Paul shared news about Jesus
Children's sermon
Object:
a large dictionary, preferably one that tells the number of words defined in it
Good morning, boys and girls. Today I have brought with me a very good friend and one that I use often. How many of you know what kind of a book I have in my hand? (let them answer) Very good, it is a dictionary. How many of you have a dictionary at home? (let them answer) Many of you have a dictionary. A dictionary like this has almost every word known to people who speak the English language.
If you want to know how to spell a word, you can look it up in the dictionary. (choose a word, look it up, and spell it) If you wonder what a word means that you read and do not know, you can look it up and find out the meaning. (choose another word and read the definition) If you do not know how to pronounce a word, you can look it up in the dictionary and it will tell you how to say it. This dictionary is for everyone.
Saint Paul tells us something interesting in his first book to the Corinthians. He tells us that Jesus blessed him in a special way. Paul was chosen by Jesus to make all kinds of people his disciples. Paul went to different countries and he told people there about Jesus. Many of them became followers of Jesus. Paul traveled to Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Perga, Salamis, Paphos, Philippi, Thessalonica, Troas, Ephesus, Corinth, Athens, Caesarea, Beroea, Tyre, and many other places including Rome. He met with Jews and Gentiles. He talked to the most and the least intelligent people, the poorest and the richest, the young and the old, the religious and the non-religious. Paul always told the same message, about how Jesus loved us and died for us so that we may live with God forever.
Paul was all things to all people. He could sit down in a fancy restaurant or eat with his hands in someone's backyard. He could talk politics, religion, sports, business, and whatever else you wanted to talk about as long as you would give him a couple of minutes to talk about Jesus. Paul was like a dictionary. Just like all of the words are in a dictionary, so Paul was filled with everything that a person wanted to talk about. He was this way so that people would also listen to him share his love for Jesus.
That's the way we should be. We should love people, all kinds of people, so that we can share Jesus with them.
The next time you see a dictionary and you think about all of those words, think about Saint Paul and how he shared everything so that he could share the one thing he loved the most, the Lord Jesus.
If you want to know how to spell a word, you can look it up in the dictionary. (choose a word, look it up, and spell it) If you wonder what a word means that you read and do not know, you can look it up and find out the meaning. (choose another word and read the definition) If you do not know how to pronounce a word, you can look it up in the dictionary and it will tell you how to say it. This dictionary is for everyone.
Saint Paul tells us something interesting in his first book to the Corinthians. He tells us that Jesus blessed him in a special way. Paul was chosen by Jesus to make all kinds of people his disciples. Paul went to different countries and he told people there about Jesus. Many of them became followers of Jesus. Paul traveled to Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Perga, Salamis, Paphos, Philippi, Thessalonica, Troas, Ephesus, Corinth, Athens, Caesarea, Beroea, Tyre, and many other places including Rome. He met with Jews and Gentiles. He talked to the most and the least intelligent people, the poorest and the richest, the young and the old, the religious and the non-religious. Paul always told the same message, about how Jesus loved us and died for us so that we may live with God forever.
Paul was all things to all people. He could sit down in a fancy restaurant or eat with his hands in someone's backyard. He could talk politics, religion, sports, business, and whatever else you wanted to talk about as long as you would give him a couple of minutes to talk about Jesus. Paul was like a dictionary. Just like all of the words are in a dictionary, so Paul was filled with everything that a person wanted to talk about. He was this way so that people would also listen to him share his love for Jesus.
That's the way we should be. We should love people, all kinds of people, so that we can share Jesus with them.
The next time you see a dictionary and you think about all of those words, think about Saint Paul and how he shared everything so that he could share the one thing he loved the most, the Lord Jesus.
