Throw Away the Sack!
Children's sermon
Object: A paper sack or plastic bag.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a really good story for you today, are you ready to hear it? (Let them respond.)
We have all heard about the man called John. Does anyone remember what special thing John did? (Let them respond.) He was the man who baptized Jesus, wasn’t he? (Let them respond.) Our story says that the day after John baptized Jesus, John talked to the people who were with him and told them that Jesus was the one God had sent, and he said that they should all go see Jesus and listen to what he said to them. One of the people there was a man called Andrew. Andrew and his brother Simon were fishermen, and Andrew had to stay home and work on the boat that day so he didn’t hear what John had told everyone about Jesus. So, what did Andrew do? (Let them respond.) Andrew ran back to the boat and told Simon what John had said, and they both went together to see Jesus. They both stayed with Jesus and Andrew’s brother Simon changed his name to Peter, and he ended up doing a lot of things for Jesus and even wrote some of the stories that are in our bible. Simon was pretty special, but would that have happened if his brother Andrew hadn’t gone back home to get him? (Let them respond.) Probably not.
Now, I have a question for you. What do you think is the best part of our story today? (Let them respond.)
Well, for me, there are two very special parts of the story, and they both remind me of this sack. (Show the sack.) Who can tell me what we usually use a sack for? (Let them respond.) To put things in, right? Sometimes we might put things in it at the store. Sometimes we might put things in it that we need to carry someplace else. And sometimes we even put God in our sack. (Let them respond.) No, really. I think sometimes we try to put God in a sack. Let me tell you what I mean.
A lot of people thought John was the man God sent to help them, and they followed him around and treated him really special. People came from all over to see John, and to hear the things he wanted to say to them. They didn’t have things like Facebook or TikTok back then, but if they did, I’ll bet John would have had a LOT of followers. They all said nice things about him, let him go first in the line at lunch, and just wanted to hang out with him. It feels kind of nice to get that kind of attention, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) But if John told everyone that Jesus was the man God had sent, what would happen? (Let them respond.) Everyone would stop treating John so special and would go follow Jesus instead, wouldn’t they? (Let them respond.)
Do you think it was hard for John to tell them about Jesus? (Let them respond.) I wonder if John ever thought about not telling them about Jesus, and just wanted to keep them all there with him, kind of like putting God in a sack he could hold on to? (Pretend to shove something into your sack.) I’ll bet it was hard to give up the attention, but what did John do? (Let them respond.) He told them anyway, didn’t he? He didn’t put God in a sack, and I think that was pretty special.
I also wonder how Andrew felt when he heard John and thought about his brother. Do any of you have a brother or sister? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it is pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) And sometimes it isn’t quite so cool, is it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes brothers and sisters disagree and don’t get along so well. Sometimes we don’t like each other very much, and if we get something special, like candy, or a new game, we want to keep it for ourselves, don’t we? (Let them respond and show your sack.) It’s kind of like we put it in our sack so they can’t have it, right? Have you ever done something like that? (Let them respond.) Yeah, I think we all have.
I’ll bet Andrew and his brother were like that too, don’t you? They worked together all the time, so I’ll be they argued sometimes, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Do you think they might have argued that day about Andrew going to see John and leaving Simon to do all of the work on the boat? (Let them respond.) And when Andrew heard what John said about Jesus, I’ll bet he felt really special. He could have gone with everyone else and enjoyed being so special and just left Simon at the boat doing the work. (Show your sack.) He could just put God in a sack and keep the good feelings for himself. But what did Andrew do? (Let them respond.) Andrew thought about his brother and wanted him to feel as good as he did, so he went to tell him and bring him to meet Jesus, too.
Sometimes things happen that make us feel really special. Sometimes people do things for us that make us feel that way, and sometimes it feels like God is doing something really special for us, and it feels so good we think it would be great if we could just keep things that way. (Show the sack.) Maybe we could just put God in our sack and keep it all for ourselves and feel special.
But John and Andrew both knew something important. They knew that when God does something special for us and makes us feel good it becomes even more special and makes us feel even better if we share it with other people.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants each of us to throw away our sacks and help him let everyone know how much God loves every one 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.) I have a really good story for you today, are you ready to hear it? (Let them respond.)
