Picking Up Our Cross!
Children's sermon
Object: A small cross to give to each child. They could be as simple as two sticks tied together, a printed cross, a small cross for them to keep, or any homemade cross.
Note: When you tell the children the number of accidents, it could help make more sense if you could give some local examples of just what that number means. For example, you might compare it to the population of your town, or something similar.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, Jesus was talking with his friends and he said something that bothered them. He told them that, someday soon, he was going to be arrested by the people who did not like him, and then they would kill him. Well, what do you think his friends thought about that? (Let them respond.) His friends got really upset, and Peter said, “No way, Lord! We will fight those lousy people and never let them do that to you!” Jesus’ friends were getting angry, but Jesus told them to cut it out. He told them that he had to die so God could help everyone, and he said they should stop thinking about themselves and think about all the people that God was going to help. He said if they wanted to be his friends, they needed to think about what God wanted them to do, and pick up their cross and follow him.
Jesus said that if we want to be his friend, we need to pick up our cross and follow him. That sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Just what does that mean, anyway? When Jesus was arrested, they made him pick up his cross and carry it, but did he really mean that we have to go find a big cross to pick up and carry, too? (Let them respond.) Do you have a cross with you that you can pick up? (Let them respond.) Well, here, let me give you one. (Give each child a cross.) Now, let’s all put our crosses on the floor in front of us. (Have them do that.) Okay, now, let’s all reach down and pick up our cross. (Have them do that.) There! We have all picked up our crosses. Is that really all we need to do if we want to be Jesus’ friend? (Let them respond.) No, that’s not what Jesus meant when he said we needed to pick up our cross, is it? (Let them respond.) Jesus knew that when he was arrested he would have to pick up and carry a real cross, but the cross he wants us to carry is a different kind of cross.
“That’s just a cross I have to bear.” (Show your cross.) Have you ever heard someone say that? (Let them respond.) Sometimes people say that when they have to do something they really don’t want to do. Maybe they are sick and need to take medicine they don’t like to take, so they say, “That’s just a cross I have to bear.” Sometimes when we have to do something we really don’t want to do, we say it is like carrying a cross that we don’t want to carry. Let’s see if we can find an example to help us understand what Jesus meant. (Have everyone put their crosses on the floor.)
Let me ask you a question. When we go out driving on the roads, we have speed limits, don’t we? (Let them respond.) So, why do we have speed limits? (Let them respond.) Are they just laws that were created because someone wants to boss us around? (Let them respond.) Nope. Did you know that a year ago, over forty thousand people died in accidents? (Let them respond.) That is a lot of people, isn’t it? And did you know that thirteen thousand of those people were young people? (Let them respond.) And did you know that the reason those people were killed was because someone was speeding? (Let them respond.) That’s right. If we follow the speed limits, there might not be as many accidents, and we might help thousands of people. So, when we are in a hurry and just don’t want to follow the speed limit, maybe we can call it a cross we have to bear so we can do what Jesus asked us to do and help take care of each other.
And that’s why we have speed limits, isn’t it? If we are in a hurry and just don’t want to slow down, what do we do if we really care about other people? (Let them respond as you pick up your cross.) We pick up our cross and slow down, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
That’s just one example of a cross we could carry. Can anyone think of other things we can do to show that we care about other people? (Let them respond.) We could help those who need help, or we could just be nice to them, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) Even when we are busy and it is going to be hard for us to help them, and there are other things we would like to do instead, what could we do? We could pick up our cross. (Have everyone pick up their cross.) And we could help them.
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.
Note: When you tell the children the number of accidents, it could help make more sense if you could give some local examples of just what that number means. For example, you might compare it to the population of your town, or something similar.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, Jesus was talking with his friends and he said something that bothered them. He told them that, someday soon, he was going to be arrested by the people who did not like him, and then they would kill him. Well, what do you think his friends thought about that? (Let them respond.) His friends got really upset, and Peter said, “No way, Lord! We will fight those lousy people and never let them do that to you!” Jesus’ friends were getting angry, but Jesus told them to cut it out. He told them that he had to die so God could help everyone, and he said they should stop thinking about themselves and think about all the people that God was going to help. He said if they wanted to be his friends, they needed to think about what God wanted them to do, and pick up their cross and follow him.
Jesus said that if we want to be his friend, we need to pick up our cross and follow him. That sounds kind of strange, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Just what does that mean, anyway? When Jesus was arrested, they made him pick up his cross and carry it, but did he really mean that we have to go find a big cross to pick up and carry, too? (Let them respond.) Do you have a cross with you that you can pick up? (Let them respond.) Well, here, let me give you one. (Give each child a cross.) Now, let’s all put our crosses on the floor in front of us. (Have them do that.) Okay, now, let’s all reach down and pick up our cross. (Have them do that.) There! We have all picked up our crosses. Is that really all we need to do if we want to be Jesus’ friend? (Let them respond.) No, that’s not what Jesus meant when he said we needed to pick up our cross, is it? (Let them respond.) Jesus knew that when he was arrested he would have to pick up and carry a real cross, but the cross he wants us to carry is a different kind of cross.
“That’s just a cross I have to bear.” (Show your cross.) Have you ever heard someone say that? (Let them respond.) Sometimes people say that when they have to do something they really don’t want to do. Maybe they are sick and need to take medicine they don’t like to take, so they say, “That’s just a cross I have to bear.” Sometimes when we have to do something we really don’t want to do, we say it is like carrying a cross that we don’t want to carry. Let’s see if we can find an example to help us understand what Jesus meant. (Have everyone put their crosses on the floor.)
Let me ask you a question. When we go out driving on the roads, we have speed limits, don’t we? (Let them respond.) So, why do we have speed limits? (Let them respond.) Are they just laws that were created because someone wants to boss us around? (Let them respond.) Nope. Did you know that a year ago, over forty thousand people died in accidents? (Let them respond.) That is a lot of people, isn’t it? And did you know that thirteen thousand of those people were young people? (Let them respond.) And did you know that the reason those people were killed was because someone was speeding? (Let them respond.) That’s right. If we follow the speed limits, there might not be as many accidents, and we might help thousands of people. So, when we are in a hurry and just don’t want to follow the speed limit, maybe we can call it a cross we have to bear so we can do what Jesus asked us to do and help take care of each other.
And that’s why we have speed limits, isn’t it? If we are in a hurry and just don’t want to slow down, what do we do if we really care about other people? (Let them respond as you pick up your cross.) We pick up our cross and slow down, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
That’s just one example of a cross we could carry. Can anyone think of other things we can do to show that we care about other people? (Let them respond.) We could help those who need help, or we could just be nice to them, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) Even when we are busy and it is going to be hard for us to help them, and there are other things we would like to do instead, what could we do? We could pick up our cross. (Have everyone pick up their cross.) And we could help them.
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.
