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(Children's Sermon Service...Plus)

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles… (vv. 22-23)


Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we are going to talk about faith. What do you need in order to believe something? Do you need to see it? Do you need to touch it? Do you need to hear about it from someone you trust? Do you have to read it in a book?

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (v. 8)


Good morning, boys and girls! How are you doing this morning? (allow answers) We're going to start our children's sermon today by talking about something that might seem kind of strange. We're going to talk about flowers!

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


Materials:
White plastic bags
Scissors
Pipe cleaners


Directions:
1. Have children flatten out plastic bags, handles pointing either to their left or right.
2. Roll up or accordion-fold the bag. Handles should be together at one end.
3. Fold the bag in half so that the handles fold toward the bottom of the bag. Make sure the bottom of the bag is even with the bottom of the handles.
4. Fasten a pipe cleaner tightly in the middle of the folded bag.
5. With scissors, clip off the fold and clip off the handles/bottom of bag.
6. Fluff out the plastic on either side of the pipe cleaner to create a fluffy white flower.

Can anyone tell me what all of these items have in common? (give a chance to respond) They are all upside down! When Jesus spoke to people sometimes it seemed upside down to what they were used to hearing. For  example, one day Jesus sat down with the people on a mountainside and told them they were "blessed" to be insulted, lied about and persecuted for being a follower of Jesus. Normally we would not think that to be good. It seems upside down to us. But it is a great thing because God will reward us in heaven, and that makes it all worth it.

Jesus turns the theology of the day on it’s head by saying the people who you thought were left out of God’s blessings are where blessings fall. Meek people were not seen as blessed because the world favored the aggressive. Peacekeepers were no fun to have around because war meant status upgrades and wealth. The world thought these people had been passed over by God, but Jesus says that is not the case. Those who feel deeply and mourn or get all in a tizzy about injustice are people showered in blessings.

Object:  A jar of honey. I used a 16-ounce jar, but if you use another size just do the math to change the number of bees that would have been needed to create that much honey. It takes at least 12 bees to produce 1 teaspoon of honey. Sometimes I have given the children a taste of the sweet honey at the end of the message, but that depends on whether any of your children might have allergies to honey or have problems with that much sugar.

* * *

Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have spent time around babies? (let them answer) Babies are so cute when they are happy but hard to please when they are upset. Babies can't talk, can they? (let them answer) So when they don't get what they want they cry. When they are hungry they cry. When they are sleepy they cry. When a stranger tries to hold them they cry. How do we know if babies are sick, hungry, or tired? (let them answer) Most of the time a baby's mom can figure out what's wrong even when we can't. Moms know a lot about their babies that other people will never know. My answer for a crying baby is to give it a pacifier!

Good morning! I brought this book to show you today. This is
a book about Christian martyrs. Do you know what a martyr is?
(Let them answer.) A martyr is somebody who is killed because of
what he or she believes.

Let me tell you about this one. (Tell about one person in
the book.)

In the early days of the church, many people were put to
death because they were Christians. They died because of what
they believed. When people are killed or hurt in some way because
of what they believe, we say that they are being persecuted.
Jesus had something to say to people who are persecuted because
they believe in him. He told them that they were blessed. Now how

Teachers or Parents: Have the children sit on the floor and pretend that they are on a mountaintop and learning at Jesus' feet. Ask: "How is this classroom different from classrooms you have seen?" "How is it like them?" Read various portions of the "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5-7) that they might understand (such as Matthew 7:7-11 -- prayer; 7:12 -- the Golden Rule; 7:15 -- being true). Be careful -- many parts of the Sermon on the Mount are difficult for children to understand and may lead to great misunderstanding and perhaps fear.

Note that the Gospel lessons for the next two Sundays (plus Ash Wednesday and First Sunday in Lent) are from the Sermon on the Mount. Look ahead at the children's sermons for those Sundays

Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to have some fun. As a matter of fact we are going to see what the world looks like upside-down. I want you to bend over so your head is touching the floor and look through your legs. (let them assume the position) Very good! How does the world look upside-down? (let them answer) It isn't easy, is it? Okay, now you can sit back down the normal way.

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought a banana with me this morning. I love to eat bananas. When I am hungry for a snack, I can eat a banana and it will fill me up. Do you like bananas? (Let them answer.)

One day Jesus was teaching people. Many people were listening to him. Jesus talked to the people about many important things. One of the things he talked about was a word called "righteousness." That's a big word. It means being good. It also means doing the right thing, or the correct thing. Jesus said that if you hunger to be a good person you will be a good person. You will be filled.

