A new leaf
Children's sermon
Object:
a blank piece of white paper
Happy New Year, boys and girls. It's the first Sunday of the new year. We've already had Christmas, and Easter is a long ways away. I brought a blank piece of paper with me today. Let's take a look at this piece of paper. What can you tell me about it? (let them answer) It's white. It doesn't have anything on it. It's clean. What are some things you could do with this piece of paper? (let them answer) I could make a paper airplane. I could write a letter on it. I could recycle it. I could draw on it. I could burn it up. I could use it as a placemat. I could make a hat or a boat with it. I could cut it up into smaller pieces and share it with each of you. That's a lot of things to be able to do with just one piece of paper! How did we know that we could do all these things? (let them answer) We used our minds, didn't we! Minds are very useful to have.
Sometimes people call the pages of a book leaves. Not like the leaves on trees. So if this piece of paper was a page in a book, we could call it a leaf. It would be called a new leaf -- new because it doesn't have anything on it. It's blank and clean and fresh -- ready for someone to write on it if it were a book. When people come to the new year, they think of all kinds of things they're going to try to do differently than last year. Maybe they're going to eat less or be kinder or spend more time with their families. We call it turning over a new leaf -- starting fresh. That's one way to look at the new year. It's a brand new year and all of us have a chance to "turn over a new leaf."
Our lesson today has a verse that helps us think of it in a new way. It is a prayer for God to give us a spirit of wisdom. Do you know what wisdom is? (let them respond) Wisdom could be like this -- you knew that this was a piece of white, clean paper. But when you used your mind to think of all the ways we could use this piece of paper, that was wisdom. When I think of wisdom, I think of this paper as a new leaf -- a new page of a book and I can fill it with all kinds of new thoughts right out of my mind. How many of you like to think and use your mind? (let them answer) When you think and use your mind, you are growing in the spirit of wisdom just like our lesson says. So keep using those minds! God gave them to you to use!
Sometimes people call the pages of a book leaves. Not like the leaves on trees. So if this piece of paper was a page in a book, we could call it a leaf. It would be called a new leaf -- new because it doesn't have anything on it. It's blank and clean and fresh -- ready for someone to write on it if it were a book. When people come to the new year, they think of all kinds of things they're going to try to do differently than last year. Maybe they're going to eat less or be kinder or spend more time with their families. We call it turning over a new leaf -- starting fresh. That's one way to look at the new year. It's a brand new year and all of us have a chance to "turn over a new leaf."
Our lesson today has a verse that helps us think of it in a new way. It is a prayer for God to give us a spirit of wisdom. Do you know what wisdom is? (let them respond) Wisdom could be like this -- you knew that this was a piece of white, clean paper. But when you used your mind to think of all the ways we could use this piece of paper, that was wisdom. When I think of wisdom, I think of this paper as a new leaf -- a new page of a book and I can fill it with all kinds of new thoughts right out of my mind. How many of you like to think and use your mind? (let them answer) When you think and use your mind, you are growing in the spirit of wisdom just like our lesson says. So keep using those minds! God gave them to you to use!
