Serving Our Purpose
Children's sermon
Cows In Church
80 Biblically Based Children's Sermons
Object:
A tablet, a sharpened pencil, and an unsharpened pencil.
As the children settle onto the chancel steps and surrounding floor space, I hold up a tablet and a pencil, careful to conceal the point end of the pencil in my hand.
"What are these things for?" I ask.
"To write with," the children answer.
"So, what you're saying is, they have a purpose."
The children nod their agreement. Then I hand the tablet to one of the closer children and hold out the pencil to him, eraser end first. "Would you take this pencil and write your name for me?" I ask.
Mark grins and says, "Sure!" as he reaches for the pencil. His head goes down in concentration, he starts to write, then suddenly he jerks his attention from the tablet to me with an accusatory, "Funny!"
"What's wrong, Mark?" I ask with mock innocence.
"You need to sharpen this! It doesn't have a point," he complains.
"Would this one work better?" I ask reaching into my sleeve and producing a freshly sharpened pencil.
"Yeah!" he sort of growls. "You still want me to write my name?"
"Yes, please," I reply. "That was rather a dirty trick, wasn't it, Mark?"
His grin returns as he agrees that it was.
"Well, I didn't do that to be mean," I assure him. "I did it to make a point. You see, we all recognized that the purpose of the pencil was writing. But I wanted you to understand that it needed something more than just its purpose. It also needed to be prepared to fulfill that purpose. It had to be sharpened before it could be used to create a message or write a name. It had to be significantly changed in order to do what it was meant to do.
"I think the church in today's world is rather like this unsharpened pencil. It has a purpose, but because society and culture have changed a lot, the church is finding it more and more difficult to fulfill that purpose. Like the pencil, the church may have to undergo some change in order for the world to receive its message. It may need to consider offering alternative styles of worship or additional worship opportunities for folks at new times or even other days of the week. The church may have to be willing to try new things, stepping out of its traditional ways of being, in order to deliver the gospel message.
"People are like that too. God created each of us for a reason. All of us have a purpose. Sometimes we have to be willing to change in order to be who God created us to be. We may need to let go of anger or some prejudiced attitude that stands between ourselves and others. We may need to be brave enough to step outside of traditional, comfortable ways of being in order to be true disciples."
Prayer: "God, thank you for these young people with whom we are privileged to share and hear your message. Grant us the courage to make whatever changes we must in order to deliver that message to a world which is hungry to hear it. Let us go forth from this place with the love of Jesus in our hearts, that by that love, the world may know we are Christians. It is in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, that we pray. Amen."
"What are these things for?" I ask.
"To write with," the children answer.
"So, what you're saying is, they have a purpose."
The children nod their agreement. Then I hand the tablet to one of the closer children and hold out the pencil to him, eraser end first. "Would you take this pencil and write your name for me?" I ask.
Mark grins and says, "Sure!" as he reaches for the pencil. His head goes down in concentration, he starts to write, then suddenly he jerks his attention from the tablet to me with an accusatory, "Funny!"
"What's wrong, Mark?" I ask with mock innocence.
"You need to sharpen this! It doesn't have a point," he complains.
"Would this one work better?" I ask reaching into my sleeve and producing a freshly sharpened pencil.
"Yeah!" he sort of growls. "You still want me to write my name?"
"Yes, please," I reply. "That was rather a dirty trick, wasn't it, Mark?"
His grin returns as he agrees that it was.
"Well, I didn't do that to be mean," I assure him. "I did it to make a point. You see, we all recognized that the purpose of the pencil was writing. But I wanted you to understand that it needed something more than just its purpose. It also needed to be prepared to fulfill that purpose. It had to be sharpened before it could be used to create a message or write a name. It had to be significantly changed in order to do what it was meant to do.
"I think the church in today's world is rather like this unsharpened pencil. It has a purpose, but because society and culture have changed a lot, the church is finding it more and more difficult to fulfill that purpose. Like the pencil, the church may have to undergo some change in order for the world to receive its message. It may need to consider offering alternative styles of worship or additional worship opportunities for folks at new times or even other days of the week. The church may have to be willing to try new things, stepping out of its traditional ways of being, in order to deliver the gospel message.
"People are like that too. God created each of us for a reason. All of us have a purpose. Sometimes we have to be willing to change in order to be who God created us to be. We may need to let go of anger or some prejudiced attitude that stands between ourselves and others. We may need to be brave enough to step outside of traditional, comfortable ways of being in order to be true disciples."
Prayer: "God, thank you for these young people with whom we are privileged to share and hear your message. Grant us the courage to make whatever changes we must in order to deliver that message to a world which is hungry to hear it. Let us go forth from this place with the love of Jesus in our hearts, that by that love, the world may know we are Christians. It is in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, that we pray. Amen."
