The Wait is Over
Children's sermon
Object:
For the most fun, have a doll wrapped in a blanket for the children to use during the story, role-play.
There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (vv. 36-38)
Getting Excited!!!
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good Christmas. (Let them respond.) I want to tell you a story about something that happened a few days after the first Christmas, a few days after the baby Jesus was born. In fact, I don’t want to just tell you the story, I want you to help me show the story. Can you help me do that? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a story about two people. Two very old people. First, there was a man whose name was Simeon. I need someone to pretend to be Simeon for us. Who would like to do that? (Let them respond.) Great! Thank you! Simeon, why don’t you come and stand over here beside us (Have Simeon stand somewhere near the rest of you.) And there was awoman whose name was Anna. I need someone to pretend to be Anna for us. Who would like to do that? (Let them respond.) Great, thank you. Anna, why don’t you come and stand over here next to Simeon (Have Anna stand next to Simeon.) How about a round of applause for Anna and Simeon? (Let everyone respond)
Anna and Simeon were two older people who believed a baby was going to be born that would be God’s son. They were so excited they spent all of their time standing at the temple, waiting to see the special baby. They knew that when a baby was born, the parents would bring it to the temple for a special ceremony. And when the parents of that special baby brought him to the temple, Anna and Simeon wanted to be there so they could see it. They were really, really excited about seeing the baby, so let’s see just what they did. I am going to need another volunteer. Who would like to help? (Let them respond) Great! Here, I need you to pretend to be one of the new parents going to the temple. So, take the baby (hand them the doll) and pretend to walk up the steps to the temple. (Let them respond.) When Anna and Simeon saw the person carrying a baby, they ran right over to see it, and wow, were they excited! Anna and Simeon, let’s see you run over to take a look at the baby and show us how excited you think Anna and Simeon might have been. (Let them respond.) Good job! But, when they saw the baby they realized it wasn’t the one, special baby they were looking for. Anna and Simeon, how do you think you felt when they saw it wasn’t the special baby? (Let them respond) Disappointed? Yes, they probably looked disappointed. But you went back over and waited again. (Have the first parent give you the doll back and sit down).
Now, we need another parent. (Let them respond.) Great, thanks. Here, you take the baby (hand them the doll) and you pretend to walk up the steps to the temple. (Let them respond.) When Anna and Simeon saw the next person carrying a baby, they ran right over to see it, and wow, were they excited! Anna and Simeon, let’s see you run over to take a look at this baby and show us how excited you think Anna and Simeon might have been. (Let them respond.) But, when they saw this baby they realized it wasn’t the one, special baby they were looking for either. What do you think they did? Yes, they were probably disappointed again. But you went back over and waited again. (Have the first parent give you the doll back and sit down).
We need one more parent. (Let them respond.) Great! Here, you take your baby and walk up the steps into the temple. When Anna and Simeon saw the next person carrying a baby, what do you think they did this time? Yes, they ran right over to see it, and wow, were they excited! Anna and Simeon, let’s see you run over to take a look at this baby and show us how excited you think Anna and Simeon might have been. (Let them respond.) And this time, they got even more excited because they saw it was the very special baby they had been waiting for. And boy, they had been waiting a long time. How excited do you think Anna and Simeon were? (Let them respond.) Can we all show everyone how excited you think Anna and Simeon were to finally see the baby Jesus? (Let all of them respond) Yes, they were SUPER-excited.
Just like we waited a long time for Christmas to finally get here, Anna and Simeon had waited too. And when they finally saw the baby Jesus, they started telling everyone who he was and just how special he was.
Let’s all give another round of applause for our Anna and Simeon! (Let everyone respond.) And how about a round of applause for the parents who carried the babies? (Let them respond) And why don’t we have another round of applause for the baby, just to show how excited we are about God sending him to us? (Let them respond)
Thank you all so much for helping me tell the story about Anna and Simeon, and for helping us remember just how exciting it really was for God to send his son to us. Let’s say a prayer to ask God to help us remember just how special that was.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how special your Son, Jesus is to us. Please help us find ways to let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
NOTE: If you are presenting your children’s messages virtually, or in some other way that makes a normal activity difficult, you can still have fun with today’s role-play story. For example, if you are with just one child, you might play the part of the parent with the baby, and have the child play the part of Anna or Simeon, and the two of you act it all out. If you are doing this virtually, you might encourage your “viewers” to still pretend to be Anna or Simeon and act out the story, or, you could find another person to be with you ‘on-screen’, and have the two of you do the role-play for the children. However you might do it, the overall goal of the message is to use Anna and Simeon to talk about the excitement of the Christmas birth!
Getting Excited!!!
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good Christmas. (Let them respond.) I want to tell you a story about something that happened a few days after the first Christmas, a few days after the baby Jesus was born. In fact, I don’t want to just tell you the story, I want you to help me show the story. Can you help me do that? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a story about two people. Two very old people. First, there was a man whose name was Simeon. I need someone to pretend to be Simeon for us. Who would like to do that? (Let them respond.) Great! Thank you! Simeon, why don’t you come and stand over here beside us (Have Simeon stand somewhere near the rest of you.) And there was awoman whose name was Anna. I need someone to pretend to be Anna for us. Who would like to do that? (Let them respond.) Great, thank you. Anna, why don’t you come and stand over here next to Simeon (Have Anna stand next to Simeon.) How about a round of applause for Anna and Simeon? (Let everyone respond)
Anna and Simeon were two older people who believed a baby was going to be born that would be God’s son. They were so excited they spent all of their time standing at the temple, waiting to see the special baby. They knew that when a baby was born, the parents would bring it to the temple for a special ceremony. And when the parents of that special baby brought him to the temple, Anna and Simeon wanted to be there so they could see it. They were really, really excited about seeing the baby, so let’s see just what they did. I am going to need another volunteer. Who would like to help? (Let them respond) Great! Here, I need you to pretend to be one of the new parents going to the temple. So, take the baby (hand them the doll) and pretend to walk up the steps to the temple. (Let them respond.) When Anna and Simeon saw the person carrying a baby, they ran right over to see it, and wow, were they excited! Anna and Simeon, let’s see you run over to take a look at the baby and show us how excited you think Anna and Simeon might have been. (Let them respond.) Good job! But, when they saw the baby they realized it wasn’t the one, special baby they were looking for. Anna and Simeon, how do you think you felt when they saw it wasn’t the special baby? (Let them respond) Disappointed? Yes, they probably looked disappointed. But you went back over and waited again. (Have the first parent give you the doll back and sit down).
Now, we need another parent. (Let them respond.) Great, thanks. Here, you take the baby (hand them the doll) and you pretend to walk up the steps to the temple. (Let them respond.) When Anna and Simeon saw the next person carrying a baby, they ran right over to see it, and wow, were they excited! Anna and Simeon, let’s see you run over to take a look at this baby and show us how excited you think Anna and Simeon might have been. (Let them respond.) But, when they saw this baby they realized it wasn’t the one, special baby they were looking for either. What do you think they did? Yes, they were probably disappointed again. But you went back over and waited again. (Have the first parent give you the doll back and sit down).
We need one more parent. (Let them respond.) Great! Here, you take your baby and walk up the steps into the temple. When Anna and Simeon saw the next person carrying a baby, what do you think they did this time? Yes, they ran right over to see it, and wow, were they excited! Anna and Simeon, let’s see you run over to take a look at this baby and show us how excited you think Anna and Simeon might have been. (Let them respond.) And this time, they got even more excited because they saw it was the very special baby they had been waiting for. And boy, they had been waiting a long time. How excited do you think Anna and Simeon were? (Let them respond.) Can we all show everyone how excited you think Anna and Simeon were to finally see the baby Jesus? (Let all of them respond) Yes, they were SUPER-excited.
Just like we waited a long time for Christmas to finally get here, Anna and Simeon had waited too. And when they finally saw the baby Jesus, they started telling everyone who he was and just how special he was.
Let’s all give another round of applause for our Anna and Simeon! (Let everyone respond.) And how about a round of applause for the parents who carried the babies? (Let them respond) And why don’t we have another round of applause for the baby, just to show how excited we are about God sending him to us? (Let them respond)
Thank you all so much for helping me tell the story about Anna and Simeon, and for helping us remember just how exciting it really was for God to send his son to us. Let’s say a prayer to ask God to help us remember just how special that was.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how special your Son, Jesus is to us. Please help us find ways to let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
NOTE: If you are presenting your children’s messages virtually, or in some other way that makes a normal activity difficult, you can still have fun with today’s role-play story. For example, if you are with just one child, you might play the part of the parent with the baby, and have the child play the part of Anna or Simeon, and the two of you act it all out. If you are doing this virtually, you might encourage your “viewers” to still pretend to be Anna or Simeon and act out the story, or, you could find another person to be with you ‘on-screen’, and have the two of you do the role-play for the children. However you might do it, the overall goal of the message is to use Anna and Simeon to talk about the excitement of the Christmas birth!
