Seeing God!
Children's sermon
Object:
An empty picture frame, and a picture of Jesus to put in the frame.
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[a] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (v. 18)
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great, let’s go.
I have a question for you. Can anyone tell me what God looks like? (Let them respond.) Those are all good answers, but let me show you a picture of what God actually looks like (show the empty frame). You know what? No one knows what God looks like because no one has ever seen God.We know a lot of stories about God, and about things God has done though, don’t we? And some of those stories are kind of scary. Stories about floods, and fires, and things like that.
Did you know that back when Jesus was born, a lot of people were really afraid of God because of all of the stories they had heard? They were. And on that first Christmas when the baby Jesus was born and people heard that he was the Son of God, a lot of people who came to see the baby Jesus were pretty scared. They wanted to see what God’s son Jesus looked like, but they were kind of afraid of what he might do.
The people believed in God, and wanted to follow God and do the things God wanted them to do, but no one really knew what God was like (show the empty frame again) so they were afraid. In fact, one of the reasons Jesus came to be with us (show the picture of Jesus) was to show us exactly what God is like. When we look at Jesus (put Jesus’ picture into the frame) we can see God. And if we look at the things Jesus did, we can see the things that God does and that God wants us to do, too.
And who remembers some of the things Jesus did? What did he do when he saw someone who was hungry? (Let them respond.) He gave them food, didn’t he?
And what did Jesus do when he saw someone who was sick? (Let them respond.) He helped them get better.
And what did Jesus do when he saw someone that nobody else would touch or even talk to? (Let them respond.) He touched them and talked with them, didn’t he?
And what did Jesus do when he saw someone that no one would even touch? (Let them respond.) He touched them and showed them that he cared about them.
If we want to know what God is like, all we have to do is look at Jesus. And if we want to know what God wants us to do, all we have to do is remember the things that Jesus asked us to do. And who remembers what Jesus asked us to do? (Let them respond.) He asked us to take care of all of his sheep and lambs, didn’t he? And who are the sheep and lambs? (Let them respond.) We all are, aren’t we?
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to love other people and do as much as we can to help take care of those other people and make sure they know they are never, ever, alone.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.) Great, let’s go.
I have a question for you. Can anyone tell me what God looks like? (Let them respond.) Those are all good answers, but let me show you a picture of what God actually looks like (show the empty frame). You know what? No one knows what God looks like because no one has ever seen God.We know a lot of stories about God, and about things God has done though, don’t we? And some of those stories are kind of scary. Stories about floods, and fires, and things like that.
Did you know that back when Jesus was born, a lot of people were really afraid of God because of all of the stories they had heard? They were. And on that first Christmas when the baby Jesus was born and people heard that he was the Son of God, a lot of people who came to see the baby Jesus were pretty scared. They wanted to see what God’s son Jesus looked like, but they were kind of afraid of what he might do.
The people believed in God, and wanted to follow God and do the things God wanted them to do, but no one really knew what God was like (show the empty frame again) so they were afraid. In fact, one of the reasons Jesus came to be with us (show the picture of Jesus) was to show us exactly what God is like. When we look at Jesus (put Jesus’ picture into the frame) we can see God. And if we look at the things Jesus did, we can see the things that God does and that God wants us to do, too.
And who remembers some of the things Jesus did? What did he do when he saw someone who was hungry? (Let them respond.) He gave them food, didn’t he?
And what did Jesus do when he saw someone who was sick? (Let them respond.) He helped them get better.
And what did Jesus do when he saw someone that nobody else would touch or even talk to? (Let them respond.) He touched them and talked with them, didn’t he?
And what did Jesus do when he saw someone that no one would even touch? (Let them respond.) He touched them and showed them that he cared about them.
If we want to know what God is like, all we have to do is look at Jesus. And if we want to know what God wants us to do, all we have to do is remember the things that Jesus asked us to do. And who remembers what Jesus asked us to do? (Let them respond.) He asked us to take care of all of his sheep and lambs, didn’t he? And who are the sheep and lambs? (Let them respond.) We all are, aren’t we?
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to love other people and do as much as we can to help take care of those other people and make sure they know they are never, ever, alone.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
