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 For the 21st Sunday after Pentecost or Proper 27
(Lectionary 32) From “Saving the Ants”
1 Thess. 3:12 Â “May the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you.” (NLT)
Preparation: Bring a small pot with a healthy flowering plant growing in it.
I brought a little plant with me this morning. It’s a very nice-looking plant with green leaves and flowers. It has its own pot with lots of rich soil. How do you think I keep this plant healthy and growing? What do I need to do for my plant? (Discuss with children; talk about water, sunshine, good soil, and so forth.) I try to remember to give my plant the water and sunshine that it needs to grow.
Let’s say I set my potted plant outside on a patch of bare dirt and then planted some seeds in the dirt around my pot, but only watered my plant and not the dirt around it. Would the seeds grow? (Discuss with children.)
What would happen if when I watered my own plant, I gave it so much water that lots of it spilled onto the dirt around it? Would those seeds in the dirt start to sprout? If they kept getting the extra water from the overflow, they would become healthy plants, too! My little plant wouldn’t need all that extra water, and I’m sure that it wouldn’t mind sharing.
One of Jesus’ followers, Paul, traveled around the countryside encouraging new congregations that had just started after Jesus rose from the dead. He preached and wrote letters to them. In one of his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, “May the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you†(1 Thess. 3:12 NLT).
Why do you think Paul wanted their love to overflow? Wouldn’t it be better if they had just enough love for themselves, like having just enough water for my one little plant? (Talk it over with children.) God doesn’t want us to keep the love that he gives us to ourselves. He gives us so much love that it fills us up and overflows to others.
That love is like water; it brings life to people. And if someone has heard a little bit about Jesus and God’s love, it’s like a seed that has been planted in the dry soil. Then, when that seed is watered by love overflowing from God’s people, like members of this congregation, the seed may sprout and that person may accept Jesus into their heart. Let’s pray that all of us will let God’s love overflow to others.
Prayer: Thank you for watering our thirsty souls with your love, dear Lord. We pray that we let your wonderful love overflow to bless all those around us.
Adapted from “Barefoot in the Snow”
Scripture Reference: Job 38:1-11
Do any of you have questions that no one has been able to answer? Are there any really tough questions that you would like to have answered? If you have one, go ahead and ask it now. I’m not going to try and answer them, but I’d just like to hear them. (Let children ask their questions.)
We can answer many questions already. We’ve learned a lot about this world we live in. But do you think there is anyone who can answer every question? We continue to discover more and more about this world. scientists discover creatures that live way down deep in the ocean that don’t need sunlight to love. People who study the stars and deep space discover new galaxies and places where bright stars are formed. There is so much to know and to learn!
One question that is always hard to answer is “Why do good people suffer?” the Bible talks about a good man named Job who had all kinds of terrible things happen to him, and he wanted to know why. God answered Job’s questions with questions of His own. Job didn’t really get an answer right away. (Here you may offer your own examples of questions that you struggle with. My own example follows.)
I have a good friend who has had a pretty rough life and has struggled with various health issues. Recently, her husband, whom she loved dearly and who helped take care of her, died in a terrible accident. And it is hard to understand how our loving God would allow this. I know that she is surrounded with prayer and caring friends who are helping her, but I don’t know why this had to happen. I know that God loves all of us, but I also know that God doesn’t always give us immediate answers to our questions. Some questions will have to wait until we get to heaven, but they will be answered.
Questions are very important. Asking questions is how we learn. God created us to be curious, to want to know. It’s good to ask why. I hope that each of you will ask questions your whole life. Today, during the service, think of a really tough question to ask your folks. If they don’t know the answer, they may be able to find the answer in a book or on the internet. Or you just might come up with a question that can’t be answered yet. But keep asking anyway. You’ll learn some amazing things.
Prayer: Dear Creator of our amazing universe, thank you for the wonders that you have created. Thank you, too, for making us curious, questioning creatures. We’re glad that we can go to you with all of our questions.
