Login / Signup

Free Access

More Trouble For Praxis

Children's Story
Praxis the pixie was in trouble again. In fact, Praxis was rarely out of trouble. It had all started when he'd begun to be himself. You see, Praxis changed colour when he felt strongly about anything, and so for quite a while he'd tried very hard to be good. But it hadn't worked, for instead of being just one colour, blue or yellow or green or pink or purple or red, he'd become a rainbow of blotches and spots, stripes and circles, all different colours. It had been very embarrassing. So now Praxis was just himself, and that meant he wasn't always good.

On this particular Autumn morning as he hurried to school with the other pixies, Praxis was a delicate shade of blue. He was feeling rather miserable, because the Pixie King had been very cross with all the pixie children. They'd all been late for school every day for a week, and sad to say, it had been mostly Praxis' fault. He simply couldn't resist paddling in the stream, or collecting fir cones or playing with the squirrels. Now the pixies were all hurrying to school along the path, instead of strolling through the woods, and Praxis didn't like it.

As he dragged his feet at the back of the little group, Praxis thought he heard a cry.

"Hey! Wait!" he called to the others. "I heard something."

But they all groaned, and the biggest pixie said, "Not now, Praxis! We've had enough of your tales. We must get to school on time today."

"But I did hear something," Praxis insisted. "A cry. I think someone may be in trouble."

One or two of the smaller pixies hesitated, but the big one gathered them all up and shooed them along. "Come on," he said. "I'm responsible for getting you to school on time. Forget Praxis and his silly tricks." And he called to Praxis, "You'll be in real trouble if you're late. Come on with us." But as he saw Praxis' colour change to a stubborn orange, he knew it was useless, so he turned and hurried the group on down the path.

Praxis set off into the woods. It had been a very faint cry, but he was sure he had herad something. He called out as he went. "Hey! Who are you? Do you want help? I'm coming."

After a few minutes he heard another tiny cry, followed by a whimper. He ran towards the noise. As he came into a clearing in the woods, he saw a baby squirrel caught by its tail in a crevice at the base of a large old oak tree. He gently and tenderly freed the squirrel - and then noticed all the acorns lying on the ground. He and the baby squirrel gathered up as many acorns as Praxis could carry. As everyone knows, all pixies wear acorn caps in the winter, but the nuts make marvellous pixie conkers. Praxis determined to hang them on silver fairy twine, and have great games with his friends.

Then he suddenly remembered the time, and where he ought to be. He shot off through the woods at top speed, and arrived at school out of breath. The teacher was cross and refused to listen to his story, but all the other pixies crowded round him at playtime and were delighted with his gifts of acorns.

But as he dawdled home after school, Praxis began to feel rather nervous. He knew the teacher would tell the Pixie King that he'd been late for school yet again, and he felt fearful of what might happen to him. He felt a little sick, and his colour changed to pale yellow.

Sure enough, as soon as he reached the pixie glade he was summoned before the Pixie King. His legs were trembling but he ran there as fast as he could. To his surprise, the king was smiling and looked really pleased to see Praxis.

"What's this I hear about you?" asked the king.

"I can explain," Praxis said hurriedly. "You see - "

"No need, Praxis," interrupted the king. "There's someone here to see you." And out from the shadows stepped a Mother Squirrel.

"That's him," she said. "That's the pixie who saved my baby's life. But for him, my baby might have died. I'm so grateful to you, Praxis."

Praxis turned bright pink with delight. He hadn't expected anyone to know about the baby squirrel. "So, you don't mind about me being late for school?" he asked.

The king laughed. "Of course not! School is very important, but people and animals are more important than keeping the rules. You were the only pixie who realised that. I'm proud of you Praxis."

And Praxis went on his way so happy that he stayed bright, shocking pink for three whole days.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 10 | OT 15 | Pentecost 5
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 11 | OT 16 | Pentecost 6
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 12 | OT 17 | Pentecost 7
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: You may present this message as a simple story, or have the children act it out as a role-play. I will show the role-play version, but you can ignore the acting pieces and just tell the story if you prefer.

Note: For the role-play version, you will need to select two girls and one boy to play the roles. You might also have a broom and a dust rag if you want to.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s get started.

The Immediate Word

Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Katy Stenta
For July 20, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Amos 8:1-12, Psalm 52
Amos proclaims the word from God that punishes the people. The people are to be punished for their lack of faith, for their focus on practicing deceit, betraying honesty to their neighbors, and being impatient for the time after the Sabbath when they can focus on profit and selling their crops and wares. Oh, my! What a terrible message for people. You have been unfaithful so I will punish you. And then in the psalm, God is proclaimed to be the olive tree, that which brings blessing.
David Kalas
I have tried to find different ways of saying it so that my children don’t tire of hearing it. But the basic principle remains the same, and my kids have heard it a ton. “First things first.” They ask if they can do this or they start to do that, and I will endeavor to redirect them, saying, “Why don’t we make sure we’re doing first things first!”

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (v. 24)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
One of Martha's earliest memories was of her little sister Mary singing and dancing in the middle of an admiring crowd of friends. Mary had always been a dancer, from the time she could walk. Privately, Martha thought she'd always been something of a show-off and ought to go on the stage, for Mary loved an audience.

SermonStudio

John E. Sumwalt
Jeanne Jones
Several years ago, before we moved to Wisconsin, I was an honorary nanny for our pastor's son, Jonathan. I took care of him from the time he was able to walk until our pastor moved, when Jonathan was about five. We had wonderful times together. One time, when I was at their house, and we had been doing some spiritual direction together, Pastor Michael asked me if I knew the name of my guardian angel.
James Evans
We are not surprised when we learn about crooks and robbers boasting about "mischief done against the godly" or "plotting destruction" all day long. The image we have in our minds about who "bad" people are, and how they conduct themselves, make such accusations completely plausible. We are less inclined to believe such things about leaders, especially respected leaders among us. We have difficulty believing someone with wealth and power would deliberately plot to do someone else harm.
Arley K. Fadness
Today's gospel from Luke 10 follows the parable of the good Samaritan. Luke positions the good Samaritan and the Mary-Martha story back to back for good reason. The parable and the story are examples of the Great Commandment "to love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself." The good Samaritan parable illustrates "love to neighbor," whereas the Mary-Martha story illustrates "love to God."
Kirk R. Webster
In the early 1990s, Wesley Nunley of Dallas completed a project he had dreamed of for decades. "I tell you, this could be a big thing," he explained. Wes then walked out to a concrete octagon in the middle of his backyard. With a beaming smile, arms raised up in excitement, the energetic retiree said, "This welcomes the UFO to land, which has never been done before."
John W. Wurster
It was the best of times. A time of prosperity and confidence, a time of relative peace, a time when most everything looked pretty good, a time when most everyone felt pretty good. It was a time maybe not unlike our own time.
H. Burnham Kirkland
Words Of Assurance
Our God is both wise and caring: afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.

Pastoral Prayer
God, we bow before you this morning, knowing that you hear every prayer. We know that in all of Creation, you are the source of life. You are the one who set the light swirling between the galaxies. The breath of your Spirit pulses through all life. You have even become flesh among us. We praise you, Lord, that in all your wonder, you have not forgotten us.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL