Scripture Focus: Matthew 5:1-12
Children’s Sermon #1 (Within Worship)
Option 1:
Gathering--Welcome children to gather with you. Who are people who teach you? (invite short responses) Do you ever get to teach others? In our gospel reading today Jesus is gathering people together to teach them about blessings. To tell them about God and God’s love that is there for us even when things seem sad or lonely or scary.
Activity: Read the Beatitudes from the Spark Storybook Bible (page 264) or other children’s Bible or retell them in your own words. Ask children to listen for the word ‘blessed or blessing’ and keep track on their fingers how many times they hear the word.
Tell how Jesus was gathering people to teach them and tell them about God is like and how God sees us, loves us, and cares for us. Emphasize that Jesus is teaching us that when something seems sad or poor or painful God desires for joy and riches and healing. The promise is that God is with us and even when it seems that we are not blessed or not happy, we are held in God’s arms as children of God and we will be restored by God.
Ask: How many times did you hear ‘blessing’ or ‘blessed’? Why do you think this is what Jesus wants to teach us? Can we teach this to others? How? We can show others God’s love and blessings when we are caring and kind and when we see them as blessed by God. We also take care of ourselves when we remember that we are loved and we are blessings to God in this world.
Option 2:
Gathering—Do you have any people who teach you? Have you learned any math, like how to count? We could count to 5 together—1,2,3,4,5. How about counting by 5s, anyone know how to do that? 5, 10, 15, 20. Did you notice how quickly the numbers got bigger and bigger when we counted by 5s?
Activity: Have you ever heard someone say ‘count your blessings’? Hhhmm, I wonder what they mean? Counting blessings seems like we would count things that we are thankful for or that make us happy? In our gospel story today did you hear the words Jesus was teaching? He was saying Blessed are… the poor, those who are sad, those who are hungry, those who are merciful and peaceful. Then Jesus is telling us how God’s blessings are in the world and how God loves and cares for us even when things in life are not perfect and maybe even sad or scary or hurtful. So I did some simple counting with these beatitudes and so count on your fingers with me the blessings that Jesus is teaching about God.
1. Hope—God brings hope to us and to the world and promises to always be with us
2. Love—when we are sad or hurt or in need, God promises to love us all the time
3. Mercy—when we are lost or in need God will help us
4. Kindness—that no matter what we do we God will love and forgive us
5. Peace—we are God’s children all the time and everywhere.
These are all promises of God that Jesus teaches us and they are blessings we can count on! We also can be blessings in the world by using our fingers and remembering to bring hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace to our families—even brothers and sisters who might bother us, our friends, our classmates, and even people we don’t know who need to experience God’s blessings. And just like when we counted by 5s, when we are blessings to each other, God’s love grows sand spreads and bigger and bigger and wider and wider.
Pray: Jesus, you are our teacher about hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace. We are your children and we praise you. We are blessings in this world and we ask you to be with us. Amen
Children’s Sermon #2 (Children’s worship time)
Option 1:
Gathering--Welcome children to gather with you. Who are people who teach you? (invite short responses) Do you ever get to teach others? In our gospel reading today Jesus is gathering people together to teach them about blessings. To tell them about God and God’s love that is there for us even when things seem sad or lonely or scary.
Activity: Read the Beatitudes from the Spark Storybook Bible (page 264) or other children’s Bible or retell them in your own words. Ask children to listen for the word ‘blessed or blessing’ and keep track on their fingers how many times they hear the word. You can also ask them to stand up or sit down every time they hear the word.
Tell how Jesus was gathering people to teach them and tell them about God is like and how God sees us, loves us, and cares for us. Emphasize that Jesus is teaching us that when something seems sad or poor or painful God desires for joy and riches and healing. The promise is that God is with us and even when it seems that we are not blessed or not happy, we are held in God’s arms as children of God and we will be restored by God.
Discussion: Ask: How many times did you hear ‘blessing’ or ‘blessed’? Why do you think this is what Jesus wants to teach us? Can we teach this to others? How? We can show others God’s love and blessings when we are caring and kind and when we see them as blessed by God. We also take care of ourselves when we remember that we are loved and we are blessings to God in this world.
Song: We can praise God for these blessings! Sing the song “Praise ye the Lord” (if you don’t know this song, here is a link: http://www.biblestudycharts.com/CH_Praise_Ye_The_Lord.html
Divide the group in half. The “Hallelujahs” stand for their part and the ‘praise ye the Lord’s stand for theirs. Do the song a few times, getting faster and/or changing parts.
Words: Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord!
Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord!
Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord!
Option 2:
Gathering—Do you have any people who teach you? Have you learned any math, like how to count? We could count to 5 together—1,2,3,4,5. How about counting by 5s, anyone know how to do that? 5, 10, 15, 20. Did you notice how quickly the numbers got bigger and bigger when we counted by 5s?
Activity: Have you ever heard someone say ‘count your blessings’? Hhhmm, I wonder what they mean? Counting blessings seems like we would count things that we are thankful for or that make us happy? In our gospel story today did you hear the words Jesus was teaching?
Read the beatitudes from the a Bible. Have kids count the number of times they hear the word ‘Blessed or blessing’ See how many you get.
Discussion: Jesus was saying Blessed are… the poor, those who are sad, those who are hungry, those who are merciful and peaceful. Then Jesus is telling us how God’s blessings are in the world and how God loves and cares for us even when things in life are not perfect and maybe even sad or scary or hurtful. So I did some simple counting with these beatitudes and so count on your fingers with me the blessings that Jesus is teaching about God.
1. Hope—God brings hope to us and to the world and promises to always be with us
2. Love—when we are sad or hurt or in need, God promises to love us all the time
3. Mercy—when we are lost or in need God will help us
4. Kindness—that no matter what we do we God will love and forgive us
5. Peace—we are God’s children all the time and everywhere.
These are all promises of God that Jesus teaches us and they are blessings we can count on! We also can be blessings in the world by using our fingers and remembering to bring hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace to our families—even brothers and sisters who might bother us, our friends, our classmates, and even people we don’t know who need to experience God’s blessings. And just like when we counted by 5s, when we are blessings to each other, God’s love grows sand spreads and bigger and bigger and wider and wider.
Song: We can praise God for these blessings! Sing the song “Praise ye the Lord” (if you don’t know this song, here is a link: http://www.biblestudycharts.com/CH_Praise_Ye_The_Lord.html
Divide the group in half. The “Hallelujahs” stand for their part and the ‘praise ye the Lord’s stand for theirs. Do the song a few times, getting faster and/or changing parts.
Words: Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord!
Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord!
Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,
Praise ye the Lord!
Pray: Jesus, you are our teacher about hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace. We are your children and we praise you. We are blessings in this world and we ask you to be with us. Amen
Materials: Children’s Bible, list of beatitudes
GREAT IDEAS simple but formative, truly embodying the principle of, faith is caught and not taught, gives children the opportunity to count their blessings and not just telling the story down to their level.
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