Stones
Children's sermon
Object:
a stone
"As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." (v. 6)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have gone on a trip? (allow answers) Where have you gone? (allow answers) In your travels -- whether they were to another country, another state, or just another town -- have you seen old, run-down buildings? (allow answers) What kind of run-down buildings have you seen? (allow answers) Sometimes abandoned factories might have ivy growing through the windows, or an old house might have peeling, faded paint and a sagging roof. Sometimes you'll see a barn that has collapsed into a pile of rubble! All of these places have felt the effects of time. When a building stands empty and no one takes care of it, it will quickly fall into ruin.
You don't just see old buildings around here. They are everywhere! In fact, in places where ancient cities once stood, scientists and archaeologists often dig under sand or earth to find the remains of these old metropolises. People study these remains to learn about the people and the culture of the civilization that lived there long ago. Although many of these cities once had fabulous palaces, beautiful buildings, and huge numbers of people, they have faded with time and been buried by the earth and the sand.
Someday, our civilization will fade out of peoples' memory. Someday, they might dig up our famous cities -- New York, Los Angeles, Chicago -- and put together museum exhibits on "old" America! Can you imagine that? (allow answers) That will be many hundreds of years in the future. No matter how successful or large a civilization is, it is inevitable that someday it will fade into history. Even the greatest empires in the world -- the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire -- and the greatest civilizations in the world -- the Greeks, the Egyptians -- have been lost to time. Nothing lasts forever! In our gospel reading, Jesus reminds his followers of this lesson. He says, "The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." Jesus doesn't say this to make his followers discouraged. Instead, he is reminding them that time changes everything. No matter how much we want something to stay the same forever, it cannot be. Life is constantly changing. We should not rely on things of this world to stay. Instead, if we want to rely on something to be constant in our lives, we need to look outside of this world to God. No matter what happens God's promise to us remains the same. Buildings will fail, but the word of God will never let us down. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have gone on a trip? (allow answers) Where have you gone? (allow answers) In your travels -- whether they were to another country, another state, or just another town -- have you seen old, run-down buildings? (allow answers) What kind of run-down buildings have you seen? (allow answers) Sometimes abandoned factories might have ivy growing through the windows, or an old house might have peeling, faded paint and a sagging roof. Sometimes you'll see a barn that has collapsed into a pile of rubble! All of these places have felt the effects of time. When a building stands empty and no one takes care of it, it will quickly fall into ruin.
You don't just see old buildings around here. They are everywhere! In fact, in places where ancient cities once stood, scientists and archaeologists often dig under sand or earth to find the remains of these old metropolises. People study these remains to learn about the people and the culture of the civilization that lived there long ago. Although many of these cities once had fabulous palaces, beautiful buildings, and huge numbers of people, they have faded with time and been buried by the earth and the sand.
Someday, our civilization will fade out of peoples' memory. Someday, they might dig up our famous cities -- New York, Los Angeles, Chicago -- and put together museum exhibits on "old" America! Can you imagine that? (allow answers) That will be many hundreds of years in the future. No matter how successful or large a civilization is, it is inevitable that someday it will fade into history. Even the greatest empires in the world -- the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire -- and the greatest civilizations in the world -- the Greeks, the Egyptians -- have been lost to time. Nothing lasts forever! In our gospel reading, Jesus reminds his followers of this lesson. He says, "The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." Jesus doesn't say this to make his followers discouraged. Instead, he is reminding them that time changes everything. No matter how much we want something to stay the same forever, it cannot be. Life is constantly changing. We should not rely on things of this world to stay. Instead, if we want to rely on something to be constant in our lives, we need to look outside of this world to God. No matter what happens God's promise to us remains the same. Buildings will fail, but the word of God will never let us down. Amen.
