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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.
Continue reading Choose Your Train
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.
Continue reading Find the Sheep!
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?
Continue reading Count the Cost
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.
Continue reading Give It Away
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€
Continue reading Hands for Healing
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.
Continue reading Throw Off the Weights
I would have much more fun sharing my bubbles with all of you rather than trying to save them in a bag. (Blow some bubbles.) God gives us good gifts so we can share them with others. Thanks for sharing my bubbles with me before they disappeared.
Continue reading Saving Up Bubbles
I have a delicious-looking [cupcake] here. Would anyone want to ask me for a bite of it? (Let kids respond.) You may think you want this [cupcake]; it looks good, doesn’t it? But I’m not going to give you a piece. I know something that you don’t. Let me cut the [cupcake] open so you can see what’s inside. (Cut the cupcake open on the cutting board to reveal the inedible insides.) Do you see why I didn’t give you what you asked for? God wants us to pray to him whenever we want anything, but we have to remember to trust that God knows what is best and will give us only things that would be good for us.
Continue reading God’s Good Gifts
Having Jesus come to your house and then not even taking time to listen to him is like getting all ready for church and then not going to church. Even if we do come to church, sometimes we start thinking about all kinds of things that take our mind off Jesus, and we may forget to listen to what Jesus is trying to teach us. For the rest of the worship service today, I want you to try hard to keep your mind on Jesus. When you join in the songs and prayers and really listen to the sermon, it’s like sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to what he has to teach you!
Continue reading Distracting Details
Now I’d like to ask you: which kid was a good neighbor to the hurt boy? (Let children respond.) Our friends are our neighbors, and so are the people who live near us. But Jesus wants us to be good neighbors to anyone who needs our help and friendship—even those people we don’t usually play with.
Continue reading Who Is Your Neighbor?
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