Being Young
Children's sermon
Object: The object for this message is an activity for your children. The goal is to help the children move around so they are sitting in order by age, the oldest at one end and the youngest at the other end.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! To get started, there is something I need you to do to help me tell the story. Will you help me with that? (Let them respond.) Great! I need you to move around so the oldest person sitting at one end and the youngest is at the other end. (Help the children sit in order of their ages.)
Okay, great job! There is one more thing before I tell you the story. Can anyone tell us what is so special about today? (Let them respond.) Today is called Palm Sunday, and who knows why we call it that? (Let them respond.) We call today Palm Sunday because this is the day that Jesus’ friends had a parade honoring Jesus and waved big branches from palm trees when Jesus rode a donkey into the city of Jerusalem. They went to Jerusalem so they could have a big dinner on Thursday night to celebrate the holiday of Passover. Jesus knew there were people in Jerusalem who did not like him, so he told his friends that more was going to happen this week than just having dinner, but his friends didn’t understand what he meant. So, when they got together on Thursday night, they were all excited about celebrating the holiday and eating the Passover dinner.
But while they were eating, Jesus did something that really surprised them. When a servant came out with a bowl of water to wash everyone’s feet, Jesus got up, took the bowl, and started washing their feet himself. Jesus was the most important guest at the table, but he got up and started acting like he was one of the servants. His friends were confused and started to argue with him to make him stop, but he didn’t.
Then Jesus told them that something bad was about to happen to him and that instead of helping him, some of them were going to betray him and pretend they didn’t even know who he was. He said that some of them would even betray him three times. That made them all upset. They had been with him for over three years, and they all shouted, “I will never betray you, Jesus! Not me!” Then Jesus’ friends started arguing about which one of them was Jesus’ greatest friend and about the things they would do to anyone who tried to hurt Jesus. Finally, Jesus looked at them and said, “If you really want to be the greatest, I’ll tell you what you need to do. If you want to be the greatest, then remember that you should be like the youngest.”
Jesus said, “The greatest among you should be like the youngest.” That sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) If we had a big problem and someone was trying to hurt us, who would we normally ask to help us? (Point to the youngest person.) Do you think we would ask the youngest person here, or (point to the oldest person) would we ask the oldest person here? (Let them respond.) We would probably ask the oldest person since they are bigger, wouldn’t we? (Let them respond.) Then, does anyone know what Jesus meant when he said that if we want to be the greatest, we should act like the youngest? (Let them respond.)
Most of the time, the youngest person in the group is probably not the strongest person, are they? (Let them respond.) So, they probably aren’t the best fighter, are they? (Let them respond.) And since they might not be as strong, the youngest person sometimes needs to have someone else help them, don’t they? (Let them respond.) I think that’s what Jesus was talking about.
I think he meant that if we really want to be the greatest, we don’t need to be older, or be big and strong and have power so we can act like a bully and fight with other people to get even with them. If we want to be the greatest, we should do what even the youngest person can do, and instead of fighting with people, we should do what Jesus did with the bowl and try to care for others like a good servant would care for them. And if we do that, God will help take care of the problems.
I hope our story will help remind us that Jesus wants us to help take care of each other and not just take care of ourselves.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! To get started, there is something I need you to do to help me tell the story. Will you help me with that? (Let them respond.) Great! I need you to move around so the oldest person sitting at one end and the youngest is at the other end. (Help the children sit in order of their ages.)
Okay, great job! There is one more thing before I tell you the story. Can anyone tell us what is so special about today? (Let them respond.) Today is called Palm Sunday, and who knows why we call it that? (Let them respond.) We call today Palm Sunday because this is the day that Jesus’ friends had a parade honoring Jesus and waved big branches from palm trees when Jesus rode a donkey into the city of Jerusalem. They went to Jerusalem so they could have a big dinner on Thursday night to celebrate the holiday of Passover. Jesus knew there were people in Jerusalem who did not like him, so he told his friends that more was going to happen this week than just having dinner, but his friends didn’t understand what he meant. So, when they got together on Thursday night, they were all excited about celebrating the holiday and eating the Passover dinner.
But while they were eating, Jesus did something that really surprised them. When a servant came out with a bowl of water to wash everyone’s feet, Jesus got up, took the bowl, and started washing their feet himself. Jesus was the most important guest at the table, but he got up and started acting like he was one of the servants. His friends were confused and started to argue with him to make him stop, but he didn’t.
Then Jesus told them that something bad was about to happen to him and that instead of helping him, some of them were going to betray him and pretend they didn’t even know who he was. He said that some of them would even betray him three times. That made them all upset. They had been with him for over three years, and they all shouted, “I will never betray you, Jesus! Not me!” Then Jesus’ friends started arguing about which one of them was Jesus’ greatest friend and about the things they would do to anyone who tried to hurt Jesus. Finally, Jesus looked at them and said, “If you really want to be the greatest, I’ll tell you what you need to do. If you want to be the greatest, then remember that you should be like the youngest.”
Jesus said, “The greatest among you should be like the youngest.” That sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) If we had a big problem and someone was trying to hurt us, who would we normally ask to help us? (Point to the youngest person.) Do you think we would ask the youngest person here, or (point to the oldest person) would we ask the oldest person here? (Let them respond.) We would probably ask the oldest person since they are bigger, wouldn’t we? (Let them respond.) Then, does anyone know what Jesus meant when he said that if we want to be the greatest, we should act like the youngest? (Let them respond.)
Most of the time, the youngest person in the group is probably not the strongest person, are they? (Let them respond.) So, they probably aren’t the best fighter, are they? (Let them respond.) And since they might not be as strong, the youngest person sometimes needs to have someone else help them, don’t they? (Let them respond.) I think that’s what Jesus was talking about.
I think he meant that if we really want to be the greatest, we don’t need to be older, or be big and strong and have power so we can act like a bully and fight with other people to get even with them. If we want to be the greatest, we should do what even the youngest person can do, and instead of fighting with people, we should do what Jesus did with the bowl and try to care for others like a good servant would care for them. And if we do that, God will help take care of the problems.
I hope our story will help remind us that Jesus wants us to help take care of each other and not just take care of ourselves.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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.
