MUSTARD ON MASHED POTATOES?
Children's sermon
The Devil Is A Mosquite Bite
Children's Sermons
Object:
salt, vinegar, and mustard.
Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever tried to hit a ball with a tree branch or walk barefooted on a very hot sidewalk or hot sand? If you have, you know that some things just don't go together. You need shoes to walk across something that is hot and you need a bat to hit a ball. Those things are made to go together and the others are not. I brought along some other things that you know a lot about that I think will help you understand one of God's teachings this morning.
Here are three different things that you put on your food at different times. [Hold up the three so that everyone can see them.] What do you call this yellow stuff in this jar? That's right, mustard. And how about this white liquid in this bottle? Vinegar. Okay, now tell me what I have in this container with the holes on the top of it which is like white sand when I shake it out? Salt, very good. Have you ever tried to put salt on bread when you thought it was sugar, or mustard on mashed potatoes, or drink a glass of vinegar when you thought it was water? If you ever have done anything like this you know how terrible it is. Mustard and mashed potatoes, or salt and bread, just don't go together, and vinegar will never replace water.
St. Paul teaches us that the same thing is true about our wishes and what God wants for us as well. Very often our wishes are selfish. Sometimes we would like to just punch that guy in the nose, but God wishes that we would reach out and help him get another fresh start. Our ways and God's ways are different many times. St. Paul teaches us that whenever we know what God would do and what he wants us to do, that we should do it God's way and save ourselves a lot of trouble.
God's way teaches us to put salt on meat and vegetables, instead of on bread; and God teaches us to put gravy, instead of mustard, on our potatoes, so you can see that God's way is right. Seriously, I know that you sometimes feel that it would be better to punch the fellow in the nose, but really, it would be better if you loved the guy even more now that he has done something to you. So, you remember that the things that go well together are the things from God and you will then remember to do the right thing in Christ's name.
YOU CAN TRUST GOD
Galatians 5:25-6:10, vs. 25: If we live by the Spirit, let us aL$o walk by the Spirit.
Object:
a walking stick or cane.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to let one of our friends help us learn something about God. This is not a brand new friend. I imagine you have seen him many times before. As many times as you have seen him, though, you have probably never used him. His name is Kerry Cane. Good old Kerry has been a lot of help to a lot of people. Why, I can remember when Kerry helped my next door neighbor learn to walk again after he broke his leg. My neighbor used to lean on Kerry real hard, but Kerry never let him down. I can remember another time when a friend of mine who was blind lost his own cane and he used Kerry to feel for furniture and walls in my house, when he walked around. Kerry was a lot of help and you can depend on Kerry to do the job.
Being ready to help is not limited to my friend Kerry Cane. No, sir. The Spirit of God can be depended on also. The Spirit will always do for us what is right. Sometimes God tell us that we need to depend on the Spirit when things get rough and we do not think that we can do it all alone. We like to brag that we can do the job or overcome the pain or problem without anyone's help. But God says that that kind of bragging, or being conceited, is foolish. We should depend on God's Spirit to help us just like my friend, who had the broken leg, leaned and depended on Kerry. There are other times when we can't see what is going to happen if we try something that God is asking of us and so we are afraid to do it. God says to us that we should give at least ten cents of every dollar to his special work in our offerings. But a lot of times people think that they cannot afford to give that much back to God and still pay their bills. God says trust me like a blind friend trusted Kerry to point out the furniture and walls and everything will work out. If we can walk in trust, then we can live in trust.
So, the next time that you see Kerry or someone like Kerry, you remember the kind of trust people have to lean on and follow a cane and then you think to yourself, "If that man can trust a cane and not be afraid, then I can surely trust God and not be afraid."
GOD ANSWERS THE TOUGH QUESTIONS
Ephesians 3:13-21, vs. 19: And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.
Object:
a slide rule, a cook book, and a map.
Good morning, boys and girls. Isn't it wonderful that we know so much about so many different things? It is also amazing that the things we don't know about somebody else does. Where do we get all of our answers? Let's suppose that you wanted to have a chicken dinner today, but you wanted it fixed differently than you have ever eaten it before. What will your mother do? I know what she will do. She will go to her cookbook and look up all of the ways there are to fix chicken and then let you choose your way. Let's suppose that you have a very difficult arithmetic problem to figure out and you just can't find the answer with any of your methods. What will you do? You may take your problem to an engineer and he will take out his slide rule and in a very short time will give you the solution. Here is one more way that you can find an answer to a most difficult problem. Suppose that you wanted to go far, far away and you didn't know how to get there. What would you do? I know what you could do. You could get a map and find out where the city is where you wanted to go. Then you could pick out the road you wanted to travel on. That is the way that you figure out those kinds of problems.
