Faithful God
Children's sermon
Object:
yesterday's newspaper
Good morning! Yesterday thousands and thousands of people were
reading this issue of the newspaper. Today probably only a very
few people are reading it! Today most people who read newspapers
are reading today's newspaper! Most people have thrown away
yesterday's paper or put it in the recycling bin. They will
probably not look at it again -- ever! You could say they have
"rejected" it. Once they used it, but now they do not need it
anymore.
People do the same thing with God sometimes. Many young people like you learned about God and believed in God, but when they got older, they treated God like an old newspaper and had nothing more to do with God. They have "rejected" God. What might be another word for "rejected"? (Let them answer.)
If someone rejects me, I sometimes reject them. If they don't want anything to do with me, then I don't have anything to do with them -- even though I may want to. If people treat me with rudeness, then I am tempted to treat them with rudeness as well. We might think it is that way with God. Those people who have rejected God might expect God to reject them. But God doesn't act in that way. God is faithful when we are unfaithful. God stays by us even if we should happen to leave God.
A long time ago the writer of the book to the Romans, Paul, was upset because God's own people had rejected God. They had turned against God. They had forgotten that God loved them and cared about them. Paul asks the question, "Has God rejected his people?" And then Paul answers his own question: "By no means!"
God never forgets the promises made to those who are God's own. When God promises to be your God, God never forgets. We forget that we are God's and that is too bad for us. It is best if we always remember that we belong to God. God has called us God's own children. That is a special calling that I never want to forget, and I hope you never forget it either. But if we do forget that God loves us, that doesn't mean that God loves us any less.
Dear God: Thank you for calling us as your own. Help us always remember that you have called us. Amen.
People do the same thing with God sometimes. Many young people like you learned about God and believed in God, but when they got older, they treated God like an old newspaper and had nothing more to do with God. They have "rejected" God. What might be another word for "rejected"? (Let them answer.)
If someone rejects me, I sometimes reject them. If they don't want anything to do with me, then I don't have anything to do with them -- even though I may want to. If people treat me with rudeness, then I am tempted to treat them with rudeness as well. We might think it is that way with God. Those people who have rejected God might expect God to reject them. But God doesn't act in that way. God is faithful when we are unfaithful. God stays by us even if we should happen to leave God.
A long time ago the writer of the book to the Romans, Paul, was upset because God's own people had rejected God. They had turned against God. They had forgotten that God loved them and cared about them. Paul asks the question, "Has God rejected his people?" And then Paul answers his own question: "By no means!"
God never forgets the promises made to those who are God's own. When God promises to be your God, God never forgets. We forget that we are God's and that is too bad for us. It is best if we always remember that we belong to God. God has called us God's own children. That is a special calling that I never want to forget, and I hope you never forget it either. But if we do forget that God loves us, that doesn't mean that God loves us any less.
Dear God: Thank you for calling us as your own. Help us always remember that you have called us. Amen.
