Dusty Feet!
Children's sermon
Dusty Feet!
Object: This message is a role play. You will also need a small broom like a whisk broom. For more fun, visit a craft shop and purchase a very small straw broom for each child to take home with them. You can use all of your children in the story, no matter how many you have. For Jesus’ friends, select three groups with two children in each. For the people in town, create three groups using the rest of your children.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But instead of me telling you the story, why don’t you help me tell the story? Will you help me? (Let them respond.) Great! I need you to help pretend to be the people in the story.
One day, Jesus talked to his friends and told them he had something he wanted them to do for him. (Select the six children who will be Jesus’ friends, and have them stand next to you.) He told them to pick a friend so they were in groups of two. (Divide Jesus’ friends into pairs of two and have them stand together.) Then he told them that he wanted them to go out and visit some of the towns around them and tell them about God. So, now we need our towns. ((Divide the rest of the group into three groups. Have one group stand on the right side of the room, one group stand on the left side of the room, and one group stand in the middle of the room.) Okay, now let’s see the story!
Jesus’ friends started to pack their bags for their trip, but Jesus said not to do that. He told them to just take their sandals and an extra shirt. He said that when they got hungry or needed a place to sleep, they should ask the people in the towns to help them. So, Jesus’ friends started their traveling.
Let’s see what happened. (Pick one of the pairs of Jesus’ friends and have them walk to the town on one side of the room.) Some of Jesus’ friends got to a little town and the people were happy to see them. (Have Jesus’ friends and the people of that town all shake hands, give high-fives, and say “Welcome to our town!”) The people gave them food and a place to sleep, and Jesus’ friends stayed there for a while and taught the people about Jesus and God. (Have them all talk and visit, and after a few seconds, have them all stand quietly or sit on the floor.)
But some of Jesus’ friends didn’t have that nice of a time. (Have the second group of Jesus’ friends walk to the town in the middle of the room.) Some of them came to a town that wasn’t so happy to see them. (Have the people in town frown and shake their heads.) They didn’t give them any food or give them a place to rest. They didn’t make them feel welcome at all. (Have the people in town turn their back on Jesus’ friends.) Jesus’ friends left that town and weren’t able to teach them about God and Jesus. (After a few seconds have this group all stand quietly or sit on the floor.)
Some of Jesus’ friends had even a harder time than that. (Have the third group of friends walk to the town on the other side of the room.) When they got there, the people were not nice at all. They yelled at Jesus’ friends, laughed at them, and told them to “Get out of here!” (Have the people in town look really mean, laugh at Jesus’ friends, and yell “Get out of here!”.) Some of the people in that town even picked up rocks and sticks and threatened to throw them at Jesus’ friends if they didn’t go away. (Have the people pretend to get rocks and sticks and threaten to throw them at Jesus’ friends.) Jesus' friends had to leave that town without teaching them anything about God and Jesus. (After a few seconds have all of the children come back and sit with you.)
Now, I have a question for you. Have you ever tried to be nice and friendly to someone and they weren’t very nice to you? (Let them respond.) Maybe you just said, “Hi!” to them, and they said something mean, or just gave you a nasty look? (Let them respond.) How does it feel when that happens? (Let them respond.) It kind of hurts, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) It hurts a little, and sometimes, it makes us want to get even with them, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) We try to be nice and they are mean, so sometimes we want to do something to be mean back to them, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Jesus was pretty smart, and when he asked his friends to visit the towns, he told them what to do if they weren’t treated very nicely. He said that if someone did not welcome them, or treated them badly, they should not be sad, or get angry, or do anything to get even with them. He told them to do something very different.
(Show your broom.) He said that if they went to a town where people were mean to them, they should just walk out to the edge of town and brush the dust of that little town off of their feet. (Brush your feet with your broom.) Does that sound kind of strange? (Let them respond.) He said that if someone ever treated them badly, they shouldn’t worry about it, or keep thinking about it, but they should just brush it all away, like brushing dust off of their feet. (Brush your feet again.) Instead of feeling sad, or angry, or fighting with someone, they should just let God take care of the people who had been mean to them, and they should just brush it off and go take care of people in other places. (Brush your feet again.)
I hope this story can help us remember that God did not create us to be sad, or angry, or to fight with each other, but God created us to take care of each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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.
