Childrens Sermon Service

Object: A birth certificate.

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! We are going to do something special today, and everyone gets to be a part of it. And that includes everyone here. (Speak to the congregation.) You all have a part to play in our story this morning. I will let you know what to do when it is your turn to play.

We have heard about John the Baptist before, haven’t we? (Let the children respond.) We probably remember that he was the man who told everyone that Jesus was coming. Well, today we are going to see if we can learn something new about him. To do that, we are all going to pretend to be John the Baptist. Let’s start by all standing up. (Have the children stand and face the congregation.) And now, let’s tell everyone that Jesus is coming. Let’s all look at the people and shout at them, “Get ready!”

(Have the children shout “Get ready!” at the congregation.)

The people got excited about what John said and applauded. (Tell the congregation to applaud for the children.)

More people heard about John, and when they came to see him, he shouted, “God is sending someone to you!”

(Have the children shout “God is sending someone to you!” at the congregation.)

The people got even more excited and clapped louder. (Tell the congregation to applaud louder for the children.)

Now big crowds of people started coming to see John from all over the place, and they were really excited. John shouted, “God is sending someone to change the world!”

(Have the children shout “God is sending someone to change the world!” at the congregation.)

(Tell the congregation to “go nuts” applauding and cheering for the children.)

John had become famous. He was a star. People traveled from all over the place, even other countries, to follow him around and hear what he said. Everyone was talking about him, and he had millions of followers on YouTube and TicToc. (Let them respond.) Well, they didn’t have YouTube and TicToc back then, but if they did, John would have been called a big influencer, wouldn’t he? (Let them respond.)

Then, one day, someone came up and asked him, “Are you the one God is sending to save us?”

And now, John had a big decision to make. All of the people were coming to see him because they thought he was so special. But he told them that he wasn’t the one God was sending, what would they do? (Let them respond.) They would probably want to go and see the other person, wouldn’t they? (Let them respond.) And then, John wouldn’t be as famous anymore, would he? (Let them respond.) So, if he told them who he really was, he might not look as special anymore, would he? (Let them respond.)

Have you ever wished you were somehow more special? (Let them respond.) Or have you ever seen someone who was more popular than you and wished you were more like them? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we even do things to try and make ourselves look more special just to get people to look at us, don’t we? (Let them respond.)

People believed that John was special, but if he told people who he really was they wouldn’t be as famous anymore. When the person asked him if he was the one God was sending, what do you think John said? (Let them respond.) He said, “No, I am not the one.”

Someone else asked him, “Then, are you the prophet Elijah?” John said, “No, I am not Elijah.”

Another person asked, “Are you another prophet from God?” John said, “No, I am not a prophet.”

The people said, “Then who are you really?” John said, “I am just someone telling you that God is about to do something important.”

John knew who he was, and he told them the truth.

Now, who can tell us what this is? (Show the birth certificate and let them respond.) It is a birth certificate, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) This is the certificate they fill out when you are born that tells things about you. It tells us your name, your birthday, how big you were, and a few other things. But it doesn’t tell everything about you, does it? (Let them respond.) It doesn’t tell us why God created you, or what plans God has for you, does it? (Let them respond.) But, it reminds us that God created each one of us to be something very special and has plans for things we are going to do.

John the Baptist knew he wasn’t the famous one the people were looking for, but he knew that God had created him to be special in his own way and didn’t try to be someone else. And, just like John, God created you and has plans for you. God created each one of us to help take care of each other, and that makes us very special!

Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care 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.