But suppose you wanted to forgive someone for hurting you, or suppose you wanted to live after you died? Now, who do you go to? Where do you get answers like that? When you or your mother are sick and you need special attention, who do you call?
Sometimes we have to depend on someone who knows more about things in this life than the smartest man or all of the books in the world. Do you know who I am talking about? That's right, God. The love of Jesus is greater and goes further than anything that we know in the whole world. When the problem is really tough and there are no answers in books or people, we have to turn to God to get the answer. When you know how much God loves you, then you can forgive anybody for anything that they might have done. When you know how much God loves you through Jesus, then you quit worrying about dying because you know that Jesus can give life forever, even after you die. And when you are sick or you feel all alone at night, you are never afraid because Jesus promises you that he will come and be with you and share every moment with you as long as you need him.
Sometimes we are pretty smart, but when it comes to the real tough questions, then we need the love of Jesus for the real great answers.
DRIED PAINT AND HARD BREAD
Ephesians 4:17-28, vs. 26: Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.
Object:
a can of dried paint and a piece of dried bread.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about something that all of us know about, because we have all been like this at one time or another. Have you ever been angry? Sure you have, because everyone gets angry about something. You don't have to fall on the floor and stamp your feet or throw things around the room to show that you are angry. You can be angry inside and never show it, or you can shout and scream and knock things over, and still be angry. St. Paul teaches that it is all right to be angry with people when they are wrong, but he cautions us never to sin in our anger. If you are angry because things are not the way you want them to be and you hurt someone, then you have sinned in your anger. But St. Paul says that you may be very angry when you have been hurt or had trouble in one of many ways. Just don't sin!
There is one thing that Paul teaches us about anger, though, that is very important, and I want to teach that to you today. Look what I have here in my hand. [Show them the paint can and the dry piece of bread.] Do you know what is the same about both the paint and the bread? Take a good look. You may even feel them if you would like so that you will know how paint and bread can be alike. Now, do you know? [See if any of the children can make the connection.] How would you like to try to paint your house with this paint? You couldn't? Why not? Because it is dry and you couldn't put it on a brush. That's very good. How about the bread? Who wants to take a bite of this bread? You can't because it is too hard. How do the paint and bread get so hard that you can't use them? By leaving the lid off the paint and the bread out of the bread sack. That's right.
St. Paul teaches us that we should never go to bed at night angry. By the time the sun goes down, we must get over our anger. Do you know why? For the same reason that you can't leave the lid off the paint and the bread out of its wrapper. Your anger will get hard and you will get hard with it. Your anger will hurt you, if you let it stay in you overnight. Anger is to be used to get rid of the awful feelings that are inside of you and then it is over with and put away. Never stay angry overnight or you will turn into something that you will not like. The man who left his paint can lid off overnight or the woman who left out this piece of bread were sorry, but there wasn't anything that they could do about it. Use your anger, but never let the night pass without getting over it. Okay? Okay!
MAKING THE MOST OF TIME
Ephesians 5:15-21, vs. 16: Making the most of the time because the days are evil.
Object:
an appointment book.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about something that is very important to us all. It isn't money, or ice cream, or hamburgers. It isn't riding a bike or playing dolls. We aren't going to talk about school or taking a bath. But, you couldn't do any of these things if you didn't have the thing that we are going to talk about this morning. We are going to talk about time. How many of you know what time is? [Let them answer.] Those are some pretty good answers. Time is very important and it can help us a lot if we know how to use it.
I brought with me today a very good friend named Aaron, Aaron Appointment Book. Now Aaron keeps me pretty busy most days. The first thing that I do when I get up in the morning is to take a look at Aaron to find out how I am going to use the time God has given me. At 9:00 I must meet with Mr. Brown, and at 10:00 I promised that I would be at a very important meeting where lots of money is going to be spent. At 11:00 Mrs. Jones is going to be operated on at the hospital and I promised her that I would be there in time to have prayer and wait with her husband and talk to the doctor. This afternoon I must teach a class at the church and meet with the organist. The time goes fast when we use it the right way. Time is important and so is Aaron. If I didn't have Aaron, I might go to the church in the morning to teach my class and miss the meeting and Mrs. Jones. Aaron helps me stay on schedule and use my time right.
God teaches us that we are going to do something with the time that we have and that, if we don't plan it wisely, we will soon find ourselves wasting it. Pretty soon we will use the time that God has given us to do wrong things. That is why it is so important that we use and plan our time well. Every Sunday you can plan on coming to church for a couple of hours and that is a good use of your time. You don't have to wait until Sunday to use some of your time to pray and do kind things for your friends and help your mother. You can do these things anytime. There are all sorts of ways that boys and girls can plan their time and make good use of it so that you are pleasing to God. By the way, you should plan some play time, because God thinks that every boy and girl should have some play time. But learn to use your time wisely and you will be as glad and happy about life as Aaron is when he is all filled up without even one empty line.
salt, vinegar, and mustard.
Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever tried to hit a ball with a tree branch or walk barefooted on a very hot sidewalk or hot sand? If you have, you know that some things just don't go together. You need shoes to walk across something that is hot and you need a bat to hit a ball. Those things are made to go together and the others are not. I brought along some other things that you know a lot about that I think will help you understand one of God's teachings this morning.
Here are three different things that you put on your food at different times. [Hold up the three so that everyone can see them.] What do you call this yellow stuff in this jar? That's right, mustard. And how about this white liquid in this bottle? Vinegar. Okay, now tell me what I have in this container with the holes on the top of it which is like white sand when I shake it out? Salt, very good. Have you ever tried to put salt on bread when you thought it was sugar, or mustard on mashed potatoes, or drink a glass of vinegar when you thought it was water? If you ever have done anything like this you know how terrible it is. Mustard and mashed potatoes, or salt and bread, just don't go together, and vinegar will never replace water.
St. Paul teaches us that the same thing is true about our wishes and what God wants for us as well. Very often our wishes are selfish. Sometimes we would like to just punch that guy in the nose, but God wishes that we would reach out and help him get another fresh start. Our ways and God's ways are different many times. St. Paul teaches us that whenever we know what God would do and what he wants us to do, that we should do it God's way and save ourselves a lot of trouble.
God's way teaches us to put salt on meat and vegetables, instead of on bread; and God teaches us to put gravy, instead of mustard, on our potatoes, so you can see that God's way is right. Seriously, I know that you sometimes feel that it would be better to punch the fellow in the nose, but really, it would be better if you loved the guy even more now that he has done something to you. So, you remember that the things that go well together are the things from God and you will then remember to do the right thing in Christ's name.
YOU CAN TRUST GOD
Galatians 5:25-6:10, vs. 25: If we live by the Spirit, let us aL$o walk by the Spirit.
Object:
a walking stick or cane.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to let one of our friends help us learn something about God. This is not a brand new friend. I imagine you have seen him many times before. As many times as you have seen him, though, you have probably never used him. His name is Kerry Cane. Good old Kerry has been a lot of help to a lot of people. Why, I can remember when Kerry helped my next door neighbor learn to walk again after he broke his leg. My neighbor used to lean on Kerry real hard, but Kerry never let him down. I can remember another time when a friend of mine who was blind lost his own cane and he used Kerry to feel for furniture and walls in my house, when he walked around. Kerry was a lot of help and you can depend on Kerry to do the job.
Being ready to help is not limited to my friend Kerry Cane. No, sir. The Spirit of God can be depended on also. The Spirit will always do for us what is right. Sometimes God tell us that we need to depend on the Spirit when things get rough and we do not think that we can do it all alone. We like to brag that we can do the job or overcome the pain or problem without anyone's help. But God says that that kind of bragging, or being conceited, is foolish. We should depend on God's Spirit to help us just like my friend, who had the broken leg, leaned and depended on Kerry. There are other times when we can't see what is going to happen if we try something that God is asking of us and so we are afraid to do it. God says to us that we should give at least ten cents of every dollar to his special work in our offerings. But a lot of times people think that they cannot afford to give that much back to God and still pay their bills. God says trust me like a blind friend trusted Kerry to point out the furniture and walls and everything will work out. If we can walk in trust, then we can live in trust.
So, the next time that you see Kerry or someone like Kerry, you remember the kind of trust people have to lean on and follow a cane and then you think to yourself, "If that man can trust a cane and not be afraid, then I can surely trust God and not be afraid."
GOD ANSWERS THE TOUGH QUESTIONS
Ephesians 3:13-21, vs. 19: And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.
Object:
a slide rule, a cook book, and a map.
Good morning, boys and girls. Isn't it wonderful that we know so much about so many different things? It is also amazing that the things we don't know about somebody else does. Where do we get all of our answers? Let's suppose that you wanted to have a chicken dinner today, but you wanted it fixed differently than you have ever eaten it before. What will your mother do? I know what she will do. She will go to her cookbook and look up all of the ways there are to fix chicken and then let you choose your way. Let's suppose that you have a very difficult arithmetic problem to figure out and you just can't find the answer with any of your methods. What will you do? You may take your problem to an engineer and he will take out his slide rule and in a very short time will give you the solution. Here is one more way that you can find an answer to a most difficult problem. Suppose that you wanted to go far, far away and you didn't know how to get there. What would you do? I know what you could do. You could get a map and find out where the city is where you wanted to go. Then you could pick out the road you wanted to travel on. That is the way that you figure out those kinds of problems.
But suppose you wanted to forgive someone for hurting you, or suppose you wanted to live after you died? Now, who do you go to? Where do you get answers like that? When you or your mother are sick and you need special attention, who do you call?
