A seed multiplies
Children's sermon
Object:
a grain of wheat and a head of wheat
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever planted a seed in a paper cup or in the ground? (let them answer) What happens when you put the seed in the ground? (let them answer) Very good, it grows roots and a stem and sometimes it even grows into a beautiful flower or maybe a tree. What does the seed look like after the roots grow and the stems grow and finally the flower grows? What happens to the seed? (let them answer) Is the seed still there? Did it fly away? Is it hiding? (let them answer) Some people would say that the seed died. Others might say the seed multiplied, and many people would just say, "I don't know." What would you say happened to the seed? (let them answer)
Would you like to know what Jesus said happens to seeds that are planted in the ground? (let them answer) Jesus says a grain of wheat put into the earth will die.
Jesus said that when one grain of wheat dies, it produces much fruit. That means that when one grain dies, it makes hundreds of other grains. That's how God made our world. Some of the wheat is made into bread and other kinds of food. Animals and birds eat some of the wheat and it makes them grow and become strong. But some of the wheat is planted in the earth and dies and when it dies it makes new wheat plants. Every plant has hundreds, maybe thousands, of new wheat seeds. But it has to die first. If you looked in the ground where you planted the wheat, you would see roots and stems and lots of new wheat seeds.
Jesus teaches us this story because in a way that is going to happen to us when we die. Today we enjoy our life just like the wheat seed enjoyed growing on the stem of a plant. But we grow up, marry, and have children and grandchildren, and then we die. But we don't just die. Someday we will return to God and become part of a new family in heaven. It will be far greater than any day we spent here on earth. We will live in a new world that God calls his new world.
So, we don't know when we will die, but we know that we will die. When that time comes, and only God knows that time, we will grow in another way. How do we know that will happen? It happened to Jesus and he promised it would happen to us as well. Do you think you can trust a promise made by Jesus? (let them answer) I know we can trust Jesus.
The next time you see a seed, remember that it will die, but when it dies it will become something much greater. It will multiply a hundred times and so will you.
Would you like to know what Jesus said happens to seeds that are planted in the ground? (let them answer) Jesus says a grain of wheat put into the earth will die.
Jesus said that when one grain of wheat dies, it produces much fruit. That means that when one grain dies, it makes hundreds of other grains. That's how God made our world. Some of the wheat is made into bread and other kinds of food. Animals and birds eat some of the wheat and it makes them grow and become strong. But some of the wheat is planted in the earth and dies and when it dies it makes new wheat plants. Every plant has hundreds, maybe thousands, of new wheat seeds. But it has to die first. If you looked in the ground where you planted the wheat, you would see roots and stems and lots of new wheat seeds.
Jesus teaches us this story because in a way that is going to happen to us when we die. Today we enjoy our life just like the wheat seed enjoyed growing on the stem of a plant. But we grow up, marry, and have children and grandchildren, and then we die. But we don't just die. Someday we will return to God and become part of a new family in heaven. It will be far greater than any day we spent here on earth. We will live in a new world that God calls his new world.
So, we don't know when we will die, but we know that we will die. When that time comes, and only God knows that time, we will grow in another way. How do we know that will happen? It happened to Jesus and he promised it would happen to us as well. Do you think you can trust a promise made by Jesus? (let them answer) I know we can trust Jesus.
The next time you see a seed, remember that it will die, but when it dies it will become something much greater. It will multiply a hundred times and so will you.
