when they get hurt. Healthy people don't need first-aid kits, but they're usually the first things we go for when we get hurt.

Jesus was unlike anyone who has ever lived. The people who spent time with him were both amazed and troubled by the things he said and did. Some people were more troubled than amazed. Take the Pharisees for example. They were bothered by both what he said and what he did. Particularly in today's lesson, the Pharisees are troubled by the people with whom Jesus spent his time. They asked the disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus overhears this conversation and points out that it was just for people like tax collectors and sinners that Jesus came into the world.

Good morning! Have any of you ever borrowed money from
someone? Your parents or somebody else? (Let them answer.) Well,
if you should borrow money from someone, there are two ways they
might lend it to you. The first way is to lend it to you with
just your spoken promise to pay it back. In other words, they
just trust you to pay it back. The second way is the way a bank
would loan you money. They have you sign one of these. (Show the
promissory note.) This is a written promise to pay it back. If
you didn't pay it back, this is the written evidence that you owe
the money, and they would use this to force you to pay it back.
They would take you to court, and the court would order you to

Teachers or Parents: Jesus came to save sinners from the
illness that results in eternal death. He is the prescription for
the illness that we all have and from which there is no other
cure. We need to impress on our children that Jesus is the cure
for the disease of sin that infects us all. Without him, we have
no hope of a cure.

*Put up pictures of several kinds of buildings, including a
hospital. Ask them to identify the building that they would go to
if they were sick. When they identify the hospital, ask them if
the hospital can cure them from sin. When they agree that it
cannot, see if they can identify who can cure us from sin.

How many of you know how to play "Simon Says"? (Let them answer.) That is a fun game. Would any of you like to play it this morning? (Play a brief game of "Simon Says.")

I wanted to play that game today because there are many people who will tell us to do many things. Some things we want to do, like when we want to play "Simon Says." Other things we will not want to do because they might not be good for us. Can any of you think of things we would not want to do? (Let them answer. Answers will likely be "not go across a busy street by ourselves," "not enter someone's house without knocking," "not do what a drug pusher might say," or "not take candy from a stranger," and so forth.)

Teachers or Parents: Play "Simon Says" again. Then vary the game by saying, "Jesus says ..." Use some examples from life about what "Jesus says ..." and what the world might say to us. For example, "Jesus says we should love our neighbor." "The world says we should get even when someone hurts us." "Jesus says we should try to do good." "The world says we should do what feels good." These examples could be multiplied many times. Jesus plays a game of "Jesus says" in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, "You have heard ... But I say to you ..." (Matthew 5:21-48).

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to go swimming? (Let them answer.) I brought my tube with me this morning. This tube helps me explain the word "faith." This morning's lesson is about the word "faith." When you go swimming, the pool usually gets deeper the farther you are from the pool's edge. But if you use a tube like this one, it should hold you up. When it holds you up, you don't have to worry about sinking, no matter how deep the pool is. That means that you have faith in your tube. You know that wherever you are in the pool -- no matter how deep the water -- your tube will keep you on top. It is important to have faith in your tube, isn't it? (Let them answer.)

Good morning, boys and girls. I want to tell you a story this morning about this broken toy. (Show the toy.) This toy wasn't broken accidentally. It was broken by someone who was nasty and did it on purpose. The child who did it always seemed to be in trouble. On the playground he pushed other children. In school he always butted in front of others in the lunch line. He was always getting into trouble. He didn't have many friends. Most of the children avoided him. He needed a friend and needed a chance to change his ways and become a good friend himself.

Parents and Teachers: How does one answer God's call? In this Sunday's text Jesus saw Matthew sitting at his tax booth. When Jesus said, "Follow me," that is exactly what Matthew did.

For young children, make a game of the story. An adult can start by walking around the room. As you identify a child, say to the child, "(Name the child), follow me." Have the child follow behind you as you continue walking around the room. Now it is that child's turn. Have that child call on another child to "follow," and so forth. Soon all the children will be following the leader.

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. (v. 13)

Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners. (v. 13)

Good morning, boys and girls. Is this a good day? Are you finished with school for the year? (let them answer) Soon everyone will be out of school and you will be wishing that you could go back tomorrow.

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


Materials:
Fun foam in brown or a dark color
Scissors
Pictures of knots on trees or pieces of wood with knots
Markers
Glue
Lapel pins to stick on back of the "knot"

Directions:

1. Give children each a piece of fun foam and have them trace a circle about 4 inches in diameter on the foam. Have each child cut out the circle.

2. Show the children the pictures of the knots and let each child, using the markers, create what looks like a knot from a tree to go along with the lesson.

3. Have the children write the following message on their knots: "Christians are 'knot' perfect, they are just forgiven."

Hello! Today's lesson is about Abraham and what a faithful man he was. In the reading we hear two words repeated over and over. These words are very important to understanding what the lesson is about. The lesson is only 13 verses long, but the writer uses the word "faith" seven times and the word "promise" five times. I'm going to read the lesson again, but I need some help. (select two volunteers and give each of them a sign) Each of you has a paper with one of our two important words on it. When I read the lesson, raise your sign when you hear the word you have. Got it? (read the lesson and make sure that the "faith" and "promise" signs go up when you speak the words)