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Fifth Sunday in Lent
From “Saving the Ants” (Download book at left!)Â
Scripture Reference:Â Ezek. 37:1-14 and John 11:25 Â 
In the Old Testament reading today, Ezekiel describes a valley full of dry bones. This was a vision or dream that the Lord was showing to his prophet Ezekiel. It must have been quite a sight, a whole valley full of dry bones lying around. How do you think Ezekiel might have felt when he saw that? (Let children share.)
The Lord was showing this vision to Ezekiel for a very important reason. Those bones represented the Israelites, God’s people, who had lost hope and had lost faith in God. Because they had turned so far from God, and had lost their spiritual life inside, they were like those lifeless bones.
Now if I gave you a skeleton of something like a chicken (show your bone as an illustration), could you make that chicken alive again? Could you put the muscles and feathers back on the chicken and then make it start breathing again? (Children may respond.) That would be impossible for us, but for God, nothing is impossible. When Jesus was walking around here on earth, he raised people from the dead.
Ezekiel watched this valley of bones, and he spoke to the bones, just as the Lord told him to do. Do you know what happened to the bones right before his eyes? (Children may answer.) Those bones were connected back together and soon they had muscle and skin and they were human again. Then God breathed into them, and they stood up and were alive.
Ezekiel was given this dream to show him that God could do anything. The people of Israel were alive, but they felt very sad inside. They had stopped listening to God. It was as if their spirits were dead, like those dry bones. God sent the prophet Ezekiel to them to bring their hope and their spirits back to life.
Sometimes we feel sad and far away from God. We may feel like the Lord doesn’t hear our prayers. We don’t have to stay that way, far away from God like a dry bone. God wants us to be alive in him, full of the Holy Spirit and happy to be children of God. If we open our hearts and lives to him, the Spirit of God will come whooshing into our lives again.
Do you know what Jesus said to Mary and Martha before he raised their brother back to life? He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die… will live again” (John 11:25 NLT). Can you say the verse with me? (Repeat with children.)
Prayer: Â Lord, we’re thankful that you can do anything. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we will truly be alive in you.Â
Fourth Sunday in Lent
From “Saving the Ants” (Download book at left!)Â
Scripture Reference:Â Psalm 23
Preparation:Â Bring cotton balls to represent sheep or make simple sheep from pom-poms to hand out to the children. Here is a link for creating the fluffy little critters:Â http://www.looledo.com/index.php/cotton-ball-sheep.html
Does anyone know who King David was? He was king of Israel a long time ago. Do you know what he did before he became a king? He was a shepherd. A shepherd doesn’t have a very glamorous job. He has to take care of a big flock of sheep. This is not easy, because sheep aren’t very intelligent creatures. Almost every other farm animal you could name is smarter than a sheep.
So a shepherd has to show the sheep where they should eat grass, where they should drink fresh water, where they should lie down and go to sleep. The shepherd has to protect the sheep from hungry wolves and bears. He has to keep them from running off the edge of cliffs. He has to keep them from getting lost.
King David knew a lot about sheep. He knew how silly they were and how much they needed a shepherd. And after he became king, he wrote a song, a psalm, that begins, “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1 NLT). Now if the Lord is my shepherd, what does that make me? Right! A sheep! Isn’t that insulting? No, just realistic. We do need God. We need taking care of. It would really be silly to think that we didn’t need God as our shepherd. Do you think those sheep would last very long out in the wilderness without a shepherd? No!
I’d like to give each one of you a soft little sheep to remind you how sheep need a shepherd just like we need God. Even though we’re much smarter than sheep, in some ways we can be just as silly when we make bad choices and refuse to follow the Good Shepherd who loves us. (You may pass out cotton balls and, if desired, teach the children a simple song.)
I want to teach you a little song. Whenever you hear the word “sheep” you can say “Baa!” And when we’re done, all of you little lambs can find your way back to your places.
(Optional song, to the tune, “The Games People Play” by Joe South)
(C chord) I just want to be a sheep (BAA!)
I just want to be a (G7) sheep (BAA!)
Pray the Lord my (F) soul to (G7) keep
I just want to be a (C) sheep! (BAA!)
Prayer: Â Dear Jesus, our Good Shepherd, thank you for watching over us and keeping us from harm.
