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Pentecost Proper 24; 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference: 2 Tim. 3:14—4:4
From “Scolding the Snakes” Â Â
 Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian Preparation: Bring some book collections of your favorite fairy tales, fables, and myths (about Greek or Nordic gods, for example); also bring a Bible. Â
How many of you like to hear stories? Do you like to hear fairy tales or adventure stories read to you? What are some of your favorite stories? (Let children share.) I love stories too. I brought along some of my favorite stories from when I was young. (Show the book collections and talk briefly about a few of your favorite stories.) Some of these stories are called myths. A myth is a story that people have made up to explain how something came into being. There are many myths from different lands, for example, about how the world was made or how different creatures were made.
(You may share some myths that you have heard or use my examples that follow.) The ancient Greeks believed that the earth and the sky fell in love and all of Earth’s creatures are the children of the earth. Long ago, the people of Norway and Sweden believed that the earth’s creatures were pulled out of a boiling lake. And myths from Japanese and Indian cultures told of life being born from a huge egg.
The Bible is a book that is full of stories, too. But there is something very special about the Bible that makes it different than any other book in the world. (Show the Bible and read directly from its pages; the translation here is the New Living Translation.) Let me read to you from the New Testament book of 2 Timothy, chapter 3: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right†(v. 16 NLT). God used people to write down the words we find in the Bible, but the ideas and thoughts that are written down in these pages are inspired by God.
The Bible is God’s word to us. God speaks to us through the Bible. It is not a book written just to be an interesting story or to teach us history. The Bible is a book written to change lives. God sent the scriptures to us so that we would know how much God loves us. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to take away our sins so that we would live forever with God. It’s not a fairy tale, and it’s not a myth. The Bible is the truest story that ever was. It is God’s message of love to us. And God wants us to read the Bible and to listen to its words just as often as we can.
Prayer: Â Dear God, thank you for giving us the Bible, which tells us the wonderful, true story of your love for us.
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Pentecost Proper 23; 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â 2 Kings 5:1-13 and Luke 17:11-19
From “Scolding the Snakes” Â Â
Preparation: Bring a stamp and stamp pad. Â
 Jesus Heals the Leper – Rembrandt Sketch Have any of you had chicken pox? Raise your hand if you’ve already had chicken pox. Did you enjoy having chicken pox? Did other people have to stay away from you while you were sick? How did you look? (Let children offer responses and stories.) Having chicken pox wasn’t much fun, was it?
The Bible readings for today talk about people who had a disease called leprosy. Leprosy is not something anyone would ever want to catch. It’s much more serious than chicken pox. It didn’t just go away. In biblical times, when someone had leprosy, it never went away. People that had leprosy were called lepers, and others never wanted to go near them because they were afraid of catching the disease. Lepers were not very pleasant to look at. Sometimes their skin would be all lumpy and peeling; they might be missing toes or noses. These were like signs or marks that told people, “I’m sick,†and when people saw those signs, they stayed far away.
Do you think lepers had many friends? How do you think they must have felt? (Let kids share.) Even though most people would not go near lepers, Jesus was different. Jesus could see that the lepers needed love and healing just like everyone else. Jesus talked to lepers, touched them, and healed them. And when Jesus healed people with leprosy, the disease was completely erased; they were well again!
None of us has leprosy, but when we do bad things, it’s like having leprosy inside. We know we’ve done wrong, and we feel ugly inside. We feel bad, and we feel like everyone is staring at us, like nobody loves us or wants to be around us. Have you ever felt that way after you did something wrong? (Let children respond.) Now even though no one would be able to tell from the outside that we’ve done something wrong, Jesus knows. And when we’ve sinned, and we ask Jesus for help, what does he do for us? He forgives us and washes away our sins completely. He heals us and makes us clean inside.
(Begin stamping ink marks on children’s hands as you speak.) I brought a stamp pad this morning, and I’ll give each of you a mark to remind you of the people with leprosy that Jesus healed. This will remind you, too, of how Jesus heals us by forgiving our sins. Keep the mark on your hand till the end of the service, and later, when you wash your hands, remember that Jesus washes away our sins.
