Lamp
Children's sermon
Object:
a saucer
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (v. 16)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we're going to talk about light. When you need more light, what do you do? (allow answers) In our houses, we have electricity -- we can just flip a switch and turn on a lamp. If we're outside, we can grab a flashlight. If we're camping, we can build a fire. There are lots of ways we can get light.
In Jesus' time, they didn't have as many sources of light. There was no electricity back then. In fact, they didn't even have candles! In Jesus' time, people used oil lamps for their light. Now, these lamps were nothing like the electric lamps we have now. See this saucer? According to the book The Way it Was in Bible Times by Merrill Gilbertson, early lamps were shaped like a saucer. What they would do is pour oil in the lamp and then put a wick in it. Do you know what a wick is? (allow answers) A candle has a wick. In a candle, the wick is the part that sticks out the top -- it looks like a string. When you light a candle, it burns the wick.
In an oil lamp, the wick isn't the part that's supposed to burn. Instead, oil soaks into the wick and keeps the flame going. Early saucer-shaped lamps would have a little groove for the wick, so that the flame wouldn't set all the oil on fire. One end of the wick would rest in the oil, and the other end would rest in the groove. The end in the groove would be the end with the flame.
Eventually, lamps got more complex. Think of the magic lamp in the movie Aladdin. Lamps like that replaced the saucer-shaped lamps, but they still worked in basically the same way. One end of the wick soaked up oil, the other end of the wick had the light.
In Jesus' time, people would sometimes put lamps on lampstands so that the light was high and could keep the whole room lit. At that time, people kept their lamps burning all night long to keep away robbers or other bad things. Some people didn't have lampstands, though, so they would turn a bushel basket upside down and put the lamp on the basket.
Our gospel today says, "No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket!" Instead, the lamp goes somewhere high so it can light the house. The gospel is trying to teach us something. When we do good things in the world, it is like we are lamps of God's word. We shouldn't try to hide our good works. Instead, we should allow our light to shine so that we can be an example to others of the things they can do to the glory of God. Let your light shine this week! Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we're going to talk about light. When you need more light, what do you do? (allow answers) In our houses, we have electricity -- we can just flip a switch and turn on a lamp. If we're outside, we can grab a flashlight. If we're camping, we can build a fire. There are lots of ways we can get light.
In Jesus' time, they didn't have as many sources of light. There was no electricity back then. In fact, they didn't even have candles! In Jesus' time, people used oil lamps for their light. Now, these lamps were nothing like the electric lamps we have now. See this saucer? According to the book The Way it Was in Bible Times by Merrill Gilbertson, early lamps were shaped like a saucer. What they would do is pour oil in the lamp and then put a wick in it. Do you know what a wick is? (allow answers) A candle has a wick. In a candle, the wick is the part that sticks out the top -- it looks like a string. When you light a candle, it burns the wick.
In an oil lamp, the wick isn't the part that's supposed to burn. Instead, oil soaks into the wick and keeps the flame going. Early saucer-shaped lamps would have a little groove for the wick, so that the flame wouldn't set all the oil on fire. One end of the wick would rest in the oil, and the other end would rest in the groove. The end in the groove would be the end with the flame.
Eventually, lamps got more complex. Think of the magic lamp in the movie Aladdin. Lamps like that replaced the saucer-shaped lamps, but they still worked in basically the same way. One end of the wick soaked up oil, the other end of the wick had the light.
In Jesus' time, people would sometimes put lamps on lampstands so that the light was high and could keep the whole room lit. At that time, people kept their lamps burning all night long to keep away robbers or other bad things. Some people didn't have lampstands, though, so they would turn a bushel basket upside down and put the lamp on the basket.
Our gospel today says, "No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket!" Instead, the lamp goes somewhere high so it can light the house. The gospel is trying to teach us something. When we do good things in the world, it is like we are lamps of God's word. We shouldn't try to hide our good works. Instead, we should allow our light to shine so that we can be an example to others of the things they can do to the glory of God. Let your light shine this week! Amen.
