You just had to be there...
Children's sermon
Object:
any photo of a great vacation spot
He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. (v. 8)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Have you ever tried to tell somebody about something really cool that you did or saw? (allow answers) Sometimes when we try to tell others about really cool things, they just don't get excited about it. Sometimes it's hard for us to explain what was so cool about what we did, who we saw, or where we were.
What's the coolest place you can imagine? (allow answers) Now, imagine that you are at that place. It's awesome! There are so many amazing things to see, hear, smell, and touch. You can't believe how amazing it is, so you take a photograph. You want to be able to tell your friends all about it when you get back. If they knew how cool this place was, you know they'd want to come here too. So you take your photograph back to your friends but they don't see it the same way you do. They think the photograph doesn't look very interesting. Your stories about this place don't have them convinced that they should try to go there. You wish that you had all the smells, sounds, and feel of that place -- but all you have is a photograph. There's no way you can explain how much they are missing by not going.
How would you feel? (allow answers) You would probably be frustrated that you couldn't explain all of the awesome things you saw, smelled, felt, and heard. You would be sad that your friends would not have the experience of that place.
It must have been kind of like that for John the Baptist. We read about John the Baptist today. He was Jesus' cousin and he traveled around the countryside to tell people the good news: that God's Son, Jesus, was on earth among them! John knew how awesome this was. He knew that this was the best news of the millennium! But John also had a hard job in front of him. He didn't even have a photograph to use when he talked to people about God's Son and about the future that they could have with Jesus. All he had was words.
John wasn't discouraged, though. He traveled all over and baptized many people, making them believers in God's promise -- just using his words. Even though it was difficult, he was willing to do the work to bring Jesus' message of love and peace to all people. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Have you ever tried to tell somebody about something really cool that you did or saw? (allow answers) Sometimes when we try to tell others about really cool things, they just don't get excited about it. Sometimes it's hard for us to explain what was so cool about what we did, who we saw, or where we were.
What's the coolest place you can imagine? (allow answers) Now, imagine that you are at that place. It's awesome! There are so many amazing things to see, hear, smell, and touch. You can't believe how amazing it is, so you take a photograph. You want to be able to tell your friends all about it when you get back. If they knew how cool this place was, you know they'd want to come here too. So you take your photograph back to your friends but they don't see it the same way you do. They think the photograph doesn't look very interesting. Your stories about this place don't have them convinced that they should try to go there. You wish that you had all the smells, sounds, and feel of that place -- but all you have is a photograph. There's no way you can explain how much they are missing by not going.
How would you feel? (allow answers) You would probably be frustrated that you couldn't explain all of the awesome things you saw, smelled, felt, and heard. You would be sad that your friends would not have the experience of that place.
It must have been kind of like that for John the Baptist. We read about John the Baptist today. He was Jesus' cousin and he traveled around the countryside to tell people the good news: that God's Son, Jesus, was on earth among them! John knew how awesome this was. He knew that this was the best news of the millennium! But John also had a hard job in front of him. He didn't even have a photograph to use when he talked to people about God's Son and about the future that they could have with Jesus. All he had was words.
John wasn't discouraged, though. He traveled all over and baptized many people, making them believers in God's promise -- just using his words. Even though it was difficult, he was willing to do the work to bring Jesus' message of love and peace to all people. Amen.
