Say What?
Children's sermon
The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (vv. 8-9)
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Object: A Bible commentary, or any other book with information about the Bible. I used the biggest book I could find to make it more fun.
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a question for you today. Are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
Here is my question. Have you ever read anything, or had someone read something to you, but it didn’t make any sense to you? (Let them respond.) Maybe you read or heard it a couple of times, but it still just didn’t make any sense to you at all. Has that ever happened to you? (Let them respond.) That has sure happened to me. I think it happens to everyone sometimes, no matter how old we are.
In fact, that happened to me this week when I read the Bible passage for our message this morning. I read it the first time, and then I thought I would read it again. Do you think that helped me understand? (Let them respond.) Nope, not this time. So, I read it again, and again, and even again. But no matter how many times I read it I was still confused. The Bible story today is about someone who cheated other people. He cheated his boss, and when he got caught, it seems like he went out and cheated even more. And then, the really confusing part for me, it sounds like Jesus told everyone it was a good thing the man cheated like that.
Now, do you think Jesus would say it is a good idea for us to cheat other people? (Let them respond.) No, I don’t think so either. I remember all of the stories when Jesus tells us that we should be nice to each other and take care of each other, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Well then, I was really confused about what today’s Bible passage was saying.
So, let me ask you this, what can you do when you read or hear something that you don’t understand? (Let them respond.) We could ask someone about it, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) Well, I asked some other people about the passage, and they were just as confused about it as I was.What else could we do? (Let them respond.) We could find something else to read that might help explain the passage, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) I did that too. (Show the book.) I got a book called a Bible commentary that helps explain a lot of the things in the Bible that might be confusing. But the book said the passage is just really confusing, and people don’t all agree about what it means.
Sometimes, it gets frustrating when we don’t understand things, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) I was sure getting frustrated because I wanted to understand it so I could tell you about it today. But, you know what? (Let them respond.) I never did figure it out for sure, and I am still not sure I really understand what Jesus meant.
But I know one more thing we can do when we don’t understand something and can’t figure it out. Do you know what that is? (Let them respond.) We can ask God to help us understand what it means, can’t we? (Let them respond.) Why don’t we try that? We know that God wants us to love everyone, and take care of everyone, and we are pretty sure that God does not want us cheating other people, so let’s ask God to help us understand this confusing passage. We might not get a quick answer, but maybe God will find someone who can help us understand what Jesus is trying to tell us.
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us understand the story of the man who cheated other people.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us understand what you are trying to teach us in your stories. And help us to 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.
* * *
Object: A Bible commentary, or any other book with information about the Bible. I used the biggest book I could find to make it more fun.
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a question for you today. Are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
Here is my question. Have you ever read anything, or had someone read something to you, but it didn’t make any sense to you? (Let them respond.) Maybe you read or heard it a couple of times, but it still just didn’t make any sense to you at all. Has that ever happened to you? (Let them respond.) That has sure happened to me. I think it happens to everyone sometimes, no matter how old we are.
In fact, that happened to me this week when I read the Bible passage for our message this morning. I read it the first time, and then I thought I would read it again. Do you think that helped me understand? (Let them respond.) Nope, not this time. So, I read it again, and again, and even again. But no matter how many times I read it I was still confused. The Bible story today is about someone who cheated other people. He cheated his boss, and when he got caught, it seems like he went out and cheated even more. And then, the really confusing part for me, it sounds like Jesus told everyone it was a good thing the man cheated like that.
Now, do you think Jesus would say it is a good idea for us to cheat other people? (Let them respond.) No, I don’t think so either. I remember all of the stories when Jesus tells us that we should be nice to each other and take care of each other, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Well then, I was really confused about what today’s Bible passage was saying.
So, let me ask you this, what can you do when you read or hear something that you don’t understand? (Let them respond.) We could ask someone about it, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) Well, I asked some other people about the passage, and they were just as confused about it as I was.What else could we do? (Let them respond.) We could find something else to read that might help explain the passage, couldn’t we? (Let them respond.) I did that too. (Show the book.) I got a book called a Bible commentary that helps explain a lot of the things in the Bible that might be confusing. But the book said the passage is just really confusing, and people don’t all agree about what it means.
Sometimes, it gets frustrating when we don’t understand things, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) I was sure getting frustrated because I wanted to understand it so I could tell you about it today. But, you know what? (Let them respond.) I never did figure it out for sure, and I am still not sure I really understand what Jesus meant.
But I know one more thing we can do when we don’t understand something and can’t figure it out. Do you know what that is? (Let them respond.) We can ask God to help us understand what it means, can’t we? (Let them respond.) Why don’t we try that? We know that God wants us to love everyone, and take care of everyone, and we are pretty sure that God does not want us cheating other people, so let’s ask God to help us understand this confusing passage. We might not get a quick answer, but maybe God will find someone who can help us understand what Jesus is trying to tell us.
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us understand the story of the man who cheated other people.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us understand what you are trying to teach us in your stories. And help us to 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.
