Are You A Carrot, An Egg, Or Coffee Grounds?
Children's sermon
Life Everlasting
The Essential Book of Funeral Resources
Object:
a carrot, an egg, some coffee grounds
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
-- 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Thank you for sharing a moment with me. I know that this thing we call dying is not an easy thing to figure out, but I want to help you know how to think about it. I brought along three things with me and I would like to tell you a story.
When Sue died, there was a lot of sadness. Some people cried and others were very hurt. One of the saddest people came to me and asked for help. We talked a little bit and then I told her the story of the carrot, the egg, and the coffee grounds.
I took the carrot and put it into boiling water. I did the same with the egg and the coffee grounds. I let them boil in the very hot water for almost twenty minutes. Then I shut off the stove and scooped out the carrots. The carrots were very hard and firm when I put them in, but when I took them out they were very soft. I told my friend that some people are like carrots. When death happens, the people who are like carrots are very hard and do not want to talk or do anything. They are angry at a God who has allowed their friend to die. But when Sue died, it softened some people up and allowed God to work inside of them.
Then I showed this person the egg that had been boiled for twenty minutes and asked how the egg looked. This person said it was a hardboiled egg. Before we put the egg in, it would have been all runny if we had broken it, but now it was firm. Some of Sue's friends were very weak and cried most of the time, but when God worked with them they were able to understand that death is not something horrible, but a natural way for people to rejoin God in his kingdom.
Finally, we dipped out the coffee and put it in a cup. It smelled wonderful and tasted great. It, too, had been in the boiling water but, instead of being changed, it changed the water. That's the way I think most of us would like to be. We want to be part of the change and be with God through the whole process of dying. In dying we become rich because we are now a part of God's kingdom, something God has planned for a long time. Being part of the change means talking with God in prayer, sharing our lives with our friends, and putting away all of our fears of death. Death is the natural way that God calls us from this world to the new world.
It isn't bad to be a carrot or an egg. God works with people who need to be softened. God does good things with hard people. God also is there to help the weak become strong. It is a growing process. But the best is when a person becomes part of the change and welcomes it while working with God.
You choose which you want to be. You can be a carrot, an egg, or coffee but which ever you choose thank God for giving you a life after death. Amen.
-- 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Thank you for sharing a moment with me. I know that this thing we call dying is not an easy thing to figure out, but I want to help you know how to think about it. I brought along three things with me and I would like to tell you a story.
When Sue died, there was a lot of sadness. Some people cried and others were very hurt. One of the saddest people came to me and asked for help. We talked a little bit and then I told her the story of the carrot, the egg, and the coffee grounds.
I took the carrot and put it into boiling water. I did the same with the egg and the coffee grounds. I let them boil in the very hot water for almost twenty minutes. Then I shut off the stove and scooped out the carrots. The carrots were very hard and firm when I put them in, but when I took them out they were very soft. I told my friend that some people are like carrots. When death happens, the people who are like carrots are very hard and do not want to talk or do anything. They are angry at a God who has allowed their friend to die. But when Sue died, it softened some people up and allowed God to work inside of them.
Then I showed this person the egg that had been boiled for twenty minutes and asked how the egg looked. This person said it was a hardboiled egg. Before we put the egg in, it would have been all runny if we had broken it, but now it was firm. Some of Sue's friends were very weak and cried most of the time, but when God worked with them they were able to understand that death is not something horrible, but a natural way for people to rejoin God in his kingdom.
Finally, we dipped out the coffee and put it in a cup. It smelled wonderful and tasted great. It, too, had been in the boiling water but, instead of being changed, it changed the water. That's the way I think most of us would like to be. We want to be part of the change and be with God through the whole process of dying. In dying we become rich because we are now a part of God's kingdom, something God has planned for a long time. Being part of the change means talking with God in prayer, sharing our lives with our friends, and putting away all of our fears of death. Death is the natural way that God calls us from this world to the new world.
It isn't bad to be a carrot or an egg. God works with people who need to be softened. God does good things with hard people. God also is there to help the weak become strong. It is a growing process. But the best is when a person becomes part of the change and welcomes it while working with God.
You choose which you want to be. You can be a carrot, an egg, or coffee but which ever you choose thank God for giving you a life after death. Amen.
