Childrens Sermon Service

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5)

Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever had a pet fish? (let them answer) When I was growing up, we had a backyard cement pond with goldfish in it. We also had a fountain and sometimes the fountain worked and sometimes it did not work. When the pump in the pond wasn't working, we had to work hard to keep it clean.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. (Matthew 10:29-30)

Good morning, boys and girls. When was the last time God thought about you? (let them answer) Was it when you got hurt and were crying really loud and everyone heard you, even God? (let them answer) Was it yesterday when you thought about praying before you ate lunch but then forgot about the prayer? (let them answer) Do you think God was thinking about you when you thanked your mother for giving you a big hug before you went to bed last night? (let them answer)

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

Materials:
Bird pattern(s) -- profile of bird
Pencils
Cardboard
Scissors
Markers
Pipe cleaners
Glue
Bag of feathers
Movable eyes

Directions:
1. Have the children trace the bird patterns onto the cardboard and cut them out.

2. Have each of the children color the bird's beak, using the markers.

3. Help the children fold the pipe cleaners to resemble bird feet and help them glue the pipe-cleaner feet to the backs of their birds.

4. Have the children glue feathers on the fronts of their birds. They may want to use a different color for the "wing" of the birds.

Jesus’ audience believed that someone had to be extra special for God to care for them. To dispel this idea Jesus points out that even the two sparrows worth only a penny are cared for by God. This showed that God cared for everyone no matter what worth the world gave to them. By saying God loves the sparrow, too, showed that God’s love does not depend on the worth the world gives to someone. If God cares for these cheap birds how much more will God care for you!

Object: A penny for each child.

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story? (Let them respond.) Great! This is another story about the day Jesus called all of his disciples together and told them it was time for them to start going out and taking care of people like he had been doing. He told them to divide into groups and start visiting the towns around them. He said they should tell everyone about God and help all of the people they meet that need help.

When Jesus told them that, his friends got really quiet and stood there looking at each other. Then someone said, “But what about the Samaritans? They don’t like us. If they see us, they might try to hurt us.

The Point: When we walk with Jesus we never walk alone.

The Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. It's good to be with you at church today. Look around. Do you see people you know? (let children answer) How about people you don't know? (let children answer) All of these people are here today because they want to worship God and to be a part of God's family.

Do not fear... (v. 28)

Good morning girls and boys,

Have I got something to show you today! But first I have a question.

Are there things that make you afraid?  (children answer)

Are you afraid of the dark? Are you afraid of thunder?

Are you afraid of getting sick or hurt in sports?

At Halloween you children love to do fun things that make others afraid. Ghosts and ghouls and goblins and kids with scary masks and costumes jump out and try to scare you. But you really aren't afraid are you? (children share)

There's a cartoon of a cat who is afraid of everything. They call him Fraidy Cat.

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you are afraid of something? (Let them answer.) Is anyone afraid of the dark? Is anyone afraid of getting lost? Are you ever afraid that you won't have any friends? Are you ever afraid of making a mistake in front of people and having them laugh at you? (You may name some other things here.) Many people are afraid of different things. Some people are afraid of flying in airplanes. Some people are afraid of riding in elevators. I brought something in this jar that I used to be afraid of. (Show the jar.) How many of you are afraid of what is in this jar? (Let them answer.) Some of us may be afraid of this (spider/bee), but it serves a purpose in God's kingdom. Do you know that it is probably afraid of us?

Hello, everybody! Welcome back! (show them the bowl of water) When have you seen something like this before in the church? (if your church has a baptismal font, see if they can find it) When do we use water in church? That's right: during a baptism. (move your hand in the water) Water is an important symbol in baptism. In one way or another, almost all Christian churches use water when someone is baptized.

Materials:
Thick colored paper
Markers, pencils
Picture of each child (brought in by the children)
Yarn in "hair" colors
Hole punch
Pencils
Glue

Directions:
1.
Cut several bookmark shapes out of colored paper to have ready for the children.
2.
Give the children each a bookmark and have them put their names on the back of them.
3.
Have the children cut the heads only out of the pictures of themselves they have brought with them.
4.
On the bottom half of the bookmark have each child write this Bible verse: "And even the hairs of your head are counted."
5.

Good morning, boys and girls. How important are you to God? (let them answer) Remember how many people there are in the world and then ask yourself, "How important am I to God?" Does anyone know the answer? Are you more important than George Bush? (let them answer) Are you more important than me, your pastor? (let them answer) Do you think you are as important to God as Big Bird, Tiger Woods, Superman, or another famous person? (let them answer)

Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever heard the words, "I'm sorry?" (show the sign and let them answer) Have you ever used the words, "I'm sorry?" (let them answer) Do you say these words to your mom and dad, or your brothers or sisters? (let them answer) Do you also tell your friends that you are sorry? Who else do you tell you are sorry? (let them answer)

We all use those words a lot, but shouldn't we use them carefully? (let them answer) We should say these words because we are apologizing for something we did that was wrong or for something we did not mean to do.

