Childrens Sermon Service

Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about things we like to hide and things we want to share. How many of you have done something that you don't want anyone to know about? (let them answer) Maybe it was a lie. If you tell a lie, do you want to keep it a secret to make sure that no one else knows that you told a lie? (let them answer) Have you ever broken something special that belongs to someone else and you tried to hide it in a place where no one else can find it?

When I do something really bad, I wish I had a paper sack to put over my head so no one will know me. Have you ever worn a paper sack? (let them answer) If you can think of one bad thing that you have done I will let you wear a paper sack. You don't have to tell me what you did that was wrong, just raise your hand and I will give you a paper sack to wear. I know of a couple of things that I want to keep secret, so I am going to put on the paper sack. (put your sack on, but look around first and hand out the sacks) Just think, some of you are so good that you don't have to wear a paper sack. You have never done anything wrong. (hand out more paper sacks as the children begin to remember)

We don't have to hide forever, do we? Isn't there something that can be done so that we can see the light again? (let them answer) How many of you would like to live in the light? (let them answer) If the darkness comes with hiding our bad things, what could you do to bring back the light? (let them answer) That's right, you need to tell whoever you hurt that you are sorry, then begin to do good things.

Be truthful, not dishonest! If you break something that belongs to someone else, then tell the person that you broke it and you are sorry. People may not be happy that you lied to them or that you broke something very important, but if you tell them, they will respect you, and you will live in the light. If you don't tell the truth, if you are not sorry, then you will live in darkness. You will be under the bag for a long time.

Things get better in a hurry when you do not lie or hide from the truth. It will not take long for people to trust you when you tell the truth. God tells us that it is wonderful to live in the light and not very good to live in darkness.

The next time you see a paper bag or a bag of any kind remember how you spent some time in darkness for remembering the bad stuff you did. Even more important is the time you live in the light of day with the light that comes from Jesus. Amen.