Weak and strong
Children's sermon
Object:
a very tight bolt and a wrench
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you think you are pretty strong? (let them answer) I brought along something today that will require a test of your strength. I have some bolts that need to be unbolted, and I want to see who has the strongest fingers and arms that can do this for me. (if the bolt is in a piece of wood or metal, pass it around) These are tough bolts, aren't they? How we are going to loosen them? (let them answer)
I think I am pretty strong and I have a lot of practice. (try it yourself until you give up) These are tough bolts. But I have an answer. I brought along a helper, called a wrench. Have any of you ever used a wrench? (let them answer) Would you like to try to turn the bolt with my wrench? (let them try and one of them should be able to turn it with a little help from you) Wonderful, this little wrench, which is much smaller than you or me, is a great help. Something that we could not do before, we can now do with the wrench.
There is an important reason I wanted to show you this. Paul told us in his letter to the Corinthians that many times he was weak but that weakness was a good thing. Paul said that when he was weak, it made him depend more on Jesus. When he depended on Jesus, Jesus gave him great strength. Jesus is like the wrench. There are a lot of things with which we have trouble, but with Jesus in us we can get them done.
Suppose you are really sad. Nothing you do makes you feel any better. But a few minutes of praying to Jesus and asking for his help, and you will find you feel better than ever. Let's suppose you are afraid. You ask Jesus to take away the fear, and away it goes. Or suppose you want to forgive someone for something he/she did to you that really made you angry. Ask Jesus to help you go to the person and tell him/her that you forgive him/her. All of a sudden the person is your friend again. You need that kind of help to be strong.
The next time you see a wrench, I want you to think about how in our weakness Jesus makes us strong. We can't loosen the bolt without a wrench, and we can't do a lot of other things without Jesus.
I think I am pretty strong and I have a lot of practice. (try it yourself until you give up) These are tough bolts. But I have an answer. I brought along a helper, called a wrench. Have any of you ever used a wrench? (let them answer) Would you like to try to turn the bolt with my wrench? (let them try and one of them should be able to turn it with a little help from you) Wonderful, this little wrench, which is much smaller than you or me, is a great help. Something that we could not do before, we can now do with the wrench.
There is an important reason I wanted to show you this. Paul told us in his letter to the Corinthians that many times he was weak but that weakness was a good thing. Paul said that when he was weak, it made him depend more on Jesus. When he depended on Jesus, Jesus gave him great strength. Jesus is like the wrench. There are a lot of things with which we have trouble, but with Jesus in us we can get them done.
Suppose you are really sad. Nothing you do makes you feel any better. But a few minutes of praying to Jesus and asking for his help, and you will find you feel better than ever. Let's suppose you are afraid. You ask Jesus to take away the fear, and away it goes. Or suppose you want to forgive someone for something he/she did to you that really made you angry. Ask Jesus to help you go to the person and tell him/her that you forgive him/her. All of a sudden the person is your friend again. You need that kind of help to be strong.
The next time you see a wrench, I want you to think about how in our weakness Jesus makes us strong. We can't loosen the bolt without a wrench, and we can't do a lot of other things without Jesus.
