Lost and Found!
Children's sermon
Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (vv. 8-10)
Object: Ten silver coins. For the best fun, put them in a little cloth or leather bag tied with a piece of string.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.). Are you ready for me to tell you today’s story? (Let them respond.) Great!
One day, some Pharisees and teachers saw Jesus having lunch and talking with a group of people and they got really upset. The Pharisees and teachers were people who believed that God had a long list of laws that everyone was supposed to follow, and they knew that some of the people Jesus was talking and eating with did not always follow those laws.
And some of the people with Jesus were tax collectors. Does anyone know what a tax collector was? (Let them respond.) Tax collectors took money from people and gave it to the Romans, and nobody liked the Romans.Plus,most of the tax collectors cheated people and took too much money from everyone and kept it for themselves. Nobody liked tax collectors.
So, when the Pharisees and teachers saw Jesus with those people, they started pointing at him and laughing at him. They made fun of him and yelled, “This man even welcomes sinners and eats with them!” They thought they would embarrass Jesus and get everyone else to laugh at him.
But Jesus just looked at them and told them a story about an old woman. That’s the story I want to tell you today.
Once there was an old woman who was very poor, and sometimes didn’t have enough money to buy food to eat for her family. All she had to live on were ten silver coins. (Show the ten coins. After showing the coins, put them back in the bag but secretly keep one coin out. If you are sneaky enough, slip the coin under your foot, or someplace that you can “find” it later.)
Well, one day she was going to the store to buy food for her children, but when she looked into her bag, do you know what she saw? (Let them respond. Dump the coins into your hand and count them.) There were only nine silver coins in her bag! One of her ten silver coins was lost. What do you think the old woman did? (Let them respond.) Well, what would you do if you had ten coins but somehow lost one of them? (Let them respond.)
Would you just say, “Well, I still have nine silver coins, so that’s okay.” (Let them respond.) Maybe.But the old woman knew that if she only had nine coins, she could not buy the food she needed for her children. So, what do you think she did? (Let them respond.) She stopped everything else and started looking for that lost coin, didn’t she? Every one of the ten coins were important to her, so she looked, and looked, and looked until she finally found the lost coin and had all ten of her silver coins back in her little bag. (“Find” the lost coin and drop it back into the bag and tie it safely up.)
Jesus stopped talking and just looked at the Pharisees and teachers. They had stopped laughing. Instead of embarrassing Jesus, the story he told really embarrassed them, so they turned and walked away and let Jesus finish eating and talking with the people.
Can anyone tell me why Jesus told them the story about the old woman, and why it made the Pharisees and teachers feel so embarrassed? (Let them respond.) For the old woman, every coin she had was important to her, and she was not going to let that lost coin stay lost. The story reminds us that we are as important to God as the coins were to the old woman, and God wants every one of us to be with him. God is not going to let any person be lost, no matter who they are or what anyone else thinks about them. God loves every one of us and wants us to love each other too.
But sometimes it can be hard to love some people, can’t it? (Let them respond.) Like a bully that treats us badly, or someone who laughs at us, or doesn’t look like us, or doesn’t believe what we believe. God loves everyone and wants us to be nice to everyone, even those who are had to love.
And sometimes it is REALLY hard to love people. Today, we remember the terrible attack that happened twenty-one years ago on September 11th. Some people did terrible things and killed and hurt a lot of people, just because they didn’t like them. It is very hard to care for those people who did that terrible attack. But if Jesus was here today, I think he might tell us that story again about the old woman and her ten silver coins. God loves all of us, even those who are very, very hard to love. And God wants us to love them too.
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember that Jesus wants us to love each other, every one of us, just like God loves us.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
Object: Ten silver coins. For the best fun, put them in a little cloth or leather bag tied with a piece of string.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.). Are you ready for me to tell you today’s story? (Let them respond.) Great!
One day, some Pharisees and teachers saw Jesus having lunch and talking with a group of people and they got really upset. The Pharisees and teachers were people who believed that God had a long list of laws that everyone was supposed to follow, and they knew that some of the people Jesus was talking and eating with did not always follow those laws.
And some of the people with Jesus were tax collectors. Does anyone know what a tax collector was? (Let them respond.) Tax collectors took money from people and gave it to the Romans, and nobody liked the Romans.Plus,most of the tax collectors cheated people and took too much money from everyone and kept it for themselves. Nobody liked tax collectors.
So, when the Pharisees and teachers saw Jesus with those people, they started pointing at him and laughing at him. They made fun of him and yelled, “This man even welcomes sinners and eats with them!” They thought they would embarrass Jesus and get everyone else to laugh at him.
But Jesus just looked at them and told them a story about an old woman. That’s the story I want to tell you today.
Once there was an old woman who was very poor, and sometimes didn’t have enough money to buy food to eat for her family. All she had to live on were ten silver coins. (Show the ten coins. After showing the coins, put them back in the bag but secretly keep one coin out. If you are sneaky enough, slip the coin under your foot, or someplace that you can “find” it later.)
Well, one day she was going to the store to buy food for her children, but when she looked into her bag, do you know what she saw? (Let them respond. Dump the coins into your hand and count them.) There were only nine silver coins in her bag! One of her ten silver coins was lost. What do you think the old woman did? (Let them respond.) Well, what would you do if you had ten coins but somehow lost one of them? (Let them respond.)
Would you just say, “Well, I still have nine silver coins, so that’s okay.” (Let them respond.) Maybe.But the old woman knew that if she only had nine coins, she could not buy the food she needed for her children. So, what do you think she did? (Let them respond.) She stopped everything else and started looking for that lost coin, didn’t she? Every one of the ten coins were important to her, so she looked, and looked, and looked until she finally found the lost coin and had all ten of her silver coins back in her little bag. (“Find” the lost coin and drop it back into the bag and tie it safely up.)
Jesus stopped talking and just looked at the Pharisees and teachers. They had stopped laughing. Instead of embarrassing Jesus, the story he told really embarrassed them, so they turned and walked away and let Jesus finish eating and talking with the people.
Can anyone tell me why Jesus told them the story about the old woman, and why it made the Pharisees and teachers feel so embarrassed? (Let them respond.) For the old woman, every coin she had was important to her, and she was not going to let that lost coin stay lost. The story reminds us that we are as important to God as the coins were to the old woman, and God wants every one of us to be with him. God is not going to let any person be lost, no matter who they are or what anyone else thinks about them. God loves every one of us and wants us to love each other too.
But sometimes it can be hard to love some people, can’t it? (Let them respond.) Like a bully that treats us badly, or someone who laughs at us, or doesn’t look like us, or doesn’t believe what we believe. God loves everyone and wants us to be nice to everyone, even those who are had to love.
And sometimes it is REALLY hard to love people. Today, we remember the terrible attack that happened twenty-one years ago on September 11th. Some people did terrible things and killed and hurt a lot of people, just because they didn’t like them. It is very hard to care for those people who did that terrible attack. But if Jesus was here today, I think he might tell us that story again about the old woman and her ten silver coins. God loves all of us, even those who are very, very hard to love. And God wants us to love them too.
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember that Jesus wants us to love each other, every one of us, just like God loves us.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
