Stay in shape
Children's sermon
Object:
workout clothes (shirt, shorts, headband, wristbands, tennis shoes, socks) in a gym bag
He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to
the body of his glory. (v. 21)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you watch your mom or dad exercise? (let them answer) Some people call it exercise and others call it a workout. Does anyone know why your mom or dad work out? (let them answer) That's right, they do it because as we get older, we need to keep our bodies in shape.
One morning we wake up and our stomachs are rounder than the day before. Instead of one chin, we have two chins. Our arms are a little flabby and our knees hurt. When these signs appear in our bodies, we hear little alarms going off that say we must get in shape. It is serious business. Our bodies are in bad shape. We can buy some new workout clothes (show them the clothes in the bag) and workout every day. We don't want anyone to see us looking like this. As a matter of fact, it is pretty hard to look at ourselves in a mirror. We are humiliated. Can you say that word "humiliated"? (have them say it a couple of times) It takes a lot of work to get back into good physical shape, and it takes a lot more work to stay in good physical condition.
The same thing can happen spiritually. We can get out of shape spiritually and it doesn't take long until we notice it. One day we stop saying grace at our mealtime and then we forget to say our prayers at bedtime. There are so many things to do on Sunday morning like read the paper, watch television, or visit a friend or relative, and we do not go to Sunday school. Finally, we are in such bad shape that the only worship service we attend is on Christmas Eve or Easter Sunday. That means that we are totally humiliated. Our spiritual life is almost completely dead.
We don't know why it happens, but many people in poor spiritual condition wait for a friend to ask them to come back to church or to come over for a Bible study. Sometimes it happens when we attend a wedding or a funeral. We hear a message from Jesus that says we are as far away from him as we are going to get. Jesus is our trainer. He begins to work on our spiritual life. First, we go back to church and then we attend Sunday school class. We realize how much we miss God. We pray that he will take our poor spiritual bodies and put them back into shape. Before we know it, we are witnesses to the power of God and our whole lives are different. It happens.
But the best thing is to never get out of shape spiritually. Keep on praying, keep on learning, keep on worshiping, and you will never have to feel miserable like people feel when they get out of shape in the Lord. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you watch your mom or dad exercise? (let them answer) Some people call it exercise and others call it a workout. Does anyone know why your mom or dad work out? (let them answer) That's right, they do it because as we get older, we need to keep our bodies in shape.
One morning we wake up and our stomachs are rounder than the day before. Instead of one chin, we have two chins. Our arms are a little flabby and our knees hurt. When these signs appear in our bodies, we hear little alarms going off that say we must get in shape. It is serious business. Our bodies are in bad shape. We can buy some new workout clothes (show them the clothes in the bag) and workout every day. We don't want anyone to see us looking like this. As a matter of fact, it is pretty hard to look at ourselves in a mirror. We are humiliated. Can you say that word "humiliated"? (have them say it a couple of times) It takes a lot of work to get back into good physical shape, and it takes a lot more work to stay in good physical condition.
The same thing can happen spiritually. We can get out of shape spiritually and it doesn't take long until we notice it. One day we stop saying grace at our mealtime and then we forget to say our prayers at bedtime. There are so many things to do on Sunday morning like read the paper, watch television, or visit a friend or relative, and we do not go to Sunday school. Finally, we are in such bad shape that the only worship service we attend is on Christmas Eve or Easter Sunday. That means that we are totally humiliated. Our spiritual life is almost completely dead.
We don't know why it happens, but many people in poor spiritual condition wait for a friend to ask them to come back to church or to come over for a Bible study. Sometimes it happens when we attend a wedding or a funeral. We hear a message from Jesus that says we are as far away from him as we are going to get. Jesus is our trainer. He begins to work on our spiritual life. First, we go back to church and then we attend Sunday school class. We realize how much we miss God. We pray that he will take our poor spiritual bodies and put them back into shape. Before we know it, we are witnesses to the power of God and our whole lives are different. It happens.
But the best thing is to never get out of shape spiritually. Keep on praying, keep on learning, keep on worshiping, and you will never have to feel miserable like people feel when they get out of shape in the Lord. Amen.
