Of Backs And Cracks
Children's sermon
The Giant Book Of Children's Sermons
Matthew To Revelation
Object:
a string that could look like a crack in the sidewalk
Good morning, boys and girls. Today I need your help. I want you to use your imagination. Do you know what I mean when I say imagination? (let them answer) That's right; I want you to pretend.
I have a string with me that I am going to lay down on the floor. We are going to pretend that the floor is a sidewalk and the string is a crack in the sidewalk. How many of you have ever seen a sidewalk cracked? (let them answer) Does the string look like a crack? (let them answer) Good, then this will help you to pretend.
There is an old saying that goes like this, "If you step on the crack, you will break your mother's back." That is an old saying and I don't believe it, do you? (let them answer) You can't break your mother's back by stepping on a crack in the sidewalk. But some people believe things like this. They think it is unlucky to step on cracks, and that if they do, something bad will happen to their mother. It won't happen, but they think it will.
You and I could step on cracks all day long and nothing would happen to anyone's mother because we stepped on the crack. But even so, it is important for us to think about. Suppose you were with a friend and he thought that stepping on that crack would hurt his mother. What would you do? (let them answer) That's right; you would try to convince him that it just couldn't happen. But he wouldn't believe you. Then, what would you do? Would you step on it a bunch of times and run home to show him that it didn't make any difference? (let them answer) I don't think so. That would just make him mad at you, and nothing good would happen. We don't want to make people mad or angry at us. That is not the way that we teach boys and girls about Jesus.
We teach about Jesus by doing good for them and not by trying to prove everything that we think is right and making them angry. The Apostle Paul had things like this happen to him. He told all the Christians to be very concerned about people who did not know Jesus and to help them learn without making them mad.
You and I have to do the same thing. Don't try to always be right about everything when you know it makes others mad. Listen to them and try to understand them and love them a lot and they will come to know the truth by learning.
Thank you for coming this morning and thank you for letting me use your imagination.
I have a string with me that I am going to lay down on the floor. We are going to pretend that the floor is a sidewalk and the string is a crack in the sidewalk. How many of you have ever seen a sidewalk cracked? (let them answer) Does the string look like a crack? (let them answer) Good, then this will help you to pretend.
There is an old saying that goes like this, "If you step on the crack, you will break your mother's back." That is an old saying and I don't believe it, do you? (let them answer) You can't break your mother's back by stepping on a crack in the sidewalk. But some people believe things like this. They think it is unlucky to step on cracks, and that if they do, something bad will happen to their mother. It won't happen, but they think it will.
You and I could step on cracks all day long and nothing would happen to anyone's mother because we stepped on the crack. But even so, it is important for us to think about. Suppose you were with a friend and he thought that stepping on that crack would hurt his mother. What would you do? (let them answer) That's right; you would try to convince him that it just couldn't happen. But he wouldn't believe you. Then, what would you do? Would you step on it a bunch of times and run home to show him that it didn't make any difference? (let them answer) I don't think so. That would just make him mad at you, and nothing good would happen. We don't want to make people mad or angry at us. That is not the way that we teach boys and girls about Jesus.
We teach about Jesus by doing good for them and not by trying to prove everything that we think is right and making them angry. The Apostle Paul had things like this happen to him. He told all the Christians to be very concerned about people who did not know Jesus and to help them learn without making them mad.
You and I have to do the same thing. Don't try to always be right about everything when you know it makes others mad. Listen to them and try to understand them and love them a lot and they will come to know the truth by learning.
Thank you for coming this morning and thank you for letting me use your imagination.
