Follow
Children's sermon
Object:
a voting ballot
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. (v. 37)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of your parents go to vote every fall? (allow answers) Do you know what it means to vote? (allow answers) In the United States, we have elections to choose our leaders. We elect everyone from the President of the United States to the mayors and council members in our counties and towns. To elect people to these positions, we vote! When we vote we go to a special place called the polls. At the polls, there is a card called a ballot. The voter fills out the ballot with the names of the people he or she wants to vote for. The people working at the polls count up all the ballots, and whichever candidate has the most votes wins.
Before voting happens, the people who are running for each position do something called a "campaign." When people campaign, they do their best to convince people to vote for them. They might go door-to-door and talk to voters. They might print signs and ask people to put the signs in their yards. They will go and speak at gatherings and group meetings. They may pay for ads on TV, in the newspaper, or on billboards. People spend a lot of money and do a lot of work when they are campaigning!
Although Jesus didn't "campaign" for his followers, our gospel lesson today sounds very political. In the gospel, we hear about people who find out that Jesus is the "Lamb of God." Some people hear that Jesus is the Messiah and immediately start to follow him. Some of John the Baptist's disciples immediately stop following John and begin following Jesus. One man even goes to find his brother and brings his brother to follow Jesus, too!
But there is no election at the end of this "campaign." Jesus is not making any posters, knocking door-to-door, or putting campaign ads on TV. He's not trying to win an election. It doesn't matter whether people want him to be the Messiah -- in fact, if there had been an election, he probably would have lost. A lot of people didn't like Jesus. They didn't think he lived up to what a Messiah would be. He didn't try to impress the rich and important people of his time. He didn't go and speak at club meetings trying to impress the voters. Sometimes Jesus insulted people!
Unlike someone on the campaign trail, Jesus didn't care what others thought. Instead, he did the work that he knew God wanted him to do. Jesus wasn't swayed by what people thought. His faith -- not the approval of others -- was enough for him.
Sometimes we get distracted by what others think of us. We think that it is more important to be well liked than to do the right thing. Instead we need to follow Jesus' example: do what is right even if it doesn't make us popular. We don't need anyone's vote -- all we need is our faith in God! Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of your parents go to vote every fall? (allow answers) Do you know what it means to vote? (allow answers) In the United States, we have elections to choose our leaders. We elect everyone from the President of the United States to the mayors and council members in our counties and towns. To elect people to these positions, we vote! When we vote we go to a special place called the polls. At the polls, there is a card called a ballot. The voter fills out the ballot with the names of the people he or she wants to vote for. The people working at the polls count up all the ballots, and whichever candidate has the most votes wins.
Before voting happens, the people who are running for each position do something called a "campaign." When people campaign, they do their best to convince people to vote for them. They might go door-to-door and talk to voters. They might print signs and ask people to put the signs in their yards. They will go and speak at gatherings and group meetings. They may pay for ads on TV, in the newspaper, or on billboards. People spend a lot of money and do a lot of work when they are campaigning!
Although Jesus didn't "campaign" for his followers, our gospel lesson today sounds very political. In the gospel, we hear about people who find out that Jesus is the "Lamb of God." Some people hear that Jesus is the Messiah and immediately start to follow him. Some of John the Baptist's disciples immediately stop following John and begin following Jesus. One man even goes to find his brother and brings his brother to follow Jesus, too!
But there is no election at the end of this "campaign." Jesus is not making any posters, knocking door-to-door, or putting campaign ads on TV. He's not trying to win an election. It doesn't matter whether people want him to be the Messiah -- in fact, if there had been an election, he probably would have lost. A lot of people didn't like Jesus. They didn't think he lived up to what a Messiah would be. He didn't try to impress the rich and important people of his time. He didn't go and speak at club meetings trying to impress the voters. Sometimes Jesus insulted people!
Unlike someone on the campaign trail, Jesus didn't care what others thought. Instead, he did the work that he knew God wanted him to do. Jesus wasn't swayed by what people thought. His faith -- not the approval of others -- was enough for him.
Sometimes we get distracted by what others think of us. We think that it is more important to be well liked than to do the right thing. Instead we need to follow Jesus' example: do what is right even if it doesn't make us popular. We don't need anyone's vote -- all we need is our faith in God! Amen.
