Who is my neighbor?
Children's sermon
Object:
a picture of several houses together and a globe
Who can tell me what a "neighbor" is? (Listen for responses.) Okay, a neighbor is someone who lives near you. (Hold up the picture.) The people who live in these houses are neighbors because they all live near one another. We call several houses that are close together a "neighborhood," right?
Can a neighbor be someone who lives far away from you? (Get their responses and ask them why or why not. Now hold up the globe.) This is a globe of the world. We live right here. (Point to where you live.) Are we the neighbors of people who live around on the other side of the world in Australia? What about the people who live in France?
Now let me ask you another question. Do you have to know a person to be a neighbor? In our reading today Jesus tells a parable about a man who is beaten and robbed while walking down a road. The robbers leave him wounded and lying on the side of the road. Several people walk by the hurt man, but they do not stop to help him. Why? Because they don't think that the man is their problem. After all, he isn't their neighbor. They don't know him, so why should they help him? That's mean. Finally, someone does stop and help him. This man, a Samaritan, cleans him up and takes him to a safe place where he can get better.
This is the lesson Jesus teaches us: our neighbors are everywhere. You don't need to live by your neighbor, you don't need to look like your neighbor, and you don't need even to know your neighbor. In God's eyes, everyone is your neighbor. The last part of our verse today says that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We should love all people and treat them in the same way we would like to be treated. Neighbors are everywhere. Today, try to find a way to help one of your neighbors.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for today's lesson. Please help us learn to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Amen.
Can a neighbor be someone who lives far away from you? (Get their responses and ask them why or why not. Now hold up the globe.) This is a globe of the world. We live right here. (Point to where you live.) Are we the neighbors of people who live around on the other side of the world in Australia? What about the people who live in France?
Now let me ask you another question. Do you have to know a person to be a neighbor? In our reading today Jesus tells a parable about a man who is beaten and robbed while walking down a road. The robbers leave him wounded and lying on the side of the road. Several people walk by the hurt man, but they do not stop to help him. Why? Because they don't think that the man is their problem. After all, he isn't their neighbor. They don't know him, so why should they help him? That's mean. Finally, someone does stop and help him. This man, a Samaritan, cleans him up and takes him to a safe place where he can get better.
This is the lesson Jesus teaches us: our neighbors are everywhere. You don't need to live by your neighbor, you don't need to look like your neighbor, and you don't need even to know your neighbor. In God's eyes, everyone is your neighbor. The last part of our verse today says that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We should love all people and treat them in the same way we would like to be treated. Neighbors are everywhere. Today, try to find a way to help one of your neighbors.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for today's lesson. Please help us learn to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Amen.
