It takes endurance
Children's sermon
Object:
a bat and a ball
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces
hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (vv. 3-5)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to play baseball? (let them answer) Baseball is a great game, and it is great to watch if you are not playing. How many of you know what a base hit is? (let them answer) What do we call this? (show them the bat) And what is this? (show them the ball) Very good, you are on your way to the major leagues.
Scoring a run is the most important goal in baseball. The team with the most runs wins the game. You could hit a home run and that scores one run. Sometimes it takes many different kinds of plays before a run is scored. It may also involve many different players on both teams to get a run scored.
Sometimes other things are like getting a run in baseball. The Bible says that the love of God that comes through the Holy Spirit goes through a lot of things before it arrives in our hearts. The Bible teaches us that sometimes we are hurt and we suffer. Maybe we break an arm or a leg and we suffer. Sometimes because we hurt and need to be healed we have to wear a cast. It takes a long time to heal, maybe six or seven weeks. But we learn to do things differently. We learn to use our other arm or other leg. We learn to be patient and sit while our friends are outside running around. We practice our coloring and our spelling and we get better at it. Finally, we begin to hope that our broken arm or leg will be as strong or stronger than it was before we broke it. We also hope that the things we learned such as being a better speller, using our other arm or leg, and being a good colorer will also make us better people.
The next time you watch a ball game, I want you to notice how hard it can be to score a run. I also want you to know that being a child of God is not always easy but that it takes suffering, endurance, great character, and hope to be a disciple of Jesus. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to play baseball? (let them answer) Baseball is a great game, and it is great to watch if you are not playing. How many of you know what a base hit is? (let them answer) What do we call this? (show them the bat) And what is this? (show them the ball) Very good, you are on your way to the major leagues.
Scoring a run is the most important goal in baseball. The team with the most runs wins the game. You could hit a home run and that scores one run. Sometimes it takes many different kinds of plays before a run is scored. It may also involve many different players on both teams to get a run scored.
Sometimes other things are like getting a run in baseball. The Bible says that the love of God that comes through the Holy Spirit goes through a lot of things before it arrives in our hearts. The Bible teaches us that sometimes we are hurt and we suffer. Maybe we break an arm or a leg and we suffer. Sometimes because we hurt and need to be healed we have to wear a cast. It takes a long time to heal, maybe six or seven weeks. But we learn to do things differently. We learn to use our other arm or other leg. We learn to be patient and sit while our friends are outside running around. We practice our coloring and our spelling and we get better at it. Finally, we begin to hope that our broken arm or leg will be as strong or stronger than it was before we broke it. We also hope that the things we learned such as being a better speller, using our other arm or leg, and being a good colorer will also make us better people.
The next time you watch a ball game, I want you to notice how hard it can be to score a run. I also want you to know that being a child of God is not always easy but that it takes suffering, endurance, great character, and hope to be a disciple of Jesus. Amen.
