Passing the peace
Children's sermon
Object:
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in
pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. (v. 1)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to travel to other places? (let them answer) I brought with me a list of places that we could go if we flew on a certain airline. It looks like we could go to almost any place in the world. (begin to read the names of the cities on the schedule) You could spend almost every day going to some place or another. In some of the places, you would have to speak other languages or you could fly to cities that only speak English.
Jesus knew that someday he wanted to visit more areas, so he made a plan. He invited seventy of his closest followers to visit all of the towns that he planned to be in. He divided them in half and made 35 partners so that they would have someone to travel with on their journeys. We could do the same thing here this morning if we wanted to and go out and tell people about Jesus. (pick a partner for each child) After Jesus picked partners he told them what he wanted them to do. When they arrive in the town they should stop at a house and if someone was home they should share the peace. We do that every Sunday. We turn around and greet people who are sitting next to us and say, "The peace of the Lord be with you." He told his visitors to stay with the people they greeted and eat and drink whatever they offered to them. He told them not to move around but stay with the family they met. They were supposed to go through the town and cure the sick. While they were healing the sick they were supposed to say, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."
When they finished they were to return to Jesus and report on what they did. When the seventy people returned their hearts were leaping with joy. They had met so many people that were interested in having Jesus come to their town, and were happy to have so many of their friends healed. They knew without the Lord asking them to do it, they probably would have never tried. Two things they needed to remember. One, to exchange the peace and secondly they were to say, "The kingdom of God has come near to you," when they cured someone.
Jesus still wants us to visit other people in his name. One of the last things he said before he went back to heaven was to "make disciples of all nations."
Someday you will be asked to go to places and pass the peace with strangers. The strangers will become your friends and follow Jesus. When this happens, your hearts will be filled with joy and the love of Jesus. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like to travel to other places? (let them answer) I brought with me a list of places that we could go if we flew on a certain airline. It looks like we could go to almost any place in the world. (begin to read the names of the cities on the schedule) You could spend almost every day going to some place or another. In some of the places, you would have to speak other languages or you could fly to cities that only speak English.
Jesus knew that someday he wanted to visit more areas, so he made a plan. He invited seventy of his closest followers to visit all of the towns that he planned to be in. He divided them in half and made 35 partners so that they would have someone to travel with on their journeys. We could do the same thing here this morning if we wanted to and go out and tell people about Jesus. (pick a partner for each child) After Jesus picked partners he told them what he wanted them to do. When they arrive in the town they should stop at a house and if someone was home they should share the peace. We do that every Sunday. We turn around and greet people who are sitting next to us and say, "The peace of the Lord be with you." He told his visitors to stay with the people they greeted and eat and drink whatever they offered to them. He told them not to move around but stay with the family they met. They were supposed to go through the town and cure the sick. While they were healing the sick they were supposed to say, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."
When they finished they were to return to Jesus and report on what they did. When the seventy people returned their hearts were leaping with joy. They had met so many people that were interested in having Jesus come to their town, and were happy to have so many of their friends healed. They knew without the Lord asking them to do it, they probably would have never tried. Two things they needed to remember. One, to exchange the peace and secondly they were to say, "The kingdom of God has come near to you," when they cured someone.
Jesus still wants us to visit other people in his name. One of the last things he said before he went back to heaven was to "make disciples of all nations."
Someday you will be asked to go to places and pass the peace with strangers. The strangers will become your friends and follow Jesus. When this happens, your hearts will be filled with joy and the love of Jesus. Amen.
