Not guilty!
Children's sermon
Object:
a newspaper article about someone accused of a crime
Good morning! I have here a newspaper article about a person
who was arrested and is being accused of committing a crime. Now,
before they can punish this person for the crime, what will the
authorities have to do? Can they just put him in jail because
someone says that he did it? (Let them answer.) No, they can't do
that. They will have to have a trial and prove that he is guilty.
If the jury at the trial doesn't feel that he really did the
crime, they will find him "not guilty" and he will be free.
Do you realize that all of us are also accused of some
crimes? We aren't accused of crimes that they can arrest us for,
but we are all sinners and we have sinned against God. We haven't
done all that He commands us to do and we have done a lot of
things that He commanded us not to do. We are all guilty of
sinning, aren't we? (Let them answer.)
The Bible tells us that the penalty for sin is death and
that is not just physical death, but eternal death. If they had a
trial for us, would a jury find us guilty or not guilty of
committing sin? (Let them answer.) Yes, they would find us
guilty, so we need somebody to save us, don't we? We can't save
ourselves because we really are guilty. Who is there who can save
us? (Let them answer.) The one who can and will save us is Jesus
Christ! When he died on the cross, he paid the full penalty for
our sins. Those, like you and I, who believe in Jesus are
declared "not guilty" because of what he did for us. Aren't you
glad that you have a friend like Jesus who paid for your sins so
you can be set free? (Let them answer.)
Dear Jesus: We thank you so much for going to the cross and
suffering there to pay for our sins so that we can be declared
not guilty and be free. Amen.
who was arrested and is being accused of committing a crime. Now,
before they can punish this person for the crime, what will the
authorities have to do? Can they just put him in jail because
someone says that he did it? (Let them answer.) No, they can't do
that. They will have to have a trial and prove that he is guilty.
If the jury at the trial doesn't feel that he really did the
crime, they will find him "not guilty" and he will be free.
Do you realize that all of us are also accused of some
crimes? We aren't accused of crimes that they can arrest us for,
but we are all sinners and we have sinned against God. We haven't
done all that He commands us to do and we have done a lot of
things that He commanded us not to do. We are all guilty of
sinning, aren't we? (Let them answer.)
The Bible tells us that the penalty for sin is death and
that is not just physical death, but eternal death. If they had a
trial for us, would a jury find us guilty or not guilty of
committing sin? (Let them answer.) Yes, they would find us
guilty, so we need somebody to save us, don't we? We can't save
ourselves because we really are guilty. Who is there who can save
us? (Let them answer.) The one who can and will save us is Jesus
Christ! When he died on the cross, he paid the full penalty for
our sins. Those, like you and I, who believe in Jesus are
declared "not guilty" because of what he did for us. Aren't you
glad that you have a friend like Jesus who paid for your sins so
you can be set free? (Let them answer.)
Dear Jesus: We thank you so much for going to the cross and
suffering there to pay for our sins so that we can be declared
not guilty and be free. Amen.