Prayers: Â Jesus, thank you for washing away my sins and making me healthy and whole.
Pentecost Proper 22; 20th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Luke 17:5-6
From “Scolding the Snakes” Â Â
 Etching by Jan Luyken Preparation: Bring a packet of small seeds, a little pot of dirt, and, if possible, some small sprouts growing in a pot.
Sometimes it seems really hard to have faith in God. We can’t see God; we can’t hear God answering our questions or our prayers. At times we might wonder if we even have much faith at all. Jesus’ own disciples felt the same way sometimes. They had Jesus right there with them, but still they felt like they didn’t have enough faith.
One day the disciples said to Jesus, “We need more faith. Tell us how to get it.†Jesus didn’t really give them a direct answer. He didn’t say, “Go down the street to the health food store and you can pick up a pound of faith there.†But he did give them an answer—even though it seems a little hard to understand. He said, “Even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May God uproot you and throw you into the sea,’ and it would obey you!†(Luke 17:6 NLT).
A mustard seed is very small. I have some seeds here that are about the same size as a mustard seed. (Distribute seeds so kids can examine them.) Do you think you might have faith at least as big as a mustard seed? That doesn’t seem like a lot of faith, does it? Will these seeds ever amount to anything? If we just hold the seeds in our hands and never plant them, the seeds definitely will never get any bigger.
What would happen if we planted these seeds? (Let children answer.) The seeds would sprout and grow into plants that are much bigger than the seeds. A huge tree can grow from a tiny seed.
Maybe Jesus was trying to get his disciples to see that it really wasn’t their faith that was so powerful; it was what God could do with that faith. God could do amazing things with their lives when they put their trust in him. Just as you have to put the seed in the soil for it to grow, you have to actually put your faith in God for your faith to grow. If we put our faith in our friends, would that work just as well? (Let kids respond.) No, that would be sort of like trying to plant our seed in a pot of yogurt or peanut butter. We have to plant our faith seed in good soil. Our faith must be planted and rooted in God. He will grow our faith for us. And then we can do all kinds of wonderful things through God’s power.
Prayer: Â Lord, help us put our faith in you, and then make it grow and grow!
Pentecost Proper 21; 19th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Luke 16:19-31 and 1 Tim. 6:10
From “Scolding the Snakes” Â
 Bassano’s Lazarus Preparation: If you feel comfortable doing so, bring two dolls to serve as Lazarus and the rich man, and practice moving them like puppets as you retell Jesus’ parable. It would be good to practice several times before presenting the story.
How many of you would like to be really rich when you grow up? Can you tell me why? (Children can respond.) How many of you would not mind being poor? Raise your hands. The Gospel for this morning was a story Jesus told about a poor man named Lazarus and a rich man. (Hold up the two dolls.) We’ll pretend that this doll is the rich man and this doll is the poor man, and I’ll tell the story in a modern setting.
(As you tell the following story, move the dolls to “act out†the things you describe.) There was a rich man who loved to shop at the mall, and he always looked very spiffy. He spent lots of money on himself. He had a huge house and a four-car garage all to himself. At his gate, lying in the street, was a poor, sick, and very thin man named Lazarus. The poor man just wanted a few scraps of leftovers from the rich man’s table, but the rich man wouldn’t give him anything. Soon poor Lazarus died, and he was carried to heaven by angels to be with God. The rich man died, too, and he went to hell, where he was not at all happy.
It was a sad ending for the rich man but a happy ending for the poor man. Do you think Jesus wants us to think it’s bad to be rich? (Let children answer.) Some people think the Bible says that money is the root of all evil, but it doesn’t say that. It says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It is hard to love God if riches are very, very important to you, because the money and things you can buy take up so much of your love. Can you take your toys or clothes or cars with you to heaven? (Kids respond.) In the end, those things aren’t very important, are they? It’s more important to be with God.
So how could you be rich and serve God at the same time? (Children may answer.) You can serve God by using your money for doing good in the world. You can share your food and toys with others. You can give much of the money that you make back to God. All good gifts come from God. When we bring our offerings to church, we’re giving back to God a small part of what already belongs to God.