Third Sunday in Lent
From “Saving the Ants” (Download book at left!)Â
Scripture Reference:Â Rom. 5:8
Preparation: Preparation: Bring a long, sturdy rope. Â Â 
I want you to think about your friends this morning. Can you think of a lot of friends? Who are some of your friends? (Allow children to give a few names.) What is the opposite of a friend? (Let children respond.) An enemy is the opposite of a friend. I hope none of you have enemies at such a young age, but sometimes it seems like certain people are just hard to get along with. We may try really hard to be nice to them, but maybe nothing works and we might start to see them as an enemy.
Do you think God has any enemies? I’m sure God doesn’t want anyone to be his enemy, but when people turn their backs on God and refuse to listen to him or obey him, they become, by their own choice, enemies of God. That’s a very sad thing, isn’t it?
Now, imagine for a minute that you’re all in a jungle. Pretend you’re on a field trip with your class. You’re hiking along next to someone who has been mean to you the whole trip. This person has been pulling your hair, dropping bugs down your shirt, and saying mean things about you, and you’ve just about had enough. This person has become an enemy. Suddenly, this mean person steps into a pit of quicksand! At first he doesn’t want any help. “Get away from me,” he sneers, “I can get out by myself.” But you know he can’t, and you’ve got a sturdy rope with you, just like the one I have here. What do you think you would do? Would you save this enemy? It might be tempting to drop a few bugs on this person’s head while he’s stuck there. You might feel like saying, “Serves you right, you big meanie!” and then let him sink.
There’s a Bible verse in Romans, chapter 5, that says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (or enemies of God)” (v. 8 NLT; parentheses by author). God didn’t wait until we were his friends to save us; he saved us while we thought of him as an enemy. That takes a lot of love, doesn’t it?
We’re all sinners. We all do things that we shouldn’t do. In a way, we’re all like that meanie, stuck in the quicksand. But even before we say, “Please, help me,” God has already thrown us the rope and pulled us out. (As you speak, you can throw one end of the rope out, or do the action of throwing a rope.) God loves all of us and he sent Jesus to save us.
Prayer: Â Dear Lord, thank you for saving us. Help us to be a friend of Jesus and help us to be a friend to those around us.
 St. Patrick’s Day; “St. Patrick’s Forgivenessâ€
Mark 11:22-25
Preparation: You may bring shamrock stickers or a hand stamp to give to the children at the end.
Lots of people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. They wear something green, they might decorate their classrooms or homes with shamrocks, or they may even eat Irish food like corned beef and cabbage for dinner. But most people don’t know very much about St. Patrick’s life and what he did. I want to see how much you know about him. Raise your hand if you think St. Patrick was Irish. (Acknowledge hands.) Now raise your hand if you think St. Patrick was ever a slave. (Acknowledge hands.)
The first question seemed easy, but if you raised your hand to the first question, you were wrong. St. Patrick was not Irish. He was a Briton, born in the part of the world we now call Wales. And if you raised your hand when I asked if St. Patrick was a slave, you were right. Patrick was kidnapped from his country around the year 400 and taken to Ireland where he was sold into slavery. He was only sixteen years old when he was taken by the Irish pirates, and he spent six long years working for his Irish master.
During those six years, Patrick cried out to God in his prayers. He was lonely and sad and frightened. Slaves were not treated very well. Finally, with God’s help, he escaped from Ireland and made his way back home. There, he studied and became a priest. Then he went back to Ireland, back to the people who had made him a slave, to preach the good news of Jesus. God gave Patrick courage and even though he was almost killed several times, God always kept him safe. Because of Patrick’s work and preaching in Ireland, slavery was ended there, and Christianity spread across the whole county. Patrick lived to be a very old man. He lived to see Ireland transformed by God’s message of love and forgiveness.
What do you suppose would have happened if Patrick had not been able to forgive the Irish people for making him work as a slave? (Discuss with children.) Do you think it would have been a long time before someone dared to try to tell the Irish pirates about the forgiveness of Jesus? Because Patrick was able to forgive those who mistreated him, God was able to use Patrick to tell a whole country about Jesus.
Prayer: Lord God, we thank you for your servant St. Patrick. Help us to forgive others, too, and use our lives and our words to tell people about Jesus.
