Hold On To The Good News
Children's sermon
This story is obviously missing some details. There is nothing about the long road trip and the arguments when they got lost. There is nothing about the anxiety of being turned away from inn after inn. Mary calmly births her first child without a medical team circling. There are all sorts of details missing. Some years I feel like I want to nitty gritty details out back in to remind us that the chaos is okay. However, the clean-cut version demonstrates what we should hold on to in our stories.
Kids are finetuned stress detectors. December is jam packed with stress. It comes at them from parents, teachers, friends, and TV shows. This high sensory world can be overwhelming. What we learn from the nativity is to notice and remember the good stuff. The warm barn Mary and Joseph eventually found, leaving the search out of mind. The birth of a healthy baby, forgetting the screams and pain of labor. The community that gathered to welcome the new life, despite the complicated world he was born into.
In this message you will challenge the kids to hold onto the good news of their own stories.
In your message say something like:
How many of you have gotten into a car for a ride to a Christmas party this year? (allow time for hands) How many of you have had a party at your house? (allow time for hands) Did anyone’s parent get mad about something Christmas related this month? (allow time for hands)
December is a wild month. We have tons of parties and things to do. We are super excited about presents and seeing our favorite cousins. Even at school things change, like all the math problems are suddenly about candy canes and reindeer. Lots of new things are happening around us. We can get overwhelmed and forget to notice the good stuff happening.
For Mary and Joseph, it was a wild time of year too. Mary was pregnant but instead of being able to stay home she had to go on a long road trip to a town she had never been. When they got there, there were no rooms available for them to sleep in and to top it all off she had to give birth in a barn! We would expect the story of this journey to be full of adventure and struggle. But the story we have in the Bible is actually kind of calm.
It just says they had to go to Bethlehem to be counted, there was no hotel room available, so they were happy to stay in a warm barn. While they were there Mary had her baby and some nice shepherds came by to say hi. No stress, just calm.
I think we can learn a lot from Mary and Joseph. When they told the story of Jesus’ birth to family and friends they focused on the good news. Among all the stress and wild moments, they remembered to notice the good things. They were grateful and their gratefulness is what shaped the story they told other.
I challenge you to notice the good things in your Christmas story. The great conversation you have with an aunt, or the present your baby cousin made out of macaroni. When you feel happy take a moment and lock that feeling in your heart so when you go back to school you can tell a Christmas story like Mary and Joseph. Let’s pray for help doing that.
Pray: Loving God, help us notice the good things in our lives. Even when we feel nervous or sad help us find one thing that we can hold on to as good. Amen.
Kids are finetuned stress detectors. December is jam packed with stress. It comes at them from parents, teachers, friends, and TV shows. This high sensory world can be overwhelming. What we learn from the nativity is to notice and remember the good stuff. The warm barn Mary and Joseph eventually found, leaving the search out of mind. The birth of a healthy baby, forgetting the screams and pain of labor. The community that gathered to welcome the new life, despite the complicated world he was born into.
In this message you will challenge the kids to hold onto the good news of their own stories.
In your message say something like:
How many of you have gotten into a car for a ride to a Christmas party this year? (allow time for hands) How many of you have had a party at your house? (allow time for hands) Did anyone’s parent get mad about something Christmas related this month? (allow time for hands)
December is a wild month. We have tons of parties and things to do. We are super excited about presents and seeing our favorite cousins. Even at school things change, like all the math problems are suddenly about candy canes and reindeer. Lots of new things are happening around us. We can get overwhelmed and forget to notice the good stuff happening.
For Mary and Joseph, it was a wild time of year too. Mary was pregnant but instead of being able to stay home she had to go on a long road trip to a town she had never been. When they got there, there were no rooms available for them to sleep in and to top it all off she had to give birth in a barn! We would expect the story of this journey to be full of adventure and struggle. But the story we have in the Bible is actually kind of calm.
It just says they had to go to Bethlehem to be counted, there was no hotel room available, so they were happy to stay in a warm barn. While they were there Mary had her baby and some nice shepherds came by to say hi. No stress, just calm.
I think we can learn a lot from Mary and Joseph. When they told the story of Jesus’ birth to family and friends they focused on the good news. Among all the stress and wild moments, they remembered to notice the good things. They were grateful and their gratefulness is what shaped the story they told other.
I challenge you to notice the good things in your Christmas story. The great conversation you have with an aunt, or the present your baby cousin made out of macaroni. When you feel happy take a moment and lock that feeling in your heart so when you go back to school you can tell a Christmas story like Mary and Joseph. Let’s pray for help doing that.
Pray: Loving God, help us notice the good things in our lives. Even when we feel nervous or sad help us find one thing that we can hold on to as good. Amen.
