Reflecting God's love
Children's sermon
Object:
many mirrors
Do to others as you would have them do to you. (v. 31)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever used the word "hate"? (let them answer) It's not a very pretty word, is it? (let them answer) How many of you have ever said a bad word? (let them answer) Bad words make our mouth hurt, don't they? (let them answer) How many of you have ever hit someone with your hand or your fist? (let them answer) It makes your hand feel bad, doesn't it? (let them answer) How many of us have looked the other way when someone is begging us? (let them answer) It is hard to pretend the person is not there, isn't it?
Hate, bad words, hitting, stealing, and ignoring beggars are all things that other people do, aren't they? We don't do those kinds of things to other people do we? (let them answer) We are sorry about doing them but we do them anyway, don't we?
I brought along something that I would like for you to hold in your hand and look at very closely. (pass out the mirrors) What do you see in the mirror? (let them answer) That's right, you see your face, don't you? (let them answer) Those are really nice faces. It is hard to imagine that a good-looking face like this ever hates, uses bad words, hits other people, takes things that don't belong to it, or pretends that they don't see beggars, isn't it? (let them answer)
Let's hold the mirrors up so that we can see ourselves really well. Now, I want you to look at the mirror and say, "I hate you!" That is not is very good, is it? (let them answer) Let's try it again. Look at yourself and say, "You look like a skunk!" That's awful. Try it one more time. Pretend you are so hungry that your stomach is growling and your mouth is dry. Keep looking in the mirror and hold up one of your hands and say, "Please give me some food or some money for food." That makes us hurt, also.
Jesus teaches us that we should do things for other people the way that we want them to do things for us. You don't want people to hate you, lie about you, say bad words to you, take from you or ignore you when you need something really important, so don't do it to others.
I want you to remember how you looked in the mirror when you said bad things to yourself. It was not very pretty. We can make others very happy if we do and say kind things to other people. Remember the mirror and the teachings of Jesus and you will have many friends. You will also know the love of God. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever used the word "hate"? (let them answer) It's not a very pretty word, is it? (let them answer) How many of you have ever said a bad word? (let them answer) Bad words make our mouth hurt, don't they? (let them answer) How many of you have ever hit someone with your hand or your fist? (let them answer) It makes your hand feel bad, doesn't it? (let them answer) How many of us have looked the other way when someone is begging us? (let them answer) It is hard to pretend the person is not there, isn't it?
Hate, bad words, hitting, stealing, and ignoring beggars are all things that other people do, aren't they? We don't do those kinds of things to other people do we? (let them answer) We are sorry about doing them but we do them anyway, don't we?
I brought along something that I would like for you to hold in your hand and look at very closely. (pass out the mirrors) What do you see in the mirror? (let them answer) That's right, you see your face, don't you? (let them answer) Those are really nice faces. It is hard to imagine that a good-looking face like this ever hates, uses bad words, hits other people, takes things that don't belong to it, or pretends that they don't see beggars, isn't it? (let them answer)
Let's hold the mirrors up so that we can see ourselves really well. Now, I want you to look at the mirror and say, "I hate you!" That is not is very good, is it? (let them answer) Let's try it again. Look at yourself and say, "You look like a skunk!" That's awful. Try it one more time. Pretend you are so hungry that your stomach is growling and your mouth is dry. Keep looking in the mirror and hold up one of your hands and say, "Please give me some food or some money for food." That makes us hurt, also.
Jesus teaches us that we should do things for other people the way that we want them to do things for us. You don't want people to hate you, lie about you, say bad words to you, take from you or ignore you when you need something really important, so don't do it to others.
I want you to remember how you looked in the mirror when you said bad things to yourself. It was not very pretty. We can make others very happy if we do and say kind things to other people. Remember the mirror and the teachings of Jesus and you will have many friends. You will also know the love of God. Amen.
