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| Help yourself to these great children's sermons! We've written special sermons for the upcoming months, but you'll find many ideas that will work well on any given Sunday. Enjoy! |
| Theme: Something Old, Something New |
January 4
I am so glad to see you today. Can you think of something old? (Accept several responses) How about something new? (Accept responses) If no one mentions the New Year, add that to the list.
Can something be old and new at the same time? This month we are going to talk about some things God told people long ago, and that He is still telling people today.
(Open your Bible to Genesis 1) I just opened my Bible to the Book of Genesis. Is that book in the Old Testament or the New Testament? That’s right! Genesis is the first book of the Bible.
The very first words in the Bible say, “In the beginning, God” Before the first snowflake fell, God was here. Before the first flower bloomed, God was here. Before the first bird sang a song, God was here. Before Adam and Eve, God was here. That was long, long ago. You may think this is something old. But just a couple of weeks ago, a little friend of mine named Madeline got a new baby sister named Rachel. (You can substitute the name of a child familiar to the children or to you). God was here when Rachel was born too. That is new. God has always been here. He is here now. He will always be here.
Let’s pray and thank God for always being here, and the beautiful world He has given us.
Suggested Song: Tell Me the Old, Old Story
January 11
(Open your Bible to Exodus) Welcome back. We are talking about stories in our Bible that were written long ago.
The people of Israel had been prisoners in Egypt. God had set them free. They were on their way to a land which He had promised them. But there was a problem. They did not know where they were going. They did not know how to get there. They also did not know how long they would have to travel, or how they would take care of themselves. But God had told them He would take care of them. Since there was no map, God gave the people a cloud to follow during the daytime. So they could travel after dark, He gave them a pillar of fire in the sky to follow at night. When they were thirsty, God helped them find springs of water where they could drink and rest. There were no stores nearby, and they had nothing to cook. God took care of that too. When they woke up each morning they found there was enough bread for everyone, and in the evening there was enough meat for everyone to have plenty. God gave the people everything they needed.
God still takes care of us today. He makes sure there is lots of food. He makes sure you have a place to live, and gives us parents and grown-ups to take care of us. He gives us teachers so we can learn, and He gives us churches where we can learn more about Him.
Let’s pray and thank God for taking care of us.
Suggested Song: Trust and Obey
January 18
(Have your Bible open to 1 Samuel 17)
Good morning. It is a great day to be at church. We have been thinking about stories in the Old Testament. The Old Testament tells us about things that happened long before Jesus was born. Today we are looking at another story that happened long before Jesus was born.
The Philistines and the Israelites were enemies. The Philistines were lead by a giant man. His name was Goliath. He wanted to start a war. The Israelites had no one big enough or strong enough to fight Goliath. Besides, Goliath wore a suit of metal, and he had a large shield and a sword. The people thought no one would be able to fight him. But God had a plan.
David was a young boy. He took care of the sheep in the fields. He had no metal suit. He had no shield or sword. All he had was a sling and some smooth stones. Just one swing of the sling, and Goliath fell. His people were safe.
In the Bible God says, “I have a plan for you (Jer. 29:11). God knows who hurts your feelings. He knows who makes you sad. He knows when you are afraid. He has a plan to protect you.
Let’s pray and thank God for always having a plan for us. (Prayer)
Suggested Song: A Mighty Fortress is Our God
January 25
(Have your Bible open to Joshua 6)
Thank you for joining me today. We are continuing to learn stories from the Old Testament.
God had freed the people from Egypt. Do you remember that He had met all of their needs? He had also told them that they would have a land of their own, but He had not told them when that would be. They Israelites traveled for forty years. That is a long time. They finally arrived at the place that was to be their new home. But they could not just move in. Some people lived there already, and there were walls to keep anyone else out. The Israelites were very sad, and they wanted to give up. But Joshua prayed, and God told him exactly what to do.
Early one morning the people of Israel marched around the city of Jericho one time. The next day they marched around the city again. That was day two. The next day they marched around the city again. What day was that? (Day three). The next day it happened again. What day was that? (Day four). On day five they again marched around the city of Jericho. What do you think happened on day six? (Accept answers). On day seven the Israelites marched around Jericho one time, two times, three times, four times, five times, six times, seven times. Then they blew the rams horns. That is when it happened! The walls of the city al came tumbling down, and the people inside the city all ran away. The Israelites had their Promised Land.
I don’t think that is the kind of plan I would have chosen. But Joshua used God’s plan, and God always wins. God still knows the best way to do everything. If we pray, like Joshua did, God will help us know the best way to do everything.
Thank you God for always knowing the best thing to do. Help us to listen to you, and to do what you want us to do.
Suggested Song: The Walls Came Tumbling Down
February 1
(Open your Bible to Psalm 44)
Good morning. I am so pleased to see you today. This is the first day of February. What holidays so we celebrate in February? (Answers may include such things as Ground Hog Day, President’s Day, birthdays, etc.). I was thinking about Valentine Day. February is often called Love Month. I think one of the nicest ways to say, “I love you”, is with a song. This month we are going to be thinking about songs of love.
