Comforting mourners
Children's sermon
Object:
a pall, a bouquet of flowers, a sign-in book for mourners (any of the three or all three)
Good morning! Today is All Saints' Sunday. How many know why we call it that? (let them answer) How many know what a saint is? (let them answer) Those are good answers. But here is the best answer: A saint is someone who believes in Jesus as their Savior.
And today we call this All Saints' Sunday because we remember all of the believers who have died during the last year and before. Does anyone remember someone who died? (let them answer) Dying is part of life; everyone dies. Adam and Eve died, Moses died, Peter died, George Washington died, Princess Diana died, my grandmother and grandfather died. Everyone dies sometime. Some people live for many years and some for only a few years. The oldest person living today is 112 years old. Some people only live a few days.
When people die, other people are really unhappy. They miss them. They miss the days when they lived together and shared their lives. They miss going places together, talking to each other, and working together. They miss holding their hands and loving each other.
When people die, others mourn. Do you know what the word mourn means? (let them answer) Mourning is being so sad that people cry. Mourning is hurting inside and remembering how much you loved someone who has died. Sometimes a brother or sister dies, and you remember how much fun you had growing up together, and you mourn.
Jesus knew how much we loved each other and he knew about mourning. We read stories in the Bible of Jesus mourning about his friends who died.
When someone dies, people who share our mourning come to comfort us. People tell others about the times they shared with the one who has died. They pray for the people who still live but were very close to the one who died. They bring food, listen, and hold hands while others cry. People do many kind things for the mourners. And God gives mourners extra love so that they will know that God comforts mourners also. When people die, friends visit the mourners and we have a worship service -- a funeral -- where the dead person is remembered for living and for being a believer in Jesus Christ. We put this beautiful cloth over the casket (show the pall) as a sign of our mourning and also as a sign of God's presence when we die.
When someone we love dies, we mourn but we are also comforted by God and by our friends.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for being with us even when we die. Amen.
And today we call this All Saints' Sunday because we remember all of the believers who have died during the last year and before. Does anyone remember someone who died? (let them answer) Dying is part of life; everyone dies. Adam and Eve died, Moses died, Peter died, George Washington died, Princess Diana died, my grandmother and grandfather died. Everyone dies sometime. Some people live for many years and some for only a few years. The oldest person living today is 112 years old. Some people only live a few days.
When people die, other people are really unhappy. They miss them. They miss the days when they lived together and shared their lives. They miss going places together, talking to each other, and working together. They miss holding their hands and loving each other.
When people die, others mourn. Do you know what the word mourn means? (let them answer) Mourning is being so sad that people cry. Mourning is hurting inside and remembering how much you loved someone who has died. Sometimes a brother or sister dies, and you remember how much fun you had growing up together, and you mourn.
Jesus knew how much we loved each other and he knew about mourning. We read stories in the Bible of Jesus mourning about his friends who died.
When someone dies, people who share our mourning come to comfort us. People tell others about the times they shared with the one who has died. They pray for the people who still live but were very close to the one who died. They bring food, listen, and hold hands while others cry. People do many kind things for the mourners. And God gives mourners extra love so that they will know that God comforts mourners also. When people die, friends visit the mourners and we have a worship service -- a funeral -- where the dead person is remembered for living and for being a believer in Jesus Christ. We put this beautiful cloth over the casket (show the pall) as a sign of our mourning and also as a sign of God's presence when we die.
When someone we love dies, we mourn but we are also comforted by God and by our friends.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for being with us even when we die. Amen.
