Night Lights
Children's sermon
Object:
A nightlight you might use in a bedroom or hallway.
Note: Just be aware that some children may feel embarrassed if others knew they use a nightlight in their room. Part of the gift of this lesson might be to ease some of that fear by explaining how night lights sometimes help us overcome our natural fears. Even grown-ups use them sometimes to see what is “really there.”
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (vv. 19-21)
* * *
Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have something to show you today. Who can tell me what this is I have in my hand? (Hold the night light and let them respond.) It’s a night light, right? (Briefly describe the light you have.) There are all kinds of night lights, aren’t there? (Let them respond.) Who can tell me what we use a night light for? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we use them to help us sleep at night. Some of us have very busy imaginations, and when we go to bed our imagination starts thinking there might be something hiding in the dark. A lot of us have imaginations like that. So, how does a night light help us? (Let them respond.) Yes! The light makes the dark go away so we can see there is nothing out there. To see the truth.
But there are other reasons some people use a night light, especially when we get older. If we have to get up at night we don’t want to accidentally trip over something in the dark, so we have a night light to help us. How does a night light help that? (Let them respond.) The night light makes the darkness go away so we can see where everything is so we don’t trip over it, right!
You know, I brought this night light because it reminds me of the Bible story today that talks about Jesus. The story says that God sent Jesus to us to be the light in our world. So, Jesus is kind of like our night light. Does that make sense? (Let them respond.) Well, I didn’t really understand it until I remembered my night light. What does the night light do to help us when we try to go to sleep, or when we get up to walk in the dark? (Let them respond.) Right! The night light chases the darkness away so we can see what is actually there. When our imagination starts telling us there are monsters there, we can use our night light to chase away the darkness and help us see the truth. And when we have to get up in the dark, our night light helps us not trip over the dog, or step on the legos, because it chases away the darkness and helps us see what is there!
And, that’s how Jesus helps us, too, isn’t it?
Sometimes we’re not sure if we should do something or not do it. Have you ever felt like that? (Let them respond.) Some people tell us it is okay to do it and others tell us it is not okay to do it. It almost feels like we’re in the dark and don’t know what is true. But if we think about Jesus, and remember how he wants us to behave, it’s just like we turn on our night light and we can see what the truth is.
And, sometimes we try to do the right thing, but we make mistakes and end up doing something wrong instead. Have you ever had that happen? (Let them respond.) It’s like we are walking along trying to find the right way, but we keep tripping over things we didn’t see. But if we think about Jesus, it’s like the night light again, and he will help us see how to follow him without tripping.
And how do we follow God? Jesus said that if we want to follow him the most important thing for us to do is to love each other and to take care of each other.
So, the next time we start feeling scared about something, or the next time we aren’t sure what God wants us to do, I hope we can remember that God sent Jesus to us to chase away those dark things and remind us that God loves us very much and that God wants us to take care of each other like God takes care of us.
It’s just like when we turn on the night light, isn’t it?
Let’s say a prayer to ask God to help us remember to think about Jesus and always do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
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.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (vv. 19-21)
* * *
Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have something to show you today. Who can tell me what this is I have in my hand? (Hold the night light and let them respond.) It’s a night light, right? (Briefly describe the light you have.) There are all kinds of night lights, aren’t there? (Let them respond.) Who can tell me what we use a night light for? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we use them to help us sleep at night. Some of us have very busy imaginations, and when we go to bed our imagination starts thinking there might be something hiding in the dark. A lot of us have imaginations like that. So, how does a night light help us? (Let them respond.) Yes! The light makes the dark go away so we can see there is nothing out there. To see the truth.
But there are other reasons some people use a night light, especially when we get older. If we have to get up at night we don’t want to accidentally trip over something in the dark, so we have a night light to help us. How does a night light help that? (Let them respond.) The night light makes the darkness go away so we can see where everything is so we don’t trip over it, right!
You know, I brought this night light because it reminds me of the Bible story today that talks about Jesus. The story says that God sent Jesus to us to be the light in our world. So, Jesus is kind of like our night light. Does that make sense? (Let them respond.) Well, I didn’t really understand it until I remembered my night light. What does the night light do to help us when we try to go to sleep, or when we get up to walk in the dark? (Let them respond.) Right! The night light chases the darkness away so we can see what is actually there. When our imagination starts telling us there are monsters there, we can use our night light to chase away the darkness and help us see the truth. And when we have to get up in the dark, our night light helps us not trip over the dog, or step on the legos, because it chases away the darkness and helps us see what is there!
And, that’s how Jesus helps us, too, isn’t it?
Sometimes we’re not sure if we should do something or not do it. Have you ever felt like that? (Let them respond.) Some people tell us it is okay to do it and others tell us it is not okay to do it. It almost feels like we’re in the dark and don’t know what is true. But if we think about Jesus, and remember how he wants us to behave, it’s just like we turn on our night light and we can see what the truth is.
And, sometimes we try to do the right thing, but we make mistakes and end up doing something wrong instead. Have you ever had that happen? (Let them respond.) It’s like we are walking along trying to find the right way, but we keep tripping over things we didn’t see. But if we think about Jesus, it’s like the night light again, and he will help us see how to follow him without tripping.
And how do we follow God? Jesus said that if we want to follow him the most important thing for us to do is to love each other and to take care of each other.
So, the next time we start feeling scared about something, or the next time we aren’t sure what God wants us to do, I hope we can remember that God sent Jesus to us to chase away those dark things and remind us that God loves us very much and that God wants us to take care of each other like God takes care of us.
It’s just like when we turn on the night light, isn’t it?
Let’s say a prayer to ask God to help us remember to think about Jesus and always do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
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.
