Children Sermon August 7, 2011 Romans 10 Pentecost 8A

This children’s sermon is based off of the Romans 10: 5-15 focusing on verse 15.

Faith +Open: Gather the children up at the front and welcome them. You may want to have them sit in a circle at this time so that when you do the faith + blessing they are already in a circle. So when your teacher at school wants you to know something important what does he or she do? Answers may range from telling the students about the subject matter, showing a video, or showing an object that is related to the lesson, etc. That’s right! When someone has something important to tell us they will use all kinds of different ways to tell us, not just with words! Did you know that you have something very important to share with everyone you know? You do! God! We are supposed to tell everyone we know about how much God loves the whole world. But it’s hard sometimes isn’t it? We may forget or get embarrassed or wonder what we should actually say.

Faith + Share: But this morning the Bible tells us that we can’t keep this wonderful love of God to ourselves! God sends us to school, the playground, to baseball practice, to our friends houses, everywhere, to tell about God’s love. Now we don’t always have to use our words we can share God’s love by helping people and by being a good friend, but our words are important too! It says in the Bible “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!” Well, your feet bring the good news of God! And your feet are beautiful. To help you remember that you bring God everywhere you go we are going to do something special this morning. We are going to bless your feet! And we are going to give you a safety pin with red beads on it to attach to your shoe or sock to remind you that you bring the good news of God’s love everywhere you go!

Faith+Blessing/Faith+Prayer: Hand out the pins with the beads. Have other adults handy to help attach the pins to shoelaces or socks. Then do this blessing: Have all of the kids stand in a circle and put their foot with the pin attached in the circle. Pray: Dear God, thank you for all of these feet that spread your love in the world. You use all of our feet whether they are big or small, walk slow or fast or can walk at all. You promise to be with us always and we know that we can share your love with everyone we meet. Thank you for sending us! In Jesus name, Amen.

If you can’t get the pins made in time for Sunday, gather the materials in a baggie to give to the children to make later at home. You could expand this blessing to the entire congregation! Adults may like the pin as well!

Children's Sermon July 24, 2011 Pentecost 6A

Romans 8: 26-39

This lesson is based on the Romans 8 text. At the crux of Paul’s message in this passage is that the summary of all salvation history and God’s love for us is in the three words “God with us.” We all have times when we are afraid and need to be reminded of this fact. Paul is clear that our fear of things real and imagined cannot negate the reality and promise of God with us.

Faith+Open: After calling the children forward say, “I am sometimes afraid. Sometimes it’s just little stuff like the car running out of gas or not knowing what to say to someone. Sometimes it’s big stuff like being sick, do my friends like me or of being alone. We all get afraid sometimes. Do you ever get afraid?” (Wait for responses. You may want to ask what they may be afraid of. Accept all answers.)

Faith+Share: “Yes those are all things that can scare us right? Well today we read part of a letter from a man named Paul who went around to all kinds of different places telling people about Jesus. Paul was writing to the people in the church in Rome. He knew about being afraid. People didn’t always like Paul because he talked about Jesus all the time. They would put him in prison, be mean to him and even sometimes hurt him. Paul knew that his fear was real. BUT Paul also knew who else was real…GOD! Paul knew that God’s love was so big that it would reach Paul no matter what! It didn’t matter where Paul was, what Paul did (even if he did some not so nice things) or what Paul said, God was always there!”

“Do you know what?” God is always with you too! (Ask the kids to name places where they go in their week: school, grocery store, day care, swim lessons, etc.) “Yep! God is with you in all of those places! How can we remember that God is always with us?

Faith+Bless: Hmmm let me think….have you ever noticed how in church some people make the sign of the cross on themselves like this (demonstrate crossing yourself). Do you know why they do it? It is to remind them that God is with them forever! I am going to teach you this today! So take your right hand and use your pointer and tall finger together and start at your forehead. We start there because we want to remember that God in our head. Then we draw an invisible line with our fingers to our chest. This reminds us that God is in our heart. Then we go to our left shoulder, God is on our left. And then our right shoulder, God is on our right. So where is God? Everywhere! We can say, ‘God be in my head, in my heart, on my left and on my right.” (Make the sign of the cross as you say this together. Practice a couple of times.) Now you can do this in church too anytime you want or when we say, “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” which is God!

Faith+Prayer: Let’s pray: God we thank you for always being with us. You love us and hold us no matter where we are or what we are doing. Be in our head, heart, on our left and on our right always. Amen”

Bonus ideas: If time allows sing a verse of “God’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” You could also bring the children to the baptismal font and make the sign of the cross with water on them while the whole congregation sings.

In my sermon on Romans 8 I am going to ask the adults to write down what their fears are and place them in the offering plate to give to God. Have crayons available so that young children who cannot write can draw their fears and participate. 

~Brigette Weier