Key Words: Missions, Courage, Preaching, Witnessing
By Ruth Gilmore © 2002 – 2014 All Rights Reserved
Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
From “Saving the Ants” (Download book at left!)Â
Scripture Reference: Matt. 5:38-48 and 1 Cor. 3:18-19Â 
Preparation: Bring an organ donation card with you; your own or one from a member of the congregation.
Can anyone tell me what the word revenge means? (Discuss meaning and examples of revenge with children.) Revenge is getting back at someone who hurt you. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus talks about revenge. The people that Jesus was talking to knew about the old law that said, “If an eye is injured, injure the eye of the person who did it. If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the person who did it”(Matt. 5:38 NLT). Everyone accepted this law and thought it was fair.
But Jesus told them something very different. He told the people not to take revenge on those who hurt them. Jesus told them that if someone slapped them on one cheek, they were to turn the other cheek toward him and let him slap that one as well. Does that sound silly? If you hit back, does the fight continue and even get worse? Yes, it does. If you don’t strike back, that is usually the end of the fight.
I want to tell you a true story about a little boy and his parents. They were a family from California who were on vacation in Italy. One day, a car pulled up alongside them and gunshots were fired into their car. The little boy, Nicholas, was sitting in the back seat and was killed. His parents were very sad. But they found a way to bring good out of this tragedy. They decided to donate Nicholas’ organs to seven people. Instead of wanting to take away someone’s life to get revenge for their little boy, those parents gave life to seven people.
This act of forgiveness shocked the people of Italy. At that time, not very many people in Italy were willing to donate their organs after they died to others who needed them. Many people now have organ donor cards that they carry with their driver’s license. (Here you can show the donor card.) If a donor has an accident and dies, then important parts of their body can be used to help others live. If someone dies and donates their heart, then a doctor can put the healthy heart into a person who needs it.
As a way of showing their thanks for this gift of life from Nicholas and his parents, 130 bells were given by families, churches, and schools throughout Italy. These bells were hung on a tower that was built to honor the memory of Nicholas. Nicholas and his parents did what Jesus would have done. Instead of seeking revenge, they gave life.
Prayer: Â Thank you Lord, for people of love and mercy. Help us to turn the other cheek; to turn away from revenge and to turn toward forgiveness and life.Â
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
From “Saving the Ants” (Download book at left!)Â
Scripture Reference: Deut. 30:15-20Â “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.”
Preparation: Bring two signs, one with the word “Life†and the other with the word “Death†written in large letters or another visual depicting death vs. life.  
A long time ago, God’s chosen people, the Israelites, were traveling without a homeland. After forty long years of wandering through the wilderness and waiting, they were finally ready to enter the promised land. Moses was not able to go with them, so he had a serious talk with them before he left.
The Israelites were like children to Moses. He had been leading them and trying to give them everything they needed for so many years, it was as if he was their own father. But he finally had to say goodbye to them. Moses wanted them to be safe even if he couldn’t be with them any longer, so he gave them a lecture. When all of you get older, you might hear the same sort of talk from your folks when you’re ready to go live on your own or travel off to college.
Moses set two choices before the Israelites and told them that they must decide which path they wanted to take. Moses said, “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.†Life or death; seems like a pretty easy choice to make. I brought along a couple of signs to remind you of the two choices. (Hand “Life†sign to your right and have a child hold it up; hand “Death†sign to your left.) Some of the choices that go along with “Life†are obeying and loving the Lord and keeping his commandments. Some of the choices that go along with “Death†are turning away from God and making other things more important in your life than God.
Well, that’s an obvious choice, right? How many of you would choose life? Raise your hand. How many would choose death? It’s easy to decide to take the right path when it’s labeled so clearly like this, but really life is made up of many little choices. (Give relevant examples here. Some examples follow.) Imagine that your mom or dad has just told you that you have to do the dishes or clean up your room. Suddenly, the doorbell rings, and it’s your best friend. And your friend has a new toy that he wants to show you or a new video game that she wants to play with you. It would be very tempting to run off and play with them and forget about your job, but that would be disobeying your folks and that’s a step down the wrong path. It may seem like a little thing, but little things lead to big things.