Have you ever been with some of your friends. Maybe one of them did something that you felt was wrong? Maybe you knew it was

Good morning, boys and girls. Do any of you like to blow bubbles with gum? (Let them answer.) Which one of you thinks you can blow the best bubble? (Let them answer. Choose an older youth to try.) I brought some bubble gum. In a minute we'll let (name the youth) try to blow a really good bubble. I like to blow bubbles. I can sometimes blow bubbles this big. (Exaggerate with your hands.) Can any of you blow bubbles this big? (Let them answer.) I thought so.

Do you know what we are doing when we talk about how big we can blow bubbles? We are boasting. We are taking pride in how well we blow bubbles. It's okay to do that. Everyone boasts about something. Some people boast about how great their parents are. Have any of you ever told anyone that your mom and dad are the

Good morning! How many of you are in school? (Let them respond by raising their hands.) What happens in school? (Let them answer.) You might use items such as these in school. Who is an important person in the classroom? (Let them answer.) The teacher is certainly important. The teacher is the one who helps us learn. Teaching is a very, very important job.

Did you know that Jesus was a great teacher? He was. Many times they even called him "Teacher." (The Hebrew word for teacher is "Rabbi.") One day he invited all his students to come with him to the top of a mountain. He had them all sit down so that they might learn something about God. Then he opened his mouth and taught them.

The important lesson he taught them that day is something

Today I have borrowed something that is very important. It is a badge. People who wear badges like this are important and powerful people because they enforce the law of the land. What kind of people might wear badges? (Let them answer.) Police officers can wear a badge. This gives them the authority to carry a nightstick, a gun, handcuffs, and other things that most of us would not carry around from day to day. They do because they have special positions of authority and power.

Since we are not powerful people, does God want us? (Let them answer.) God does indeed want us. So many times God has chosen people who are not strong to be special messengers. We may not have the authority of a police officer, but we can have the

Good morning! How many of you watch television? (Let them
answer.) Yes, I guess everybody does watch television. We
probably all watch it way too much, but let me ask you this. How
do you know what's going to be on the television? (Let them
answer.) Most of us use one of these (show the TV Guide) or maybe
we look in the paper to see a guide there. If I look at what's on
television in this guide, I see (name several sitcoms that are
scheduled to be shown). You know something? These shows may be
funny in some ways, but for the most part, they are just
foolishness! I might even go as far as to say they are a total
waste of time. Nobody really acts the way these television

Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing, isn't it? Other times it's not so hard at all. Tell me about some times when doing the right thing is hard. (spend a few moments with this) Now what about the times when it's easy? (listen for responses) Is there anything that makes you want to do the right thing? I know it's a lot easier for me to do the right thing if I'll get a reward or a prize for doing it.

Our verse today says that "God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong." To help understand what that means, I'm going to share with you a story from another part of the Bible. It's found in First Samuel, chapter 17. It's the story of David and Goliath. Does anyone know this story? (see if any children are familiar with it) The story takes place during a time when the people of God, the Israelites, were at war with the Philistines. Goliath was a giant warrior for the Philistine army. The Bible says he was over nine feet tall! Every day he would stand in front of the Israelite people and shout mean things about them and about God. He was full of hate and anger for them and for their God.

Materials:
Each of the Beatitudes written out on separate strips of construction paper (colored paper is preferred)
Large roll of paper
Markers
Pens
Crayons
Scotch tape or stapler

Directions:

Give each of the children one of the Beatitudes written on the construction paper strip.

Cut a piece of the rolled paper long enough so that each child can color a picture of what his/her Beatitude says.

When all are complete, tape or staple the Beatitude to the top of the drawing that it represents. Hang all of the Beatitudes together on the wall like a mural.

Teachers: This lesson offers you a chance to do role-playing. The session focuses on "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Explain that each student will have a chance to participate. Chose three students to be the first actors. Give them an object like a toy or book or an apple to eat (depending on age group). Have one student play with the toy or read the book. Hate the second student enter and try to take the object away. While the two argue over the object have the third student enter. This is the peacemaker. Have this student suggest that the two share the object, take turns, or offer an additional object to play with. The scene ends in a peaceable situation.

Once the first three students conclude their scene, chose

Teachers and Parents: A little-known fact about Christian
persecution is that more people have died for the faith in the
twentieth century than in all the rest of the church's history.
Our children may well grow up in a society that more and more
will persecute those who hold to strong moral concepts as taught
by the Christian faith. In this kind of environment, the children
need to hear the words of Jesus that remind them of their
blessings in the midst of persecution.

* Ask the children to draw pictures of Christians being
persecuted, and then let them share their pictures and explain
what they have drawn.

* Ask the children to name an event that occurred in their

Children love to be rewarded when they do the right things. We probably all do. We are proud of ourselves for making good decisions, especially when those decisions might get us noticed. It's very human to want to be noticed -- it makes us feel good. It makes us feel like we matter.