Tears!
Children's sermon
Object: A box of tissues.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a story that happened one day when Jesus was visiting some people on the other side of the Jordan River. He went there because some of the leaders in Jerusalem were really mad at him and wanted to arrest him. But Jesus still had things he wanted to do for God, so he went away so they couldn’t catch him yet. But while he was across the Jordan River, someone came and told him that his good friend, Lazarus, was really sick, and they wanted Jesus to come back to help him. Lazarus was Jesus’ good friend, and Jesus wanted to go help him. But, Bethany was right next to Jerusalem, and if Jesus went back to help Lazarus, the leaders that wanted to arrest him might be able to catch him there.
Finally, Jesus decided that he needed to go back to help. When he got to Bethany, Lazarus’ sister, Martha, told him he was too late. Lazarus had already died. She was really sad and said that if he hadn’t gone away like he did he could have been there to save her brother. Lazarus had another sister called Mary, but she didn’t even come to see Jesus when he came back. I think she was mad at Jesus for not being there, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Jesus looked at them and said, “Show me where Lazarus is buried.”
(Show the tissues.) When they got to the place where Lazarus was buried, everyone started crying. Then Jesus cried. When they saw Jesus crying, they all said, “He must have really loved Lazarus, and he feels really bad that he wasn’t here to help him.”
But I don’t think that is why Jesus was crying, do you? (Let them respond.) I think Jesus was crying for a different reason. Jesus knew that all he had to do was to ask God to bring Lazarus back and God would do that for him. So, I don’t think Jesus was crying because Lazarus was gone. I think Jesus was crying because he knew he had a really hard decision to make. It was a scary decision. If Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, it would make everyone here feel really great again, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) But what would happen when the leaders in Jerusalem heard about it? (Let them respond.) It was against the law for someone to pretend they were God, and if Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, they could arrest him for trying to make people believe he was God, couldn’t they? (Let them respond.) And if they arrested him, he couldn’t keep doing the things God still wanted him to do to help people. So, Jesus had a really hard decision to make. Should he bring his friend Lazarus back to life and get arrested, or should he leave Lazarus in his tomb and keep hiding from the leaders? (Let them respond.)
Sometimes we have to make some hard decisions, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes, the decisions are REALLY hard, aren’t they? Sometimes, we know what we ought to do, but it would be a lot easier if we did something else instead, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Today is a day in the church year we call All Saints Day. It is a day we think about people who have made some very hard decisions to do what they believe God wanted them to do. We call them saints, because they made those hard decisions and helped many people. (Show the tissues.) Do you think some of those saints cried when they had to make their difficult decisions? (Let them respond.) I think we all do that sometimes, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
Just like Jesus, sometimes we have to make decisions that are just scary. We have to decide if we will be nice to someone that other people are not being nice too, don’t we? (Let them respond.) We have to decide how we can help take care of people who are lonely, and afraid, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Some of us have to decide how we want our leaders to lead our country, don’t we? (Let them respond.) These can be very hard decisions. (Show the tissues.) Sometimes they are hard and scary enough to make us cry.
But I hope our story will help us remember that God created us to make decisions to take care of each other and not spend our time arguing and fighting with each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of God’s children and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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!
This is a story that happened one day when Jesus was visiting some people on the other side of the Jordan River. He went there because some of the leaders in Jerusalem were really mad at him and wanted to arrest him. But Jesus still had things he wanted to do for God, so he went away so they couldn’t catch him yet. But while he was across the Jordan River, someone came and told him that his good friend, Lazarus, was really sick, and they wanted Jesus to come back to help him. Lazarus was Jesus’ good friend, and Jesus wanted to go help him. But, Bethany was right next to Jerusalem, and if Jesus went back to help Lazarus, the leaders that wanted to arrest him might be able to catch him there.
Finally, Jesus decided that he needed to go back to help. When he got to Bethany, Lazarus’ sister, Martha, told him he was too late. Lazarus had already died. She was really sad and said that if he hadn’t gone away like he did he could have been there to save her brother. Lazarus had another sister called Mary, but she didn’t even come to see Jesus when he came back. I think she was mad at Jesus for not being there, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Jesus looked at them and said, “Show me where Lazarus is buried.”
(Show the tissues.) When they got to the place where Lazarus was buried, everyone started crying. Then Jesus cried. When they saw Jesus crying, they all said, “He must have really loved Lazarus, and he feels really bad that he wasn’t here to help him.”
But I don’t think that is why Jesus was crying, do you? (Let them respond.) I think Jesus was crying for a different reason. Jesus knew that all he had to do was to ask God to bring Lazarus back and God would do that for him. So, I don’t think Jesus was crying because Lazarus was gone. I think Jesus was crying because he knew he had a really hard decision to make. It was a scary decision. If Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, it would make everyone here feel really great again, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) But what would happen when the leaders in Jerusalem heard about it? (Let them respond.) It was against the law for someone to pretend they were God, and if Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, they could arrest him for trying to make people believe he was God, couldn’t they? (Let them respond.) And if they arrested him, he couldn’t keep doing the things God still wanted him to do to help people. So, Jesus had a really hard decision to make. Should he bring his friend Lazarus back to life and get arrested, or should he leave Lazarus in his tomb and keep hiding from the leaders? (Let them respond.)
Sometimes we have to make some hard decisions, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes, the decisions are REALLY hard, aren’t they? Sometimes, we know what we ought to do, but it would be a lot easier if we did something else instead, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Today is a day in the church year we call All Saints Day. It is a day we think about people who have made some very hard decisions to do what they believe God wanted them to do. We call them saints, because they made those hard decisions and helped many people. (Show the tissues.) Do you think some of those saints cried when they had to make their difficult decisions? (Let them respond.) I think we all do that sometimes, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
Just like Jesus, sometimes we have to make decisions that are just scary. We have to decide if we will be nice to someone that other people are not being nice too, don’t we? (Let them respond.) We have to decide how we can help take care of people who are lonely, and afraid, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Some of us have to decide how we want our leaders to lead our country, don’t we? (Let them respond.) These can be very hard decisions. (Show the tissues.) Sometimes they are hard and scary enough to make us cry.
But I hope our story will help us remember that God created us to make decisions to take care of each other and not spend our time arguing and fighting with each other. Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of God’s children and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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.
