Chairs!
Children's sermon
Object: Chairs for a short game of Musical Chairs. NOTE: You can use pillows or cushions if it is easier. You will want one seat for each child. However, if you have a large group of children, you can just have three or four take part in the actual game if you prefer. For more fun, talk with your music person to see if they will play the short pieces of music for your game of musical chairs.
The Game: Begin the message with the chairs setup so the children see them. When it is time for the game, just play two or three quick rounds so the children experience the challenge and frustration of either getting their chair or being out of the game. The goal of the game is to have the children experience the confusion and sometimes frustration of having to ‘fight’ for a chair. NOTE: If you have a wide age-range of children, you might want to remind the older children to remember to “play nicely” with the younger ones.
* * *
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (vv. 42-45)
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) You may be wondering what the chairs I have here today are for. Well, I have something special for us to do today to help remember the story I want to tell you about Jesus. Are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
One day Jesus was walking down the road with his disciple when two of them, James and John, asked Jesus for a favor. They asked Jesus to make them the two most important disciples and let them sit on Jesus right side when they got to Jerusalem. Back then, when a king sat down, he always had the most important people sit on his right side and had the less important people sit on his left side. James and John wanted Jesus to let them sit on his right side to show they were more important than the other disciples.
Jesus looked at them and told them it wasn’t up to him to decide where people sat, but God would take care of that instead. But then, the other ten disciples heard what James and John had asked Jesus to do, and how do you think they felt? (Let them respond.) Yes! They were angry. They all wanted to sit in the special place next to Jesus, so they all started arguing about it. They all wanted to sit in the important seats next to Jesus.
Let’s play a game to see what they might have been feeling. I think we all probably know how to play musical chairs, don’t we? (Let them respond.) When the music starts, we start walking around the chairs. And when the music stops, we try to sit in a chair before they are all filled-up. Let’s try it.
Play Musical Chairs!
It gets kind of frustrating, doesn’t it? Everyone wants a chair so they can win the game.
Jesus looked at them and said, “Wait a minute. Stop fighting. I can’t tell you where you will sit, but I do have a hint for you. If you want to become great, you first must become a servant. If you want to be close to God, instead of fighting to make yourself look more important than anyone else, you need to take care of the people around you and help them know they are important.”
I think Jesus was telling them that it would be like if we play Musical Chairs again, but this time we change one rule of the game. This time, when the music stops, instead of trying to get a chair to sit in yourself, you need to make sure someone else gets a chair to sit in. How do you think that would go? (Let them respond.) To win the game, we don’t try to be better than anyone else but try to help them instead.
NOTE:You can play the game again with the new rule if you want to, but you don’t have to. If you do play with the new rule, you might end the game by adding enough chairs for everyone to have a seat when the music stops…the way Jesus might play the game.
You know, I think Jesus is telling us that if we want to be close to God, we shouldn’t try to be more important than anyone else, but we should try to take care of other people and help them get closer to God too. 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.
The Game: Begin the message with the chairs setup so the children see them. When it is time for the game, just play two or three quick rounds so the children experience the challenge and frustration of either getting their chair or being out of the game. The goal of the game is to have the children experience the confusion and sometimes frustration of having to ‘fight’ for a chair. NOTE: If you have a wide age-range of children, you might want to remind the older children to remember to “play nicely” with the younger ones.
* * *
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (vv. 42-45)
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) You may be wondering what the chairs I have here today are for. Well, I have something special for us to do today to help remember the story I want to tell you about Jesus. Are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
One day Jesus was walking down the road with his disciple when two of them, James and John, asked Jesus for a favor. They asked Jesus to make them the two most important disciples and let them sit on Jesus right side when they got to Jerusalem. Back then, when a king sat down, he always had the most important people sit on his right side and had the less important people sit on his left side. James and John wanted Jesus to let them sit on his right side to show they were more important than the other disciples.
Jesus looked at them and told them it wasn’t up to him to decide where people sat, but God would take care of that instead. But then, the other ten disciples heard what James and John had asked Jesus to do, and how do you think they felt? (Let them respond.) Yes! They were angry. They all wanted to sit in the special place next to Jesus, so they all started arguing about it. They all wanted to sit in the important seats next to Jesus.
Let’s play a game to see what they might have been feeling. I think we all probably know how to play musical chairs, don’t we? (Let them respond.) When the music starts, we start walking around the chairs. And when the music stops, we try to sit in a chair before they are all filled-up. Let’s try it.
Play Musical Chairs!
It gets kind of frustrating, doesn’t it? Everyone wants a chair so they can win the game.
Jesus looked at them and said, “Wait a minute. Stop fighting. I can’t tell you where you will sit, but I do have a hint for you. If you want to become great, you first must become a servant. If you want to be close to God, instead of fighting to make yourself look more important than anyone else, you need to take care of the people around you and help them know they are important.”
I think Jesus was telling them that it would be like if we play Musical Chairs again, but this time we change one rule of the game. This time, when the music stops, instead of trying to get a chair to sit in yourself, you need to make sure someone else gets a chair to sit in. How do you think that would go? (Let them respond.) To win the game, we don’t try to be better than anyone else but try to help them instead.
NOTE:You can play the game again with the new rule if you want to, but you don’t have to. If you do play with the new rule, you might end the game by adding enough chairs for everyone to have a seat when the music stops…the way Jesus might play the game.
You know, I think Jesus is telling us that if we want to be close to God, we shouldn’t try to be more important than anyone else, but we should try to take care of other people and help them get closer to God too. 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.
