Login / Signup

Free Access

United

Children's sermon
So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. (vv. 23-27)

Object: A collection of building blocks that fit together. They don’t have to be Lego™ brand blocks, but just the kind that have sides that can stick together. Just have enough blocks so each child has a nice handful to use. For the message, you can pour the blocks on the floor, or for more fun, use a table so anyone else there can see what the children are doing as they build. Have fun!


Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a challenge for you today; kind of a game. Are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!

One day, a long time ago, Jesus was in the town called Capernaum and there was a huge crowd of people who had come to see him. That happened a lot, didn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, this time it was a really big crowd. There were so many people trying to see Jesus that he and his disciples didn’t even have time to get away for a few minutes to get something to eat. Finally, when the Bible says that Jesus’ family started worrying about him and thought he was crazy for not eating, so they went to get him to make him come in and eat.

Well, do you know what happened when they did that? (Let them respond.) Yes, the crowd started getting upset that Jesus was going away, and a bunch of them started yelling. People started arguing, and pushing, and shoving, and it was a real mess. And do you know what Jesus did? (Let them respond.)

Jesus walked back outside with a big bag of building blocks and poured them out onto a table. (Pour your blocks onto the floor or table. Let them respond. Have fun with this.) What? You don’t think Jesus had blocks? (Let them respond.) Well, okay, maybe he just talked to them, but we’re going to use blocks to see what he was talking about. Here’s my challenge for you:

I want each of you to take some blocks and see just how tall of a tower you can build. (Let them respond.) But wait! There is one rule. You can’t connect the blocks together. You can stack them on top of each other but can’t use the sides to connect them together like you usually do. Okay? (Let them respond and answer any questions.) Let’s build!

[Let them build for a while, encouraging any who might be having problems and making sure everyone gets their share of blocks. Watch to see that no one is actually “connecting” their blocks. If something bumps the table and blocks fall, well, that’s just how it goes, isn’t it? Before the frustration grows too high, start talking again.]

How did the building go? (Let them respond.) It looks like you might have had some problems. Let’s try again, but this time you can stick them together like you usually do when you build with them, okay? (Let them respond.) Great, let’s build!

[This round should be fun. Encourage, and make sure everyone gets their share of blocks. Once it is clear they are being more successful, you can stop them and continue talking.)]

Well, that was better, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) What was it that helped make it so much better? (Let them respond.) You were able to join the blocks together, right? (Let them respond.) That helped the blocks stick together and not fall apart, didn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, Jesus may not have had blocks for them to play with, but he told them the same thing.

Jesus went out to the people who were arguing and said, “Now listen. If a kingdom is divided and can’t stick together it cannot stand up. If we are divided and not sticking together, then we cannot stand up and do the things God wants us to do.”

We are kind of like our blocks. When we work together and stick together, we can do some really great things. But if we just argue and fuss and don’t work together, we will fall apart just like our first blocks did.

We are all different kinds of people, but our blocks are different and that’s what let’s us stick them together, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)

I hope we can remember this the next time we can use our differences to help us stick together, instead of just arguing about them, don’t you? (Let them respond.)

And I hope you’ll 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 stick together and 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...
Proper 20 | OT 25 | Pentecost 15
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 21 | OT 26 | Pentecost 16
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 22 | OT 27 | Pentecost 17
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

The Immediate Word

Thomas Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For September 21, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Frank Ramirez
Well, it’s autumn, and by now the seeds we planted in the spring either took root and produced or else the weather, pests, rabbits, or our own laziness conspired to make this year’s garden less than a success. But at one point we had to get started and actually plant seeds for the future.

Jeremiah is looking back from the perspective of our spiritual well-being and laments than our spiritual harvest has all been for naught. He wonders if it is now too late for a recovery. Is there no healing, no balm in Gilead, to apply to our wounds?
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 8:18--9:1 and Psalm 79:1-9
In the spring as farmers and gardeners prepare to plant we are looking at a summer of possibilities. Hard work, to be sure, but also potential. What will happen? What will this season be like? At summer’s end there will be no more questions. We’ll know. Maybe it was a great season, and we have canned or frozen many vegetables. Maybe the farmers have brought in a bumper crop and they got a good price besides.

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message will be based on a game you will play. See the note below.

NOTE: Ask three or more adults to come up and play the role of Simon for your group. Tell them to all speak at once, asking the children to do different things. The goal is to create a nice bit of confusion for the children to experience.

* * *

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

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
“Hey!” Annie waved at the woman standing next to the open doorway. “Can you come here?”

The woman made her way past the other nursing home residents and stood next to Annie’s wheelchair.

“What can I do for you?”

“You look familiar.” Annie squinted at her. “Do I know your name?”

“I’m Brenda.” The woman pointed at her name tag. “I work in the kitchen and sometimes help serve the meals when they are ready.”

“That’s right. I think we’ve met before.” Annie tapped her lips with her finger. “You have the nice smile.”

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus said, “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.” In our worship today let us remember the little things in our lives and ask God to help us to be utterly faithful in them.



Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes we pretend that little sins don't matter.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes we imagine that you don't notice little sins.

Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
This poignant prayer of lament and community grief gives expression to what it feels like to suffer as a person of faith. If we believe we are truly part of God's community, then the destruction of that community -- as was the case with Israel in 587 B.C. -- becomes a time for doubt, anger, and confusion. Furthermore, if we believe we are individual members of that community, our personal suffering also creates an opportunity for a crisis of faith: "Why didn't God protect me?" Of course, it does not take a national catastrophe to raise those sorts of questions.
Kirk R. Webster
If feedback is the breakfast of champions, perhaps we would do well to examine some of our prayer habits. If you have ever heard someone use The Just Really Prayer, you know exactly what problem we are talking about.

That prayer goes something like this, "Lord, we just really thank you for this day. We come before you and just really pray for mercy. We offer ourselves to you and just really ask that your will be done in our lives. Amen." I'm thankful this particular Just Really prayer was mercifully short, unlike the next example, The Good Guilt-Based Prayer.
John W. Wurster
Another season has come and gone. Promises that were made have not been fulfilled. Good intentions haven't yielded any tangible results. Dreams have not come true. High hopes have proven to be only wishful thinking. Nothing has really changed; nothing has really improved. The time keeps moving along, but we seem stuck in the same ruts. Old routines remain, prejudices persist, dullness and anxiety continue to be constant companions. Lingering in the air is that nagging sense that things aren't quite right, not as they could be, not as they should be.
R. Robert Cueni
In the scripture lesson for today Jesus tells a perplexing parable about a thoroughly dishonest employee who was praised for his dishonesty. In this story Jesus not only seems comfortable suggesting that it is acceptable to compromise with moral failings, but our Lord appears to commend his disciples to "go and do likewise." For centuries, preachers, commentators, and scholars have struggled to make sense of this outrageous tale.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL