We are the body
Children's sermon
Object:
a Mr. Potato Head
Which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (v. 23)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you know who this is? (allow answers) This is Mr. Potato Head! How many of you have ever played with Mr. Potato Head? (allow answers) What do you do with Mr. Potato Head? (allow answers) Mr. Potato Head is a toy that is kind of shaped like a potato. His arms, legs, eyes, nose, and other body parts can all come off and be switched around. Mr. Potato Head can look pretty funny!
When you play with a toy like Mr. Potato Head, sometimes you lose some of the pieces. Uh-oh! What if we lost Mr. Potato Head's eyes? (allow answers) He wouldn't be able to see, but we could still play with him, right? (allow answers) Of course we could! And what if Mr. Potato Head lost an arm? Could we still play with him? (allow answers) In fact, we could lose any piece from Mr. Potato Head and we could still play with him. It would be sad to lose a piece, but the toy would still be okay.
But there is one piece where this would not be okay. Can any of you think of what this piece might be? (allow answers) That piece is Mr. Potato Head's body! Think about it. If we lost the body, we wouldn't have anything to put the other body parts in. We would have a pile of arms, eyes, noses, and mustaches that wouldn't be any good.
So the body is very important. In fact, bodies are not just important for Mr. Potato Head. Bodies are important for all of us! Unless we have a body, we simply cannot survive.
In our gospel lesson today, Paul talks about how the church is God's body. God is the spirit, but the church is the body of believers that can show God's love in the world. The church has many programs that help other people. Some churches have soup kitchens to give meals to those who are hungry. A church might have a Sunday school program, summer Bible school, a church choir, a nursery for babies -- there are lots of things that the church does! Although these things are important, they are like the body parts on Mr. Potato Head. It would be sad if we couldn't have a Sunday school class or a church choir, but the church body would still be there. And the church would still be showing God's love -- in other ways -- to the world. So the church, just like the potato in Mr. Potato Head, is the most important part of our ministry. Without it, we can't do the important things we do to help those around us. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you know who this is? (allow answers) This is Mr. Potato Head! How many of you have ever played with Mr. Potato Head? (allow answers) What do you do with Mr. Potato Head? (allow answers) Mr. Potato Head is a toy that is kind of shaped like a potato. His arms, legs, eyes, nose, and other body parts can all come off and be switched around. Mr. Potato Head can look pretty funny!
When you play with a toy like Mr. Potato Head, sometimes you lose some of the pieces. Uh-oh! What if we lost Mr. Potato Head's eyes? (allow answers) He wouldn't be able to see, but we could still play with him, right? (allow answers) Of course we could! And what if Mr. Potato Head lost an arm? Could we still play with him? (allow answers) In fact, we could lose any piece from Mr. Potato Head and we could still play with him. It would be sad to lose a piece, but the toy would still be okay.
But there is one piece where this would not be okay. Can any of you think of what this piece might be? (allow answers) That piece is Mr. Potato Head's body! Think about it. If we lost the body, we wouldn't have anything to put the other body parts in. We would have a pile of arms, eyes, noses, and mustaches that wouldn't be any good.
So the body is very important. In fact, bodies are not just important for Mr. Potato Head. Bodies are important for all of us! Unless we have a body, we simply cannot survive.
In our gospel lesson today, Paul talks about how the church is God's body. God is the spirit, but the church is the body of believers that can show God's love in the world. The church has many programs that help other people. Some churches have soup kitchens to give meals to those who are hungry. A church might have a Sunday school program, summer Bible school, a church choir, a nursery for babies -- there are lots of things that the church does! Although these things are important, they are like the body parts on Mr. Potato Head. It would be sad if we couldn't have a Sunday school class or a church choir, but the church body would still be there. And the church would still be showing God's love -- in other ways -- to the world. So the church, just like the potato in Mr. Potato Head, is the most important part of our ministry. Without it, we can't do the important things we do to help those around us. Amen.