Sometimes we have to depend on someone who knows more about things in this life than the smartest man or all of the books in the world. Do you know who I am talking about? That's right, God. The love of Jesus is greater and goes further than anything that we know in the whole world. When the problem is really tough and there are no answers in books or people, we have to turn to God to get the answer. When you know how much God loves you, then you can forgive anybody for anything that they might have done. When you know how much God loves you through Jesus, then you quit worrying about dying because you know that Jesus can give life forever, even after you die. And when you are sick or you feel all alone at night, you are never afraid because Jesus promises you that he will come and be with you and share every moment with you as long as you need him.
Sometimes we are pretty smart, but when it comes to the real tough questions, then we need the love of Jesus for the real great answers.
DRIED PAINT AND HARD BREAD
Ephesians 4:17-28, vs. 26: Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.
Object:
a can of dried paint and a piece of dried bread.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about something that all of us know about, because we have all been like this at one time or another. Have you ever been angry? Sure you have, because everyone gets angry about something. You don't have to fall on the floor and stamp your feet or throw things around the room to show that you are angry. You can be angry inside and never show it, or you can shout and scream and knock things over, and still be angry. St. Paul teaches that it is all right to be angry with people when they are wrong, but he cautions us never to sin in our anger. If you are angry because things are not the way you want them to be and you hurt someone, then you have sinned in your anger. But St. Paul says that you may be very angry when you have been hurt or had trouble in one of many ways. Just don't sin!
There is one thing that Paul teaches us about anger, though, that is very important, and I want to teach that to you today. Look what I have here in my hand. [Show them the paint can and the dry piece of bread.] Do you know what is the same about both the paint and the bread? Take a good look. You may even feel them if you would like so that you will know how paint and bread can be alike. Now, do you know? [See if any of the children can make the connection.] How would you like to try to paint your house with this paint? You couldn't? Why not? Because it is dry and you couldn't put it on a brush. That's very good. How about the bread? Who wants to take a bite of this bread? You can't because it is too hard. How do the paint and bread get so hard that you can't use them? By leaving the lid off the paint and the bread out of the bread sack. That's right.
St. Paul teaches us that we should never go to bed at night angry. By the time the sun goes down, we must get over our anger. Do you know why? For the same reason that you can't leave the lid off the paint and the bread out of its wrapper. Your anger will get hard and you will get hard with it. Your anger will hurt you, if you let it stay in you overnight. Anger is to be used to get rid of the awful feelings that are inside of you and then it is over with and put away. Never stay angry overnight or you will turn into something that you will not like. The man who left his paint can lid off overnight or the woman who left out this piece of bread were sorry, but there wasn't anything that they could do about it. Use your anger, but never let the night pass without getting over it. Okay? Okay!
MAKING THE MOST OF TIME
Ephesians 5:15-21, vs. 16: Making the most of the time because the days are evil.
Object:
an appointment book.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about something that is very important to us all. It isn't money, or ice cream, or hamburgers. It isn't riding a bike or playing dolls. We aren't going to talk about school or taking a bath. But, you couldn't do any of these things if you didn't have the thing that we are going to talk about this morning. We are going to talk about time. How many of you know what time is? [Let them answer.] Those are some pretty good answers. Time is very important and it can help us a lot if we know how to use it.
I brought with me today a very good friend named Aaron, Aaron Appointment Book. Now Aaron keeps me pretty busy most days. The first thing that I do when I get up in the morning is to take a look at Aaron to find out how I am going to use the time God has given me. At 9:00 I must meet with Mr. Brown, and at 10:00 I promised that I would be at a very important meeting where lots of money is going to be spent. At 11:00 Mrs. Jones is going to be operated on at the hospital and I promised her that I would be there in time to have prayer and wait with her husband and talk to the doctor. This afternoon I must teach a class at the church and meet with the organist. The time goes fast when we use it the right way. Time is important and so is Aaron. If I didn't have Aaron, I might go to the church in the morning to teach my class and miss the meeting and Mrs. Jones. Aaron helps me stay on schedule and use my time right.
God teaches us that we are going to do something with the time that we have and that, if we don't plan it wisely, we will soon find ourselves wasting it. Pretty soon we will use the time that God has given us to do wrong things. That is why it is so important that we use and plan our time well. Every Sunday you can plan on coming to church for a couple of hours and that is a good use of your time. You don't have to wait until Sunday to use some of your time to pray and do kind things for your friends and help your mother. You can do these things anytime. There are all sorts of ways that boys and girls can plan their time and make good use of it so that you are pleasing to God. By the way, you should plan some play time, because God thinks that every boy and girl should have some play time. But learn to use your time wisely and you will be as glad and happy about life as Aaron is when he is all filled up without even one empty line.