For the 16th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.” (RSV)
Preparation: Bring a Bible with some verses in large type or highlighted. An illustrated Bible might be helpful.
Have you ever noticed that some things we need to hear more than once? Some things we need to hear more than once. It’s true. It’s really true. Some things we need to hear more than once. We may get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again, but sometimes it’s necessary.
Let’s say that your family is driving in the car on a long trip and you’re heading toward your favorite amusement park. (You may substitute a specific name here.) You all really want to get there, but you get lost. And somehow, your mom convinces your dad to pull over and ask for directions. The first person you ask knows exactly how to get there, but the directions are a little bit complicated. You listen to the directions once, but you’re not sure you’ve got everything straight. Do you think you should ask this person to repeat the directions? (Let children respond.) How could you make sure that you understand and remember how to get to the park? What might help you remember? (Children can offer suggestions.) You could have them repeat the directions several times. You could memorize and repeat the directions back. You could write the directions down on a piece of paper. All of these things could help you remember how to get there. And if you were really paying attention to the directions, you would finally make it to that amusement park.
We don’t mind hearing directions over and over again if they are important to us. And we don’t mind hearing the stories from the Bible over and over again, because they are important to us. We memorize Bible verses because they are important directions for our lives. We go to classes and study the things that Jesus said and hear the stories from the Bible told in many different ways. We keep learning new things from those old stories.
Some things are hard to hear over and over again. We don’t like being told once again to clean up our rooms or to clear the table or to do the dishes. But we have to hear these things because they have to get done. Some things in the Bible are difficult to listen to, but we have to know that we have all sinned and that Jesus died on the cross to save us. We need to hear it over and over again because it’s so very important. It’s much more important than finding an amusement park. Your whole life direction depends on hearing those stories in the Bible over and over again.
Prayer:Â Jesus, open our ears to hear the stories and Bible verses so that we will remember. Help us to listen and lead us in the right direction toward your heavenly kingdom.
Key Words: Understanding, Bible, Teaching, Guidance
For the 15th Sunday after Pentecost or Proper 21
(Lectionary 26) From “Saving the Ants” Adapted from the Christmas Eve sermon
Artwork by Elsa Ingulsrud
Phil. 2:5-11 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
 Preparation: Bring a toy ant or a picture and, if possible, a jar of real ants.
What is one of the smallest, most humble creature you can think of? Name some really tiny creatures. (Let children offer their suggestions.) Ants are pretty small aren’t they? Especially compared to a human. But when humans are first born, they are pretty small too, aren’t they? They aren’t very powerful.
Jesus arrived on this earth as a little baby. Can you imagine being at the manger the night when Jesus was born? Mary and Joseph would be there, watching their newborn son all wrapped up, so tiny and so amazing. They knew that night in the stable that the Almighty God himself had come to earth as a helpless human baby. God had sent his Son to the world to save all people.
There were other small creatures there at the manger, too, besides humans. What other little and humble animals do you suppose saw the baby Jesus? (Let children name some of the animals; lambs and birds, etc.) Do you suppose there were any very tiny creatures that looked something like this? (Show toy ant.) There are ants all over the world, aren’t there? I’m sure there were some ants near the stable. And real ants aren’t usually big like this toy ant; they are extremely tiny. Real ants are this small. (Show jar of ants.)
Let’s say that you really loved ants. Let’s say that there was an ant colony near your house. You were careful not to step on those ants, and you would even leave food out for them. Let’s say that you loved each individual ant and wished that they could know that you loved them.
How in the world could you talk to an ant? (Let children offer their ideas.) Even if you got down on your belly and tried to look a teeny ant in the eye, you couldn’t make the ant understand. The only way that you’re going to get through to those ants is to become an ant yourself. Can you imagine being an ant? Especially a very tiny one? It would be a dangerous experiment. You could get squashed. Maybe you would go through all that trouble to become an ant and they wouldn’t even listen to you. The ants that you love might drive you away. You might try to warn them about a flood or a fire that was coming and explain to them that you became an ant so that you could save them. Some might listen to you and others might not. But becoming an ant would be the only way to really communicate.
