One of Us!
Children's sermon
Object: A pack of Post-It Notes® and a big piece of cardboard or board to stick them on. Draw a line or put a piece of tape vertically on the board to create two columns where you will stick the notes.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, Jesus heard his friends laughing and shouting and saw them patting each other on the back and giving each other high-fives. Jesus said, “What are you so excited about?” One of them said, “We just saw someone helping people in your name and we knew he wasn’t a part of our group, so we told him to stop.” Another one said, “Yeah, we told him he had better cut it out because he was from someplace else and wasn’t one of us.” Jesus looked at them and just shook his head.
We spend a lot of time looking for things that make us all different, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Let me show you what I mean. (Get the board and Post-It Notes®.) Let’s use these pieces of paper and make a list of some of the things that make us all different somehow. For example, some of us are taller and some of us are shorter, aren’t we? (Let them respond as you write “taller and shorter” on a note and put it on one side of the board.) Who can think of some other things that make us all different? (Spend some time brainstorming things that make us all different and put each of them on a note and stick it on the board. Examples might be big and little, fast and slow, short hair and long hair, rich and not rich, Kansas City Chiefs fan and not a Kansas City Chiefs fan. Draw them out to try and get a list of ten or more differences.)
There are a lot of things that can make us different, aren’t there? (Let them respond.) And sometimes we use those differences to divide each other, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we believe that people who are like us are on our side and people who aren’t like us are not on our side, don’t we? (Let them respond.) That’s what Jesus’ friends thought when they saw that man who wasn’t in their group, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, Jesus looked at them and said, “You don’t understand. Just because you think someone is different than us doesn’t mean they are not with us.” Jesus told his friends that he doesn’t care about the things that we think make us different from each other. (Point to the list of differences on your board.) Jesus only cares about what makes us the same. He said, “I tell you that anyone who does what God says and helps take care of other people is one of us no matter what else might look different.” (Write “Take care of people,” and put it on a note on the other side of the board.)
Jesus said that we don’t need to worry about things like this and use them to divide people. (Point to the list of differences you posted.) We aren’t competing for God’s love and trying to show God that we are right and someone else is wrong. (Point to the “Caring” note.) If we see that someone is trying to care for other people, they are just the same as us, no matter how many other things might look different. Even if we disagree about some things, we are still the same.
Jesus never told us that our job was to divide people into groups. (Point to the list of differences.) He said that these things just don’t matter. Our job is just to care for people and bring people together. (Point to the “Caring” note.)
In my imagination, Jesus asks me a question every day. (Point to the list of differences.) He doesn’t ask me, “Are you trying to find people who are different than you and staying away from them?” (Point to the “Caring” note.) He asks me, “Are you trying your best to care for other people, no matter how different you think they are?”
Are we trying to divide people or trying to care for people?
I hope we can remember that God created 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.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, Jesus heard his friends laughing and shouting and saw them patting each other on the back and giving each other high-fives. Jesus said, “What are you so excited about?” One of them said, “We just saw someone helping people in your name and we knew he wasn’t a part of our group, so we told him to stop.” Another one said, “Yeah, we told him he had better cut it out because he was from someplace else and wasn’t one of us.” Jesus looked at them and just shook his head.
We spend a lot of time looking for things that make us all different, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Let me show you what I mean. (Get the board and Post-It Notes®.) Let’s use these pieces of paper and make a list of some of the things that make us all different somehow. For example, some of us are taller and some of us are shorter, aren’t we? (Let them respond as you write “taller and shorter” on a note and put it on one side of the board.) Who can think of some other things that make us all different? (Spend some time brainstorming things that make us all different and put each of them on a note and stick it on the board. Examples might be big and little, fast and slow, short hair and long hair, rich and not rich, Kansas City Chiefs fan and not a Kansas City Chiefs fan. Draw them out to try and get a list of ten or more differences.)
There are a lot of things that can make us different, aren’t there? (Let them respond.) And sometimes we use those differences to divide each other, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we believe that people who are like us are on our side and people who aren’t like us are not on our side, don’t we? (Let them respond.) That’s what Jesus’ friends thought when they saw that man who wasn’t in their group, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, Jesus looked at them and said, “You don’t understand. Just because you think someone is different than us doesn’t mean they are not with us.” Jesus told his friends that he doesn’t care about the things that we think make us different from each other. (Point to the list of differences on your board.) Jesus only cares about what makes us the same. He said, “I tell you that anyone who does what God says and helps take care of other people is one of us no matter what else might look different.” (Write “Take care of people,” and put it on a note on the other side of the board.)
Jesus said that we don’t need to worry about things like this and use them to divide people. (Point to the list of differences you posted.) We aren’t competing for God’s love and trying to show God that we are right and someone else is wrong. (Point to the “Caring” note.) If we see that someone is trying to care for other people, they are just the same as us, no matter how many other things might look different. Even if we disagree about some things, we are still the same.
Jesus never told us that our job was to divide people into groups. (Point to the list of differences.) He said that these things just don’t matter. Our job is just to care for people and bring people together. (Point to the “Caring” note.)
In my imagination, Jesus asks me a question every day. (Point to the list of differences.) He doesn’t ask me, “Are you trying to find people who are different than you and staying away from them?” (Point to the “Caring” note.) He asks me, “Are you trying your best to care for other people, no matter how different you think they are?”
Are we trying to divide people or trying to care for people?
I hope we can remember that God created 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.
