The prize of Christ
Children's sermon
Object:
a picture of an athlete running for the finish line
Did any of you watch the Olympics last fall? Athletes
competed in different games to see who would win the prize for
being the best. I especially liked the runners. They ran really
fast, and some of them ran a really long time even when they were
very tired. (Show them the picture.)
In this lesson, the Apostle Paul says that he is pressing on
toward a goal and trying to win a prize. That kind of sounds like
our Olympic runners, doesn't it? The prize here, though, isn't a
medal or a trophy. Paul says that the prize is knowing Christ and
being known completely by Christ. That's a little different from
what we saw in the games last fall. It sounds funny to hear
someone say that knowing Christ is a prize, but that's just
exactly what it is.
Paul loved Jesus more than anything else in his whole life.
Nothing meant more to him than being the kind of person that God
wanted him to be. He wanted to see the world the way that Jesus
did, and he wanted to be as close to God as he could be.
Sometimes running a race can be tiring, though, and it's
easy to want to quit. That's why Paul tells us to be strong and
to keep pressing on toward the goal. For Paul, nothing was more
important than that. He believed that knowing Jesus and being
known by Jesus was the greatest prize of all.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to understand what Paul's words
are saying to us. Please show us what it means to know Christ
Jesus and to be known by him. Amen.
competed in different games to see who would win the prize for
being the best. I especially liked the runners. They ran really
fast, and some of them ran a really long time even when they were
very tired. (Show them the picture.)
In this lesson, the Apostle Paul says that he is pressing on
toward a goal and trying to win a prize. That kind of sounds like
our Olympic runners, doesn't it? The prize here, though, isn't a
medal or a trophy. Paul says that the prize is knowing Christ and
being known completely by Christ. That's a little different from
what we saw in the games last fall. It sounds funny to hear
someone say that knowing Christ is a prize, but that's just
exactly what it is.
Paul loved Jesus more than anything else in his whole life.
Nothing meant more to him than being the kind of person that God
wanted him to be. He wanted to see the world the way that Jesus
did, and he wanted to be as close to God as he could be.
Sometimes running a race can be tiring, though, and it's
easy to want to quit. That's why Paul tells us to be strong and
to keep pressing on toward the goal. For Paul, nothing was more
important than that. He believed that knowing Jesus and being
known by Jesus was the greatest prize of all.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to understand what Paul's words
are saying to us. Please show us what it means to know Christ
Jesus and to be known by him. Amen.