Prayer: Â All good things come from you, heavenly Father. Help us to share the good things we have with others and to give them back to you.
Pentecost Proper 20; 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Luke 16:1-13
From “Scolding the Snakes”
Preparation: Bring two toy trains or two pictures of train engines to illustrate your sermon. Â 
How many of you have ever ridden on a train or seen a train going down the track? (Let kids respond.) Once a train is going in one direction, it’s hard to turn that train around and make it go in another direction. Why do you think that’s true? (Discuss.) A train runs on a track, and once it has started out in a certain direction, it usually continues in that direction. It’s even hard to slow a train down once it picks up speed.
Let’s pretend we’re all standing on the platform at a train station. We’re getting ready to take a trip and there are two trains waiting at the station. One train is brand new and very fancy. It is painted with gold and silver paint and the seats are red velvet. The dining car is full of delicious food from the fanciest restaurants. The sleeping car has feather beds with satin sheets. This train has a big sign on it that reads, “MONEY.†In order to ride this train, you don’t have to have lots of money; you just have to agree that money is more important than anything in the world.
The other train waiting at the station is going in the exact opposite direction. It is an older train, very plain looking. It hasn’t been painted for quite some time. The seats are made of wood and they don’t look very comfortable. The dining car has enough food—healthy, good food—but it’s not at all fancy. The sleeping car is small with few beds, and people have to take turns sleeping and sitting. The beds have thin mattresses and blankets that are warm but very plain. This train has a large sign hanging on it too. In large, plain letters, the sign reads, “GOD.†In order to ride this train, you don’t have to be rich or poor, but you have to believe that God is the most important thing in life and that money is supposed to be used to help others.
As we look around, we see that lots of people are boarding the fancy train and laughing at the few people who decide to ride the plain train. You just happen to notice a large map hanging on the wall of the station that clearly shows where each train is going to end up. You notice that the “Money†train goes along an easy, flat track, then heads downhill. The track disappears at the end of a cliff. The “God†train heads up into the mountains into rugged land but ends at a beautiful place marked, “Heaven.â€
You look at both trains once again. And then in your imagination you get on a train. Sometime today I want you to tell someone which train you chose to get on and why you picked the train you did.
Prayer: Â Jesus, help us all to make the right choices in our lives; and let us help others with the choices they must make.
Pentecost Proper 19; 17th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Luke 15:1-10
From “Scolding the Snakes”
Preparation: Before the service hide a stuffed toy sheep somewhere in the sanctuary not too far from where you meet with the kids. It shouldn’t be too difficult for children to find. Â
 Baaabara, My Favorite Lamb Good morning! How are you this morning? (Let children respond.) Say, have any of you ever lost something that meant a lot to you? How does that feel? (Let kids share several experiences of loss and the feelings they had.) If you search and search and finally find what you had lost, how do you feel then? (Kids respond.) Well, I’m feeling sad this morning because I’m missing a sheep. I can’t find my special little sheep. I brought her to church with me this morning, but she got away from me and disappeared. I’m pretty sure she’s somewhere in this room.
I feel a little bit like the shepherd in this morning’s Gospel lesson from Luke. This lesson tells about a shepherd who has one hundred sheep, and if he’s missing one, he will go and look and look for that sheep until he finds it. Every single sheep is very important to a good shepherd. Will you help me find my sheep? We’ll all look for her, and then when we find her, we’ll celebrate, okay?
(Let children spread out throughout the sanctuary and look for the sheep; when they find it, have everyone gather up front once more.) Hurrah! We found the lost sheep. I am so happy. Do you know that Jesus is like that shepherd who went looking for the one lost sheep? Jesus wants everyone in the world to be a part of his flock. He wants everyone to know God’s love. It’s wonderful that some of us grow up in God’s family and have always known that God loves us. But there are lots of lost sheep out there, a lot of people who don’t know Jesus. And Jesus is looking for those lost sheep. He wants to rescue those sheep.
