Lips and Hearts!
Children's sermon
Object: A drawing or photo of lips and a drawing or photos of a heart.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, Jesus and his friends went to a little town called Gennesaret. To get there, they had to row a boat across the Sea of Galilee, and while they were in the boat, a big storm came up. It was really scary and when they finally got to Gennesaret they were really tired and hungry. But when they got to Gennesaret, it was really kind of crazy because there was a big crowd of people who wanted to see Jesus. People were crowding all around them, pushing and shoving to get closer to try and touch Jesus.
Have you ever been really tired and hungry, but someone wanted you to do something and wouldn’t let you rest or get something to eat? (Let them respond.) How did that make you feel? (Let them respond.) It was probably kind of frustrating, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) I’ll bet that’s how Jesus’ friends felt, too, don’t you? (Let them respond.) But, finally, the crowd left and Jesus and his friends went to the marketplace to find something to eat. They found a little place that sold bread, so they got some and finally found a place to sit down to rest and eat their bread. I’ll bet that made them feel better, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
But then, the Pharisees showed up. Do you remember the Pharisees? (Let them respond.) The Pharisees were not bad people. They were leaders from the big temple in Jerusalem, and they believed that the one thing that God wanted everyone to do was to obey the old laws that were written in their books. They had a lot of old rules, and one of them said that any time you are going to eat bread, you have to wash your hands first. So, the Pharisees went to Jesus and said, “Hey, why didn’t you and your friends obey God’s laws and wash your hands before you ate their bread?” Since Jesus and his friends had not washed their hands, the Pharisees said that meant they were not obeying God’s rules.
Do you wash your hands before you eat? (Let them respond.) Why do you do that? (Let them respond.) Because they are dirty? (Let them respond.) Well, the Pharisees’ law didn’t say they should wash their hands because they were dirty, but just because it was an old rule to wash them. A long time ago, Moses told people to pour water over their hands before they ate bread, to show they were different than other people. Before they ate, Moses said they should pour water twice on their right hand, and then twice on their left hand. That’s not too bad, is it? (Let them respond.) But then later, another teacher changed the rule and said you should pour water four times over each hand. Then another teacher said you could only use water from a bowl that had two handles when you washed your hands. Then another teacher said you should not talk while you washed your hands. Then another teacher said that when you are finished, you need to say a prayer before you eat. Then, one day, someone said, “But what if I’m someplace where I don’t have any water and I am really hungry?” The Pharisees said, “If you don’t have water to wash your hands, you should walk four miles to find water to wash with before you eat.” So when Jesus and his friends didn’t wash their hands and they didn’t walk around to try and find water to wash them with, the Pharisees came and asked Jesus why they were not doing what God said they were supposed to do.
Jesus looked at the Pharisees and called them hypocrites. Can anyone tell us what a hypocrite is? (Let them respond.) Jesus said, “With your lips (show the lips) you Pharisees say you care about God’s people, (show the heart) but in your heart, all you care about are your old laws. You care more about what your old laws say than what God says.” The Pharisees said they cared about people who were hungry, sick, poor, or lonely, but what they really cared about was making sure everyone obeyed all of their rules. They said one thing on the outside, (show lips) but the way they treated people (show the heart) showed they didn’t feel that way inside.
That’s what a hypocrite does. They say one thing on the outside, but inside they feel something very different. It’s like someone who says that they care about people, but then they go around picking on someone or bullying someone. (Show the lips.) Their lips say one thing (show the heart) but their heart says something very different, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Or maybe someone says (show the lips), “I want to help people,” but when they see someone who needs help (show the heart) they just walk past them.
That’s what the Pharisees did. They said (show the lips) they cared about people but when Jesus’ friends were really tired and hungry (show the heart) all the Pharisees really cared about was that they didn’t follow the rule to wash their hands. The Pharisees might have cared about people, but only if those people did the things the Pharisees wanted them to do.
I hope we can remember that God created us to take care of each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, Jesus and his friends went to a little town called Gennesaret. To get there, they had to row a boat across the Sea of Galilee, and while they were in the boat, a big storm came up. It was really scary and when they finally got to Gennesaret they were really tired and hungry. But when they got to Gennesaret, it was really kind of crazy because there was a big crowd of people who wanted to see Jesus. People were crowding all around them, pushing and shoving to get closer to try and touch Jesus.
Have you ever been really tired and hungry, but someone wanted you to do something and wouldn’t let you rest or get something to eat? (Let them respond.) How did that make you feel? (Let them respond.) It was probably kind of frustrating, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) I’ll bet that’s how Jesus’ friends felt, too, don’t you? (Let them respond.) But, finally, the crowd left and Jesus and his friends went to the marketplace to find something to eat. They found a little place that sold bread, so they got some and finally found a place to sit down to rest and eat their bread. I’ll bet that made them feel better, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
But then, the Pharisees showed up. Do you remember the Pharisees? (Let them respond.) The Pharisees were not bad people. They were leaders from the big temple in Jerusalem, and they believed that the one thing that God wanted everyone to do was to obey the old laws that were written in their books. They had a lot of old rules, and one of them said that any time you are going to eat bread, you have to wash your hands first. So, the Pharisees went to Jesus and said, “Hey, why didn’t you and your friends obey God’s laws and wash your hands before you ate their bread?” Since Jesus and his friends had not washed their hands, the Pharisees said that meant they were not obeying God’s rules.
Do you wash your hands before you eat? (Let them respond.) Why do you do that? (Let them respond.) Because they are dirty? (Let them respond.) Well, the Pharisees’ law didn’t say they should wash their hands because they were dirty, but just because it was an old rule to wash them. A long time ago, Moses told people to pour water over their hands before they ate bread, to show they were different than other people. Before they ate, Moses said they should pour water twice on their right hand, and then twice on their left hand. That’s not too bad, is it? (Let them respond.) But then later, another teacher changed the rule and said you should pour water four times over each hand. Then another teacher said you could only use water from a bowl that had two handles when you washed your hands. Then another teacher said you should not talk while you washed your hands. Then another teacher said that when you are finished, you need to say a prayer before you eat. Then, one day, someone said, “But what if I’m someplace where I don’t have any water and I am really hungry?” The Pharisees said, “If you don’t have water to wash your hands, you should walk four miles to find water to wash with before you eat.” So when Jesus and his friends didn’t wash their hands and they didn’t walk around to try and find water to wash them with, the Pharisees came and asked Jesus why they were not doing what God said they were supposed to do.
Jesus looked at the Pharisees and called them hypocrites. Can anyone tell us what a hypocrite is? (Let them respond.) Jesus said, “With your lips (show the lips) you Pharisees say you care about God’s people, (show the heart) but in your heart, all you care about are your old laws. You care more about what your old laws say than what God says.” The Pharisees said they cared about people who were hungry, sick, poor, or lonely, but what they really cared about was making sure everyone obeyed all of their rules. They said one thing on the outside, (show lips) but the way they treated people (show the heart) showed they didn’t feel that way inside.
That’s what a hypocrite does. They say one thing on the outside, but inside they feel something very different. It’s like someone who says that they care about people, but then they go around picking on someone or bullying someone. (Show the lips.) Their lips say one thing (show the heart) but their heart says something very different, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Or maybe someone says (show the lips), “I want to help people,” but when they see someone who needs help (show the heart) they just walk past them.
That’s what the Pharisees did. They said (show the lips) they cared about people but when Jesus’ friends were really tired and hungry (show the heart) all the Pharisees really cared about was that they didn’t follow the rule to wash their hands. The Pharisees might have cared about people, but only if those people did the things the Pharisees wanted them to do.
I hope we can remember that God created us to take care of each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
