Imitation
Children's sermon
Object:
a small tree or plant
Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider
the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (v. 7)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you are back in school? (let them answer) Are you learning new things about our world? (let them answer) It is interesting how we learn, isn't it? When I was in school the teachers always seemed to know so much about things that I thought were hard to learn. I remember learning how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers. It took a lot of practice and imitations. Do you know what the word "imitate" means? It means that we learn by copying what someone teaches us.
We learn a lot of things by imitating other people. I wanted to replant a tree and I knew that I had to be very careful or I would kill the tree by moving it. I called up a friend who has transplanted lots of trees and asked him to teach me the best way. My friend came to my house and showed me. First he showed me how big to dig the hole before I took the tree out of the ground so that we would not kill many of the important roots. We dug under the tree so that there was a big ball of dirt and tree roots. We put a piece of burlap cloth around the tree and pinned it with some nails. Then we lifted the tree out of the ground and took it to the place we wanted it to be. I watched very carefully because I knew I wanted to move a tree again.
We dug another hole, bigger than the first hole, and we put in some fertilizer to help the tree grow. We also put in some bone meal and then a little bit of dirt. We put in a piece of plastic pipe at the edge of the hole. We watered the hole with the tree standing in it and then put in some more dirt. We kept doing this until the hole was filled and the tree was standing straight. Do you remember that piece of plastic pipe I was telling you about? My friend cut the plastic pipe off until there were just a few inches sticking out of the ground. Then he took the hose and sent more water into the pipe that carried the water deep into the ground. Now I know how to plant a tree and I have imitated him several times. My trees are growing strong and they will be beautiful next year.
This is also how we learn about the way God loves us and how we can love God. We listen to our Sunday school teachers and follow the ways they teach us. We learn many good things from our parents about God and the way God wants us to grow up and be believers. We listen to the pastor when he reads from the Bible and preaches about the love of God. Every day we imitate other Christians and when we do we become more like the way God wants us to be. We are imitators of other people who believe in God, and the more we learn to be like them, the more we learn to be servants of Jesus. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you are back in school? (let them answer) Are you learning new things about our world? (let them answer) It is interesting how we learn, isn't it? When I was in school the teachers always seemed to know so much about things that I thought were hard to learn. I remember learning how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers. It took a lot of practice and imitations. Do you know what the word "imitate" means? It means that we learn by copying what someone teaches us.
We learn a lot of things by imitating other people. I wanted to replant a tree and I knew that I had to be very careful or I would kill the tree by moving it. I called up a friend who has transplanted lots of trees and asked him to teach me the best way. My friend came to my house and showed me. First he showed me how big to dig the hole before I took the tree out of the ground so that we would not kill many of the important roots. We dug under the tree so that there was a big ball of dirt and tree roots. We put a piece of burlap cloth around the tree and pinned it with some nails. Then we lifted the tree out of the ground and took it to the place we wanted it to be. I watched very carefully because I knew I wanted to move a tree again.
We dug another hole, bigger than the first hole, and we put in some fertilizer to help the tree grow. We also put in some bone meal and then a little bit of dirt. We put in a piece of plastic pipe at the edge of the hole. We watered the hole with the tree standing in it and then put in some more dirt. We kept doing this until the hole was filled and the tree was standing straight. Do you remember that piece of plastic pipe I was telling you about? My friend cut the plastic pipe off until there were just a few inches sticking out of the ground. Then he took the hose and sent more water into the pipe that carried the water deep into the ground. Now I know how to plant a tree and I have imitated him several times. My trees are growing strong and they will be beautiful next year.
This is also how we learn about the way God loves us and how we can love God. We listen to our Sunday school teachers and follow the ways they teach us. We learn many good things from our parents about God and the way God wants us to grow up and be believers. We listen to the pastor when he reads from the Bible and preaches about the love of God. Every day we imitate other Christians and when we do we become more like the way God wants us to be. We are imitators of other people who believe in God, and the more we learn to be like them, the more we learn to be servants of Jesus. Amen.
