Even When You Can’t See Them
Children's sermon
Jesus reminds the disciples that they can continue to show their love for him even when he is gone. They can do this by showing love and caring for other people. By continuing Jesus’ work of kindness and love they are loving Jesus too.
With so many families separated in their own homes, kids may be feeling less secure in their love. Help them remember and do things in honor of their loved ones by teaching them we can show we love someone even when we don’t see them.
Before the service begins, encourage the kids to grab a piece of paper and something to draw with. Ask them to draw a picture or write a short answer to answer “how can we show someone we love them.” Let them begin while the service opens.
In your lesson say something like:
I hope you all have had time to find a piece of paper and some crayons or a pencil. We are each gifted in our own ways so hopefully, some of you drew a picture and some of you used your writing skills to answer my opening questions. How can we show someone we love them?
There are lots of ways we can show our love. We can give a hug, we can smile, we can buy them presents, or make them a meal. We can help them with their homework, or let them pick the game we play. You may have thought of another way we show our love. I would bet most of your ways are ways to show love when you can see the person you love. It is hard to give a hug when you can’t see the person.
Maybe some of you are missing showing love in these ways because we can’t give the hugs or play the games we use to with our loved ones. It can be hard to show our love to someone when we can’t see them. Even if we see them on facetime or zoom it can make us sad that we are apart.
We have to stay safe right now so we have to find new ways to show our love. You actually just made one way we can do this, by drawing a picture or writing a note. We can make these and send them to our loved ones in the mail. They will see what we have created and they will remember the times they spent with you.
Jesus talks about another way we can show love when we can’t see the person. Jesus is talking to the disciples before he goes to live in heaven again. He knows it is going to be hard for the disciples to know how to show their love of Jesus when they can’t see him anymore. So he leaves them a little hint.
Jesus says “you have heard how I expect you to live. You know I have asked you to care for the poor. I have asked you to be kind. I have asked you to pray. I have shown you how to live. I showed you welcoming all kinds of people is important to me. I have shown you listening to people who are in pain is important to me. So when I am gone and you can’t see me anymore I want you to keep doing these things that I have asked you to do and shown you with my life.”
Jesus is telling the disciples that they can show that they love Jesus by being like him and doing what he has asked them to do. Then even when they can’t see Jesus to give him a hug they can show they love him with their actions.
We can show we love people by our actions and words even when they aren’t there. If your Grandma is a great baker and makes the best cookies you can show you love her by making cookies for your friends. You can bake in her honor.
Honor is a deep word. It means doing the right thing or showing our love even when that person is not watching. Even when we can not see them. When we do our chores without needed a parent to watch us or complete our homework without a teacher reminding us we are honoring them. We are showing love.
That is what Jesus wants us to do now even though we can’t see Jesus. We can show we love Jesus by doing the things Jesus would do and following Jesus’ teachings about kindness. Let’s say a prayer asking God to help us love even when someone isn’t watching.
Brilliant God, We know we should show our love, but sometimes we don’t know how. Help us to find ways to love even when we can’t see our family and friends. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
With so many families separated in their own homes, kids may be feeling less secure in their love. Help them remember and do things in honor of their loved ones by teaching them we can show we love someone even when we don’t see them.
Before the service begins, encourage the kids to grab a piece of paper and something to draw with. Ask them to draw a picture or write a short answer to answer “how can we show someone we love them.” Let them begin while the service opens.
In your lesson say something like:
I hope you all have had time to find a piece of paper and some crayons or a pencil. We are each gifted in our own ways so hopefully, some of you drew a picture and some of you used your writing skills to answer my opening questions. How can we show someone we love them?
There are lots of ways we can show our love. We can give a hug, we can smile, we can buy them presents, or make them a meal. We can help them with their homework, or let them pick the game we play. You may have thought of another way we show our love. I would bet most of your ways are ways to show love when you can see the person you love. It is hard to give a hug when you can’t see the person.
Maybe some of you are missing showing love in these ways because we can’t give the hugs or play the games we use to with our loved ones. It can be hard to show our love to someone when we can’t see them. Even if we see them on facetime or zoom it can make us sad that we are apart.
We have to stay safe right now so we have to find new ways to show our love. You actually just made one way we can do this, by drawing a picture or writing a note. We can make these and send them to our loved ones in the mail. They will see what we have created and they will remember the times they spent with you.
Jesus talks about another way we can show love when we can’t see the person. Jesus is talking to the disciples before he goes to live in heaven again. He knows it is going to be hard for the disciples to know how to show their love of Jesus when they can’t see him anymore. So he leaves them a little hint.
Jesus says “you have heard how I expect you to live. You know I have asked you to care for the poor. I have asked you to be kind. I have asked you to pray. I have shown you how to live. I showed you welcoming all kinds of people is important to me. I have shown you listening to people who are in pain is important to me. So when I am gone and you can’t see me anymore I want you to keep doing these things that I have asked you to do and shown you with my life.”
Jesus is telling the disciples that they can show that they love Jesus by being like him and doing what he has asked them to do. Then even when they can’t see Jesus to give him a hug they can show they love him with their actions.
We can show we love people by our actions and words even when they aren’t there. If your Grandma is a great baker and makes the best cookies you can show you love her by making cookies for your friends. You can bake in her honor.
Honor is a deep word. It means doing the right thing or showing our love even when that person is not watching. Even when we can not see them. When we do our chores without needed a parent to watch us or complete our homework without a teacher reminding us we are honoring them. We are showing love.
That is what Jesus wants us to do now even though we can’t see Jesus. We can show we love Jesus by doing the things Jesus would do and following Jesus’ teachings about kindness. Let’s say a prayer asking God to help us love even when someone isn’t watching.
Brilliant God, We know we should show our love, but sometimes we don’t know how. Help us to find ways to love even when we can’t see our family and friends. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
