Fruitful labor
Children's sermon
Object:
a piece of fruit
If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. (v. 22a)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you like fruit, like this? (hold up fruit; allow answers each time) What is your favorite kind of fruit? Have you ever tried to grow fruit or vegetables in a garden? It takes a lot of work! Do you know everything you have to do to create a garden? How do you start? That's right, you have to dig up the soil first. Next, it helps to put in special dirt that will help plants grow. Do you know what that's called? That's right, it's called fertilizer! What else? Yes, you'll have to plant your fruits and vegetables, then weed them and water them while they grow, and finally -- a long time later! -- you get to eat them! What's your favorite part of all that? Eating them?
Today in the scripture, Saint Paul writes that being alive means "fruitful labor" for him. That means while he was alive, he worked hard for God and the church. Now, Paul didn't work to help fruit grow, like the fruit I've brought in today; he worked to help people grow in their faith and help them become better followers of Jesus. Just like our fruit and vegetable plants need help to grow, people need help to become better Christians. In fact, being a follower of God is a lot like being a plant.
In the garden, we water plants with a hose or a watering can, but in church we use water to baptize people to symbolize their relationship with God. That special dirt we use to help plants in our gardens grow is called "fertilizer" -- we need that in our lives of faith, too. Our fertilizer is reading the Bible and listening in Sunday school and church. In the garden, our plants use roots to hold on to the ground. Our friends and family at church help us stay rooted in Jesus. Sometimes weeds spring up in our gardens, and sometimes in life we get different kinds of weeds: temptation to sin. We might feel like stealing our sister's toy, or screaming at our mothers and fathers; these are some weeds that come into our lives. It takes our church family and Jesus to help us pull these weeds out of our lives.
Finally, plants need the sun -- and Jesus is the "Son" of God! We need Jesus to help us grow strong and healthy in God's love. This is the fruitful labor Saint Paul was talking about: watering people in holy baptism, weeding sin out of their lives, keeping them rooted in Jesus' love, and helping people walk in the light of Jesus. It's our job to be like Saint Paul and help the other people in our lives follow Jesus, too. Just like we can help grow a garden, we can help our friends and family grow in their faith. Remember that next time you eat a piece of fruit: It takes a lot of work to get from a seed to your table! And it takes a lot of work to help other people's faith grow with God. But isn't it worth it? Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you like fruit, like this? (hold up fruit; allow answers each time) What is your favorite kind of fruit? Have you ever tried to grow fruit or vegetables in a garden? It takes a lot of work! Do you know everything you have to do to create a garden? How do you start? That's right, you have to dig up the soil first. Next, it helps to put in special dirt that will help plants grow. Do you know what that's called? That's right, it's called fertilizer! What else? Yes, you'll have to plant your fruits and vegetables, then weed them and water them while they grow, and finally -- a long time later! -- you get to eat them! What's your favorite part of all that? Eating them?
Today in the scripture, Saint Paul writes that being alive means "fruitful labor" for him. That means while he was alive, he worked hard for God and the church. Now, Paul didn't work to help fruit grow, like the fruit I've brought in today; he worked to help people grow in their faith and help them become better followers of Jesus. Just like our fruit and vegetable plants need help to grow, people need help to become better Christians. In fact, being a follower of God is a lot like being a plant.
In the garden, we water plants with a hose or a watering can, but in church we use water to baptize people to symbolize their relationship with God. That special dirt we use to help plants in our gardens grow is called "fertilizer" -- we need that in our lives of faith, too. Our fertilizer is reading the Bible and listening in Sunday school and church. In the garden, our plants use roots to hold on to the ground. Our friends and family at church help us stay rooted in Jesus. Sometimes weeds spring up in our gardens, and sometimes in life we get different kinds of weeds: temptation to sin. We might feel like stealing our sister's toy, or screaming at our mothers and fathers; these are some weeds that come into our lives. It takes our church family and Jesus to help us pull these weeds out of our lives.
Finally, plants need the sun -- and Jesus is the "Son" of God! We need Jesus to help us grow strong and healthy in God's love. This is the fruitful labor Saint Paul was talking about: watering people in holy baptism, weeding sin out of their lives, keeping them rooted in Jesus' love, and helping people walk in the light of Jesus. It's our job to be like Saint Paul and help the other people in our lives follow Jesus, too. Just like we can help grow a garden, we can help our friends and family grow in their faith. Remember that next time you eat a piece of fruit: It takes a lot of work to get from a seed to your table! And it takes a lot of work to help other people's faith grow with God. But isn't it worth it? Amen.