When we tell people about God and treat them with kindness and invite them to church, we are helping Jesus find his lost sheep. And do you know what happens when Jesus finds a lost sheep? There’s a big party in heaven—a celebration! Luke 15:10 says, “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents†(NRSV).
So now you know how to start a party in heaven: teach someone that Jesus loves them. I hope all of you get to start many heavenly parties!
Prayer: Â Lord Jesus, thank you for being our Good Shepherd. Help us always to be on the lookout for lost sheep to bring to you.
Pentecost Proper 18; 16th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Deut. 30:19 and Luke 14:25-33
From “Scolding the Snakes”Â
Preparation: Make two large signs—one reading, “LIFE†and the other, “DEATH.† 
Think of a toy that you really would like to have. (Let kids respond.) Let’s pretend that your parents say you can have it if you pay for it. So you start saving. You save up money from your allowance. You save your gift money. You work at jobs on the weekends and save all of that money, too. Finally, after a whole year, you have enough money to buy the toy. You walk into the toy store, and you look at the toy once more before you buy it. Then you look at the money in your hand, and you think about how long it took to earn that money and how much work you did and how many dollars you put aside. Suddenly a thought enters your head: It’s not worth it. This toy is not worth it. And so you take your hard-earned money and walk out of the store.
Before you make a big decision, it is important to count the cost. You have to ask, “How much is it worth to me?†Before we decide to follow Jesus with our whole hearts, God wants us to think about our decision very carefully. In the Old Testament reading, God told the Israelites that they had a really important decision to make: they could either follow the one true God or else follow the old, pretend gods. Choose God and life, or choose the pretend gods and death. (Let two kids hold the signs you made, one on either side of you.) Life or Death. It seems like an easy decision, doesn’t it?  
Point to which one you would choose. (Let kids point to “LIFE.â€) That was easy, but sometimes it’s not such an easy choice to follow God. If some of your friends are using God’s name in a careless way, or if they think that going to church is silly, it may be hard to tell them that Jesus is the most important thing in your life and you want to do what he wants you to. If all of your friends are going to see a movie that you know Jesus wouldn’t want you to see, it may be hard to tell them why you aren’t going with them. If your friends want you to join them in teasing another kid in your class, it might be hard to stand up to them and tell them to stop it. Following Jesus is not always easy.
The decision to follow Jesus is the most important choice you will make in your whole life. Even though it may be hard at times to be a Christian, it is always worth it. And Jesus has promised to be with us all the time and to help us. I hope all of you will choose to follow Jesus. He will give you life and all of the blessings that come with it.
Prayer:  Dear Jesus, help me to make the best and wisest decision; help me to follow you—always.
Pentecost Proper 17; 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Heb. 13:5, 16
From “Scolding the Snakes” Â Â
Preparation: Bring pennies to hand out to each child. Â 
Can anyone tell me something that you really love? What do you love? (Let children offer responses.) Name the people in your life whom you love. (Kids answer.) Because you love those people, how do you act toward them, and what do you do for them? (Discuss with children.) It’s good to love people isn’t it? God blesses us with many wonderful people to love.
I have here a penny. This is my penny. And I have one penny for each of you. (Hold out other pennies and hand one to each child.) Now if I told you that I really loved this penny, and that I had a special place for it to sit at my house, and that I held my penny every day and sang to it and kissed it, what would you think about that? (Kids may respond.) That would be pretty weird, wouldn’t it? I shouldn’t be spending my love on a penny.
This morning’s Bible reading from Hebrews talks about that sort of foolish love: “Keep your lives free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for [God] has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’†(Heb. 13:5 NRSV). And it also says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God†(v. 16 NRSV).
In other words, the Bible says, “Don’t love money,†and “Share what you have.†Do you think that’s hard to do sometimes? (Let children talk about times when it was hard to share something they had.) It can be hard to share, especially if you only have one of something—like one penny or one dollar or one best friend, can’t it?
But do you know what? When we love Jesus and when we love other people so much that we want to share just to make them happy—we feel happier, too. And we feel richer than we did before!
