Childrens Sermon Service

... so that the genuineness of your faith -- being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (v. 7)

Good morning, boys and girls. I don't suppose any of you have something gold, do you? (let them answer) Gold is very valuable and most of us do not have a lot of gold. If you have something that is made of gold it is worth a lot of money. Gold is not easy to find. You can't find it in your backyard or hanging on a tree. It takes a lot of work to find just a tiny bit of gold and that makes it worth a lot of money.

So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." (v. 25)

SHARING THIS WEEK'S GOSPEL THEME AT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND AT HOME

Materials:
Nails -- two per child
Copper wiring
Black cording or leather string

Directions:
1. Give each of the children two nails.

2. Have the children lay the two nails in a cross pattern.

3. Tell the children to use a section of copper wire to hook them together using an X design to hold them in place.

4. Give each of the children a small piece of copper wire and tell them to weave it around the back of the cross to make a loop for hanging.

5. Give each child a section of black cording (the length will depend on the size of each child) and have each of them string the cross into a necklace.

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. (v. 8)

Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have a baby brother or sister at home? (allow answers) Do you remember when that baby was born? (allow answers) What was it like? (allow answers)

SHARING THIS WEEK'S GOSPEL THEME
AT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND AT HOME


Materials:
Large piece of newsprint
Tape
Crayons, colored pencils, pens, markers
Magazines, newspapers
Scissors
Glue stick


Directions:
1. Hang the newsprint on a blank wall.

2. Have the children create a mural filled with images that make them feel peaceful. They can draw images, cut images out of magazines, or write words that remind them of peace.

• First Thoughts
• Teaching On Your Own
• Teaching As A Team
• Closing Prayer
• Follow-Up Lesson

• First Thoughts
• Teaching On Your Own
• Teaching As A Team
• Closing Prayer
• Follow-Up Lesson

First Thoughts: Here we see the story of Thomas, who is absent when the resurrected Christ appears, and so has difficulty believing the story. We want to help the children examine what it means to take someone at his/her word. How do we know when testimony is trustworthy and when it is false?

Have you ever looked closely at a dollar bill?  Do you know whose picture is on it?  (Let them respond) It is a very famous person that you all have heard about  -- it is George Washington.  But how many of you have personally met him?  Do we know that he really lived or did people just make the story up?

Many people have wondered the same thing about Jesus.  Did he really live?  Did he really come back to life after he died on the cross or was it all made up?  One of the close friends of Jesus, Thomas, said, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. " (John 20:25)

Note: This children's sermon was originally published May 5, 2011.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." (v. 21)

Object: I use black electrical tape to create the word “NOPE” on a board big enough for everyone to see. The idea is to be able to alter the letter “N” by moving the diagonal line to convert it to an “H”, changing “NOPE” to “HOPE”. An alternative would be to use a wipe-off marker board and erase the diagonal line in “N” and redraw it as the horizontal bar in “H”, but the physical change with electrical tape seems to make the message a bit more engaging. If you do use the tape, just test it first to make sure it can be easily pulled from the board to make the change.

* * *

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

Good morning, boys and girls. This morning we read from the Bible about a special meeting between Jesus, who had been resurrected a week earlier, and his disciples. All of the disciples believed the resurrection except Thomas, who had not been in the room when Jesus met with the disciples a week earlier. Thomas had heard about it but didn't believe. He said that unless he saw for himself the wounds in the hands and side of Jesus, he would not believe.

Good morning, boys and girls. What does this sign mean? (Let them answer.) It is a question mark. When you see it that means someone is asking a question. Sometimes it means that someone doesn't believe what you are saying. That means the person is doubting you. It's a very common thing to have doubts about something. If one of you told me that you don't like to play with toys, I'd say, "I'm not so sure about that. I doubt it. I'll bet you really like to play with toys." If one of you told me that you didn't like candy, I would say, "I'm not so sure about that. I doubt it. I'll bet you really like candy."

Good morning! Last Sunday was a very special day for Christians. What was it? (Let them answer.) Yes, it was Easter. What is it that we celebrate on Easter? (Let them answer.) Of course, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They killed him, but God raised him from the dead, and God promises to raise all of us from the dead too, all of us who believe in Jesus.

Now what do I have here? (Show the egg and let them answer.) Yes, it's an Easter egg, but it's not a very good one, is it? The shell is cracked, it's dirty, and it's probably not safe to eat it because it's spoiled and might even give us food poisoning. Last week, on Easter Sunday, this was a beautiful egg. The shell wasn't cracked, and it was clean and good to eat.

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you know what the word confidence means? (let them answer)

Confidence is something you feel and it means that before you have even tried something, you believe you can do it. Let's suppose that you know you are a good jumper, and there is a log on the path. When you see the log, you say to yourself, "I can jump over that log," and then you do it.

