Expert witness
Children's sermon
Object:
gavel
He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." (v. 31)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have ever watched a TV show or a movie in which there was a trial in a courtroom? (allow answers) Can you describe what happened in the courtroom? (allow answers) Courtroom trials are run by judges. Judges are people in long, black robes who sit at the front of the courtroom. There are people called lawyers who represent the people on each side of the argument. Lawyers take turns telling the judge about what happened and which person they think should be punished. Then there are people called witnesses. Witnesses are people the lawyers interview to find out more information about the case. A witness might be someone who saw an event happen. A witness might be someone who knows one of the people on trial. There is a special kind of witness called an "expert witness." An expert witness is someone who knows a lot about a particular subject. This witness may not have been present when something occurred and may not know the people on trial, but they are still important. Let's say the trial is about someone who was bitten by another person's dog. An expert witness might be someone who is an expert on dogs and who can give reasons why the dog might have bitten that person. What other kinds of experts might a person want to have during a courtroom trial? (allow answers)
Our gospel lesson talks about something like expert witnesses. Jesus tells a group of people: "If you do not listen to Moses and the prophets, you won't be convinced by someone who rises from the dead!" Do you know what he is talking about? (allow answers) He is talking about believing in God. Moses and the prophets -- in fact, all of the Bible! -- is our expert witness for faith. There is no certainty that we will see a miracle in our lifetime, so we shouldn't hold out for miracles in order to believe in God. Instead, we need to trust his word in the Bible. We need to believe even though we have not seen. As Jesus says, even seeing a miracle may not make us believe. If we don't listen to our expert witness -- the Bible -- then we probably wouldn't believe a miracle, either. We have to keep our minds and our hearts open to faith, and we have to take a chance to believe some things without being able to see them. Sometimes an expert witness is all we have. If we don't believe those words, what will we believe? Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have ever watched a TV show or a movie in which there was a trial in a courtroom? (allow answers) Can you describe what happened in the courtroom? (allow answers) Courtroom trials are run by judges. Judges are people in long, black robes who sit at the front of the courtroom. There are people called lawyers who represent the people on each side of the argument. Lawyers take turns telling the judge about what happened and which person they think should be punished. Then there are people called witnesses. Witnesses are people the lawyers interview to find out more information about the case. A witness might be someone who saw an event happen. A witness might be someone who knows one of the people on trial. There is a special kind of witness called an "expert witness." An expert witness is someone who knows a lot about a particular subject. This witness may not have been present when something occurred and may not know the people on trial, but they are still important. Let's say the trial is about someone who was bitten by another person's dog. An expert witness might be someone who is an expert on dogs and who can give reasons why the dog might have bitten that person. What other kinds of experts might a person want to have during a courtroom trial? (allow answers)
Our gospel lesson talks about something like expert witnesses. Jesus tells a group of people: "If you do not listen to Moses and the prophets, you won't be convinced by someone who rises from the dead!" Do you know what he is talking about? (allow answers) He is talking about believing in God. Moses and the prophets -- in fact, all of the Bible! -- is our expert witness for faith. There is no certainty that we will see a miracle in our lifetime, so we shouldn't hold out for miracles in order to believe in God. Instead, we need to trust his word in the Bible. We need to believe even though we have not seen. As Jesus says, even seeing a miracle may not make us believe. If we don't listen to our expert witness -- the Bible -- then we probably wouldn't believe a miracle, either. We have to keep our minds and our hearts open to faith, and we have to take a chance to believe some things without being able to see them. Sometimes an expert witness is all we have. If we don't believe those words, what will we believe? Amen.
