Winning!
Children's sermon
Object: A rock. I use one about the size of a baseball so it can be easily seen.
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Happy Easter! (Let them respond.) I thought it would be nice if we remembered the story of what happened on that first Easter a long time ago. Let’s see if we all remember it.
Early in the morning, Mary and some of Jesus’ other friends got up early and went to the place they had buried him on Friday. How do you think they were feeling? (Let them respond.) They wereprobably pretty sad, weren’t they? (Let them respond.) But when they got to the place, they found a big surprise, didn’t they? (Let them respond.) There was already someone standing there who told them that Jesus wasn’t there anymore. It was a big, angel. The angel told them that God had brought Jesus back, and the people who had been so mean to him would never be able to stop him again. The people who had hurt Jesus had lost, and God had won! Now, how do you think they all felt? (Let them respond.)
Then, all of a sudden, the great big angel started to glow really bright. And then a big army of angels flew down from heaven on great big horses covered with armor, and a huge, fire-breathing dragon flew down from the sky. And then the big angel shouted, “Let’s go get even with those people who hurt Jesus!”. Then the army of angels all picked up rocks, (Show the rock.) and the big angel told Mary and the others to pick up rocks too, so they could all march to town and get even with the enemies who had hurt Jesus. And when they got there they all had this big…(Look puzzled and let the children respond.) What’s wrong? Isn’t that what happened on Easter morning? (Let them respond.) No, that wasn’t what happened, was it? (Let them respond.)
The story says there was already someone there when they got to the tomb. It was an angel, and it did talk to them. But there wasn’t a big army of angels on horses, was there? (Let them respond.) And there wasn’t a huge fire-breathing dragon, was there? (Let them respond.) But there was a rock, wasn’t there? (Show the rock and let them respond.) But instead of picking the rock up to throw at people, what did the angel do with the rock? (Let them respond.) The angel just rolled it out of the way to let Jesus out of the tomb, didn’t it? (Let them respond.) And instead of telling Mary and the others to go and fight against the people who hurt Jesus, he told them to just go back home and wait for Jesus to come and be with them again. The angel told them not to try and get even with the other people, but to just go home and do what Jesus tells them to do and let God take care of the rest.
Has someone ever done something that you didn’t like, or maybe they did something that made you feel bad? (Let them respond.) I think we have all had that happen, haven’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes when that happens, we would really like to do something to get even with them, wouldn’t we? (Let them respond.) We want them to feel as bad as they made us feel, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Have you ever done something to try and get even with someone? (Let them respond.) After we do it, we might feel good for a minute, but then we start to feel guilty, don’t we? (Let them respond.) What we did was just as bad as what they did. So, getting even didn’t really fix things, did it? (Let them respond.)
The next time we get angry with someone or disagree with them, who can remember what God wants us to do? (Let them respond.) Not pick up a rock to throw at them, right? (Show the rock and let them respond.) God wants us to just remember that Jesus is still with us, and Jesus said we should just love each other, and let God take care of the rest.
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.
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Happy Easter! (Let them respond.) I thought it would be nice if we remembered the story of what happened on that first Easter a long time ago. Let’s see if we all remember it.
Early in the morning, Mary and some of Jesus’ other friends got up early and went to the place they had buried him on Friday. How do you think they were feeling? (Let them respond.) They wereprobably pretty sad, weren’t they? (Let them respond.) But when they got to the place, they found a big surprise, didn’t they? (Let them respond.) There was already someone standing there who told them that Jesus wasn’t there anymore. It was a big, angel. The angel told them that God had brought Jesus back, and the people who had been so mean to him would never be able to stop him again. The people who had hurt Jesus had lost, and God had won! Now, how do you think they all felt? (Let them respond.)
Then, all of a sudden, the great big angel started to glow really bright. And then a big army of angels flew down from heaven on great big horses covered with armor, and a huge, fire-breathing dragon flew down from the sky. And then the big angel shouted, “Let’s go get even with those people who hurt Jesus!”. Then the army of angels all picked up rocks, (Show the rock.) and the big angel told Mary and the others to pick up rocks too, so they could all march to town and get even with the enemies who had hurt Jesus. And when they got there they all had this big…(Look puzzled and let the children respond.) What’s wrong? Isn’t that what happened on Easter morning? (Let them respond.) No, that wasn’t what happened, was it? (Let them respond.)
The story says there was already someone there when they got to the tomb. It was an angel, and it did talk to them. But there wasn’t a big army of angels on horses, was there? (Let them respond.) And there wasn’t a huge fire-breathing dragon, was there? (Let them respond.) But there was a rock, wasn’t there? (Show the rock and let them respond.) But instead of picking the rock up to throw at people, what did the angel do with the rock? (Let them respond.) The angel just rolled it out of the way to let Jesus out of the tomb, didn’t it? (Let them respond.) And instead of telling Mary and the others to go and fight against the people who hurt Jesus, he told them to just go back home and wait for Jesus to come and be with them again. The angel told them not to try and get even with the other people, but to just go home and do what Jesus tells them to do and let God take care of the rest.
Has someone ever done something that you didn’t like, or maybe they did something that made you feel bad? (Let them respond.) I think we have all had that happen, haven’t we? (Let them respond.) And sometimes when that happens, we would really like to do something to get even with them, wouldn’t we? (Let them respond.) We want them to feel as bad as they made us feel, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Have you ever done something to try and get even with someone? (Let them respond.) After we do it, we might feel good for a minute, but then we start to feel guilty, don’t we? (Let them respond.) What we did was just as bad as what they did. So, getting even didn’t really fix things, did it? (Let them respond.)
The next time we get angry with someone or disagree with them, who can remember what God wants us to do? (Let them respond.) Not pick up a rock to throw at them, right? (Show the rock and let them respond.) God wants us to just remember that Jesus is still with us, and Jesus said we should just love each other, and let God take care of the rest.
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.
