Childrens Sermon Service

Object: I use black electrical tape to create the word “NOPE” on a board big enough for everyone to see. The idea is to be able to alter the letter “N” by moving the diagonal line to convert it to an “H”, changing “NOPE” to “HOPE”. An alternative would be to use a wipe-off marker board and erase the diagonal line in “N” and redraw it as the horizontal bar in “H”, but the physical change with electrical tape seems to make the message a bit more engaging. If you do use the tape, just test it first to make sure it can be easily pulled from the board to make the change.

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.) Great!

But before I tell you the story, I have a question for you. Last Sunday was Easter, right? (Let them respond.) Did you do anything special last week to celebrate Easter? (Let them respond.) Did you hunt Easter Eggs? (Let them respond.) Or maybe you had dinner with your family or some friends? (Let them respond.) Well, does anyone know what Jesus’ friends did on that first Easter when they heard that Jesus was alive again? (Let them respond.) They looked around and found a little room they could go to so no one would know where they were. Then they went inside and locked the doors so no one else could get in. They didn’t go there to play Easter games or have an Easter dinner, but they went there to hide because they were afraid.

They remembered all of the things the people had done to Jesus when he was taken away, and they were afraid that the soldiers would come and get them and do the same things to them. They had heard that the tomb was empty now and that some people said they had seen Jesus, but they didn’t believe them. They were afraid it was just a trick to get them to come out where they could be caught and hurt, too. They were afraid, so they hid.

Have you ever been afraid or really worried about something before? (Let them respond.) That’s how Jesus’ friends felt. They were sad, and they were worried, and they were just scared. And that feels lousy, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) It feels like there is a great big sign that says, “NOPE.” (Show the board.) Do you want to go anywhere or do anything? Nope! Do you think things will get better and things will be okay tomorrow? Nope! Everything is just one big NOPE. That’s how Jesus’ friends felt when they were in that locked room. All they wanted to do was to just give up and hide from everyone.

But does anyone remember what happened next? (Let them respond.) While they were hiding in the room, even though the doors were all locked, Jesus came in. And he told them everything was going to be okay, and not to worry because God was going to help them do some really great things. Jesus changed things. It was like Jesus took that great big NOPE sign, (Show the sign and take off the diagonal piece of tape.) and he changed it to say Hope. (Move the piece of tape to spell HOPE.) Jesus changed things. They were still a little scared, but now they knew they weren’t alone and that everything was going to get better. All except for one of them.

Thomas wasn’t with them last week when Jesus talked to them, and when he heard what happened he didn’t believe them. (Move the tape on the board back to spell NOPE!) Thomas still had his big NOPE sign. He was still sad, and worried, and scared, and just wanted to give up and hide. He just didn’t believe that Jesus was alive and had come to see them, and he said, “I won’t believe it until I see Jesus for myself!” And what do you think happened next? (Let them respond.) Yep, Jesus came in and changed things again. (Change the sign to HOPE again.) He took Thomas’s sign and changed it from NOPE, to HOPE.

Sometimes it feels like we have a bit NOPE sign, doesn’t it? We get sad, or worried, or afraid, and we just want to give up and hide from everyone. The next time that happens, I hope we can remember what happened when Jesus came back to help his friends who felt like that. (Show the sign and switch the tape as you continue.) He took their big NOPE signs and changed them to big HOPE signs. And he can do that for us, too.

After Jesus came to see them, his friends stopped hiding and they all started going around telling people about Jesus so he could change all of their NOPE signs and help them feel better too. And that’s what God wants us to do too. God wants us to just remember that Jesus is still with us and wants 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.