Mean Lies
Children's sermon
Object:
small pieces of poster board that say "Stupid," "Ugly," "Can't do anything right!," "Cheater"
Let's imagine that there is a new student that comes to your school. They don't have any friends so you invite them to play with you at recess. But when your other friends see you do that they say things like what are on my cards. Can you read them with me. (Read off the cards together.) It could really be painful hearing these words and you may feel like giving up doing the kind deed.
This is sort of how Jesus must have felt. He happened to see a blind man along the road and he showed tremendous kindness. He healed his blindness. You would think that everyone would be calling Jesus a hero. But do you know what was said about Jesus?
In this week's reading it says people were saying things about Jesus like, "This man is not from God." and "We know this man is a sinner." They even made fun of the the healed man and threw him out of the temple.
Because people had never seen Jesus in action before they rejected Jesus and the healed man.
Sometimes we also feel rejection and criticism from others even though we have not done anything wrong. We must continue to look for ways to show God's kindness -- just as Jesus did.
How do we apply this to our lives?
This week you may be given the chance to reach out to someone hurting. Don't be affected by the opinions and criticism of other people. We need to have the heart of Jesus and keep a clear goal of caring. Let people say all they want about us, but it is God who will be our right judge.
This is sort of how Jesus must have felt. He happened to see a blind man along the road and he showed tremendous kindness. He healed his blindness. You would think that everyone would be calling Jesus a hero. But do you know what was said about Jesus?
In this week's reading it says people were saying things about Jesus like, "This man is not from God." and "We know this man is a sinner." They even made fun of the the healed man and threw him out of the temple.
Because people had never seen Jesus in action before they rejected Jesus and the healed man.
Sometimes we also feel rejection and criticism from others even though we have not done anything wrong. We must continue to look for ways to show God's kindness -- just as Jesus did.
How do we apply this to our lives?
This week you may be given the chance to reach out to someone hurting. Don't be affected by the opinions and criticism of other people. We need to have the heart of Jesus and keep a clear goal of caring. Let people say all they want about us, but it is God who will be our right judge.