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought something to share with you this morning that is very precious to me. (Show the article and explain its meaning to the students.) Do any of you have something that is very important to you like this? (Let them answer.) It is nice to have things that are important. One thing to remember about important items like this is that they will not last forever. My item is perishable. That means that someday it may wear out, or fade or fall apart. When that happens it will be gone. Did you know that God has something for all of us that is very important? In fact, it is more valuable than (mention your article and some of the items the children mentioned). Unlike my (name the object) what God has for us will last with us forever.

Good morning. I love the look of solid gold. Gold is beautiful and valuable. People spend many hours of many days panning for gold in the cold mountain streams where gold nuggets might be found. Companies build large mines that go deep into the earth to find gold. We wear gold jewelry and put gold on things that are important to us. Gold is expensive and beautiful.

When Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples must have been scared. They didn't think Jesus would come back to life. No one had ever done that before. When someone dies and you bury them, the last thing you think they'll ever do is come back like they were. Jesus did. And Jesus loved his disciples so much that he said things to them to calm them down. Does anyone remember what Jesus said? (Let them answer.) Jesus said, "Peace be with you," when he first appeared to them. He said it several times. Why do you suppose Jesus said that? (Let them answer.)

Good morning! I brought this picture to show you today. What
is happening in this picture? (Show the picture and let them
answer.) Yes, a battle is being fought. Apparently there are two
nations at war with each other, and this is a battle in that war.
When two nations fight each other, it's called "war." Our nation
has been in many wars, and we thank God that we are not in one
now. What do we call it when the nation is not at war? (Let them
answer.) Yes, we call it "peace."

After his resurrection, Jesus remained on the earth for
forty days and appeared to many people. Once he came into a
locked room where his disciples were meeting and he said to them,

Happy Easter! Did you know that it's still Easter? Easter is so amazing that we don't just celebrate it on one Sunday. Easter season goes on for six more Sundays. We need to keep celebrating Easter because what happened is so important. Just like it took us a while to get ready for it, it takes us a while to keep learning about what happened.

Happy Easter! Did you know that it's still Easter? Easter is so amazing that we don't just celebrate it on one Sunday. The Easter season goes on for six more Sundays. We need to keep celebrating Easter because what happened is so important. Just like it took us a while to get ready for it, it takes us a while to keep learning about what happened.

In today's lesson, the writer says that when Jesus was raised from the dead we received an inheritance that is "imperishable, undefiled and unfading." Can anyone tell me what that might mean? (see if there are any ideas)

Materials:
Oven or toaster oven
Rolls of sugar cookie dough
Rolling pin
Circle cookie cutter (optional)
Plastic knife
Hard candies (Lifesavers or Jolly Ranchers) in a variety of colors
Plastic bags, one for each color of candy
Cookie sheets
Pot holders
Foil

Directions:

Just like Thomas, sometimes we want to see to believe. Tell the children that the materials you have will make glass they can eat. Most likely, they won't believe you without proof.

Roll the cookie dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut the dough into circles (or use the cookie cutter) and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet.

Teachers: After Jesus rose from the dead he appeared to the disciples and gave them this greeting: "Peace be with you." Use this opportunity with your students to develop "greetings ideas" that they create on their own. You may choose from the following options or create your own, based on these ideas.

1. Have your students create greeting cards that state, "Peace be with you (John 20:19)." These can be whatever size you wish, depending on what supplies you have. Encourage the students to decorate these and mail or hand them to friends or family members.

Teachers or Parents: Teach your children the deeper concepts of peace as used in the Bible. Peace is the absence of conflict, but it is so much more. The word shalom is the word Jesus used when he appeared to his disciples. It is the same word used by today's Jewish people as they greet one another. It means peace but it really means much more. The word also implies God's blessings upon the recipients of the greeting.

* Teach the children to say "shalom" today as a greeting. (Incidentally, other Middle Eastern people use cognates of this word as a greeting. The most familiar is the word salaam used by many Islamic people, particularly in the Middle East.)

Teachers or Parents: The Bible tells us that the peace of
God passes all human understanding (Philippians 4:7). We need to
give our children an appreciation for the deep inner peace which
comes from a right relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ.
When Jesus appeared to his disciples, he greeted them with the
blessing of spiritual peace. This Gospel text gives us an
opportunity to bring children some understanding of inner peace.

*Ask the children to name some things that would frighten
them. You might also ask them to draw a picture of something they
fear. List these things on a board or easel as they name them or
show a picture of them. Then discuss how a knowledge of Jesus

The last verse of today's gospel reading says, "But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." It is interesting to consider that much of scripture was written for the benefit of those who would read it some time later. Do you think the writers of the biblical texts knew that we would be reading their words 2,000 years later? I wonder if they had any idea at all how far their words would travel.