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(Children's Sermon Service...Plus)

He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter). (v. 42)

Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever noticed how important changes in things can be? (let them answer) Things change, and when they change, we notice it. Days get longer and we have more sunlight and less nighttime. The leaves on trees change color from green to gold and red, and a forest can look like someone painted it. You wash your face, comb your hair, shine your shoes, change your clothing, and you look like real ladies and gentleman. People like change.

The other day, I wanted to buy something from a machine and all I had was a dollar bill.

God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (v. 9)

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever received an invitation? (let them answer) An invitation is sometimes written out on a nice piece of paper and put in an envelope and mailed to you. (take your invitation out of the envelope and show it to them) The invitation tells you what you are invited to, it tells you the time and the day of the month and something about what is going to happen at the event you are attending.

Let's take a look at our invitation. This invitation says that there is going to be a wedding. It tells me the name of the bride's parents, the name of the bride and the groom who are

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

Materials:
Clear plastic bottles (recycle -- 20-ounce water or soda bottles work well)
Water
Food coloring
Scissors
Long-stemmed white flowers (carnations or daisies work well)

Directions:

1. Have the children place a small amount of water into their bottles.

2. Help the children add six to eight drops of food coloring to the water.

3. Using scissors, have the children cut the stems of the flowers just short enough so that the stems almost touch the bottoms of the bottles and the flower tops are slightly above the tops of the bottles.

… For in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind. (v. 5)


Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have ever helped someone bake? (allow answers) What have you helped bake? (allow answers) When we bake, we use lots of ingredients. One of these ingredients may be flour. In fact, I brought some flour with me today. What kinds of things might you use flour in? (allow answers) We use flour in lots of things! We use flour in cakes, cookies, muffins, bread, pancakes -- just about everything we bake uses flour.

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


Materials:
Construction paper
Colored pencils, pencils, markers, crayons
Examples of campaign signs, buttons, and stickers


Directions:
Have children create campaign signs for Jesus. If desired, have the class work as a group to come up with a campaign slogan, theme, and posters that they think reflects Jesus' mission.

How many of you know my name?  But do you know all my names?  I'm also known as Aunt ________.  or Uncle _______ and cousin ________.  Some people call  me by a nick name ______.

So I have several names. Some of you might have more than one name.  (Ask the children their nicknames.) 

In our Gospel story today we find out that Jesus had several different name tags.  (Write them each on a different tag.)   John gave this testimony in John 1:34.

John the Baptist gives us a great example of how to be a friend. Many times, when someone new comes along people get scared their friends will like the new person better. This happens to kids and adults. Bullying often stems from the fear that someone else will steal friends away. A bully sees the only line of defense as making fun of the new kid. They hope by ruining their reputation their friends won’t want to be friends with the new person, and the bully can keep all their friends to themselves.

Object: A paper sack or plastic bag.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a really good story for you today, are you ready to hear it? (Let them respond.)

Good morning, boys and girls. Do you remember a few weeks ago when we were talking about the meaning of names? (let them answer) Some names mean "beautiful" or "bright as the morning sun." Almost every name has a special meaning.

There is a wonderful story from Saint John about the beginning of Jesus' ministry. John the Baptist remembered the experience of when Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit came to Jesus like a dove and the Spirit remained on him. This was very special. Did you know that John the Baptist had disciples? (let them answer) He did, and they were very loyal to him. But on that day, when Jesus walked by, John called him the Son of God.

Good morning! What do I have here? (Show the stuffed animal
or the picture.) Yes, this is a lamb, and the lamb has a very
special meaning to Christians. Who is often called a lamb in the
Bible? (Let them answer.)

Once, when John the Baptist was baptizing people in the
river, he saw Jesus walking toward him and he said, "Here is the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Why do you
think he would call Jesus a lamb? (Let them answer.)

To understand why Jesus is called a lamb, we have to go back
thousands of years before he was born. When the people of Israel
were slaves in Egypt, God had them sacrifice a lamb and put some

Good morning! How many of you are really rich? How many of
you have all the money you could ever want so that you can buy
anything you want? (Let them answer.) I didn't think so. If any
of you were that rich, I was hoping you would consider giving a
generous gift to the church.

Let's just pretend we are rich for a moment. Let's say this
toy car is real and it's worth $50,000. And let's say this toy
boat is real and it's worth $100,000, and this toy airplane is a
Lear jet worth 2 million dollars. Besides all that, let's say you
have 50 million dollars in the bank. Would you say all that makes
you rich? (Let them answer.)

Okay, we have all that and we're rich, but tomorrow we die.

Good morning, boys and girls. The Bible tells us that Jesus gives us strength. How many of you feel stronger because you know Jesus? (let them answer) Can I see your muscles? (check their arm muscles) Wow!

Does Jesus tell you to put on your workout shoes and do your exercises? (let them answer) Does Jesus tell you to take your vitamins and eat lots of vegetables? (let them answer) It is very important that we take good care of our bodies. We stay strong by exercising and eating good foods.

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought a picture to show you. What is it? (Show the picture.) It's a lamb. If you've ever petted a lamb, you know that it is a gentle animal. It is soft to touch a lamb's wool. In Jesus' time, a person who took car e of lambs and sheep was called a shepherd. We often call Jesus the Good Shepherd. Does anyone know why we call Jesus by that name? (Let them answer.) It's because we may think of ourselves as sheep and lambs, and Jesus takes care of us. So, he is the Good Shepherd. That's why sometimes you see Jesus with sheep in church windows and religious paintings.

