Power!
Children's sermon
Object: This message includes movements to reinforce the lesson. Based on your group, have them be as active as you dare in joining you with the movements.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! Let’s get started!
I’ll start with a question. Who can remember what happened on Easter morning? (Let them respond.) That’s when Jesus came back to see his friends, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) He had died, but when they went to his tomb to bury him, he was back, wasn’t he? (Let them respond.) But he told them that he couldn’t stay very long, and someday he would be leaving again, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Well, our story is about what happened the day when Jesus told his friends that it was time for him to leave them and go be with God forever. How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) They were pretty scared because they were worried about what might happen if Jesus wasn’t there when some of the people who didn’t like them came around again. Jesus had protected them before, but they wondered what would happen when he wasn’t there to help?
And some of the people who didn’t like them were pretty scary. Some of them were really rich and powerful and could do a lot of things to hurt Jesus’ friends. Some of them controlled all of the laws and kept changing them to try and get Jesus’ friends into trouble by breaking a law. Some of them had groups of bullies who helped them and would come after Jesus’ friends and try to hurt them the way they hurt Jesus.
Jesus knew they were really scared, so he told them that when he went away, he was going to send them something really special that God promised would help them and would take care of everything so they did not have to be afraid anymore.
How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) They were really excited! They said, “Hey, God is sending us something special! YEAH!” And they said, “And if God is sending it to us, it must be something REALLY powerful and that will make us REALLY powerful so we can fight the people who don’t like us!” And someone said, “Wow! I’ll bet God is sending us a big army of angels with great big swords, so we can get even with those people for what they have been doing!” They got all excited and started moving around like they were ready to fight. (Guide the children to stand and spread apart a bit, and start moving their arms around like they are getting ready to fight. Suggest that they make fists, hold them up, do some karate chops, act like they are pushing someone, things like that. Keep it light, quick, and fun. Have them stop and sit back down before things get a bit out of control.)
Jesus saw that they were getting really excited because they were finally going to fight and get even with those people who had hurt them. He knew they didn’t really understand what God was going to send them, so he stopped them and said, “I will send you what God promised, and it is really powerful, but first I want you to just stay here and not do anything at all until you really understand what God is sending you.
Jesus knew that God was going to send his friends something really special and really powerful, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) But he also knew that there were two different kinds of power. Did you know that? Did you know there were two different kinds of power? (Let them respond.) Let me show you.
Let’s all stand up and do what we did a while ago and show what it is like to have the power to help us fight other people. (Have them stand and do a short version of the fighting actions again.) If someone does something we don’t like, we could use our arms and hands to push, or swing, or hit and fight them, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) That is one kind of power, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) But there is another kind of power. (Stand up with them.) If someone does something we don’t like, instead of doing this, (You do a couple of fighting arm movements.) we could do this, (Open your arms like you are going to hold or hug someone.) Or we could do this, (Reach out your arms like you are helping someone get up from the ground.)
Jesus said he was going to send us something very special from God, but he knew they didn’t understand yet. They thought that God was going to give them the power to attack and destroy other people, didn’t they? (Show some quick fighting arm moves and let them respond.) But Jesus knew that what God was sending them was the power to care for other people, and help take care of them, no matter who they were. (Show some quick arm hugging and holding moves.) So, he told them to not do anything at all until they finally understood what God really wanted them to do.
Sometimes we get confused about that too, don’t we? (Let them respond as you start making some arm-fighting moves.) Sometimes, we think that God wants us to fight with other people, or do things to them to make them do what we want, or to just make them go away, so we try to use this power, don’t we? (Let them respond.) But that isn’t what God wants us to do, and that’s not the kind of power God has given us at all. That’s not what God’s power looks like at all. Can you show us what God’s power really looks like? (Have them make the hugging and holding moves with you and let them respond.) The power that God gives us looks like this, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Sometimes it is hard to remember what God really wants us to do, and sometimes we need to be like Jesus’ friends and not do anything at all until we remember.
I hope our story will help us remember that God did not give us power to hurt other people, or to force them to do what we want them to do, or to make them be just like us. God gave us power to help each other, and take care of each other, no matter who we are.
