A House Is Not A Home
Children's sermon
THE BIG INFLUENCE OF SMALL THINGS
Exegetical Aim: Life does not consist of bread alone.
Prop: A large toy model house with its furnishings and family figurines.
Lesson: Place the empty house before the children. What do I have here? (response) What do you need to make a house? (response) What else do you need? (response) Hand the objects to the children: I want you to put the house together. Take these and put them in their proper places. When they are done: Now, do we have everything set up in the house? (response) Good!
I have another question for you. What do you need to make a home? (response) We have all our furnishings and mom and dad and children and pets, but what do we need to make this house a home? (response) If the children need help: Would we need patience? (response) Why? (response) Would we need kindness? (response) Why? (response) Would we need wisdom? (response) Why? (response) Name some other things. (response)
Application: Pointing to the respective objects: You can have a house with beds, a table, chairs, food, and clothes; your house can have a mom, dad, and kids. Your house can have all this and still not be home. A house is not necessarily a home. Jesus said our bodies are like this. He said, "We cannot live by bread alone; we must also live by God's Word." What do you think he meant by that? (response) He was saying that we can put food in our bellies and clothes on our backs but that does not give us true life. For a house to be home it needs what? (response) And for a body to truly live it needs what? (response)
We need God to teach us discipline, love, respect, obedience. We also need God to teach us how to control our anger and how to deal with hurt and pain. We need to learn how to behave when we win and when we lose. If we learn these things, then our houses will be homes and our bodies will know true life.
Let's Pray: Lord, our homes and food are important but not as important as lessons you teach us in your Word. Teach us these lessons and we will live. Amen.
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Lent 1
Romans 5:12--19
A Fresh Start
Exegetical Aim: Adam brought sin but Christ brings salvation.
Props: A pitcher of clean water and two clear drinking glasses: one empty and the other half full of water with mud settled in the bottom.
Lesson: Today I want to show you a cup of water. I've left it sitting out over night, and I was wondering if it is okay to drink. What do you think? (response) What happened to my water? (response) Is that dirt? Should I drink this water? (response) Then how can I make the water in the cup clean? (response) Maybe I should take some clean water from this pitcher and pour it into the glass. Do you think that will make it clean? (response) You don't think so? (response) Well, let's try. Pour the clean water into the dirty water. You're right. All that did was move the mud around. Yuck! How can I make this a clean glass of water? (response) Oh! I first have to pour out the bad water, and then put in the fresh. Let's see if that works. Pour the muddy water into the empty glass and rinse out the glass once or twice. Then fill it with clean water. Does this look clean enough to drink now? (response) Take a drink. Now that's good water.
Application: Hold up the two glasses: My life and your life are like these glasses of water. On the one hand move the dirty glass forward toward the children we do bad things. Sometimes we say mean things, we lie, we cheat, or we disobey our parents. We can have dirty lives just like lift up the dirty glass this glass. We think we can clean up our life so we do some good things but that only spreads the mud around. On the other hand move the clean glass forward if we will empty ourselves and allow Jesus to clean us he will fill us lift up the clean glass with his good clean water.
Let's Pray: Lord, clean the dirt from all our lives. Our glasses are filled with your good clean water. Amen.
?
Prop: A large toy model house with its furnishings and family figurines.
Lesson: Place the empty house before the children. What do I have here? (response) What do you need to make a house? (response) What else do you need? (response) Hand the objects to the children: I want you to put the house together. Take these and put them in their proper places. When they are done: Now, do we have everything set up in the house? (response) Good!
I have another question for you. What do you need to make a home? (response) We have all our furnishings and mom and dad and children and pets, but what do we need to make this house a home? (response) If the children need help: Would we need patience? (response) Why? (response) Would we need kindness? (response) Why? (response) Would we need wisdom? (response) Why? (response) Name some other things. (response)
Application: Pointing to the respective objects: You can have a house with beds, a table, chairs, food, and clothes; your house can have a mom, dad, and kids. Your house can have all this and still not be home. A house is not necessarily a home. Jesus said our bodies are like this. He said, "We cannot live by bread alone; we must also live by God's Word." What do you think he meant by that? (response) He was saying that we can put food in our bellies and clothes on our backs but that does not give us true life. For a house to be home it needs what? (response) And for a body to truly live it needs what? (response)
We need God to teach us discipline, love, respect, obedience. We also need God to teach us how to control our anger and how to deal with hurt and pain. We need to learn how to behave when we win and when we lose. If we learn these things, then our houses will be homes and our bodies will know true life.
Let's Pray: Lord, our homes and food are important but not as important as lessons you teach us in your Word. Teach us these lessons and we will live. Amen.
?
Lent 1
Romans 5:12--19
A Fresh Start
Exegetical Aim: Adam brought sin but Christ brings salvation.
Props: A pitcher of clean water and two clear drinking glasses: one empty and the other half full of water with mud settled in the bottom.
Lesson: Today I want to show you a cup of water. I've left it sitting out over night, and I was wondering if it is okay to drink. What do you think? (response) What happened to my water? (response) Is that dirt? Should I drink this water? (response) Then how can I make the water in the cup clean? (response) Maybe I should take some clean water from this pitcher and pour it into the glass. Do you think that will make it clean? (response) You don't think so? (response) Well, let's try. Pour the clean water into the dirty water. You're right. All that did was move the mud around. Yuck! How can I make this a clean glass of water? (response) Oh! I first have to pour out the bad water, and then put in the fresh. Let's see if that works. Pour the muddy water into the empty glass and rinse out the glass once or twice. Then fill it with clean water. Does this look clean enough to drink now? (response) Take a drink. Now that's good water.
Application: Hold up the two glasses: My life and your life are like these glasses of water. On the one hand move the dirty glass forward toward the children we do bad things. Sometimes we say mean things, we lie, we cheat, or we disobey our parents. We can have dirty lives just like lift up the dirty glass this glass. We think we can clean up our life so we do some good things but that only spreads the mud around. On the other hand move the clean glass forward if we will empty ourselves and allow Jesus to clean us he will fill us lift up the clean glass with his good clean water.
Let's Pray: Lord, clean the dirt from all our lives. Our glasses are filled with your good clean water. Amen.
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