Sometimes you see a lamb in church windows with a cross. That's another image of Jesus. That's the image of this morning's

Good morning, boys and girls. Do any of you take children's vitamins? (Let them answer, while holding up your vitamin jar.) I'm glad to know that so many of you do, because vitamins are important for all of us. What do vitamins do for us? (Let them answer.) Vitamins enrich our bodies. "Enrich" is a big word. You could say that "enrich" means "to help us grow." It means to help our bodies grow, so that we become stronger. It also means to help our minds grow, so that we may learn new things.

Vitamins enrich us. Vitamins help us grow in many ways. This morning's lesson reminds me of vitamins. The lesson tells us that Jesus is like a vitamin. Paul says that when you know Jesus you are enriched. That sounds like vitamins doesn't it? You are

When John the Baptist saw Jesus one day, he said so that everyone could hear: "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" John called Jesus a lamb! Do you know of any reason why John the Baptist would call Jesus a lamb? (Let them answer.)

A long time ago, the people of God tried to please God by offering their finest lamb to God. It was the best-looking, healthiest lamb of the flock. That is the lamb they would offer. They gave the lamb to God so that God would forgive them.

John the Baptist knew that Jesus was like the lamb given to God. Jesus was the best human being possible and because of Jesus, all those who believe would belong to God. John the Baptist was right -- Jesus is the Lamb of God. (If you have a

Good morning! Today I brought with me a loaf of bread I bought at the grocery store. Have you ever noticed that many loaves of bread have this word on it? The word is "enriched." What do you suppose that means? (Let them answer.) I think it means that the bakers of this loaf of bread have made it better. They have perhaps made it taste better, or made it so it doesn't spoil as soon, or maybe they have made it more moist. Perhaps they did all that and much more. I know that the word "enriched" means -- it was made better.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at a place called Corinth, he said that, "in every way you have been enriched by (Jesus)." I know that's true. If Jesus is in our lives, our lives are made better because of Jesus. How do you

I just love parties, don't you? What are some parties people have? (get responses) Birthdays, graduations, weddings, Valentine's Day, Christmas -- there are lots of different kinds of parties. (show your invitation) People might use cards like this one to invite people to a party. This is an invitation. It lets people know all about the party and asks them to come join in.

Today we are going to talk about the disciples. A disciple is a follower. Jesus had 12 disciples -- 12 men who followed Jesus and helped him do his work. (hold up the picture) Here's one artist's idea of what Jesus and his disciples looked like. See? After Jesus was baptized he collected his disciples and together they did many marvelous things. After Jesus went to heaven, the disciples continued to do the work of Jesus and spread his message of love to the world.

Materials:
Fist-sized rocks (one per child)
Weather-resistant paint, such as acrylic
Wiggle eyes
Glue
Yarn (optional)

Directions:

Allow the children to paint their rocks any color they desire. When the rocks are dry, have the children glue the wiggle eyes on the rocks and give them names. For fun, the children might want to give each of their own rocks a smile or attach some yarn hair.

Teachers: This week's lesson uses two gentle animals in referring to Christ: the lamb and dove. Briefly tell your students the story about John seeing Jesus. In the story John refers to the "lamb of God" and the "Spirit of God ascending like a dove."

If you have pictures of lambs and doves, show them to your students. You might find a book in your church library about either animal to read to the students. This will give them more images of either animal. Use your chalkboard or a large sheet of paper to create two columns. The first column should state "Doves And Lambs Are." Have students offer words that describe either animal. Some words could be: gentle, quiet, friendly, peaceful and like Jesus. The second column should state "Doves

Teachers or Parents: The atonement of Christ -- the Agnus Dei -- is probably too difficult for children to understand. They can, however, understand gentleness. After explaining again John the Baptist's calling Jesus "the Lamb of God," ask the children to complete the sentence: "Jesus is like ______________" and then ask them why they said that. You gain some real insight into what the children think of Jesus.

*Ask the children what kind of animal they are like and why.

*Tell the children individually that they are like (an animal) because .... Take a positive character trait of each child and relate that to an animal.

*Do some research and find other biblical characters (such as the Apostles) who have an animal ascribed to them:

Teachers and Parents: Jesus is our paschal lamb in the same
way that the first paschal lamb was a sacrifice that saved the
Israelites in Egypt. This Lamb of God was sacrificed on the cross
and, by his blood, we are saved. This symbolism can be understood
by the children.

* Ask the children to draw a picture of a lamb. Pin all the
pictures up on the wall so they are all visible. Amid the
pictures, pin up a picture of Jesus, and talk to them about his
role as the Lamb of God.

* Read Exodus Chapter 12 or explain what happens in that
chapter to the children. Then discuss how Jesus was the Lamb of
God who saved us, just as the blood of the lamb saved the
Israelites.

In some circles, the word "evangelism" is intimidating. Somewhere along the way evangelism became associated with being pushy and telling others what they should believe. Even The American Heritage Dictionary defines evangelism as "zealous preaching and dissemination of the gospel," and "militant zeal for a cause." I think that's a little heavy-handed.