Object: This message is a role play. You will also need a small broom like a whisk broom. For more fun, visit a craft shop and purchase a very small straw broom for each child to take home with them. You can use all of your children in the story, no matter how many you have. For Jesus’ friends, select three groups with two children in each. For the people in town, create three groups using the rest of your children.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But instead of me telling you the story, why don’t you help me tell the story? Will you help me? (Let them respond.) Great! I need you to help pretend to be the people in the story.
One day, Jesus talked to his friends and told them he had something he wanted them to do for him. (Select the six children who will be Jesus’ friends, and have them stand next to you.) He told them to pick a friend so they were in groups of two. (Divide Jesus’ friends into pairs of two and have them stand together.) Then he told them that he wanted them to go out and visit some of the towns around them and tell them about God. So, now we need our towns. ((Divide the rest of the group into three groups. Have one group stand on the right side of the room, one group stand on the left side of the room, and one group stand in the middle of the room.) Okay, now let’s see the story!
Jesus’ friends started to pack their bags for their trip, but Jesus said not to do that. He told them to just take their sandals and an extra shirt. He said that when they got hungry or needed a place to sleep, they should ask the people in the towns to help them. So, Jesus’ friends started their traveling.
Let’s see what happened. (Pick one of the pairs of Jesus’ friends and have them walk to the town on one side of the room.) Some of Jesus’ friends got to a little town and the people were happy to see them. (Have Jesus’ friends and the people of that town all shake hands, give high-fives, and say “Welcome to our town!”) The people gave them food and a place to sleep, and Jesus’ friends stayed there for a while and taught the people about Jesus and God. (Have them all talk and visit, and after a few seconds, have them all stand quietly or sit on the floor.)
But some of Jesus’ friends didn’t have that nice of a time. (Have the second group of Jesus’ friends walk to the town in the middle of the room.) Some of them came to a town that wasn’t so happy to see them. (Have the people in town frown and shake their heads.) They didn’t give them any food or give them a place to rest. They didn’t make them feel welcome at all. (Have the people in town turn their back on Jesus’ friends.) Jesus’ friends left that town and weren’t able to teach them about God and Jesus. (After a few seconds have this group all stand quietly or sit on the floor.)
Some of Jesus’ friends had even a harder time than that. (Have the third group of friends walk to the town on the other side of the room.) When they got there, the people were not nice at all. They yelled at Jesus’ friends, laughed at them, and told them to “Get out of here!” (Have the people in town look really mean, laugh at Jesus’ friends, and yell “Get out of here!”.) Some of the people in that town even picked up rocks and sticks and threatened to throw them at Jesus’ friends if they didn’t go away. (Have the people pretend to get rocks and sticks and threaten to throw them at Jesus’ friends.) Jesus' friends had to leave that town without teaching them anything about God and Jesus. (After a few seconds have all of the children come back and sit with you.)
Now, I have a question for you. Have you ever tried to be nice and friendly to someone and they weren’t very nice to you? (Let them respond.) Maybe you just said, “Hi!” to them, and they said something mean, or just gave you a nasty look? (Let them respond.) How does it feel when that happens? (Let them respond.) It kind of hurts, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) It hurts a little, and sometimes, it makes us want to get even with them, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) We try to be nice and they are mean, so sometimes we want to do something to be mean back to them, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Jesus was pretty smart, and when he asked his friends to visit the towns, he told them what to do if they weren’t treated very nicely. He said that if someone did not welcome them, or treated them badly, they should not be sad, or get angry, or do anything to get even with them. He told them to do something very different.
(Show your broom.) He said that if they went to a town where people were mean to them, they should just walk out to the edge of town and brush the dust of that little town off of their feet. (Brush your feet with your broom.) Does that sound kind of strange? (Let them respond.) He said that if someone ever treated them badly, they shouldn’t worry about it, or keep thinking about it, but they should just brush it all away, like brushing dust off of their feet. (Brush your feet again.) Instead of feeling sad, or angry, or fighting with someone, they should just let God take care of the people who had been mean to them, and they should just brush it off and go take care of people in other places. (Brush your feet again.)
I hope this story can help us remember that God did not create us to be sad, or angry, or to fight with each other, but God created us to take care of each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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.
