Login / Signup

Free Access

A Different Kind of Bread

Children's sermon
Object: 
Bread, but ideally find some kind of bread that doesn’t look like the ‘normal’ bread your children would be familiar with. If you bake, you might bake a ‘unique’ loaf to use. The goal is to stress the idea that there are different kinds of bread.
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (v. 35)

Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story about Jesus today, are you ready? (Let them respond.) And this is another story about what happened after Jesus did the miracle of feeding thousands of people with two fish and five loaves of bread. As more people heard about that miracle, they all came to see Jesus, and the crowds were getting bigger and bigger every day. And they all wanted Jesus to give them more food to eat. They all wanted more bread.

Jesus looked at all of the people and he said, “I am the bread of life!” He said, “God sent me to you and if you come to me, you will never go hungry.”

What do you think the people did? (Let them respond.) They got confused. “What did he say? He said that he is bread? That’s just weird. Jesus isn’t bread, he’s a guy. And he said God sent him from heaven? Who does he think he is? He says God sent him, but we know his mom and dad and where he was born. He must be crazy or something.” And they all started arguing. With all those people there, I’ll bet it got kind of loud, don’t you? (Let them respond.)

Jesus finally told them to stop their grumbling, and he told them that he was the living bread of life that came down from heaven and that God had sent him to them.

It really is kind of confusing, isn’t it? Does Jesus look like bread? (Let them respond.) Not to me. We know Jesus wasn’t actually made out of bread, right? (Let them respond.) So what was he talking about? Does anyone have any idea why was Jesus talking to them about bread? (Let them respond.)

There are a lot of stories about bread in the Bible. One day old Abraham was sitting in his tent when he saw two strangers walking by. Most people ignored the strangers, but Abraham invited them to his tent and gave them bread to eat. The two strangers turned out to be God’s angels, and they blessed Abraham for caring for them and giving them the bread.

And when Moses helped the people get out of Egypt, the night before they left they all baked a special kind of bread to remind them that God was blessing them and setting them free from being slaves.

And when they left Egypt and spent a long time wandering in the wilderness, every morning when they got up they found bread on the ground that God had given them so they had something to eat.

And one day, Jesus taught people how to pray the Lord’s Prayer. Does anyone remember what he said in that prayer about bread? (Let them respond.) The Lord’s Prayer says, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” asking God to please take care of us every day.

So, bread was very important to the people in Jesus’ day, and they remembered all of the times God had used bread to help them.

[You will change this next paragraph based on the responses you get from your children. Have fun!]

Now, there are all different kinds of bread, aren’t there? (Let them respond.) What are some of the different kinds of bread we might eat? (Let them respond.) We have loaves of white bread, and wheat bread, and banana bread, and rye bread, and what else? (Let them respond.) Yes, we have pita bread, and cinnamon bread, and flatbread, and breadsticks, and…well, there are a lot of different kinds of bread for sure.

So, Jesus told them he was just a different kind of bread from God. A living bread. He said that if we followed him, we would be satisfied, and God would take care of us forever.

The people all knew about bread…how important it was, so some of them understood what Jesus was saying how important it was to follow him, and be like him, and do the things God wanted them to do.

Maybe the next time we eat bread, we might remember how important it is to follow Jesus. And if we are going to be like Jesus, our job is to help take care of other people around us the way Jesus takes care of us.

I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too.

Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Maundy Thursday
15 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
18 – Children's Sermons / Resources
11 – Worship Resources
18 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Good Friday
20 – Sermons
150+ – Illustrations / Stories
18 – Children's Sermons / Resources
10 – Worship Resources
18 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter!
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter 2
20 – Sermons
170+ – Illustrations / Stories
26 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
20 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
Tom Willadsen
For April 20, 2025:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: A bowl and a towel.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent

Have you ever gotten in trouble for not doing what you were supposed to do? (Let them respond.) Maybe it was something you were supposed to do at home, or maybe it was something you were supposed to do for someone else. Well, our story today is about the time Jesus’ friends didn’t do what Jesus told them they were supposed to do.
John Jamison
Activity: The Easter Game. See the note. 
John Jamison
Object: A box of Kleenex?

