Fact or fiction?
Children's sermon
Object:
an encyclopedia volume, a novel, and a Bible
Good morning! I have some books with me this morning. This
first one is a novel. (Show the novel.) It's all about
____________________. (Tell them what the novel is about.) Now, I
enjoyed reading this novel, but is this a true story or did the
author make it up? (Let them answer.) Yes, that's right. The
author made up the story. We call that kind of writing "fiction."
It's fun to read a novel, but we know that it isn't true; it's
fiction.
Now I have here another book, a big one. (Show the
encyclopedia.) Does anybody know what they call this book? (Let
them answer.) Yes, this is a volume of an encyclopedia. What do
we use this for? (Let them answer.) Yes, we use it to look up
things that we want to know more about. Is this book considered
fact or fiction? (Let them answer.) Yes. It's full of all kinds
of facts, not fiction. The people that put it together do all
that they can to be sure all the things they write about are
true. But, could there be errors in this encyclopedia? (Let them
answer.) There can be errors and there probably are lots of them.
If you were to look at an encyclopedia from a hundred years ago,
you could find lots and lots of errors. And I suppose that if
somebody looks at this one in a hundred years, they will also
find lots of errors.
Now, I have one other book here. (Show the Bible.) What is
this book? (Let them answer.) Yes, this is a Bible. In this book
we read many things. Are the things in this book fact or fiction?
(Let them answer.) Yes, they are fact and they were the same a
hundred years ago and will be the same in another hundred years.
This Bible tells us a lot about Jesus, and everything it says is
true. It says he was raised from the dead. Is that fact or
fiction? (Let them answer.) Yes, indeed, it is true. And because
we know Jesus was raised from the dead, we can be sure that we
too will be raised from the dead. Let's thank God for giving us
this Bible.
Dear God: We thank You so much for giving us the Bible so that we
can know the truth. We know that everything written in the Bible
is true because You are the real author and You never make
mistakes. Amen.
first one is a novel. (Show the novel.) It's all about
____________________. (Tell them what the novel is about.) Now, I
enjoyed reading this novel, but is this a true story or did the
author make it up? (Let them answer.) Yes, that's right. The
author made up the story. We call that kind of writing "fiction."
It's fun to read a novel, but we know that it isn't true; it's
fiction.
Now I have here another book, a big one. (Show the
encyclopedia.) Does anybody know what they call this book? (Let
them answer.) Yes, this is a volume of an encyclopedia. What do
we use this for? (Let them answer.) Yes, we use it to look up
things that we want to know more about. Is this book considered
fact or fiction? (Let them answer.) Yes. It's full of all kinds
of facts, not fiction. The people that put it together do all
that they can to be sure all the things they write about are
true. But, could there be errors in this encyclopedia? (Let them
answer.) There can be errors and there probably are lots of them.
If you were to look at an encyclopedia from a hundred years ago,
you could find lots and lots of errors. And I suppose that if
somebody looks at this one in a hundred years, they will also
find lots of errors.
Now, I have one other book here. (Show the Bible.) What is
this book? (Let them answer.) Yes, this is a Bible. In this book
we read many things. Are the things in this book fact or fiction?
(Let them answer.) Yes, they are fact and they were the same a
hundred years ago and will be the same in another hundred years.
This Bible tells us a lot about Jesus, and everything it says is
true. It says he was raised from the dead. Is that fact or
fiction? (Let them answer.) Yes, indeed, it is true. And because
we know Jesus was raised from the dead, we can be sure that we
too will be raised from the dead. Let's thank God for giving us
this Bible.
Dear God: We thank You so much for giving us the Bible so that we
can know the truth. We know that everything written in the Bible
is true because You are the real author and You never make
mistakes. Amen.