Well, what did God do? The Infinite Creator, the Almighty God, loved the people of the world so much, that he made himself as tiny as a baby, so that he could talk to us. And God told us through Jesus that he loves us more than anything. God came to earth as a little baby just to make sure that we know how much God loves us!
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to our earth to show us how much you love us.
 For the 12th Sunday after Pentecost or Proper 18
(Lectionary 23)
Scripture Reference: Psalm 119:33-48 “Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.â€
Preparation: Create a treasure map that leads to a hidden treasure somewhere on the church grounds. Plant a “treasure†for the children to find; small candies or toys with bible verse bookmarks or something of that sort.
Does anyone here know how to read a map? (Let children respond.) What kinds of maps have you seen before? (Answers may include road maps, world maps, etc.) I have a treasure map with me this morning. Do you think you could help me read this map? What is this map showing me? Is it showing me how to find something? (Children answer.) Yes! It is showing me how to find a small treasure which is really hidden nearby.
I have another map with me this morning. It looks different from this treasure map but it shows me the way to the most valuable treasure in all of the universe. (Show the children a Bible.)This Bible tells me about Jesus and shows me the map for my life. It shows me how to live my life until I join my Savior in heaven after my life is over.
Psalm 119 says, “Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.†And it also says, “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.†When we walk the path of God’s commands, we are following a path to heaven, to an eternity with the God who loves us. And it is not just the treasure that brings us joy; the journey to the treasure, walking our path of faith, is a wonderful adventure in itself.
After the church service, I would like to invite all of you to join me on a treasure hunt. We’ll meet at the door of the church and I will bring my treasure map and we can go on a treasure hunt to find a small treasure while we remember the greatest treasure that we all have in our Savior Jesus.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us in the Bible a map of faith to follow. Help us to live out our lives with obedience and joy in your love. Amen.
For the Sunday Before Labor Day
From Barefoot in the Snow
Artwork by Elsa Ingulsrud
Scripture Reference: Â Matt. 9:37-38
 Preparation: Bring items that workers in various professions might carry; for example, a doctor’s bag or stethoscope, a hammer, a paint brush, etc.
Tomorrow is Labor Day. It’s a holiday that recognizes and honors all the people who work hard in this country. To show our appreciation and thanks to these workers, on Labor Day they get the chance to relax and rest.
How can you tell, just by looking at someone, what their job might be? (Use your own props and examples here; my suggestions follow.) What kind of worker do you think I would be if I were carrying this paintbrush? (Let children respond.) What work would I be doing if I was carrying this bag or a stethoscope? (Let children respond.) What if I were carrying this hammer and some nails? Then what might my job be? (Let children respond.) Very good. You can guess at what work a person does by what they are carrying, and you can tell for sure by watching them to see what they do.
Do you think there are enough painters, doctors, and carpenters around? Do you think there is a shortage of workers anywhere? (Discuss.) The Bible talks about a shortage of workers. Jesus tells his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields†(nlt). The world is waiting to hear the good news of God’s love, but there aren’t enough workers to tell everyone!
Do you think all of you could be workers for God’s kingdom? Could you tell your friends that Jesus loves them and wants to welcome them into God’s family? You don’t have to wait until you’re a grown-up to be a worker in God’s kingdom. Kids can be great workers. Kids can tell others about Jesus.
What do you suppose a worker in God’s kingdom might carry with him or her? Do you think they might carry a Bible? Or maybe they would be carrying someone’s groceries for them while they invited that person over for Bible study. The things you do are even more important than what you carry. You show the world that you are a worker in God’s kingdom by the love you share with others.
Prayer:  Lord God, help us to be good workers in your kingdom. Make us bold to share the good news of Jesus and make us loving so that we might share God’s love.
