Invisible armor
Children's sermon
Object:
a picture or figurine of a knight in shining armor
Put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
(v. 8b)
Good morning, boys and girls! Do you know what this is? (hold up knight; allow answers) It's a knight in shining armor! Where have you seen these before? (allow answers) Good answers! Knights in shining armor lived in Europe hundreds and hundreds of years ago. What do knights do? (allow answers) That's right, rescue people and fight evil creatures! What do knights wear to keep them safe? (allow answers) That's right, their armor. Do you know what armor is made of? (allow answers) That's right, metal. Metal armor helped keep knights safe from swords and arrows. What do knights wear on their heads? (allow answers each time) Helmets! What do helmets do? Do you know what helmets are made of? That's right, they're made of metal, too. Helmets protect the head while armor protects the rest of the body. Since armor is made of metal, it's really heavy! The knights who wore it had to be very strong so they could fight while wearing all this extra metal.
Our Bible verse today talks about armor. It says, "Put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." Now, if we had to put on real armor and helmets like the knights used to, that would be really heavy! And you might look a little bit funny walking around with metal armor on. But we're in luck! The armor the Bible talks about isn't made of metal. The breastplate, or the piece the protects your chest, is made of "faith and love." Faith is when we believe and trust in God. Love is when we care about God and other people. Faith and love can protect us just as well as armor! The helmet in this armor is not made of fancy metal; instead, it's made of "the hope of salvation." Salvation is like heaven. So our head is protected because we know we're going to heaven someday. Whoa! This armor isn't anything like regular armor! Plus -- and this is really cool -- it's invisible. You can wear it anywhere! You can wear it to school or church or all day at home. It doesn't weigh anything, and it's always ready to protect you as you go out to share the love of God with the whole world. How can we share God's love with the whole world? (allow answers) That's right, we can give our offering to missionaries; we can help our elderly neighbors rake their leaves or shovel snow; we can listen to our moms and dads; we can share our favorite Bible stories with our friends; and so much more! And the whole time, God's invisible armor is keeping us safe. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! Do you know what this is? (hold up knight; allow answers) It's a knight in shining armor! Where have you seen these before? (allow answers) Good answers! Knights in shining armor lived in Europe hundreds and hundreds of years ago. What do knights do? (allow answers) That's right, rescue people and fight evil creatures! What do knights wear to keep them safe? (allow answers) That's right, their armor. Do you know what armor is made of? (allow answers) That's right, metal. Metal armor helped keep knights safe from swords and arrows. What do knights wear on their heads? (allow answers each time) Helmets! What do helmets do? Do you know what helmets are made of? That's right, they're made of metal, too. Helmets protect the head while armor protects the rest of the body. Since armor is made of metal, it's really heavy! The knights who wore it had to be very strong so they could fight while wearing all this extra metal.
Our Bible verse today talks about armor. It says, "Put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." Now, if we had to put on real armor and helmets like the knights used to, that would be really heavy! And you might look a little bit funny walking around with metal armor on. But we're in luck! The armor the Bible talks about isn't made of metal. The breastplate, or the piece the protects your chest, is made of "faith and love." Faith is when we believe and trust in God. Love is when we care about God and other people. Faith and love can protect us just as well as armor! The helmet in this armor is not made of fancy metal; instead, it's made of "the hope of salvation." Salvation is like heaven. So our head is protected because we know we're going to heaven someday. Whoa! This armor isn't anything like regular armor! Plus -- and this is really cool -- it's invisible. You can wear it anywhere! You can wear it to school or church or all day at home. It doesn't weigh anything, and it's always ready to protect you as you go out to share the love of God with the whole world. How can we share God's love with the whole world? (allow answers) That's right, we can give our offering to missionaries; we can help our elderly neighbors rake their leaves or shovel snow; we can listen to our moms and dads; we can share our favorite Bible stories with our friends; and so much more! And the whole time, God's invisible armor is keeping us safe. Amen.
