Your Eyes Are Bigger Than Your Stomach!
Children's sermon
Cows In Church
80 Biblically Based Children's Sermons
Object:
Perhaps a menu or a loaf of bread. (I broke the "rules" on this one and didn't use a visual aid!)
"What are some of the things we need to help our bodies grow?"
"Milk," one of the shyer boys softly announces from his seat at the edge of the gathered children.
"Vegetables!" a little girl says with an air of authority. The other children grimace at the thought.
"Sunshine!" says another, obviously beaming with joy that she came up with something important.
"Yes, we need all of those things, and more. Do all of you like to eat?" Most of the children nod affirmation, though some are obviously at an age still indifferent to food.
"Do any of you ever go out to eat?" All the children nod yes this time.
"When I was a child, my parents took me out to eat once in a while. Quite often, especially if we went to a cafeteria, they would warn me, 'Be careful! Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.' Have any of you ever had anyone tell you that?" This time only two hands go up.
"A couple of you have. 'Your eyes are bigger than your stomach!' That expression just didn't make any sense to me when I was your age. I had seen drawings of the stomach on posters at my doctor's office. I knew it had to be at least as big as my fist. Both of my eyes put together weren't that big. 'What in the world could my parents mean?' I wondered. But as I got older and continued to hear it, I learned that my eyes could see more than my stomach could hold. My parents wanted me to be careful not to take more food than I could eat. Finally I understood what it meant to have eyes bigger than my stomach.
"In a few minutes our Liturgist is going to read a story about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. They got pretty hungry and were upset with Moses for leading them to a place with so little food. So Moses asked God what to do. God said, 'I'll feed them, but they must gather only as much food as they need for one day and not leave any of it for the next day.'
"That was hard for some of the Israelites to do. They had been very hungry. When God provided food, some of them gathered up more than they needed and tried to save it. But the extra food spoiled by the second day and they couldn't eat it. If they had obeyed God and only gathered enough for one day, they wouldn't have wasted the extra food they had taken.
"Sometimes it's hard not to take more than we need, isn't it? Sometimes it's hard to trust that something will be there tomorrow if we don't take it today. But that's what God asked the Israelites to do.
"Sometimes we're so hungry when we sit down to supper or go out to eat that it's extra hard not to take more than we need; it's hard not to have eyes bigger than our stomachs. Yet when we do, the food that is left over sometimes gets thrown away or sits in the refrigerator too long and spoils. That's rather sad when there are people all over the world who don't have enough to eat. In fact, there are people right here in Jefferson City who don't have enough to eat. That's why the church has a food closet, isn't it?
"Well, in about an hour many of you will be sitting down to your Sunday dinner. When you do, you might think about what we've talked about this morning and try to take only what you need. In fact, whenever you eat, you might think about not having eyes too big for your stomach, and having faith that you can have more another time. You might think about how God asked the Israelites to have faith, to trust God. You know, God needs your trust too."
"Milk," one of the shyer boys softly announces from his seat at the edge of the gathered children.
"Vegetables!" a little girl says with an air of authority. The other children grimace at the thought.
"Sunshine!" says another, obviously beaming with joy that she came up with something important.
"Yes, we need all of those things, and more. Do all of you like to eat?" Most of the children nod affirmation, though some are obviously at an age still indifferent to food.
"Do any of you ever go out to eat?" All the children nod yes this time.
"When I was a child, my parents took me out to eat once in a while. Quite often, especially if we went to a cafeteria, they would warn me, 'Be careful! Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.' Have any of you ever had anyone tell you that?" This time only two hands go up.
"A couple of you have. 'Your eyes are bigger than your stomach!' That expression just didn't make any sense to me when I was your age. I had seen drawings of the stomach on posters at my doctor's office. I knew it had to be at least as big as my fist. Both of my eyes put together weren't that big. 'What in the world could my parents mean?' I wondered. But as I got older and continued to hear it, I learned that my eyes could see more than my stomach could hold. My parents wanted me to be careful not to take more food than I could eat. Finally I understood what it meant to have eyes bigger than my stomach.
"In a few minutes our Liturgist is going to read a story about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. They got pretty hungry and were upset with Moses for leading them to a place with so little food. So Moses asked God what to do. God said, 'I'll feed them, but they must gather only as much food as they need for one day and not leave any of it for the next day.'
"That was hard for some of the Israelites to do. They had been very hungry. When God provided food, some of them gathered up more than they needed and tried to save it. But the extra food spoiled by the second day and they couldn't eat it. If they had obeyed God and only gathered enough for one day, they wouldn't have wasted the extra food they had taken.
"Sometimes it's hard not to take more than we need, isn't it? Sometimes it's hard to trust that something will be there tomorrow if we don't take it today. But that's what God asked the Israelites to do.
"Sometimes we're so hungry when we sit down to supper or go out to eat that it's extra hard not to take more than we need; it's hard not to have eyes bigger than our stomachs. Yet when we do, the food that is left over sometimes gets thrown away or sits in the refrigerator too long and spoils. That's rather sad when there are people all over the world who don't have enough to eat. In fact, there are people right here in Jefferson City who don't have enough to eat. That's why the church has a food closet, isn't it?
"Well, in about an hour many of you will be sitting down to your Sunday dinner. When you do, you might think about what we've talked about this morning and try to take only what you need. In fact, whenever you eat, you might think about not having eyes too big for your stomach, and having faith that you can have more another time. You might think about how God asked the Israelites to have faith, to trust God. You know, God needs your trust too."
