Childrens Sermon Service

First Thoughts: In this passage from John we see an interesting dynamic among those who are following Jesus. Jesus is teaching some complex and difficult lessons here, and for some this is the breaking point. They either can't or won't understand what Jesus is asking of them, and so they turn back to their old lives. But there are a few who remain. When Jesus questions them about whether they will leave too, we get this response: "Where are we supposed to go? We've already thrown in with you, so we'll stick it out." We get a real sense here that those who remained might not have any better understanding of Jesus' teaching than those who left. They might be confused or uncertain of exactly what Jesus is saying, but they have no confusion about Jesus himself. They have walked with him long enough to trust him, even when they don't understand him. This is an important distinction for every Christian to make. Resistance is part of every faith walk. As we are challenged to new learning and to grow deeper in our faith, we find ourselves dragging our feet. We don't understand what is happening; we might even feel like the ground is falling out from beneath us. We would much prefer to go back to something more familiar instead of allowing ourselves to be changed in this way. Growing in faith means anticipating this resistance and bringing it to God's care, recognizing it for what it is -- not a sign that we should go back, but a sign we should remain steady. God is doing something new in our lives. If we can just hold on and prayerfully wait, God will remove our resistance and give us more freedom and life than we had before. Think about a time in your life when you went through a faith crisis. How did you hold on and persevere through the storm? What was waiting for you on the other side? Carry your experience and reflection with you in your time with the children.

Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has Spanish book)
Leader 1: Hi, (name). Is that a Spanish book you're carrying?
Leader 2: (grumpily) Yeah.
Leader 1: Oh, are you learning to speak it? ?Te gusta espanol muy mucho?
Leader 2: What?
Leader 1: I said, do you like Spanish a lot?
Leader 2: Like it? I can't even understand it! The teacher stands up there and talks and talks, and then she asks me questions. But I don't know what she's asking, and even if I did I wouldn't know how to answer her. I think I'm just going to quit!
Leader 1: But you've only just started taking lessons. You can't expect to understand everything right when you start out. I took Spanish for three years before I felt I could really speak it well.
Leader 2: But it's so frustrating!
Leader 1: I'm sure it is. New things are often frustrating. We don't understand what's going on and might feel lost and embarrassed. It takes hard work to stick it out when we feel that way. But if we just quit, we never learn anything new. That reminds me of our passage today. Jesus is teaching his disciples, but what he's teaching them is hard for them to understand. They feel confused and a little frightened. Some of them decided it's just too hard to follow Jesus anymore, so they went home.
Leader 2: Like I want to quit Spanish?
Leader 1: Yep. But you know, a few of them decided to stay anyway. Even though they didn't understand exactly what Jesus was teaching, they knew that they believed in Jesus. They believed he was leading them in the right path and eventually things would make sense for them. They had faith that Jesus could teach them and that they could learn, so they stuck it out.
Leader 2: So are you saying I should have faith in my Spanish teacher?
Leader 1: Well, has she taught other students to speak Spanish?
Leader 2: Yeah, she's been a teacher for ten years.
Leader 1: And have you been able to learn new things in the past?
Leader 2: Well, sure.
Leader 1: Then I think you can have faith in her and in yourself. You'll be speaking Spanish muy pronto.
Leader 2: Does that mean very soon?
Leader 1: You got it. See? You're already catching on!

Teaching On Your Own: (holds book) Look what I have -- it's a Spanish book. Do any of you know Spanish? Can you speak it? Well, I can't! And I can't understand it when anybody else does. The teacher stands up there and talks and talks, and then she asks me questions. But I don't know what she's asking, and even if I did I wouldn't know how to answer her. I think I'm just going to quit! I've already been to two classes. Don't you think it's time? (wait on response) No? But it's so frustrating. Have you ever felt frustrated when you were trying to learn something new? You just don't understand what's going on, and you feel lost and embarrassed. It takes hard work to stick it out when we feel that way, doesn't it? But if we just quit, we never learn anything new. That reminds me of our passage today. Jesus is teaching his disciples, but what he's teaching them is hard for them to understand. They feel confused and a little frightened. Some of them decided it's too hard to follow Jesus anymore, so they went home. Just like I want to quit Spanish. But you know, a few of them decided to stay anyway. Even though they didn't understand exactly what Jesus was teaching, they knew that they believed in Jesus. They believed he was leading them in the right path and eventually things would make sense for them. They had faith that Jesus could teach them and that they could learn, so they stuck it out. Hey, maybe I should have faith in my Spanish teacher. After all, she has taught this for ten years and lots of people have learned from her. Maybe I should also have faith in myself, because I have learned new things before. What do you think? Yeah. In fact, I believe I'll be speaking Spanish (looks in book) "muy pronto." You know what that means? Very soon. Ha! I'm getting better already!

Closing Prayer: Loving God, give us the strength to stick it out when things get hard for us and to trust that you will show us the way through. Grow our faith in your love and guide us in your care. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a classroom or home setting, talk to the children a bit about the experience of resistance. Resistance is that feeling we have when we want to get away from something. When we're feeling uncomfortable or sad or even angry, we might find ourselves resisting that feeling and trying to get away from it or pretend it's not there. Why would we do that? Because these feelings are difficult and maybe we're a little afraid of them. We experience resistance in our walk with God too. That's because God is always working to grow us in areas where we're weak. If we're very anxious, God wants to grow us in calmness. If we're angry, God wants to grow us in gentleness. If we're selfish, God wants to grow us in generosity. These are all good things but still these are big changes and they make us nervous. Invite the children to think of a major change in their lives (new baby, new home, starting school) How did they feel about these changes? Even when we're excited, we usually also feel a bit frightened. The good news is that God understands that we're nervous, and God is patient and loving with us. If we are feeling scared, God doesn't push us but lets us take our time. So we can bring all our feelings to God and know that we'll be okay -- just like the disciples in the story. As a craft and object lesson, give each child a hardened lump of clay. Explain to them that this represents our fear or anxiety about change. First tell the children to try to shape the clay. Not so easy! Then give the children water and invite them to rub the water into the clay. Notice how the clay slowly begins to soften. Soon they are able to do something new with the clay. Explain to the children that we are like that clay and that the water is like God's love, slowly freeing us and helping us become something new. Allow the children to shape their clay in whatever form they feel expresses something new and free and allow the clay to dry. (Make sure you put the clay on paper with each child's name on it, so you can provide them with their project later.) Close with a time of prayer.