It's not fair! Or is it?
Children's sermon
Object:
a bottle of dish detergent
Good morning, boys and girls. I brought a bottle of dish detergent
with me this morning. Sometimes children have jobs to do at home.
Often an allowance comes at the end of the week. The jobs you perform
are connected to the allowance.
How many of you are asked to help with the dishes sometime during the week? (Let them answer.) Doing the dishes made me think about this morning's Bible story. Let me ask you another question before I tell you this morning's story. Have any of you ever helped with the dishes, and just as everything is almost finished your brother or sister walks in? That brother or sister dries one or two plates and then leaves. Then, at the end of the week, it appears that your brother or sister gets the same allowance as you? When that happens you say, "It isn't fair."
That's what this morning's Bible story is about. Jesus told a story about some people who started work in the morning. Other workers joined them at noon. Others joined them at 3 p.m. and others at 6 p.m. At the end of the day, all the workers received the same amount of pay! The ones who worked all day received the same amount as the ones who started late in the day. The ones who worked all day are like you. They said, "This pay isn't fair."
The story is about God's kingdom. Jesus said that God's kingdom is different than our world. In God's kingdom, people don't work for rewards. God's payment is so generous that God gives love, mercy and grace to everyone. God gives it to everyone, no matter how long our service or how much good work we do for God.
I want you to remember this week that God is so good to us that God loves us all. God's love isn't given by the amount of time we spend or in our work for God. It goes to everyone. All we need to do is trust God and ask for God's promise. God's love will come to us.
How many of you are asked to help with the dishes sometime during the week? (Let them answer.) Doing the dishes made me think about this morning's Bible story. Let me ask you another question before I tell you this morning's story. Have any of you ever helped with the dishes, and just as everything is almost finished your brother or sister walks in? That brother or sister dries one or two plates and then leaves. Then, at the end of the week, it appears that your brother or sister gets the same allowance as you? When that happens you say, "It isn't fair."
That's what this morning's Bible story is about. Jesus told a story about some people who started work in the morning. Other workers joined them at noon. Others joined them at 3 p.m. and others at 6 p.m. At the end of the day, all the workers received the same amount of pay! The ones who worked all day received the same amount as the ones who started late in the day. The ones who worked all day are like you. They said, "This pay isn't fair."
The story is about God's kingdom. Jesus said that God's kingdom is different than our world. In God's kingdom, people don't work for rewards. God's payment is so generous that God gives love, mercy and grace to everyone. God gives it to everyone, no matter how long our service or how much good work we do for God.
I want you to remember this week that God is so good to us that God loves us all. God's love isn't given by the amount of time we spend or in our work for God. It goes to everyone. All we need to do is trust God and ask for God's promise. God's love will come to us.
