Building a complete puzzle
Children's sermon
Object:
a picture puzzle
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to do puzzles? (let them answer) I think puzzles are fun because you can work on them over and over again.
I've got a puzzle here for us to work on. The picture is complete now, but we're going to take it all apart and build it again. Each of you can take a piece of the puzzle. (hand out the pieces of the puzzle) It's hard to see the picture after we take away the pieces. Just a minute ago it looked like (describe the picture), but now it doesn't look like anything. Before we put it back together, I want to tell you about a letter Saint Paul wrote to the people of Corinth.
The church at Corinth was in bad shape. There was a lot of arguing between the members. Some of them followed the town leaders. Others followed Paul because they first heard the gospel from him. The church at Corinth looked a little bit like our puzzle. Each person claimed a different piece, depending on who they believed their leader was. The people forgot that they all belonged to the church of Jesus Christ.
Saint Paul wrote a letter to the people saying they shouldn't split up the church. "Can you divide Christ?" Paul asked. You can't divide Jesus up into pieces and you can't split up his church into small parts.
This is a lesson for all of us. Once in a while we think that the church is for Lutherans, or Methodists, or Catholics, or whatever group we belong to. But we are all part of the great church of Jesus Christ. We may worship differently than the church down the street or we may have a bigger parking lot than another church, but it does not divide Jesus. Jesus is our God and he is full of love. He has so much love that he can share it with all of us.
The people of Corinth were very confused and they fought with one another a lot. Paul was very strong in what he said to them so the people would understand that they were all followers of Jesus and not just the different leaders in their town.
Some of your friends belong to other churches. Be happy for them and listen to them tell you about Jesus. When it is your turn, tell them about the Jesus you know who is filled with love. The next time you see a puzzle think about how all of us belong to Jesus and that the picture is only complete when all of the pieces are worshiping him together.
I've got a puzzle here for us to work on. The picture is complete now, but we're going to take it all apart and build it again. Each of you can take a piece of the puzzle. (hand out the pieces of the puzzle) It's hard to see the picture after we take away the pieces. Just a minute ago it looked like (describe the picture), but now it doesn't look like anything. Before we put it back together, I want to tell you about a letter Saint Paul wrote to the people of Corinth.
The church at Corinth was in bad shape. There was a lot of arguing between the members. Some of them followed the town leaders. Others followed Paul because they first heard the gospel from him. The church at Corinth looked a little bit like our puzzle. Each person claimed a different piece, depending on who they believed their leader was. The people forgot that they all belonged to the church of Jesus Christ.
Saint Paul wrote a letter to the people saying they shouldn't split up the church. "Can you divide Christ?" Paul asked. You can't divide Jesus up into pieces and you can't split up his church into small parts.
This is a lesson for all of us. Once in a while we think that the church is for Lutherans, or Methodists, or Catholics, or whatever group we belong to. But we are all part of the great church of Jesus Christ. We may worship differently than the church down the street or we may have a bigger parking lot than another church, but it does not divide Jesus. Jesus is our God and he is full of love. He has so much love that he can share it with all of us.
The people of Corinth were very confused and they fought with one another a lot. Paul was very strong in what he said to them so the people would understand that they were all followers of Jesus and not just the different leaders in their town.
Some of your friends belong to other churches. Be happy for them and listen to them tell you about Jesus. When it is your turn, tell them about the Jesus you know who is filled with love. The next time you see a puzzle think about how all of us belong to Jesus and that the picture is only complete when all of the pieces are worshiping him together.