Key Words: Recognition, Thanks, Vocation, Missions
 For the 11th Sunday after Pentecost or Proper 17 (Lectionary 22)
(from Saving the Ants)
Artwork by Elsa Ingulsrud
Scripture Reference: Jer. 15:16 “[Your] words were found, and I ate them, and [your] words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart . . .†RSV and Rom. 12:21 “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” NIV
Preparation:Â Pour a box of alphabet-shaped cereal into a bowl to distribute at the end of sermon, or prepare small bags of cereal to give to each child.
Have you ever thought about how words would taste if you could eat them? Some words really sound like the thing they describe, don’t they? The word soft, for example, sounds soft. But if you could taste the word soft, what do you think it would taste like? (Let children offer their own ideas.) Maybe it would taste like a marshmallow, or meringue, or pudding? What would the word rock taste like? Crunchy and gritty? Bitter?
Have you ever heard the expression “I’m gonna make you eat your words� A person might say that if she heard someone say something that she wanted to prove wasn’t true. Let’s say that a kid was teasing another kid about her report card. One kid says, “You couldn’t get an ‘A’ on your report card even if you went to school for a million years!†So the other kid says, “Just you wait! Next semester, I’m gonna make you eat your words!†And sure enough, next semester, after working really hard in school, the kid who was being teased shows up with straight A’s on her report card. The other kid has to eat his words, take back what he said.
If we had to actually eat every word we spoke, do you think we’d be more careful about the things we said? Angry, mean words would not taste very good. Encouraging, kind words, however, would probably be delicious! What sorts of words do you think would taste good? Any ideas? (Let children offer their suggestions.)
There is an interesting verse in the Bible where Jeremiah is talking to God and says, “[Your] words were found, and I ate them, and [your] words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart . . .†(Jer. 15:16 RSV). The words that God had spoken to Jeremiah must have been good, kind words, because Jeremiah thought they tasted delicious!
Think about the words you say today and how they might taste. If you find yourself saying something that you wouldn’t want to taste, maybe you can think of something nicer to say that would taste much better.
To help you remember to use sweet words, I brought along some sweet letters today. Before you go back to your seats, I’d like everyone to take some letters from the bowl. I hope you have fun eating your words.
Prayer: Thank you for your sweet words of love and encouragement, dear Lord. Put good words in our mouths today.
 A Children’s Sermon on Gossip (from Barefoot in the Snow)
Scripture References:  Matt. 12:34-37 & Eph. 4:17—5:4
Preparation: Bring a large tube of toothpaste, a bowl, and a towel.
We’re going to try to do something this morning that might be a little bit difficult, and I’m going to need a few volunteers to help me. My volunteers can come right up to the front here. I’m going to divide you into two groups: the squeezers and the stuffers. I have brought a tube of toothpaste and a bowl. I’m going to pass these to the squeezers first. Your job is to squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube and into the bowl. Each of you can squeeze a little and pass it along. (Wait until all squeezers have had a turn.) Thank you. That’s a lot of toothpaste, isn’t it? Now for the second group, your job is to stuff the toothpaste back into the tube. Go ahead and try it. (Let any stuffer who wants to attempt it, try it.) The second group has a much more difficult job, don’t they? Really it’s an impossible task. Once that toothpaste has been squeezed out of the tube, there’s no putting it back.
There are some things that, once they’re out, you wouldn’t want to put back. After you get a tangle out of your hair, you wouldn’t want to put it back. After a mommy goes through labor and gives birth to a wonderful baby, she’s very happy to be able to hold and cuddle her baby. She wouldn’t want to put the baby back inside.
But there are some things that, once they’re out, you wish you could take back, like mean words, bad words, and lies. They are like this toothpaste. They come out so easily, but are they easy to take back? Once we’ve said something, can we grab it real quick and stuff it back into our mouths? No, we can’t, even if we wish we could.
In the Bible in the book of Ephesians it says, “Let there be no more bad words, but good words instead; words which God can use to help other people. Your talk should not be about nastiness or silliness, but about how thankful we are to God†(Eph. 4:29; 5:4, author’s paraphrase). And in Matthew, we’re told that God will make us explain every word, good or bad, that we have spoken.
