God's Surprises!
Children's sermon
Object: If you have an old oil lamp, you can use that and modify the text a bit. Otherwise, use a flashlight with a few extra batteries to show.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But before I tell you the story, I have a question for you. Have you ever been to a wedding? (Let them respond.) Do you remember much about that wedding? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we have weddings in churches, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes we have them at home, or in a park, or maybe in an office. And, when you went to the wedding, do you remember if you just went to the wedding ceremony, or did you stay for a party or maybe even stay someplace overnight? (Let them respond.) We have all kinds of weddings today, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
But back when Jesus told this story, their weddings were pretty different than most of ours are today. Back then, when someone got married, you didn’t just go to a wedding. At the time Jesus told this story, getting married could take a long, long time. Let me tell you how it worked.
Back then, when two people decided to get married, they told everyone about it, but then they had to wait a while before they actually had the wedding. They didn’t get married yet, but they said they were betrothed, which meant they were getting ready to be married. When they got betrothed, the man and woman both went back to their homes and didn’t even see each other again until it was time to have their real wedding. Sometimes they waited a whole year, and sometimes they waited as much as seven whole years before everything was ready for the wedding.
And when it was time to have the wedding, they didn’t mail out invitations like we sometimes do. When it was time to have the wedding, the man and his friends all walked together to the woman’s house to get the bride and take her back to the man’s house to have the wedding. For some reason, they usually had weddings at night when it was dark. So, the man and his friends would take their lamps and big horns and walk through the street making lots of noise so people would see and hear them and know it was time to come to the wedding.
When the people saw the man and his friends walking, they would get their lamps and horns and join the parade so they could go with them to get the bride and go to the wedding party with them. But when the crowd got to the bride’s house, they waited outside while the man went inside to get her. They never knew how long they would have to wait for him to come back out to finish the parade back to his house and have the big wedding party.
The lamps everyone carried were important for two reasons. First, they helped everyone see where they were going and let people know the wedding was starting. But your lamp was also your ticket to the wedding. When everyone finally got to the party, if you had a lamp that was burning, you got to go in. But if you didn’t have a lamp that was burning, you didn’t get to go in.
If we were going to a wedding like that today, we probably wouldn’t carry an old oil lamp, would we? (Let them respond.) We would probably carry something like this, wouldn’t we? (Show the flashlight.) And since we didn’t know how long we might have to wait, we would probably carry some of these, too, wouldn’t we? (Show the batteries.)
Most of the people remembered to take extra oil for their lamps in case they ran out before it was time to finish the parade. But some people forgot to bring extra oil, and when the bride and groom finally came out to parade home, their lamps were all burned out. That meant they didn’t get to go to the wedding party.
One day, some people were telling Jesus how important they were because they understood everything about what God was going to do. They said they were so smart that they knew more about God than Jesus did. Jesus looked at them and said they reminded him of the ten girls who saw a wedding parade and grabbed their lamps so they could go to the big wedding party, too. (Show your flashlight.) But five of the girls thought they were so smart and knew what was going to happen that they didn’t take any extra oil with them for their lamps. And can you guess what happened? (Let them respond.) Yep, when the groom and bride came out to finish the parade, the girls’ lamps were out of oil. And when they all got to the party, those five girls could not get into the party because their lamps were burned out.
Jesus told the people this story to remind them that no matter how smart we think we are, we need to be ready in case God surprises us. We never know when God might show us someone who needs our help and asks us to do something to help them. We always want to be ready for God’s surprises!
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But before I tell you the story, I have a question for you. Have you ever been to a wedding? (Let them respond.) Do you remember much about that wedding? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we have weddings in churches, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes we have them at home, or in a park, or maybe in an office. And, when you went to the wedding, do you remember if you just went to the wedding ceremony, or did you stay for a party or maybe even stay someplace overnight? (Let them respond.) We have all kinds of weddings today, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
But back when Jesus told this story, their weddings were pretty different than most of ours are today. Back then, when someone got married, you didn’t just go to a wedding. At the time Jesus told this story, getting married could take a long, long time. Let me tell you how it worked.
Back then, when two people decided to get married, they told everyone about it, but then they had to wait a while before they actually had the wedding. They didn’t get married yet, but they said they were betrothed, which meant they were getting ready to be married. When they got betrothed, the man and woman both went back to their homes and didn’t even see each other again until it was time to have their real wedding. Sometimes they waited a whole year, and sometimes they waited as much as seven whole years before everything was ready for the wedding.
And when it was time to have the wedding, they didn’t mail out invitations like we sometimes do. When it was time to have the wedding, the man and his friends all walked together to the woman’s house to get the bride and take her back to the man’s house to have the wedding. For some reason, they usually had weddings at night when it was dark. So, the man and his friends would take their lamps and big horns and walk through the street making lots of noise so people would see and hear them and know it was time to come to the wedding.
When the people saw the man and his friends walking, they would get their lamps and horns and join the parade so they could go with them to get the bride and go to the wedding party with them. But when the crowd got to the bride’s house, they waited outside while the man went inside to get her. They never knew how long they would have to wait for him to come back out to finish the parade back to his house and have the big wedding party.
The lamps everyone carried were important for two reasons. First, they helped everyone see where they were going and let people know the wedding was starting. But your lamp was also your ticket to the wedding. When everyone finally got to the party, if you had a lamp that was burning, you got to go in. But if you didn’t have a lamp that was burning, you didn’t get to go in.
If we were going to a wedding like that today, we probably wouldn’t carry an old oil lamp, would we? (Let them respond.) We would probably carry something like this, wouldn’t we? (Show the flashlight.) And since we didn’t know how long we might have to wait, we would probably carry some of these, too, wouldn’t we? (Show the batteries.)
Most of the people remembered to take extra oil for their lamps in case they ran out before it was time to finish the parade. But some people forgot to bring extra oil, and when the bride and groom finally came out to parade home, their lamps were all burned out. That meant they didn’t get to go to the wedding party.
One day, some people were telling Jesus how important they were because they understood everything about what God was going to do. They said they were so smart that they knew more about God than Jesus did. Jesus looked at them and said they reminded him of the ten girls who saw a wedding parade and grabbed their lamps so they could go to the big wedding party, too. (Show your flashlight.) But five of the girls thought they were so smart and knew what was going to happen that they didn’t take any extra oil with them for their lamps. And can you guess what happened? (Let them respond.) Yep, when the groom and bride came out to finish the parade, the girls’ lamps were out of oil. And when they all got to the party, those five girls could not get into the party because their lamps were burned out.
Jesus told the people this story to remind them that no matter how smart we think we are, we need to be ready in case God surprises us. We never know when God might show us someone who needs our help and asks us to do something to help them. We always want to be ready for God’s surprises!
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
