Outgrown
Children's sermon
Object:
clothes
"We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing." (v. 3)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have ever outgrown a piece of clothing? (allow answers) What did you outgrow? (allow answers) What happened when you outgrew it? (allow answers) When we outgrow our clothes or shoes, we usually get new ones. We just can't fit the old clothes on -- there is too much of us to fit in that little T-shirt or sock!
It's kind of exciting to outgrow things. That means we can get new ones -- new colors, new patters, new pictures on the front. But most importantly, new sizes. As we grow, we need more room to fit our body. Have you ever tried on your mom or dad's clothes? (allow answers) How did it fit you? (allow answers) Not very well, I bet! You probably aren't big enough to fit in their clothes yet. But someday you will be!
Our second lesson today talks about growing. It doesn't talk about growing bodies, though. It talks about growing faith. The lesson is from the book of 2 Thessalonians. This book is a letter written by Saint Paul to one of the early churches. Saint Paul writes to the church: "Your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing."
When our bodies grow, we have to get bigger clothes so that we will fit in them. When our faith grows, our love has to grow in the same way. The more we understand and believe in Jesus, the more we want to love others. When our faith is strong, we want to share it -- and share God's love -- with everyone we meet! Can you think of someone who is really good at sharing God's love? (allow answers) Tell me about how they share God's love with others. (allow answers) Can you share God's love as well as they can right now? (allow answers) You might not be able to do all the things that others can do to show God's love. You may be too young to volunteer at a soup kitchen or be a missionary in another country. You may not know how to help your neighbors fix the sink or clean the gutters. When we watch other people share God's love, it is kind of like trying on our parents' clothes. We don't fit into them yet, but we will someday. We just have to keep growing -- both in our physical bodies and in our faith.
We can't control how our physical bodies grow. We can't decide how tall we will be, or what color our hair will be, or whether we will have freckles. But we can control how we grow in faith. That's the cool thing about faith: we never have to stop growing! As we grow, so our love for others grows, too. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have ever outgrown a piece of clothing? (allow answers) What did you outgrow? (allow answers) What happened when you outgrew it? (allow answers) When we outgrow our clothes or shoes, we usually get new ones. We just can't fit the old clothes on -- there is too much of us to fit in that little T-shirt or sock!
It's kind of exciting to outgrow things. That means we can get new ones -- new colors, new patters, new pictures on the front. But most importantly, new sizes. As we grow, we need more room to fit our body. Have you ever tried on your mom or dad's clothes? (allow answers) How did it fit you? (allow answers) Not very well, I bet! You probably aren't big enough to fit in their clothes yet. But someday you will be!
Our second lesson today talks about growing. It doesn't talk about growing bodies, though. It talks about growing faith. The lesson is from the book of 2 Thessalonians. This book is a letter written by Saint Paul to one of the early churches. Saint Paul writes to the church: "Your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing."
When our bodies grow, we have to get bigger clothes so that we will fit in them. When our faith grows, our love has to grow in the same way. The more we understand and believe in Jesus, the more we want to love others. When our faith is strong, we want to share it -- and share God's love -- with everyone we meet! Can you think of someone who is really good at sharing God's love? (allow answers) Tell me about how they share God's love with others. (allow answers) Can you share God's love as well as they can right now? (allow answers) You might not be able to do all the things that others can do to show God's love. You may be too young to volunteer at a soup kitchen or be a missionary in another country. You may not know how to help your neighbors fix the sink or clean the gutters. When we watch other people share God's love, it is kind of like trying on our parents' clothes. We don't fit into them yet, but we will someday. We just have to keep growing -- both in our physical bodies and in our faith.
We can't control how our physical bodies grow. We can't decide how tall we will be, or what color our hair will be, or whether we will have freckles. But we can control how we grow in faith. That's the cool thing about faith: we never have to stop growing! As we grow, so our love for others grows, too. Amen.