Parents and Teachers: Jesus tells his disciples how valuable they are in God's sight. He tells them that everything is valuable -- even the common sparrow. Take this opportunity to involve your students with some bird projects, to allow them to think about some of God's creation. Stress that even the birds are important and noticed by God.

If you are able, bring a bird nest to show to the class. If you know of some bird nests near the church, take the class for a walk and point these out to the students. If in your congregation there is a "birder," a person who studies and watches birds, invite this person to share information with the class.

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you enjoy mixing water colors to see what new colors you can create? (Let them answer.) There are some other ways to mix colors. Sometimes when your parents are making cake icing, they may let you put food coloring in the icing to create new colors. Have any of you ever mixed food colors like that? (Let them answer.)

This morning we are going to mix yellow with blue. What color do you think we will get when the two mix? (Let them answer.)

Good morning! Okay. Everybody look at the back of your hand. Bend your wrist so that you know exactly where your arm stops and your hand begins. Got it? I'm going to give you 30 seconds and I want you to count the number of hairs you have on the back of your hand. Okay? Ready, go! (time the children for 30 seconds) How many did you count? (let them give you their numbers) Wow! That's a lot! Now, what if I asked you to count your hand and your arm? What if I asked you to count the hairs on your head? That's a lot of hair!

Teachers or Parents: Help your children start a journal. This could be a simple notebook or pieces of paper stapled together with a title page that the children could color and decorate. Encourage them to record events as well as their thoughts and feelings. Journals can help us deal with the darker side of our natures, which, as the text says, will be brought to light. Obviously younger children will not have the writing skills to do this.

I'll bet you don't know what I have here? I have a file labeled "Top Secret." What do you suppose that means? (Let them answer.) A secret is something that some people know that they don't want others to know. Have you ever seen a movie about spies who try to steal top secrets? Have you heard a story about secrets? They make interesting stories. The spies try to get the secret file, and the people who have the secret file want to keep it secret so that no one else can see what's in it.

Doctors offices keep files on each patient. These files are considered secret because they are nobody's business except the doctor or medical authority who is caring for the patient.

Good morning! This morning I brought with me a box of bandages. I got this box on sale. I don't get hurt too often, but I have a bunch of bandages here, don't I? (Show them.) I need to use these up, so they don't become out of date and useless.

Teachers or Parents: Fear is something we all need to deal
with throughout life. Children need to know that God is always
there for them in times of stress and fear. Turning to God in
prayer when we face something we fear needs to become an
automatic reaction.

*Ask the children to name the scariest things they know and
list them on a board or easel. Then have them vote on the
scariest, the next scariest, and so forth. When the list has been
recorded and prioritized, ask them to name something that is
stronger than any or all of the things on the list. Establish
firmly that the one who can overcome the scariest things is God.

*Have the children draw a picture of something that

Good morning! How would you like to meet up with this
character in a dark alley? (Show the picture and let them
answer.) Wow! He's really an ugly monster, isn't he? There really
isn't any such monster, and we are all glad of that, but there
are things that scare us. What kinds of things are you afraid of?
(Let them answer.)

Everybody is afraid of something. It's perfectly normal to
be afraid of anything that might hurt us, like poisonous snakes,
dangerous animals of all kinds, and bad people who might try to
hurt us. What do you do when you're afraid of something? Who do
you go to? (Let them answer. Most will identify parents or older
siblings.) We certainly need to go to someone who is big enough

Good morning! I brought a picture to show you today. What is
this picture showing? (Show the picture and let them answer.)
Yes, these are what they call "galley slaves." In the old days,
big oars propelled these ships that were called galleys. They
chained the slaves to these oars, and they had to row as fast as
they were told. They had no control over their lives. They had to
do what the master wanted them to do, and in most cases they did
this until they died. Wouldn't that be a terrible way to live?
(Let them answer.)

In a way, you and I could easily be slaves also. Not galley
slaves like these, because there are no galleys anymore, but

It's amazing to consider that God knows the number of hairs on our heads. How could anyone know us so well? I think I know myself better than anyone, but I don't even know how many hairs I have on my head. Plus, how many hairs I have changes all the time! How could someone keep up with all the new information? Today's lesson reassures us that God is closer to us than we can possibly imagine. He created us, so he knows us and loves us more completely than anyone ever can.