Missing The Bull's Eye
Children's sermon
The Giant Book Of Children's Sermons
Matthew To Revelation
Object: some darts and a dart board
Good morning, boys and girls. I brought along a game today that I played a lot when I was about your age. I always enjoyed the game, but I think that it was one of the hardest things I ever did. (show them the dart game) How many of you know what this game is called? (let them answer) That's right, darts. Have you ever played it? (let them answer) What do you try to do in this game? (let them answer) That's right; you try to hit the very center of the board, and that is called the "bull's eye." That's where the big points are, and you need to hit it if you are going to win. But that is also the hard part. As often as you try to hit it, you seem to miss it. I am going to let some of you try to hit the bull's eye to show you what I mean. (set up the board and let each child throw one dart at the board; make sure that the distance is such that they miss, but not far enough that they cause any damage) That was a good try, but you can see how hard it is to hit the bull's eye.
The Apostle Paul said something like this when he was talking about the way he acted and talked. Paul wanted to act, think, and speak right all the time. He wanted to be good. He didn't want to be good part of the time, but he wanted to be good all of the time. In other words, Paul did not want to sin. But he did sin. He acted badly, or thought some bad thoughts, or spoke in a rough way when he didn't have to. Paul said that he did not understand why he was like that, but he knew that he was. How many of you want to act, think, and speak right all the time? (let them answer) Of course you do. But do you do the things you want to do all the time? Of course not. You and I and everybody sin just like Paul sinned. We miss the bull's eye time after time after time.
That is why it is so important that Jesus died for our sins. If he had not loved us so much, we would have been lost. But thanks to him and to the fact that he hit the bull's eye every time, we have the promise of God that everything will be all right. That's why we love him so much and are so thankful that he came to take care of our misses.
The next time you play darts or see someone play darts and they miss the bull's eye, you can think about your misses, called sins, and then think of how glad you are that Jesus came to save us from our sins.
Good morning, boys and girls. I brought along a game today that I played a lot when I was about your age. I always enjoyed the game, but I think that it was one of the hardest things I ever did. (show them the dart game) How many of you know what this game is called? (let them answer) That's right, darts. Have you ever played it? (let them answer) What do you try to do in this game? (let them answer) That's right; you try to hit the very center of the board, and that is called the "bull's eye." That's where the big points are, and you need to hit it if you are going to win. But that is also the hard part. As often as you try to hit it, you seem to miss it. I am going to let some of you try to hit the bull's eye to show you what I mean. (set up the board and let each child throw one dart at the board; make sure that the distance is such that they miss, but not far enough that they cause any damage) That was a good try, but you can see how hard it is to hit the bull's eye.
The Apostle Paul said something like this when he was talking about the way he acted and talked. Paul wanted to act, think, and speak right all the time. He wanted to be good. He didn't want to be good part of the time, but he wanted to be good all of the time. In other words, Paul did not want to sin. But he did sin. He acted badly, or thought some bad thoughts, or spoke in a rough way when he didn't have to. Paul said that he did not understand why he was like that, but he knew that he was. How many of you want to act, think, and speak right all the time? (let them answer) Of course you do. But do you do the things you want to do all the time? Of course not. You and I and everybody sin just like Paul sinned. We miss the bull's eye time after time after time.
That is why it is so important that Jesus died for our sins. If he had not loved us so much, we would have been lost. But thanks to him and to the fact that he hit the bull's eye every time, we have the promise of God that everything will be all right. That's why we love him so much and are so thankful that he came to take care of our misses.
The next time you play darts or see someone play darts and they miss the bull's eye, you can think about your misses, called sins, and then think of how glad you are that Jesus came to save us from our sins.
