The Promise of Christmas - What We Should Do!
Children's sermon
Object: Two shirts and two sandwiches or little bags of chips or cookies.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, John the Baptist was talking with a bunch of people down by the river. He was telling people that God was going to send Jesus to help them. But there were a bunch of Pharisees in the crowd listening. The Pharisees didn’t like what John was saying, because they thought they were God’s favorites, and they thought God wanted them to make all of the rules that people had to follow. And they had a lot of rules. Most of the people were afraid of the Pharisees, but John wasn’t afraid. He looked at the Pharisees and shouted at them, “You are just like a bunch of snakes. All you do is sneak around and try to scare people to make them do what you want them to do! You are not God’s favorites, and one of these days God is going to cut you down just like a bunch of weeds someone cuts down in their yard!”
The Pharisees started to argue and wanted to grab John and have him arrested, but there were too many people around, so they just shook their heads and walked away. After they left, someone said, “If we aren’t supposed to do what the Pharisees say, what should we do then?”
John said, “Just take care of each other.”
Someone said, “How do we do that?”
(Hold up the shirts.) John said, “If you have two shirts and see someone who doesn’t have any, give them one of yours.” (Hold up the sandwiches and/or bags.) And if you have food and see someone who doesn’t have any, give them some of yours.” If you care about someone, don’t just tell them you care. Show them how much you care.
And that is what we need to remember when we aren’t sure what we should do. All we need to do is remember what Jesus said God wants us to do. And who remembers the two things that Jesus told us God wants us to always do? (Let them respond.) Jesus said that we should always love God, and what else? (Let them respond.) He said that God wants us to love each other and take care of each other, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) Jesus said those are the two most important things that God wants us to do, and if we do them, we do not have to be afraid even if we hear and see scary things. We don’t need to be afraid or worried. We don’t need to fight and argue with each other. We just need to love God and what else? (Let them respond.) Take care of each other. Right! And we don’t just tell people that we care about them, do we? (Let them respond.) What else do we do? (Let them respond as you show the sandwiches and/or bags.) We do things to show them how much we care about them, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
Today is a special day for the church called the Third Sunday in the season of Advent. Advent is the time we remember to think about just why God sent the baby Jesus to us on Christmas. And did God send Jesus to make us argue and fight with each other? (Let them respond.) No. And did God send Jesus so we would just tell someone we cared about them? (Let them respond.) No, that’s not why Jesus was born on Christmas, is it? (Let them respond as you show the sandwiches and/or bags.) Jesus came to be with us to remind us to take care of each other the way God takes care of us. And that means we don’t just tell someone we care about them, do we? (Let them respond.) It means that we show them that we care about them. And if we do that, Jesus said that God will take care of us, too. That is the promise God made to us on Christmas.
Before we go, I have a question for us to think about as we get ready for Christmas. Are we just telling people that we care about them, or are we doing things that show them we care about them as much as God cares about all of us?
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!
One day, John the Baptist was talking with a bunch of people down by the river. He was telling people that God was going to send Jesus to help them. But there were a bunch of Pharisees in the crowd listening. The Pharisees didn’t like what John was saying, because they thought they were God’s favorites, and they thought God wanted them to make all of the rules that people had to follow. And they had a lot of rules. Most of the people were afraid of the Pharisees, but John wasn’t afraid. He looked at the Pharisees and shouted at them, “You are just like a bunch of snakes. All you do is sneak around and try to scare people to make them do what you want them to do! You are not God’s favorites, and one of these days God is going to cut you down just like a bunch of weeds someone cuts down in their yard!”
The Pharisees started to argue and wanted to grab John and have him arrested, but there were too many people around, so they just shook their heads and walked away. After they left, someone said, “If we aren’t supposed to do what the Pharisees say, what should we do then?”
John said, “Just take care of each other.”
Someone said, “How do we do that?”
(Hold up the shirts.) John said, “If you have two shirts and see someone who doesn’t have any, give them one of yours.” (Hold up the sandwiches and/or bags.) And if you have food and see someone who doesn’t have any, give them some of yours.” If you care about someone, don’t just tell them you care. Show them how much you care.
And that is what we need to remember when we aren’t sure what we should do. All we need to do is remember what Jesus said God wants us to do. And who remembers the two things that Jesus told us God wants us to always do? (Let them respond.) Jesus said that we should always love God, and what else? (Let them respond.) He said that God wants us to love each other and take care of each other, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) Jesus said those are the two most important things that God wants us to do, and if we do them, we do not have to be afraid even if we hear and see scary things. We don’t need to be afraid or worried. We don’t need to fight and argue with each other. We just need to love God and what else? (Let them respond.) Take care of each other. Right! And we don’t just tell people that we care about them, do we? (Let them respond.) What else do we do? (Let them respond as you show the sandwiches and/or bags.) We do things to show them how much we care about them, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
Today is a special day for the church called the Third Sunday in the season of Advent. Advent is the time we remember to think about just why God sent the baby Jesus to us on Christmas. And did God send Jesus to make us argue and fight with each other? (Let them respond.) No. And did God send Jesus so we would just tell someone we cared about them? (Let them respond.) No, that’s not why Jesus was born on Christmas, is it? (Let them respond as you show the sandwiches and/or bags.) Jesus came to be with us to remind us to take care of each other the way God takes care of us. And that means we don’t just tell someone we care about them, do we? (Let them respond.) It means that we show them that we care about them. And if we do that, Jesus said that God will take care of us, too. That is the promise God made to us on Christmas.
Before we go, I have a question for us to think about as we get ready for Christmas. Are we just telling people that we care about them, or are we doing things that show them we care about them as much as God cares about all of us?
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.