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.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! Let’s get started!
I’ll start with a question. Who can remember what happened on Easter morning? (Let them respond.) That’s when Jesus came back to see his friends, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) He had died, but when they went to his tomb to bury him, he was back, wasn’t he? (Let them respond.) But he told them that he couldn’t stay very long, and someday he would be leaving again, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Well, our story is about what happened the day when Jesus told his friends that it was time for him to leave them and go be with God forever. How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) They were pretty scared because they were worried about what might happen if Jesus wasn’t there when some of the people who didn’t like them came around again. Jesus had protected them before, but they wondered what would happen when he wasn’t there to help?
And some of the people who didn’t like them were pretty scary. Some of them were really rich and powerful and could do a lot of things to hurt Jesus’ friends. Some of them controlled all of the laws and kept changing them to try and get Jesus’ friends into trouble by breaking a law. Some of them had groups of bullies who helped them and would come after Jesus’ friends and try to hurt them the way they hurt Jesus.
Jesus knew they were really scared, so he told them that when he went away, he was going to send them something really special that God promised would help them and would take care of everything so they did not have to be afraid anymore.
How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) They were really excited! They said, “Hey, God is sending us something special! YEAH!” And they said, “And if God is sending it to us, it must be something REALLY powerful and that will make us REALLY powerful so we can fight the people who don’t like us!” And someone said, “Wow! I’ll bet God is sending us a big army of angels with great big swords, so we can get even with those people for what they have been doing!” They got all excited and started moving around like they were ready to fight. (Guide the children to stand and spread apart a bit, and start moving their arms around like they are getting ready to fight. Suggest that they make fists, hold them up, do some karate chops, act like they are pushing someone, things like that. Keep it light, quick, and fun. Have them stop and sit back down before things get a bit out of control.)
Jesus saw that they were getting really excited because they were finally going to fight and get even with those people who had hurt them. He knew they didn’t really understand what God was going to send them, so he stopped them and said, “I will send you what God promised, and it is really powerful, but first I want you to just stay here and not do anything at all until you really understand what God is sending you.
Jesus knew that God was going to send his friends something really special and really powerful, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) But he also knew that there were two different kinds of power. Did you know that? Did you know there were two different kinds of power? (Let them respond.) Let me show you.
Let’s all stand up and do what we did a while ago and show what it is like to have the power to help us fight other people. (Have them stand and do a short version of the fighting actions again.) If someone does something we don’t like, we could use our arms and hands to push, or swing, or hit and fight them, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) That is one kind of power, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) But there is another kind of power. (Stand up with them.) If someone does something we don’t like, instead of doing this, (You do a couple of fighting arm movements.) we could do this, (Open your arms like you are going to hold or hug someone.) Or we could do this, (Reach out your arms like you are helping someone get up from the ground.)
Jesus said he was going to send us something very special from God, but he knew they didn’t understand yet. They thought that God was going to give them the power to attack and destroy other people, didn’t they? (Show some quick fighting arm moves and let them respond.) But Jesus knew that what God was sending them was the power to care for other people, and help take care of them, no matter who they were. (Show some quick arm hugging and holding moves.) So, he told them to not do anything at all until they finally understood what God really wanted them to do.
Sometimes we get confused about that too, don’t we? (Let them respond as you start making some arm-fighting moves.) Sometimes, we think that God wants us to fight with other people, or do things to them to make them do what we want, or to just make them go away, so we try to use this power, don’t we? (Let them respond.) But that isn’t what God wants us to do, and that’s not the kind of power God has given us at all. That’s not what God’s power looks like at all. Can you show us what God’s power really looks like? (Have them make the hugging and holding moves with you and let them respond.) The power that God gives us looks like this, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Sometimes it is hard to remember what God really wants us to do, and sometimes we need to be like Jesus’ friends and not do anything at all until we remember.
I hope our story will help us remember that God did not give us power to hurt other people, or to force them to do what we want them to do, or to make them be just like us. God gave us power to help each other, and take care of each other, no matter who we are.
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.
