Choosing from a display
Children's sermon
Object:
But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. (v. 16)
Object: Try to borrow a display rack from a store (shoes, jewelry, makeup, purses, or something that will show samples of products for sale)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to go to the mall or grocery store with your mom? (let them answer) What do we see when we go shopping? (let them answer) If we go to a shoe store, we see all kinds of things to wear on our feet. We see shoes for men, women, and children. There are shoes for school, shoes for church, running shoes, sandals, boots, and many others. There is a sample of each kind of shoe so that we can decide which pair we like the best.
If you go to a jewelry store you will find the same thing. There are watches, rings, bracelets, and necklaces. Some are made of gold and others are made of silver. Each piece of jewelry is displayed in a glass case so that you can choose which one you'd like to buy.
If you go to a grocery store you will find many kinds of food. There will be different types of soup, crackers, cheese, meat, and juice. All of these foods are on shelves where you can see them and make a choice.
When we go to these stores we see displays of shoes, jewelry, or food. Do you know what the word display means? (let them answer) A display is what you see when you go into a store to make a choice.
God also has displays. They are the greatest displays on Earth. We have weather displays like sunshine, rain, thunder, ice, snow, wind, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
God also created mountains, valleys, trees, flowers, vines, grass, vegetables, animals, humans, oceans, lakes, stars, and many other things that we see every day.
Sometimes we mess up what God has made. We have pollution, war, anger, selfishness, and many other bad things. God is very disappointed with our choices. Instead of choosing kindness, love, and understanding, we choose the bad things.
But God doesn't give up on us. Even when we do bad things, he still has patience. Do you know what patience means? (let them answer) Patience means waiting and loving. It means giving us more choices until we understand how good God really is to us. Others watch us and see how we respect and love our God. Other people make choices because of what we do. When we do bad things, they may make a bad choice like we do. When we make good choices, they may also follow us. We are part of God's display and we pray that we make good choices.
