The best coach
Children's sermon
Object:
a whistle
He will also strengthen you to the end. (v. 8a)
Good morning, boys and girls! (blow whistle) Are you ready? Today we're going to do church boot camp! Everybody get down and give me three push-ups! (blow whistle) Now do four jumping jacks! (blow whistle) Now touch your toes! (blow whistle) Hop on one foot! (blow whistle) Sit down! (blow whistle)
Whew! That was a good workout for Sunday morning! How did that make you feel? (allow answers) Did it make any of you feel tired? (allow answers) What if you had to 100 push-ups or fifty jumping jacks? Would you be tired then? (allow answers) Have you ever watched athletes at practice, or seen a military boot camp on television or in a movie? Athletes and members of the military do really difficult physical workouts in order to stay in shape and in order to be prepared for their job. I bet they're tired after a morning workout! What do you think? (allow answers)
Exercise isn't the only thing that can make us tired, though. What else makes you tired? (allow answers each time) Getting up early for school or church? Staying up late to watch a movie? Helping mom around the house? Sometimes taking care of a sick person can make you tired, or trying to resolve an argument at work. Even mowing the lawn can make you tired. There are many things that make us tired. Sometimes we're so tired that we don't know if we can get up in the morning and keep going.
Saint Paul has some good news for us in 1 Corinthians today. He says that God will "strengthen you to the end." God will always be beside you when you're exhausted, whether it's from running a marathon or battling a disease. Just like an athlete has a coach who helps him get through his practice, God is our coach. He's there in the good times, when we're winning, to cheer us on. He's also there in the bad times, when everybody else seems so far ahead of us that we don't think we'll ever catch up, and when we're too tired to take one more step. God will be there to cheer us on, and maybe run a while with us as we work to finish our race. What are some ways God helps us when we're tired? (allow answers) He gives us our parents, our friends, and our relatives to help us through tough times and cheer us on in good times. He gives us prayer, so we can take our problems to Jesus when we're overwhelmed. Most importantly, he gives us lots of love, support, and (blow whistle) the best coach anyone could ever have! Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! (blow whistle) Are you ready? Today we're going to do church boot camp! Everybody get down and give me three push-ups! (blow whistle) Now do four jumping jacks! (blow whistle) Now touch your toes! (blow whistle) Hop on one foot! (blow whistle) Sit down! (blow whistle)
Whew! That was a good workout for Sunday morning! How did that make you feel? (allow answers) Did it make any of you feel tired? (allow answers) What if you had to 100 push-ups or fifty jumping jacks? Would you be tired then? (allow answers) Have you ever watched athletes at practice, or seen a military boot camp on television or in a movie? Athletes and members of the military do really difficult physical workouts in order to stay in shape and in order to be prepared for their job. I bet they're tired after a morning workout! What do you think? (allow answers)
Exercise isn't the only thing that can make us tired, though. What else makes you tired? (allow answers each time) Getting up early for school or church? Staying up late to watch a movie? Helping mom around the house? Sometimes taking care of a sick person can make you tired, or trying to resolve an argument at work. Even mowing the lawn can make you tired. There are many things that make us tired. Sometimes we're so tired that we don't know if we can get up in the morning and keep going.
Saint Paul has some good news for us in 1 Corinthians today. He says that God will "strengthen you to the end." God will always be beside you when you're exhausted, whether it's from running a marathon or battling a disease. Just like an athlete has a coach who helps him get through his practice, God is our coach. He's there in the good times, when we're winning, to cheer us on. He's also there in the bad times, when everybody else seems so far ahead of us that we don't think we'll ever catch up, and when we're too tired to take one more step. God will be there to cheer us on, and maybe run a while with us as we work to finish our race. What are some ways God helps us when we're tired? (allow answers) He gives us our parents, our friends, and our relatives to help us through tough times and cheer us on in good times. He gives us prayer, so we can take our problems to Jesus when we're overwhelmed. Most importantly, he gives us lots of love, support, and (blow whistle) the best coach anyone could ever have! Amen.