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

Today is the day we call Good Friday, and it is the day that Jesus died. What happened on Good Friday is the story I want to tell you about. It is a short story, but it is also a very sad story. (Show the Kleenex.) It is so sad that I brought a box of Kleenex with me in case we need it. Let’s hear our story together.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Acts 10:34-43
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Isaiah 65:17-25
The vision of Isaiah, the new heaven and new earth, a world we cannot begin to imagine, moves us from the sorrow of Good Friday and the waiting of Saturday, into the joy of the resurrection. Isaiah proclaims from God, “no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress.” What a moment, what a time that will be. What hope there is in this prophecy? God’s promises are laid out before us. God’s promises are proclaimed to us.
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Bonnie Bates
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
It’s unclear whether the original prophet is speaking about his own sufferings as a prophet bringing an unwanted word to people who want to believe all is well (and which could have led to severe physical punishment on the part of the authorities), or to the nation as the suffering servant who have suffered under the lash of a foreign oppressor, much as God’s people suffered under the Egyptians. These are legitimate interpretations, and perhaps there’s a bit of truth in all viewpoints.
Wayne Brouwer
When Canadian missionaries Don and Carol Richardson entered the world of the Sawi people in Irian Jaya in 1962, they were aware that culture shock awaited them. But the full impact of the tensions they faced didn’t become apparent until one challenging day.
David Kalas
What do you do on the night before God saves you? 

The children of Israel had been languishing in hopeless bondage for centuries. How many of them had lived and died under the taskmaster’s whip? How many of them had cried out to the Lord for help without seeing their prayers answered?  And so, as surely as their bodies were weighed down under the weight of their physical burdens, their spirits must also have been weighed down under years of bondage and despair.
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
It is perhaps not widely known, but the Community Blood Center has a website that contains stories of blood recipients.  I spent some time on that website as I thought about this passage. One of the stories that struck me was Kristen’s. Kristen’s time of need came during the birth of her first child. After a smooth pregnancy, she experienced serious problems during delivery, which led to a massive hemorrhage. She needed transfusions immediately, and ended up receiving 28 units of platelets, plasma, and whole blood.

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. (v. 14)

Mary weeps as she comes to the tomb that first Easter morning. She weeps because her dearest friend is dead. When this friend comes up behind her she turns around and sees him, but she doesn't really see him. Do you know what I mean?

Mary thought Jesus was the gardener. She implores him, "Sir, if you have taken him away tell me where you have laid him…"  She sees him but she doesn't see him.
Peter Andrew Smith
I’m sorry but I have some bad news. John heard the words of the doctor again as he sat in the pew waiting for the service to start on Good Friday. He was at church because he was a regular and he hoped, he prayed that he could escape the rising fear and dread that had come from the medical appointment yesterday. The doctor had been sure there was no problem when John had told him the symptoms he was experiencing a couple of weeks ago. The doctor even told him to just ignore them as they were a sign of getting older.
John E. Sumwalt
In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ (v. 25)

I was seven years old, the same age as my grandson, Leonard, when I asked the big communion question in the barn while helping Dad, the first Leonard Sumwalt, milk cows in 1958.

SermonStudio

Bonnie Bates
All my life I have struggled with the concept of calling this day of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion as “good.” What could possibly be good about Jesus being arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified? How can we call this feast day “good”?
Wayne Brouwer
When I was a pastor in rural southern Alberta, we held our Easter Sunrise worship services in a cemetery. It was difficult to gather in the dark, since neither mountains nor forests hid the spring-time sun, and the high desert plains lay open to almost ceaselessly unclouded skies. Still, we mumbled in hushed whispers as we acknowledged one another, and saved our booming tones for the final rousing chorus of “Up from the grave he arose…!” We did not shake the earth as much as we hoped.
Dennis Koch
Gospel Theme:

Different paces and paths to resurrection faith

Gospel Note:
John here obviously mingles at least two Easter morning traditions, the one featuring Mary Magdalene and the other starring Peter and the beloved disciple. The overall effect, however, is to show three different paths and paces to resurrection faith: the unnamed disciple rushes to the empty tomb and comes to faith simply upon viewing it; Mary slowly but finally recognizes the risen Christ and believes; Peter, however, simply goes home, perhaps to await further evidence.
Pamela Urfer
Cast: Two Roman soldiers, FLAVIUS and LUCIUS, and an ANGEL

Length:
15 minutes

FLAVIUS and LUCIUS are seated on their stools, center stage.

FLAVIUS: (Complaining) What was all the hurry about for this burial? I don't understand why we had to rush.

LUCIUS:
(Distracted but agreeable) Hmmmm.

FLAVIUS: I don't know why I even ask. It's so typical of the military: Hurry up and wait.

LUCIUS:
True.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
The liturgy can start with a procession in which a child carries the Easter candle from the West end of the church to the altar at the East end, stopping at intervals to raise the candle high and cry, "Christ our Light". The people respond with "Alleluia!" All the candles in church are then lit from the Easter candle.

Call to worship:

The Lord is risen, he is risen indeed! Let us rejoice and be glad in him!

Invitation to confession:

Jesus, we turn to you.

Lord, have mercy.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL