Childrens Sermon Service

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. (v. 22a)

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? (v. 15a)

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

Materials:
Variety of ads, magazines, newspapers (anything with pictures of people)
Paper
Scissors
Glue
Sticker labels
Permanent markers

Directions:

1. Have the children cut out pictures of people.

2. Encourage them to find pictures of people of all sizes, ages, and nationalities.

3. Give each child a sheet of paper to make a "people collage."

4. Older children may cut out letters to spell out "God loves us all" on their collages. Glue the letters onto the paper.

I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. (vv. 23-24)

Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. (v. 14)

Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we are going to talk about paying your dues. Do any of you know what it means to pay your dues? (allow answers) This is a phrase that grown-ups use a lot when they have to do things at work or in organizations that they might not like to do. When you "pay your dues," it usually means that you do hard work. You hope that by doing this hard work, in the future you will be able to do the job or activity that you really want to do.

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


Materials:
Index cards
Markers


Directions:
Make a list of activities that take different amounts of time. For example, "running a marathon," "baking a cake," "walking one mile," "drying laundry." Write each activity (but not its length of completion) on an index card. Give the cards to the children (or, if a large class, divide into smaller groups) and ask them to sort the cards in order of which takes the longest amount of time. Talk about how no matter what we do or how much time we take, God loves us all just the same.

The Point: God's gift of grace makes heaven available to all.

The Lesson: As the children come forward give a third of the children a sucker. Ask them not to take the wrapper off.

Good morning, children. I am glad that you chose to come forward to share this special moment with me.

In our lesson we heard Jesus teach us more about heaven. He taught us by telling a story. A farmer goes to town to look for some men to help him in the fields. He agrees to pay them a denarius. In Jesus' day that was about what it would cost to live for a day. Think how happy those men most have felt. They knew that they would have enough money to live on.

(Pass out suckers to another third of the children.)

...I chose to give to this last the same as I give to you...so the last will be first and the first will be last. (v. 14b, 16)

Good morning boys and girls,

It's so fun to see you here at church and especially to see you come up and sit and visit with me. Thanks for listening. How are you? You look wonderful and happy.

If I asked you what two plus two is what would be your answer? I knew you would probably say four.  That's correct in regular mathematics. But did you know that God's math is different? Once Jesus told a parable about a man who worked in a vineyard for all day and another man worked only an hour and they both got the same pay.

Other workers complained because they did not understand Jesus math.

So the last will be first, and the first will be last. (v. 16)

Note: You might want to practice the activity to decide how long to set the alarm for; 3 to 4 minutes is probably enough. The instructions will explain who you are to be speaking too. Most of all, have fun with this!

Hello everyone. I want to tell you the story about a man who owned a vineyard. Do you know what a vineyard is? (Let them answer) Yes, it is like a farm for grapes, with lots of grapevines growing in the fields. Grapevines take a lot of work to keep them healthy, and the vineyard owner went out to find some people to help him take care of his vines.

Object: A cut-out Roman denarius. Go here to download printable PDF.

Note: For added fun, you can do a simple role-play of this message. When you introduce the Pharisees, pick a couple of children to stand and look mean and bully-like as they watch the others in the story. Then, as you introduce each group of workers, pick a couple of children to stand and pretend they are picking grapes. Have fun with it!

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great!

Jesus told a story once to tell us something about God. He said that a man needed people to work for him so he said, "I'll pay you good money if you will work for me today." (Now ask: "Which of you will pretend to be this worker?" Let them respond. Use more than one child so that, in the end, the last one hired is the remaining child.) A few hours later he still needed help. "I still need someone to work for me. I'll be fair and pay you what you deserve for working for me," he said. (Ask: "Now who will pretend to be this second worker?") At noon the owner still needed workers. He went looking for someone to work for him. "Will you work for me for the rest of the day" he asked.

Teachers or Parents: Young children especially have an acute sense of what's fair and what is not fair. This story of God's grace may not make sense to them, just as it doesn't make sense to many adults. Grace just does not seem fair! The important point here is that the children hear that God's grace is for them. There is no tenure in the church that assures salvation.

*Learn the story about John Newton, the composer of "Amazing Grace."

*Learn and sing "Amazing Grace."

Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you brought your parents with you to church today? (let them answer) How many of you brought a friend with you today? (let them answer) Most of you just brought your parents. Not many brought a friend. This week, find a friend who does not have his or her own church and bring him or her with you. Then I can make a new friend and they will have a new friend.

Good morning! It's hard to pick up the paper anymore without
seeing an article like this one. (Show the article.) This story
is about someone who ... (Explain the crime.) Now we hate to hear
about anybody committing these kinds of crimes, but I want you to
imagine for a moment that this story is about me, your pastor.
How would you feel if you read in your paper that I was accused
of doing such a thing? (Let them answer.)

Why would it be so much worse if I did such a thing instead
of the person who is accused in this article? (Let them answer.)
People who are in positions of leadership in the church are
expected to live lives that show the world that they believe what

Good morning! I've decided that I will give everybody some
money today. Do you all think that's a good idea? Would you all
like to get some money? (Let them answer.) Good! Hold out your
hands, and let me give each of you some money. (Give each child a
coin and give one child the dollar bill.) Now, you all got some
money, didn't you? How do you feel about the money you got? (Let
them answer. There will be some complaints that some got more
than others. If this doesn't happen, lead them by asking one who
got a penny how he or she feels about the one getting a dollar.)

I suppose you could say it is unfair that some get more
money than others, but remember that it is my money and I can do

Teachers or Parents: Many adults have trouble understanding
the Gospel message of today. Children have an innate sense of
what is fair and not fair. We need to let them know that God's
ways are not our ways and we need to focus on the wonderful
things He does for us and not be concerned about why He may bless
others in ways that don't seem fair to us.

* Read the Gospel text and ask them to discuss whether or
not it was fair for the owner to pay those who worked less the
same amount of money as those who worked all day. Relate this to
the case of a person coming to faith at the age of eighty after
living a dissipated life.

* Using the above case as an example, ask the children to

Good morning. I'd like to tell you a story this morning about a little boy who was too young to know that you shouldn't play on railroad tracks. He thought it was fun, and his parents didn't know he'd gone to play at such a dangerous place. It so happened that while he was thoroughly enjoying himself, a very fast train was moving toward him. It was just around a big curve so that the boy could not see it. (You can use the toy train and pretend it is the train you are telling about.)

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought two friends to church with me this morning. (Show your two decorated fingers.) This one is Ted. He is always in a good mood. (Show the right one and call it any name you wish.) This one is Ned. He is always in a bad mood. (Show the left one and call it any name you wish.)

Do any of you ever decorate your fingernails with faces? (Let them answer.) The Bible story this morning reminds me of Ned and Ted. In the story Paul is writing from prison. In his letter he is telling Christians to live their lives like Jesus would want them to live. I'm going to tell you about Ned and Ted. When I'm finished, you tell me which one is living his life the way Christ wants him to.

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought a bottle of dish detergent with me this morning. Sometimes children have jobs to do at home. Often an allowance comes at the end of the week. The jobs you perform are connected to the allowance.

Teachers: Jesus tells a parable, which involves different times of the day. This is an opportunity for your students to make a clock from paper plates. Before you begin, review the story with students. Then give each student the necessary supplies. These include the paper plate, thicker paper or card stock to cut out for a big hand, a little hand and a round-head paper fastener to connect the hands to the clock. Numbers may be added with markers or crayons.

Show students a completed example, so they know what they are making. Write on your clock face:

"Kingdom Of Heaven Clock" - Matthew 20:1-16

Materials
Sturdy construction paper cut into strips (2 colors; 5 pieces 1 inch x 7 inches and 7 pieces 1 inch x 5 inches for each child)
Tongue depressors or craft sticks approximately 7 inches long
Tape
Markers

Instructions
1. God loves us ALL and this cool fan will help you to remember that.

2. Give each child five 1-inch by 7-inch strips of construction paper and seven 1-inch by 5-inch strips in another color.

3. Weave a 5-inch by 7-inch rectangle. It will look like a checkerboard.

4. Use a stencil or write "Jesus Loves Me" on the rectangle.

5. Slip a tongue depressor or craft stick through the middle of the rectangle.

Good morning! Is everyone here as happy as you look? (let them answer)

I want to tell you about a story that Jesus told. But first we are going to play a little game. I brought along some shiny new pennies. I plan to give them to you, but first I want to ask you some questions. Then after you answer, I will give out the pennies. Who wants to be first? (get volunteers)