Faith grows
Children's sermon
Object:
a baby shoe and a large man's shoe
Good morning, boys and girls. I brought two shoes to look at today. Are
these shoes the same size? (Let them respond.) No, one shoe is very tiny
and one shoe is very large. Who do you think would wear the tiny shoe?
Could you wear the larger shoe? (Let them respond.) You might wear it to
play dress-up in, but it would be way too big to really fit you. I need a
volunteer. (Choose a child to volunteer his or her shoes.) Are
____________'s shoes bigger or smaller than the baby shoe? (Let them
respond.) They're bigger than the baby shoe. But they look smaller than the big person's shoe. I guess they're right in the middle. How fast do feet grow? (Let them respond.) They grow very fast. When you are a baby and a very young child,
your feet grow very fast. When you start school they grow fast but not
quite as fast. As you get old, they keep on growing. Some people's feet are
still growing when they are just about out of high school. Some people's
feet are even longer than this large shoe. Does your mom or dad ever say,
"How could your shoes be too small? I just bought them a few months
ago!" (Let them respond.) You've probably all heard that. Sometimes feet
have a growth spurt. That means they grow a lot all at once. Sometimes
you wear out your shoes before your feet even have a chance to grow.
Our lesson today is about growing. But it's not about feet growing. It's about our faith growing. Faith is a word we use when we talk about God and what we think about God, how we tell about God and how we feel about God. When you are tiny, you don't even know about God. As you grow, you learn a little bit more about God. First you probably think God is an old man with a beard in a castle in heaven. As your feet grow, so do your ideas about God. You learn that God is everywhere and doesn't have a body. That's a little harder to understand and as you grow older, so do your ideas and feelings about God and who God is and what God does. By the time your feet are as big as this large shoe, your ideas about God are very different. They grow just like your feet grow.
Our lesson today is about growing. But it's not about feet growing. It's about our faith growing. Faith is a word we use when we talk about God and what we think about God, how we tell about God and how we feel about God. When you are tiny, you don't even know about God. As you grow, you learn a little bit more about God. First you probably think God is an old man with a beard in a castle in heaven. As your feet grow, so do your ideas about God. You learn that God is everywhere and doesn't have a body. That's a little harder to understand and as you grow older, so do your ideas and feelings about God and who God is and what God does. By the time your feet are as big as this large shoe, your ideas about God are very different. They grow just like your feet grow.
