Being First!
Children's sermon
Object: A trophy or other award of some kind. For extra fun and think your group can handle it, have the children join you when you do the physical motions with the crowds of people.
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (vv. 31-33)
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story for you today, are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
But before I tell you the story, who can tell me what this is? (Show the trophy and let them respond.) It is an award for winning something, isn’t it? Maybe it was a race or some kind of a contest that we won. We might get a trophy, or a ribbon, or a certificate, or something else that shows we were first and that we won. It can be fun winning something like this, can’t it? (Let them respond.) It can feel good to get one too, can’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it can be fun to try and be first, but sometimes wanting to be first can be a problem, too.
One day, Jesus and his disciples were walking down the road on their way home after a long trip. Jesus saw the disciples acting kind of funny, kind of pushing and shoving each other a bit. Have you ever seen people do that sometimes, like when they are getting in line for lunch, or for a game? (Let them respond.) Some people kind of push a little bit, or shove a little bit, or try to get in front of someone else in line? (Let them respond.) That’s what the Disciples were doing, so Jesus asked them what they were doing, but they didn’t answer him.
When they got home, they saw the big crowds of people who heard that Jesus was coming. The house was small, and people were crowding in to get as close to Jesus as they could. Some people were kind of sneaky and bent over (pretend to sneak) and tried to sneak through the crowd to get close to Jesus. Some of the other people just used their elbows (pretend to push through the crowd) and just pushed other people out of the way so they could get closer. And some of the people were wearing fancy robes because they had important jobs at the temple, (pretend to bully your way through), and since they thought they were more important than the rest of the crowd they thought they should be able to get in front of everybody else. I’ll bet it was pretty noisy, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
Well, there were also some children in the house, and since they were smaller than everyone else, (pretend to be a sneaking child) they were able to slip in between people and get up really close to where Jesus and the Disciples were standing. But the Disciples were still kind of pushing and shoving each other too, to see who could be the closest to Jesus, and the children started to get in their way. So, what do you think happened next? (Let them respond.) Someone came and took the children to another part of the house so they wouldn’t be in the way anymore. I wonder how those children felt? Have you ever been told you couldn’t do something or be somewhere because you weren’t big enough or important enough? (Let them respond.) Yes, I think we all have, haven’t we?
Jesus watched everyone pushing and shoving and doing all those things to try and show they were more important than everyone else there. He finally looked at them and said, “If you want to be first, you need to be the very last.” That sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) I think Jesus was telling them that if theyreally want to be an important person to God, they need to behave like they are not more important than other people. If we want to be important in God’s eyes, we need to take care of other people and treat them like they are more important than we are.
And then Jesus did something really cool. He called one of the children and held the child in his lap, and said, If you don’t welcome these children, then you don’t welcome me, and that means you don’t welcome God. Stop trying to be more important than everyone else and start treating others like they are more important than you are.
God does not love us because we stand closer than anyone else, or because we have fancier robes, or because we are older, or stronger, or richer, or prettier, or anything else like that. God loves us because we are God’s children. All of us. Everyone.
Trophies (show the trophy) and awards are nice, but Jesus said that if we truly want to be important, we need to stop trying to do things to make ourselves look important and do the things we can do to take care of all of the rest of God’s children.
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (vv. 31-33)
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story for you today, are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
But before I tell you the story, who can tell me what this is? (Show the trophy and let them respond.) It is an award for winning something, isn’t it? Maybe it was a race or some kind of a contest that we won. We might get a trophy, or a ribbon, or a certificate, or something else that shows we were first and that we won. It can be fun winning something like this, can’t it? (Let them respond.) It can feel good to get one too, can’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it can be fun to try and be first, but sometimes wanting to be first can be a problem, too.
One day, Jesus and his disciples were walking down the road on their way home after a long trip. Jesus saw the disciples acting kind of funny, kind of pushing and shoving each other a bit. Have you ever seen people do that sometimes, like when they are getting in line for lunch, or for a game? (Let them respond.) Some people kind of push a little bit, or shove a little bit, or try to get in front of someone else in line? (Let them respond.) That’s what the Disciples were doing, so Jesus asked them what they were doing, but they didn’t answer him.
When they got home, they saw the big crowds of people who heard that Jesus was coming. The house was small, and people were crowding in to get as close to Jesus as they could. Some people were kind of sneaky and bent over (pretend to sneak) and tried to sneak through the crowd to get close to Jesus. Some of the other people just used their elbows (pretend to push through the crowd) and just pushed other people out of the way so they could get closer. And some of the people were wearing fancy robes because they had important jobs at the temple, (pretend to bully your way through), and since they thought they were more important than the rest of the crowd they thought they should be able to get in front of everybody else. I’ll bet it was pretty noisy, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
Well, there were also some children in the house, and since they were smaller than everyone else, (pretend to be a sneaking child) they were able to slip in between people and get up really close to where Jesus and the Disciples were standing. But the Disciples were still kind of pushing and shoving each other too, to see who could be the closest to Jesus, and the children started to get in their way. So, what do you think happened next? (Let them respond.) Someone came and took the children to another part of the house so they wouldn’t be in the way anymore. I wonder how those children felt? Have you ever been told you couldn’t do something or be somewhere because you weren’t big enough or important enough? (Let them respond.) Yes, I think we all have, haven’t we?
Jesus watched everyone pushing and shoving and doing all those things to try and show they were more important than everyone else there. He finally looked at them and said, “If you want to be first, you need to be the very last.” That sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) I think Jesus was telling them that if theyreally want to be an important person to God, they need to behave like they are not more important than other people. If we want to be important in God’s eyes, we need to take care of other people and treat them like they are more important than we are.
And then Jesus did something really cool. He called one of the children and held the child in his lap, and said, If you don’t welcome these children, then you don’t welcome me, and that means you don’t welcome God. Stop trying to be more important than everyone else and start treating others like they are more important than you are.
God does not love us because we stand closer than anyone else, or because we have fancier robes, or because we are older, or stronger, or richer, or prettier, or anything else like that. God loves us because we are God’s children. All of us. Everyone.
Trophies (show the trophy) and awards are nice, but Jesus said that if we truly want to be important, we need to stop trying to do things to make ourselves look important and do the things we can do to take care of all of the rest of God’s children.
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
