Chance
Children's sermon
Object:
dice
"Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them -- do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did." (vv. 4-5)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have ever played a game using dice? (show dice, allow show of hands) When you play with dice, you are leaving the outcome up to chance. How many of you know what "chance" is? (allow answers) Leaving something up to chance means that you cannot control the results. When you roll the dice, you cannot predict what the number will be. You can guess what you want the number to be, but there is no way to know which of the six numbers will come up. It is all up to chance. Can you think of another name for "chance"? (allow answers) Luck!
Sometimes in real life things happen to us by chance. These are things that we cannot predict and cannot prepare for. Maybe a tornado goes through a town. Why does it destroy one house but leave the one next to it untouched? It's all chance. There is no way to keep your house away from a tornado if it is blowing toward you. Many disasters are chance: floods, fires, avalanches, mudslides. These are things that we cannot predict or prepare for.
In Jesus' day, there were also chance accidents. Our reading talks about eighteen people who died when a building collapsed. That still happens today! Sometimes a building will collapse because of faulty architecture or an explosion, and people get injured or killed when it falls down. How can we tell who will live and who will die? It's all chance.
Some people think that those who die in disasters are bad people. But that isn't true! That would be like saying people who roll the dice and get a number six are bad. Those people can't help being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like we can't help it if the dice turns up a three or a six. When someone dies in an accident, it is not because they are evil. It is just chance.
When bad things happen, we feel like it isn't fair. Sometimes we ask questions: Why me? Why this? Why now? The answer is that life is made up of many chances. Sometimes good chances happen: maybe we win the lottery, or unexpectedly meet someone who becomes a good friend. God knows the world needs balance between good chances and bad chances. If only good things happened to us, we wouldn't realize how good they were. When we see good things happening in the midst of things that aren't always so good, we understand how to be grateful. Besides, sometimes the unexpected is just what we need. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have ever played a game using dice? (show dice, allow show of hands) When you play with dice, you are leaving the outcome up to chance. How many of you know what "chance" is? (allow answers) Leaving something up to chance means that you cannot control the results. When you roll the dice, you cannot predict what the number will be. You can guess what you want the number to be, but there is no way to know which of the six numbers will come up. It is all up to chance. Can you think of another name for "chance"? (allow answers) Luck!
Sometimes in real life things happen to us by chance. These are things that we cannot predict and cannot prepare for. Maybe a tornado goes through a town. Why does it destroy one house but leave the one next to it untouched? It's all chance. There is no way to keep your house away from a tornado if it is blowing toward you. Many disasters are chance: floods, fires, avalanches, mudslides. These are things that we cannot predict or prepare for.
In Jesus' day, there were also chance accidents. Our reading talks about eighteen people who died when a building collapsed. That still happens today! Sometimes a building will collapse because of faulty architecture or an explosion, and people get injured or killed when it falls down. How can we tell who will live and who will die? It's all chance.
Some people think that those who die in disasters are bad people. But that isn't true! That would be like saying people who roll the dice and get a number six are bad. Those people can't help being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like we can't help it if the dice turns up a three or a six. When someone dies in an accident, it is not because they are evil. It is just chance.
When bad things happen, we feel like it isn't fair. Sometimes we ask questions: Why me? Why this? Why now? The answer is that life is made up of many chances. Sometimes good chances happen: maybe we win the lottery, or unexpectedly meet someone who becomes a good friend. God knows the world needs balance between good chances and bad chances. If only good things happened to us, we wouldn't realize how good they were. When we see good things happening in the midst of things that aren't always so good, we understand how to be grateful. Besides, sometimes the unexpected is just what we need. Amen.
