Childrens Sermon Service

Materials:
Paper
Markers, pens, crayons
Scissors
Samples of the "help wanted" column from the newspaper

Directions:
1.
Review, with your class, the "help wanted" ads that are part of the newspaper every week. Read several of the ads to the children so that they can get an idea of what is included in each of these ads.
2.
Ask the children what they would put in an ad for "Christians wanted."
3.
After you have collected many suggestions from the children, write some of them down and hang them in a place where the children can see the suggestions.
4.

Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to discuss how we might get a job as one of Jesus' disciples. Would anyone like to work for Jesus? (let them answer) Great! Do you know how we get the job? (let them answer)

Hello! I have a question: who can tell me what a harvest is? (see if anyone knows) After a farmer plants a crop, it begins to grow. Sometimes it takes a while. The seeds sprout, begin to get taller and finally produce a harvest -- something that people can use or eat. When the plants are ready, they need to be cut down and the fruit collected for use. Harvesting is a big job, so the farmer needs help to get the crop collected, stored and used before the crop begins to spoil.

Can you name the 12 disciples? There are four J's, two P's, two T's, a B, an A, an M, and an S. The original 12 were: John, James, Judas, another James, Peter, Philip, Thomas, Thaddaeus, Bartholomew, Andrew, Matthew and Simon. These men were with Jesus from almost the beginning of his ministry. They are important figures and it's good for us to know more about them.

Each man had a distinct role in Jesus' ministry. Older children can research the lives, ministries and deaths of the disciples in the Bible and in books such as The Penguin Dictionary of Saints by Donald Attwater. Younger children can celebrate the disciples by coloring shields with the symbols of each man drawn upon it. In learning more about them we can greatly understand their commitment to Jesus Christ.

Good morning! Are you all feeling strong and healthy this
morning? (Let them answer.) That's good, because I have a job for
one of you to do, and you're going to have to be very fast to do
it. Do you see these popcorn kernels? (Show the kernels.) I need
a volunteer to help me give one of these to people in the
congregation. Who would like to help? (Get a volunteer.) Okay,
here is what I want you to do. Give one of these kernels to every
person in the first ____ pews. (Designate as many as you want.)
Now, there is a time limit on this. When I say, "Go," you have
only ten seconds to deliver one to every person in those rows.
Are you ready? Go! (Let him/her deliver as many as possible in

Teachers or Parents: The words of Jesus regarding few
workers are as true today as the day he uttered them. We need all
Christians to be aware of their responsibility to spread the good
news of the gospel. Anything we can do to impress this on our
children will be beneficial to the cause of evangelism. We need
all the help we can get in this mission activity!

*Bring some candy or another kind of prize and show the
prize to the children. Let them know that the prize will be
awarded only if a certain task can be performed in a short time.
Let volunteers try to perform the task, but make sure it is
always too much to do in the allotted time. When it is obvious

Happy Father's Day to you! I want to do something a little different here this morning. I want each of you to go and tell one other person in this congregation, "Happy Father's Day!" I'm going to ask everyone who hears you tell them that, to tell it to one more person. When those people hear it, they should tell yet another one. Maybe it will be the person sitting beside them or in front of them or behind them. Just tell one other person, "Happy Father's Day!" When you are through telling one person, "Happy Father's Day!" then come back here. Let's do it now. (Do it.)

Teachers or Parents: Evangelism is such a simple thing -- telling the good news to one person at a time until everyone knows it!

*Write an invitation your students can give to a friend or relative inviting them to some event in Sunday school or some other church activity. Color the invitation, address them, whatever you choose to do. Invite the children to think of someone who would not normally come to this event without an invitation. The children then can give this person the invitation this week.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' " (Matthew 10:5-7)

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

Materials:
Cardstock
Tan craft foam
Black thin-line permanent markers
Scissors
Pin backs
Heavy glue

Directions:
1. Create several small foot-shaped patterns on cardstock.

2. Have the children trace these patterns onto the craft foam.

3. Have each of the children cut out several feet.

4. Tell the children to write, "Walking God's Way" on the feet.

5. Help the children glue the pin backs to the feet.

6. Tell the children to give the feet away to share the good news.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5:5)

Good morning, boys and girls. Today is a wonderful time for us to find out something about the love of God. How many of you have the love of God in your mind and body? (let them answer) Can you feel it? When you get up in the morning, do you say, "Thank you, God, for all of your love and be with me all day today?" I know some people who feel like this almost every day. They are very happy people.

