Spread the good news
Children's sermon
Object:
walking sticks (one for each child)
He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. (vv. 7-9)
Good morning, boys and girls. Did you every wonder how so many people learned about Jesus? (let them answer) There are churches everywhere that teach about Jesus. There are also many churches in the rest of the world. Every town has at least one church and most towns have many churches.
Where did it all begin? How many of you remember the twelve apostles? (if there are twelve children, you may want to have them stand up and name each one after the apostles; if you have less, name them and pretend that the others will be by later) One day after Jesus visited his hometown he decided he would visit all of the other towns around Nazareth. The apostles walked with him and watched him teach about the Father and the Spirit. They also watched Jesus heal the sick.
One day as they were walking, Jesus asked the disciples to rest for a minute. He told them that he was going to trust them to go to other places to teach and heal like he had been doing. Some of them, like Peter, James, and John, could hardly wait to get started, while others, like Thomas, Jude, and Philip, thought they should have a little more training. Jesus told them to go out in pairs and visit the villages and towns. He told them to wear only their sandals and the clothes they had on their backs. They were not to take any money or food, just go out and teach the people about God's love, and those people would invite them into their homes to stay for the night.
There was something else: He told them to take a walking stick. It probably looked a little like this. (show the walking sticks) I want each one of you to have a walking stick so that you can think about how the apostles walked from village to village with a walking stick and told all of the people about Jesus and the love of God. It would have been wonderful to see the disciples walking down the road talking about the things they were going to share with others.
They did very good work; and the apostles did it almost every day for the rest of their lives. People listened and became members of the Christian church. Soon there were hundreds that believed in Jesus, then thousands, and finally, millions. Today there are Christians in every country in the world and there are churches where people go to worship every Sunday just like you do.
Please take your walking sticks and tell other friends about Jesus and his love. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. Did you every wonder how so many people learned about Jesus? (let them answer) There are churches everywhere that teach about Jesus. There are also many churches in the rest of the world. Every town has at least one church and most towns have many churches.
Where did it all begin? How many of you remember the twelve apostles? (if there are twelve children, you may want to have them stand up and name each one after the apostles; if you have less, name them and pretend that the others will be by later) One day after Jesus visited his hometown he decided he would visit all of the other towns around Nazareth. The apostles walked with him and watched him teach about the Father and the Spirit. They also watched Jesus heal the sick.
One day as they were walking, Jesus asked the disciples to rest for a minute. He told them that he was going to trust them to go to other places to teach and heal like he had been doing. Some of them, like Peter, James, and John, could hardly wait to get started, while others, like Thomas, Jude, and Philip, thought they should have a little more training. Jesus told them to go out in pairs and visit the villages and towns. He told them to wear only their sandals and the clothes they had on their backs. They were not to take any money or food, just go out and teach the people about God's love, and those people would invite them into their homes to stay for the night.
There was something else: He told them to take a walking stick. It probably looked a little like this. (show the walking sticks) I want each one of you to have a walking stick so that you can think about how the apostles walked from village to village with a walking stick and told all of the people about Jesus and the love of God. It would have been wonderful to see the disciples walking down the road talking about the things they were going to share with others.
They did very good work; and the apostles did it almost every day for the rest of their lives. People listened and became members of the Christian church. Soon there were hundreds that believed in Jesus, then thousands, and finally, millions. Today there are Christians in every country in the world and there are churches where people go to worship every Sunday just like you do.
Please take your walking sticks and tell other friends about Jesus and his love. Amen.
