A growing faith
Children's sermon
Object:
a flower pot and a tomato plant with the roots exposed
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of your parents have a garden? (let them answer) There are many different kinds of gardens. We have gardens with wild flowers, gardens with regular flowers, and vegetable gardens.
I brought along with me a tomato plant today and a flowerpot filled with soil. Let's take a look at this plant. It has leaves and a stem and some roots. And over here we have our flowerpot, some soil, and some fertilizer. I am going to take my plant over and lay it on top of the flowerpot like this. (Just lay the plant on the flowerpot. Do not plant it.) Do you think we should have some tomatoes very soon? (let them answer) Do you think our plant will grow big and tall? (let them answer) Would you do anything different? (let them answer) You think we need to put the plant into the soil. Will that make a difference? (let them answer) In other words, I need to make a hole in the soil and then put the tomato plant in with the roots down. You were right, the plant looks much better now. It will grow a lot faster this way.
Saint Paul gave some of the same advice to Christians. He said that Christians would grow faster if they began using the love of Christ in their lives. He said that love needed to be rooted and grounded inside of us.
In other words, Paul wanted us actually to live like Christians. First he said we need the love of Christ in our hearts. That love comes from praying to God and reading our Bibles and doing kindnesses to others. Those things, prayer, scripture, and kindness, are the roots of faith, just like the tomato plant has roots for growing. So our faith is a little bit like a tomato plant that has roots and grows in the ground. The roots take in water and lots of vitamins and the leaves take in the sunshine, and together they help the plant grow strong. Without the roots and the soil, the plant will not grow. It will die quickly.
The next time you see a plant with roots, I want you to remember what you must do to make it grow. Put that plant into the soil, give it some water and fertilizer, and cover up the roots with good soil and watch it grow. Do the same with your life. Feed it with prayer, scripture, and kind acts, and you will grow in Christ.
I brought along with me a tomato plant today and a flowerpot filled with soil. Let's take a look at this plant. It has leaves and a stem and some roots. And over here we have our flowerpot, some soil, and some fertilizer. I am going to take my plant over and lay it on top of the flowerpot like this. (Just lay the plant on the flowerpot. Do not plant it.) Do you think we should have some tomatoes very soon? (let them answer) Do you think our plant will grow big and tall? (let them answer) Would you do anything different? (let them answer) You think we need to put the plant into the soil. Will that make a difference? (let them answer) In other words, I need to make a hole in the soil and then put the tomato plant in with the roots down. You were right, the plant looks much better now. It will grow a lot faster this way.
Saint Paul gave some of the same advice to Christians. He said that Christians would grow faster if they began using the love of Christ in their lives. He said that love needed to be rooted and grounded inside of us.
In other words, Paul wanted us actually to live like Christians. First he said we need the love of Christ in our hearts. That love comes from praying to God and reading our Bibles and doing kindnesses to others. Those things, prayer, scripture, and kindness, are the roots of faith, just like the tomato plant has roots for growing. So our faith is a little bit like a tomato plant that has roots and grows in the ground. The roots take in water and lots of vitamins and the leaves take in the sunshine, and together they help the plant grow strong. Without the roots and the soil, the plant will not grow. It will die quickly.
The next time you see a plant with roots, I want you to remember what you must do to make it grow. Put that plant into the soil, give it some water and fertilizer, and cover up the roots with good soil and watch it grow. Do the same with your life. Feed it with prayer, scripture, and kind acts, and you will grow in Christ.
