Produce aisle
Children's sermon
Object:
good fruits and vegetables
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. (v. 43)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have gone to the grocery store before? (allow answers) What is your favorite section of the grocery store? (allow answers)
My favorite section of the grocery store is the produce section. Do any of you know what "produce" is? (allow answers) "Produce" is the word we use to describe the fresh fruits and vegetables we buy at the grocery store. Have any of you helped pick out fresh produce before? (allow answers)
Picking out good produce is different from picking out a jar of peanut butter or a box of crackers. When you pick out produce, you have to look at it carefully. You have to make sure the vegetables are crisp, the fruit is firm, and the produce is not bruised or too squishy. It takes practice to choose the best produce.
If a grocery store has bad produce in the store, though, it has to throw away those fruit and vegetables. Imagine if you were a grocery store owner and a farmer kept bringing you bad produce. What would you do? (allow answers) You would probably stop buying from that farmer. Instead, you would find a farmer to bring in good produce.
Our gospel lesson today talks about good fruit but not the same kind of fruit that we find in the grocery store. It says: "The kingdom of God will be... given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom." What do you think fruits of the kingdom are? Are they things like broccoli and bananas? (allow answers) No, they're not! Fruits of the kingdom are things like love, peace, and joy. God is like the grocery store owner, and we are like the farmers who God asked to bring him the fruits of the kingdom. We want to do our best as God's farmers to bring him good produce! How can we do that? (allow answers) We can bring God good fruit by following his commandments and showing kindness and love to our neighbors.
If you go to the grocery store this week, take a good look at the produce. See if you can find good produce and bad produce. Remember that we want to be the farmers who bring the good produce to God: the greatest grocer we know. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have gone to the grocery store before? (allow answers) What is your favorite section of the grocery store? (allow answers)
My favorite section of the grocery store is the produce section. Do any of you know what "produce" is? (allow answers) "Produce" is the word we use to describe the fresh fruits and vegetables we buy at the grocery store. Have any of you helped pick out fresh produce before? (allow answers)
Picking out good produce is different from picking out a jar of peanut butter or a box of crackers. When you pick out produce, you have to look at it carefully. You have to make sure the vegetables are crisp, the fruit is firm, and the produce is not bruised or too squishy. It takes practice to choose the best produce.
If a grocery store has bad produce in the store, though, it has to throw away those fruit and vegetables. Imagine if you were a grocery store owner and a farmer kept bringing you bad produce. What would you do? (allow answers) You would probably stop buying from that farmer. Instead, you would find a farmer to bring in good produce.
Our gospel lesson today talks about good fruit but not the same kind of fruit that we find in the grocery store. It says: "The kingdom of God will be... given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom." What do you think fruits of the kingdom are? Are they things like broccoli and bananas? (allow answers) No, they're not! Fruits of the kingdom are things like love, peace, and joy. God is like the grocery store owner, and we are like the farmers who God asked to bring him the fruits of the kingdom. We want to do our best as God's farmers to bring him good produce! How can we do that? (allow answers) We can bring God good fruit by following his commandments and showing kindness and love to our neighbors.
If you go to the grocery store this week, take a good look at the produce. See if you can find good produce and bad produce. Remember that we want to be the farmers who bring the good produce to God: the greatest grocer we know. Amen.