We have all heard about the man called John. Does anyone remember what special thing John did? (Let them respond.) He was the man who baptized Jesus, wasn’t he? (Let them respond.) Our story says that the day after John baptized Jesus, John talked to the people who were with him and told them that Jesus was the one God had sent, and he said that they should all go see Jesus and listen to what he said to them. One of the people there was a man called Andrew. Andrew and his brother Simon were fishermen, and Andrew had to stay home and work on the boat that day so he didn’t hear what John had told everyone about Jesus. So, what did Andrew do? (Let them respond.) Andrew ran back to the boat and told Simon what John had said, and they both went together to see Jesus. They both stayed with Jesus and Andrew’s brother Simon changed his name to Peter, and he ended up doing a lot of things for Jesus and even wrote some of the stories that are in our bible. Simon was pretty special, but would that have happened if his brother Andrew hadn’t gone back home to get him? (Let them respond.) Probably not.
Now, I have a question for you. What do you think is the best part of our story today? (Let them respond.)
Well, for me, there are two very special parts of the story, and they both remind me of this sack. (Show the sack.) Who can tell me what we usually use a sack for? (Let them respond.) To put things in, right? Sometimes we might put things in it at the store. Sometimes we might put things in it that we need to carry someplace else. And sometimes we even put God in our sack. (Let them respond.) No, really. I think sometimes we try to put God in a sack. Let me tell you what I mean.
A lot of people thought John was the man God sent to help them, and they followed him around and treated him really special. People came from all over to see John, and to hear the things he wanted to say to them. They didn’t have things like Facebook or TikTok back then, but if they did, I’ll bet John would have had a LOT of followers. They all said nice things about him, let him go first in the line at lunch, and just wanted to hang out with him. It feels kind of nice to get that kind of attention, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) But if John told everyone that Jesus was the man God had sent, what would happen? (Let them respond.) Everyone would stop treating John so special and would go follow Jesus instead, wouldn’t they? (Let them respond.)
Do you think it was hard for John to tell them about Jesus? (Let them respond.) I wonder if John ever thought about not telling them about Jesus, and just wanted to keep them all there with him, kind of like putting God in a sack he could hold on to? (Pretend to shove something into your sack.) I’ll bet it was hard to give up the attention, but what did John do? (Let them respond.) He told them anyway, didn’t he? He didn’t put God in a sack, and I think that was pretty special.
I also wonder how Andrew felt when he heard John and thought about his brother. Do any of you have a brother or sister? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it is pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) And sometimes it isn’t quite so cool, is it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes brothers and sisters disagree and don’t get along so well. Sometimes we don’t like each other very much, and if we get something special, like candy, or a new game, we want to keep it for ourselves, don’t we? (Let them respond and show your sack.) It’s kind of like we put it in our sack so they can’t have it, right? Have you ever done something like that? (Let them respond.) Yeah, I think we all have.
I’ll bet Andrew and his brother were like that too, don’t you? They worked together all the time, so I’ll be they argued sometimes, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Do you think they might have argued that day about Andrew going to see John and leaving Simon to do all of the work on the boat? (Let them respond.) And when Andrew heard what John said about Jesus, I’ll bet he felt really special. He could have gone with everyone else and enjoyed being so special and just left Simon at the boat doing the work. (Show your sack.) He could just put God in a sack and keep the good feelings for himself. But what did Andrew do? (Let them respond.) Andrew thought about his brother and wanted him to feel as good as he did, so he went to tell him and bring him to meet Jesus, too.
Sometimes things happen that make us feel really special. Sometimes people do things for us that make us feel that way, and sometimes it feels like God is doing something really special for us, and it feels so good we think it would be great if we could just keep things that way. (Show the sack.) Maybe we could just put God in our sack and keep it all for ourselves and feel special.
But John and Andrew both knew something important. They knew that when God does something special for us and makes us feel good it becomes even more special and makes us feel even better if we share it with other people.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants each of us to throw away our sacks and help him let everyone know how much God loves every one 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.
