The ongoing obituary
Children's sermon
Object:
An obituary notice
Today, I brought with me a notice from the newspaper. This is
a notice telling about a person's death. We call it an obituary.
Why do you suppose they put these kinds of notices in the
newspaper? (Let them answer.)
There are many reasons for obituaries, but one is to honor
the person who has died. Many times, the obituary will tell about
all the good things the person did with his or her life:
accomplishments, awards won, and so forth.
Now when Jesus died on the cross, there were no newspapers to
print an obituary. If there had been, what are some things they
might have printed about what he did? (Let them answer.)
The night before Jesus died he had a final supper with all
his disciples and asked them to remember him each time they
celebrated that supper in the future. When Saint Paul wrote to the
church at Corinth, he reminded them that whenever they celebrated
this Holy Supper together they were proclaiming the Lord's death.
When they ate this supper, they were reminding themselves and
everyone else that Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of
the whole world. You might say that this was an ongoing obituary.
So, whenever we celebrate Holy Communion in our church, we
need to remember that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins.
In this way, we will honor him much more than any newspaper
obituary would.
Dearest Lord Jesus: We can never thank you enough for paying the
price for our sins through your death on the cross. Amen.
a notice telling about a person's death. We call it an obituary.
Why do you suppose they put these kinds of notices in the
newspaper? (Let them answer.)
There are many reasons for obituaries, but one is to honor
the person who has died. Many times, the obituary will tell about
all the good things the person did with his or her life:
accomplishments, awards won, and so forth.
Now when Jesus died on the cross, there were no newspapers to
print an obituary. If there had been, what are some things they
might have printed about what he did? (Let them answer.)
The night before Jesus died he had a final supper with all
his disciples and asked them to remember him each time they
celebrated that supper in the future. When Saint Paul wrote to the
church at Corinth, he reminded them that whenever they celebrated
this Holy Supper together they were proclaiming the Lord's death.
When they ate this supper, they were reminding themselves and
everyone else that Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of
the whole world. You might say that this was an ongoing obituary.
So, whenever we celebrate Holy Communion in our church, we
need to remember that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins.
In this way, we will honor him much more than any newspaper
obituary would.
Dearest Lord Jesus: We can never thank you enough for paying the
price for our sins through your death on the cross. Amen.