Choosing to obey your parents is like choosing life; choosing to disobey is like choosing death. We make lots of little choices every day, and with Jesus’ help, we can make the right choice and choose life.
Prayer: Â Dear Jesus, help us to make the right choices and to follow your will for our lives.Â
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
From “Saving the Ants” (Download book at left!)
Scripture Reference: Matt. 5:3-12Â “”God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them.”
Preparation:Â Bring a ball or inflatable globe and a whistle. Â 
How many of you play ball games at school? Would you like to play now? (Choose a few volunteers to play.) This is a different kind of game with a surprise at the end. The object of the game is to get the ball for yourself. Don’t play too rough; treat each other gently. When you hear me blow the whistle, you have to freeze. (Begin game; blow whistle before it becomes too rough.) Okay, would you like to know who won? (Take the ball and give it to a child who has been quietly watching the fray.) This meek one sitting here quietly gets the ball. That’s a strange sort of game, isn’t it?
This is a little bit like what Jesus talked about in the “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus said, “God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them. . . . God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them. . . . God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5: 3, 5, 7 NLT).
The world says just the opposite. Here are some things you might hear on television or at school. You may even hear this kind of talk from other kids or even from some grownups: “It’s better to be rich and proud, so that you can take whatever you want. It’s better to be bold and pushy; that way you can conquer the earth. If you want to win, you can’t worry about hurting other people.”
Those aren’t the sorts of things that Jesus taught, are they?
This ball is sort of like the earth and as far back as we know, there have been people fighting over the earth. Now, it may look like they own the earth for a while, but in reality the creator who made the earth is in control. And Jesus says that the meek ones who look to God will inherit the earth.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t ever win at ball games or shouldn’t try your best. It does mean that we should put God first in our lives and think of others before ourselves. It means that we should remember how much we need God in our lives. The more we understand and live the words of Jesus, the more we know that the truth is just the opposite of what the world says. The truth is in the words of Jesus, “God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them” (Matt. 5:5 NLT).
Prayer: Â Dear Lord of heaven and earth, help us to remember not to grab things for ourselves. Help us to wait for the gifts that you give.
Third Sunday after Epiphany
From “Saving the Ants” (Download book at left!)
Scripture Reference: Isaiah 9:1-4Â “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.”
Preparation:Â Bring a big blanket and a flashlight. Â 
How many of you have ever tried to walk in the dark? Have you ever gotten up in the middle of the night and tried to walk to the bathroom, for example? Maybe you forgot to pick up some sharp little toy and you stepped on it in the dark. It can be very difficult and even painful to walk around when it’s really dark.
(You can share a story about your experience trying to walk in darkness. An example follows.) Sometimes, when I walk out the front door in the dark, I hear a crunch, which means that I have just stepped on a snail that has crept out to eat some tender flowers at night. Or if I’m walking through the house in my bare feet with no lights on, sometimes I’ll stub my toe on a chair leg. Walking in the dark can be dangerous.
If everyone scoots in real close, we’ll see how many people we can get under this dark blanket. (Gather with the children under the blanket.) It’s pretty dark under here, isn’t it? I wanted to read a Bible verse to you, but now it’s so dark I don’t know if I can. But I think I have something that might help. (Retrieve the flashlight out of your bag.) This flashlight will really help; just the thing to push back the darkness. (Turn on the light.) That makes a big difference, doesn’t it? I can see much better. Here’s the Bible verse; Isaiah, chapter 9, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness; on them light has shined” (v. 2 NRSV).
Let’s push back the darkness and take the blanket off now. (Remove blanket.) Can anyone answer this question; who is the “light of the world”? Someone said, “I am the light of the world.” Who was that? (Let children answer.) That was Jesus!
Jesus is the light that came into our dark world. Jesus shows us where bad things are so we can avoid them. We don’t have to bump into the bad things because Jesus shines brightly and shows us the right way to go. The people who walked in the darkness, bumping into things, have seen a great light! Jesus Christ is the Light of the world.
Prayer: Jesus, you are the Light of the world! Thank you for shining in our lives to show us the way we should go.
Thanks for coming up this morning. Be careful as you go back to your seats, though, and try not to bump into anything on the way.