Next time you brush your teeth and you’re squeezing that toothpaste out onto your brush, think about how words are like toothpaste. Once they’re out, you can’t take them back. So, as you’re looking at that toothpaste, remember to be careful of what you say. Oh, and don’t forget to brush your teeth.
Prayer: Â Forgive us, Lord, for careless or mean words. Help us to only use good and helpful words.
Key Words: Language, Words, Appropriate, Swearing
 A Children’s Sermon on Sadness (from Barefoot in the Snow)
Biblical Reference: Â 2 Kings 2:1-12
Preparation: Â Bring an illustration or a short video clip of a chariot for reference.
Does anyone know what a chariot is? Can you describe it to me? (Let children offer answers.) It’s a two-wheeled cart that a horse pulls. The driver stands at the front of the chariot holding onto the reins to guide the horse. In Old Testament times, riding horseback or driving a chariot were the fastest ways to travel.
In the Old Testament, 2 Kings, chapter 2, talks about the prophet Elijah and the way that he went up to heaven. The Bible says that Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot! And not only that, the chariot was made of fire and the horses that pulled it were fiery horses! What a way to go! I don’t know of anyone else who has gone up to heaven in a fiery chariot, do you?
Have you ever felt like it would be nice if Jesus would just scoop us up in his arms and carry us up into heaven? When things are going badly for us; when we’re feeling really sad or nothing seems to go right, it would be great to just take the day off and spend it with Jesus in heaven.
What do you do when you’re feeling sad? Do you talk to someone? Do you pray? (Let children answer.) When I’m feeling sad, it sometimes helps if I sing. There’s an old song about a chariot that people have sung over the years when they felt sad. Maybe you’ve heard this song before. The chorus goes like this:
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
And one verse goes:
I’m sometimes up, and sometimes down
Coming for to carry me home
But still my soul is heavenly bound
Coming for to carry me home
Will you sing it with me? The congregation can help, too. We’ll sing the chorus, the one verse, then we’ll all sing the chorus again. Let’s try it. (Sing with children and congregation.)
Prayer: When we’re feeling lonely or sad, Lord, hold us close. We thank you for always being there for us and for giving us a heavenly home to look forward to.
Key Words: Loneliness, Grief, Prayer, Sorrow
Reference: Romans 10:5-15 “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Preparation: Make award ribbons with foot-shaped medallions or medals with footprints on them to hang around each child’s neck. Assemble a small panel of “judges” prior to the sermon.
This morning, I thought we could have a beauty contest. This will be different from most beauty contests because we’re not going to be looking at faces or hair or how gracefully you walk. We are going to look at feet. Is there anyone willing to show me their feet? (Let children who are willing, show their feet, with or without shoes. You may show your own feet.) Let’s line up all of our contestants and look at their feet. All of you have beautiful feet! This is going to be hard to judge.
While deciding the winner, I want to read something to you from Romans, chapter 10. “For ‘Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'” (vv. 13 -15 NLT).
Do you know why it says that those who tell others about Jesus have beautiful feet? During the time when the New Testament was written, if you had a message to deliver to someone, how could you get it to them? Could you telephones them or send them e-mail? No. They didn’t have anything like that back then. If you wanted to deliver an important message to someone far away, you gave it to a messenger and he or she carried the message as fast as possible to deliver it. When a runner arrived with news, especially if it was good news, they would be greeted with a soothing foot washing, a good meal, and a refreshing rest. A messenger who brought good news had beautiful feet.
Do you think that pastors at churches have beautiful feet? Yes, they do. They are messengers of the good news of Jesus Christ, and they bring this message to many people. Do you tell other people about Jesus? If you do, then you have beautiful feet too! Should we see if the judges have reached their decision? (Go to judges and get medals ready.)
The judges have decided that you all have beautiful feet and that all of you can do a wonderful job of telling others about Jesus. Came and get a “beautiful foot” medal before you go back to your seats.
Prayer: Give us all beautiful feet, Lord, and make us swift and strong to carry the good news of your love to people everywhere.
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