You can go back to your seats now, but I want you to do something that might be difficult. On your way back to your seat, give your penny to someone else. Give that penny away, and I know that you will get lots of smiles in return. And then see if you don’t feel better.
Prayer: Â Jesus, help us to love you most of all, and help us to share what you have given us with people whom we love and you love.
Pentecost Proper 16; 14th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Luke 13:10-13
From “Scolding the Snakes” Â Â 
Preparation: Bring heart-shaped stickers to hand out or a heart-shaped stamp and ink pad.
Good morning! I’d like everyone to raise your hands. Good! I see lots of hands in the air. Now put your hands down and look at them carefully. Really carefully. Your hands are very special. What can those hands do? Tell us some of the good things that you can do with your hands. (Let children describe different activities.) Our hands can tie shoelaces, plant seeds, pet kitty cats, write, and draw. Our hands can do so many good things.
Are hands able to do bad things, too? (Kids may respond.) What are some things that hands can do that are not so good? (Children can give examples.) It’s too bad that hands can be used for hitting or pushing people away or writing things that are mean.
Jesus knows how special and wonderful hands are, and he used his hands to do amazing things. The Gospel lesson for today talks about a wonderful thing that Jesus did with his hands. A woman came to see Jesus. The woman was all bent over and could not straighten up; she had been that way for eighteen years. And do you know what Jesus did with his hands? He put his hands on the woman and healed her. She straightened up right away, and she said, “Praise God! Thank you for healing me!â€
Jesus often used his hands for healing. He knew how to use his hands to help people and to love people. I want to give each of you something to remind you today to use your hands in a loving way. (Place heart sticker or heart stamp on each child’s hand.)Â
When you see this heart on your hand, remember how Jesus used his hands to heal people; remember how Jesus used his hands to help and comfort and touch those around him. Be thankful for your hands and use them like Jesus did.
Prayer: Â Take our hands, Lord Jesus, and use them to do good, kind things for others.
Pentecost Proper 15; 13th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reference:Â Heb. 12:1-2Â
From “Scolding the Snakes” Â 
How many of you have ever run in a race? (Let kids respond.) If we were going to have to run in a long race, what things could we do to get ready? (Discuss children’s ideas.) We could get in shape by practicing. We could eat healthy things before the race so we’d have energy. We could wear lightweight clothes and good, sturdy shoes. And let’s all stretch our muscles like we’re getting ready to run in a race. (Stretch out with kids.)
Now this is going to be a walking race (no running in church, you know), and it’s going to be for just one racer—so I’d like one volunteer to be my fast walker. The rest of us will be the cheering crowd. (Pick a volunteer—an older child who is fairly tall.) Let’s put our walker in the middle aisle, and the race will be from the front of the church to the back. The fast walker has to wait until I say go, and then we can all cheer him or her on. But before the race starts, I’m going to add something to make our walker’s race more difficult. Can I have a few more volunteers? (Choose four or six more children and have them sit on walker’s feet and hold onto walker’s legs.) Now (to the racer), because you have some kids on your feet, you have to be careful not to hurt them. But still try to get to the back of the church. On your mark, get set, go! (Cheer as walker tries to go a few steps, then stop the race.)
You can’t race like this, can you? There’s too much weight slowing you down. Let’s remove these weights from your feet and legs and let you try again. But first, listen while I read a couple of verses from Hebrews, chapter 12.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us†(v. 1 NLT).
All of us are in the race God has set before us—our lives are like a race. We try to do what God wants us to do as we walk through life. If we’re carrying around sin and anger and bad feelings, those things can slow us down just like the kids slowed down our racer. We can pray for God’s help to keep us from sin and anger and bad feelings, and we can let God’s forgiveness take away the weight of the sins we do commit. When we’ve finished the race and come to the end of our lives, what happens? (Let children answer.) Jesus is waiting for us, isn’t he? And the people who have gone on before us to heaven are there to cheer us on and encourage us to keep going.
Prayer: Â Lord Jesus, take away all sins and bad things that slow us down and keep us from running toward you.
Now let’s try that walking race once more, and let’s all cheer our racer on! (Start walker again. After race, let kids walk quickly back to their places.)
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