Second Sunday after Epiphany
From “Saving the Ants”
Scripture Reference: John 1:29 – 42 Â “”Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Â
Preparation: Bring a stuffed animal or puppet lamb and a small altar, or use the altar at the front of the church. Â 
Jesus is the “Lamb of God.” Have any of you heard that name given to Jesus? The Bible reading from the Gospel of John for today calls Jesus the “Lamb of God.” When John said this about Jesus, the people of that time understood what he meant. They knew that a lamb was very often used as a sacrifice. In order for us to understand what this means, we have to learn about animal sacrifices.
A sacrifice is something that the people of God used to do many years ago. People have always felt bad about sin. We feel bad when we do things that make God unhappy; we feel bad when we sin. Long ago, God’s people were commanded to take all the bad things that they had thought and said and done, and place them on a lamb. Then the lamb was taken to an altar, and the lamb, with the sins laid upon it, was killed. (Here you may demonstrate with your model of an altar or with the altar at the front of the church.)
It is a sad thing to watch a lamb be killed. But when the people sacrificed a lamb, they were reminded that sin is a very sad thing as well. They knew that God was sparing their own lives when the lamb was killed in their place. They knew that this lamb was specially chosen as the most perfect lamb from the flock for the sacrifice. An innocent lamb has done nothing wrong and has not sinned. Still, this lamb was dying in the place of the people who had sinned.
When John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, the people around him knew what John meant. Jesus was perfect, without sin. He was sent from God as an innocent sacrifice. And after Jesus was put to death on the cross, they would understand that Jesus died in our place. We were the sinners, not Jesus; but Jesus took the punishment himself because of love. Jesus was the last sacrifice that ever had to be made, because He was the sacrifice sent by God Himself; the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
After Jesus, the Lamb of God, died on the cross and then rose again to life, no more sacrifices were needed. No more lambs needed to die. No more people needed to die either. God loved the world so much, that He sent his only Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God, to die for our sins. And anyone who believes in Jesus will not die, but will live with God in heaven forever. Let’s thank God together for sending his Lamb, Jesus.
Prayer: Â Father in heaven, thank you for sending Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, to take away all of our sins. Thank you for bringing all of us to life eternal.
For the First Sunday after New Year’s Day
From “Barefoot in the Snow” (download book at left)
Scripture Reference: Luke 3:21-22 Â “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Â 
It’s a new year, isn’t it? Happy New Year! Did any of you stay up until midnight to greet the New Year? (Let children respond. You may share how your family celebrated the New Year. You may have your own traditions that would work as an illustration, or use this one.) Some families in the Midwest have an interesting New Year’s tradition. If you are daring enough and figure you can run fast enough, at midnight you can race around the house outside through the snow in your bare feet! Do you think you would try that? I’m sure those crazy enough to do that wouldn’t be yelling just because it was New Year’s. They would be yelling because their feet were freezing! As soon as they got back in the front door, they could dry off their cold feet with towels and then toast their toes by the fire or a heater and maybe have some hot chocolate.
Running barefoot through the snow was a way to wake up to the New Year; to challenge yourself to meet hardship with exuberance and even laughter. It would be exciting and exhilarating to run through the snow. Do you think you could do it? (Children may respond.) You couldn’t stay out too long or you might get frostbite. On the other hand, you could just stay warm and snug by the fire. You wouldn’t have to go running through the snow, but it would be a challenge to see if you could do it. I’m sure the snow runners would hesitate more if there wasn’t a warm house with slippers and hot cocoa waiting for them. The thought of warming up by the fire probably gives them the courage to run.
During this next year, all of us are going to have to do things that to us might feel like running barefoot through the snow. We’ll have to clean up our rooms. We’ll have to tackle a mountain of dirty dishes. Maybe we’ll have to break a bad habit; something like calling people names when we get mad or fighting with our brothers or sisters. We may have to do things that are hard for us to do, but we have to do them anyway. It’s like gritting your teeth and running like crazy through the snow.
But when you’re through with that difficult task, you know that Jesus is there waiting, proud that you made it. And your mom and dad are waiting with a big hug to show you how happy they are that you finished. So the next time you have to do a job that you really don’t feel like doing, pretend you’re running through the snow . . . and remember there’s a warm hug waiting for you at the end.
Prayer:Â Jesus, help us to go ahead and do those things that are hard for us, but must be done. Give us courage and comfort.
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