What We Say!
Children's sermon
Object: This message includes a role-play.
Note: You will need five children for this role-play. If you do not have five, you can have children play more than one role, or recruit an adult to play the role of Jesus. The roles are Jesus, two Criminals, the Leader, and the Roman soldier. Have Jesus and the criminals stand next to each other, and have the others standing in front of them to watch and to speak when you tell them to. You could either tell them what to say when it is their turn or write the parts on a piece of paper to give to each of them to read aloud when it is their turn. Just relax and have fun with the experience.
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a story about something that happened on the day that Jesus died. Who remembers how Jesus died? (Let them respond.) He was crucified, which means he was nailed to a big cross. Jesus wasn’t the only person that was being crucified that day. Two other men were being crucified with Jesus that day. We don’t know what they did but we know they were criminals. The Romans liked to crucify people because it was slow and very painful and it punished the people by making them suffer a lot. Plus, the people were usually crucified on a big hill right next to the city where everyone could see them. That way, everyone knew what would happen to them if they didn’t follow the rules. So, a lot of people came to see Jesus and the two other men being crucified, and our story today is about what some of those people did when they saw Jesus there.
One of the people watching was one of the big leaders who didn’t like Jesus. He looked around and laughed at Jesus and said this: (Have the child playing the “Leader” say, “He saved others, so if he is God’s Chosen One then let him save himself!”) That wasn’t a very nice thing to say, was it? (Let them respond.) It sure wasn’t. The leader was making fun of Jesus, wasn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Later, Jesus said he was really thirsty, so a Roman soldier walked up to Jesus and held up a big stick with a wet sponge on it for Jesus to get a drink from. But the sponge wasn’t soaked with water. It was soaked with vinegar. Have you ever tasted vinegar? (Let them respond.) It tastes pretty horrible, doesn't it? (Let them respond.) And when he held it up to Jesus the soldier said, (Have the child playing the “Soldier” say, “Come on! If you are the king of the Jews, why don’t you just save yourself?”) That wasn’t very nice either, was it? (Let them respond.)
Then one of the two men who was being crucified with Jesus looked over at him and said, (Have the child playing the “First Criminal” say, “Hey! If you really are the Messiah why don’t you do something to prove it, and save us?”) Was that a nice thing to say? (Let them respond.) I don’t think so either.
The other criminal had been listening to everything the other people had said. Finally, he looked over at Jesus, and does anyone know what he said? (Let them respond.) The man looked at Jesus and said, (Have the child playing the “Second Criminal” say, “Jesus, please remember me when you get to be with God.”) He didn’t make fun of Jesus, did he? (Let them respond.) And he didn’t say anything mean, did he? (Let them respond.) He said that believed that Jesus was with God, and he asked Jesus if he could please be with him too.
Now I have a question for you. Which one of the people who spoke to Jesus do you think acted the way God wants us to act? (Let them respond.) The last man did, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
They could all see how much Jesus was hurting and how alone he was feeling, but they all made fun of him except the one man, didn’t they? (Let them respond.) That man didn’t make fun of Jesus or tease him, and he didn’t blame him or ignore him, did he? That last man acted the way God wants us to act when we see someone who is hurting, feels all alone, or is afraid, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are and ask God to help us remember to care about people we meet who are hurting, or are afraid, or who are feeling all alone.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
Note: You will need five children for this role-play. If you do not have five, you can have children play more than one role, or recruit an adult to play the role of Jesus. The roles are Jesus, two Criminals, the Leader, and the Roman soldier. Have Jesus and the criminals stand next to each other, and have the others standing in front of them to watch and to speak when you tell them to. You could either tell them what to say when it is their turn or write the parts on a piece of paper to give to each of them to read aloud when it is their turn. Just relax and have fun with the experience.
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a story about something that happened on the day that Jesus died. Who remembers how Jesus died? (Let them respond.) He was crucified, which means he was nailed to a big cross. Jesus wasn’t the only person that was being crucified that day. Two other men were being crucified with Jesus that day. We don’t know what they did but we know they were criminals. The Romans liked to crucify people because it was slow and very painful and it punished the people by making them suffer a lot. Plus, the people were usually crucified on a big hill right next to the city where everyone could see them. That way, everyone knew what would happen to them if they didn’t follow the rules. So, a lot of people came to see Jesus and the two other men being crucified, and our story today is about what some of those people did when they saw Jesus there.
One of the people watching was one of the big leaders who didn’t like Jesus. He looked around and laughed at Jesus and said this: (Have the child playing the “Leader” say, “He saved others, so if he is God’s Chosen One then let him save himself!”) That wasn’t a very nice thing to say, was it? (Let them respond.) It sure wasn’t. The leader was making fun of Jesus, wasn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Later, Jesus said he was really thirsty, so a Roman soldier walked up to Jesus and held up a big stick with a wet sponge on it for Jesus to get a drink from. But the sponge wasn’t soaked with water. It was soaked with vinegar. Have you ever tasted vinegar? (Let them respond.) It tastes pretty horrible, doesn't it? (Let them respond.) And when he held it up to Jesus the soldier said, (Have the child playing the “Soldier” say, “Come on! If you are the king of the Jews, why don’t you just save yourself?”) That wasn’t very nice either, was it? (Let them respond.)
Then one of the two men who was being crucified with Jesus looked over at him and said, (Have the child playing the “First Criminal” say, “Hey! If you really are the Messiah why don’t you do something to prove it, and save us?”) Was that a nice thing to say? (Let them respond.) I don’t think so either.
The other criminal had been listening to everything the other people had said. Finally, he looked over at Jesus, and does anyone know what he said? (Let them respond.) The man looked at Jesus and said, (Have the child playing the “Second Criminal” say, “Jesus, please remember me when you get to be with God.”) He didn’t make fun of Jesus, did he? (Let them respond.) And he didn’t say anything mean, did he? (Let them respond.) He said that believed that Jesus was with God, and he asked Jesus if he could please be with him too.
Now I have a question for you. Which one of the people who spoke to Jesus do you think acted the way God wants us to act? (Let them respond.) The last man did, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
They could all see how much Jesus was hurting and how alone he was feeling, but they all made fun of him except the one man, didn’t they? (Let them respond.) That man didn’t make fun of Jesus or tease him, and he didn’t blame him or ignore him, did he? That last man acted the way God wants us to act when we see someone who is hurting, feels all alone, or is afraid, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are and ask God to help us remember to care about people we meet who are hurting, or are afraid, or who are feeling all alone.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