“As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The Kingdom of Heaven has come near”
(v. 7)

Good Morning boys and girls,

Oh my! Have you ever lost something? (children answer)

People lose keys, wallets, purses, books, hats, all kinds of things. When that happens how do you feel when you lose something you love? (Children answer) Yes, frustrated. Disgusted. And if it is valuable, you feel sad.

Jesus felt sad that day after he had traveled about the cities teaching, and curing the sick.

Children are acutely tuned to pick up on disturbances. Even if we think they have not seen an image of a protestor or heard us talking about the unrest in the world, they know something is up. Not talking to kids about times of social unrest is not an option. Even if they do not see it this time they will encounter it at some point. We live in a country that allows protests, which is a great thing! We need to give them context to why and how so they can interpret the things they see and hear appropriately.

In your lesson say something like:

Object: Three eggs and three, small “Nerf” balls. I recommend treating the eggs like they are raw but using boiled eggs just to be safe. Trust me on this one. Even though no one will actually try to juggle the eggs, accidents have happened. And, if you cannot find “Nerf” balls, any small, plastic or rubber balls would work.

* * *

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of your parents read a newspaper? (Let them answer.) Do some of you look at the newspaper? Do you read the comics or other sections? (Let them answer.) Some of you aren't old enough to read yet, but some day you'll start reading. One thing you will read will be a newspaper like this one. (Show the paper.) What does a newspaper have in it that is so important to people? (Let them answer.) It has stories in it. We call these stories "news." Some of the news is good news. Some of the news is bad news.

Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to have a real treat. I found out the other day that our friend, Mike, is taking guitar lessons. So I asked Mike if he wouldn't mind playing for us.

Mike, how do you like playing the guitar? (let him answer) How long have you been taking lessons? (let him answer) How often do you practice? (let him answer) That is very good. I bet some day you will be a great musician. Would you play your favorite song for us? (ask him to play something that he knows very well)

Good morning! What is the greatest gift you have ever received? (listen to their responses) Those are all wonderful things. The world is full of gifts because God has blessed us so much. (show them the basket of jewels) See these beautiful treasures? Each one of them represents a gift that God has given us. They are all different, shiny and special. There are too many gifts to count, but I think the greatest gift of all is God's love for us. God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to us. Because of that, we can be forgiven for every wrong thing we have ever done. We have talked about that before during our time together. We talk so much about Jesus dying for us because it's such an incredible story and gift of God's love.

Good morning! I cut this article out of the newspaper to
show you. This article tells about someone who was accused of a
crime, but when they had a trial, they found him/her not guilty.
Now under our laws, this means that the person is completely
free. We cannot try him/her again for that crime. I really don't
know if the person really did or did not do the crime they were
accused of, but it doesn't matter now. They have been declared
not guilty, so they are free.

All of us have committed crimes too, crimes against God.
When we disobey God's laws we call it sin, and all of us have
committed sins, haven't we? (Let them answer.) Yes, we are all

Several weeks ago many members of this congregation went to the cemetery. Why did they do that? (Let them answer.) They did that because it was Memorial Day. On Memorial Day we remember those loved ones who have died and gone on to heaven. They are no longer on the earth, but many people took flowers to their graves anyway! They did that because they still love the ones who are no longer living. Even though the loved ones have gone on to heaven and are no longer living among us, we show our love for them by taking flowers to the cemetery.

Good morning, boys and girls. One of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day. I like it because I get to send valentines to people who I love. I get to receive valentines from people who love me, too. Do you like Valentine's Day? (Let them answer.) I brought a valentine with me this morning because it reminds me of what today's lesson is about. (Show the card.) Is today Valentine's Day? (Let them answer.) No. Valentine's Day is in February. Why would I bring a valentine to church in the middle of summer? (Let them answer.)

Parents and Teachers: Jesus selects his 12 disciples in this week's lesson. Use this time with your youngsters to see if they can memorize the names of the 12. They are: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the Lesser, Thaddaeus (also known as Jude), Simon the Zealot and Judas.

As another alternative, have the students write out the names of each disciple. Suggest that students draw a picture of how they think each disciple looked.