Not chained
Children's sermon
Object:
a padlock with a key
Good morning, boys and girls. I brought a padlock with a key today
because I wanted to talk about locking and unlocking. How many of you
have a lock for something at your house? (Wait for show of hands.) What
do you use the lock for? (Let them respond.) Some of you lock your bikes.
Some of you lock a box that has special things in it. Some of you have a
shed that you lock because it has tools in it. Have you ever seen a lock like
this on a church door? (Let them respond.) Many churches in our country
are locked when no one is there and there are no activities going on. But
I'm talking about churches where people aren't allowed to ever go in at all.
Some countries have a rule that no one is allowed to go to church. So the
doors of the church are locked shut with a padlock like this. Do you think
the people forget about God in those countries? (Let them respond.) Some
of them do forget, but some remember and they visit each others' homes
and have worship services there. They have to do it secretly, because their
country's rule says they can't worship. It's kind of hard to imagine a place
where people can't go to church.
There are other countries where they allow missionaries into their country, but the missionaries can't tell people about God. But they can teach people to read in schools and they can start hospitals. Do people still learn about God even though there's no church? (Let them respond.) Yes, they learn about God from the way the missionaries and doctors and teachers treat them with love and kindness.
Our lesson today says that "the word of God is not chained." That means that even if you lock churches and take away Bibles, people will still worship God secretly. They will still learn about love and kindness by the way other people treat them. There's lots of stories in the Bible about Jesus' helpers being put in prison because they were telling people about God. While they were in prison they still talked about and worshipped God. They even sang while they were chained in prison. You can put people and churches in chains and lock them up, "But the word of God is not chained." God's love keeps on growing and being shown by all kinds of people all over the world in all kinds of ways.
There are other countries where they allow missionaries into their country, but the missionaries can't tell people about God. But they can teach people to read in schools and they can start hospitals. Do people still learn about God even though there's no church? (Let them respond.) Yes, they learn about God from the way the missionaries and doctors and teachers treat them with love and kindness.
Our lesson today says that "the word of God is not chained." That means that even if you lock churches and take away Bibles, people will still worship God secretly. They will still learn about love and kindness by the way other people treat them. There's lots of stories in the Bible about Jesus' helpers being put in prison because they were telling people about God. While they were in prison they still talked about and worshipped God. They even sang while they were chained in prison. You can put people and churches in chains and lock them up, "But the word of God is not chained." God's love keeps on growing and being shown by all kinds of people all over the world in all kinds of ways.