As a young child I learned a very special song. It is a song about love. It is still one of my favorite songs. I think you may know this song too. I wonder, if I hum a few notes of the song, do you think you can guess its name? Let’s try. (Hum the first line of “Jesus Loves Me”). What song was that? “Jesus Loves Me” is one of my favorite songs because it reminds me that Jesus knows me by my name. He knows everything we think. Psalm 44:21 says, “He knows the secrets of your heart” (NAS). Jesus knows you, and He loves you very much.
Would you sing that song with me? (Join in singing. You may ask the congregation to
join also). Thank you, God, for knowing each of us, and for loving each of us. Amen.
February 8
(Prepare a card with the word Psalm on it.)
I am so happy to see you again today. Last week we sang one of my favorite love songs, “Jesus Loves Me”. We are going to look at another song of love today. (Hold up the card). Can you read this word for me? That is right – Psalms. Psalms is the name of a book in the Old Testament. Do you know how to find it? (Accept responses). The book of Psalms is right in the middle of your Bible. (Open to Psalms). Do you know what the word Psalm means? (Accept responses). It means song. The psalms were written to sing in church. They were often sung with harps, or drums, or bells, or other instruments. We don’t have the music to the psalms any more, but we do have the words. Many of the psalms were songs of love to God.
Let’s look at Psalm 8. (Turn to this psalm). This song starts out, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth.” (KJV) The word majestic means great, or large, or royal. The song goes on to name many of God’s creations. Some of these are the heavens, the moon and stars, the sheep and oxen, the birds and fish, and man. God has made many wonderful things, and the writer wonders why God bothers with us at all. The answer is that we are God’s greatest creation.
Psalm 8 is a song of love, thanking God for His greatness, and thanking Him for loving us. Let’s take time right now to thank God too. (prayer)
Suggested Song “For the Beauty of the Earth”.
February 15
Yesterday was Valentine Day. I hope you took the time to tell someone you love them. I want to tell you that I love you, and I am so glad you join me for our children’s time.
(Open your Bible to Psalm 23). Today we will be talking about Psalm 23. Do you remember that a psalm is like a song of love to God? The writer of this psalm was David. David talks about God being Our Shepherd. He means that God takes care of us, just as a shepherd takes care of his sheep. God takes care of everything for us. He gives us food, and a safe place to sleep. God helps us make good choices, so we can grow up to do the things He wants us to do. We don’t ever have to be afraid, because God watches over us all of the time. God is so good to us that we can’t even take it all in. God loves us now, and He will forever. David was a shepherd, and he wrote this psalm as a way of saying, “Thank you God, I love you”.
Every day this week I would like for you to find at least one thing to thank God for. That is one way you can tell Him you love him too. Let’s start now. Dear God, Thank you for boys and girls. Thank you for the teachers who tell them about you. We love you. Amen.
Suggested Song: Count Your Blessings
February 21
(Have your Bible open to Psalm 100).
Good morning. I hope you are having a great day. Usually when you join me, we talk together. Today I just have something I want to read to you. It is one of the Psalms we have been talking about. The writer must have been having a really great day when he wrote these words. (Read from your Bible Psalm 100).
Like the songwriter long ago, today here at church we can be thankful and praise God. You can do that by singing, praying, giving an offering, and listening. God is so good, and His love lasts forever. He loves us today, just as he loved the writer of this psalm long ago. Thank you God for loving us.
Suggested Song: Doxology
February 29
Preparation: Have ready index cards that say, “God loves you.”
Good morning friends. This month we have been talking about the psalms. These are songs of praise to God. Let’s look at one more today.
(Open your Bible to Psalm 139:17) The person who wrote Psalm 139 had been thinking about how much we mean to God. He says, “How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I awaken in the morning, you are still thinking of me.” (Children’s Living Bible) You know that your parents think about you all of the time. God does too. God thinks about you while you are at school and while you are at home, while you play and while you work, while you are awake and while you are sleeping. That is how we know that we can pray anytime, and God will always be listening.
How can you tell or show someone you love them? (Accept several responses). The writers of the Psalms wrote songs to tell God how much they loved Him. But they also wrote these songs so other people would hear that God loves them too. Last week we wrote a Psalm to tell God we love Him. This week let’s show Him another way. (Hand out cards.) These cards say, “God loves you.” We can show we love God by telling other people about Him. This week give your cards to people who are sick, or sad, or lonely, or afraid, or just to someone who needs to know that God is thinking about them all of the time. That way you will be sharing God’s love with others, just as the writer of the psalms did.
Prayer: Thank you God for loving us, for knowing us by our names, and for thinking about us all of the time. Help us tell others that God loves them too. Amen.
Suggested song: “Pass It On.”
| Theme: The People in Our Lives |
March 7
(Have your Bible open to Exodus 20)
It is March already. This year is going so quickly. I am so glad you have been a part of our children’s time this year.
During the month of March, we are going to talk about people we know. We will start by talking about families. There are families of all kinds. Let’s look at some of the families in the people. There were Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Ruth and her mother-in-law, Saul and Jonathan, Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and lots of others. But your family is in the Bible too. Did you know that? Well it is. Just listen to what it says in Exodus 20:12”. “Honor your father and your mother.” (NAS) That was written thousands of years ago. In fact, it is part of the words that God gave to Moses. God gave Moses ten rules that the people were to live by. These are called the Ten Commandments. These ten rules were written on tablets of stone. The same ten rules were written for us today. God thought families were so important that he make one of His rules just for families. Children are to honor their parents. That means to respect them, obey them, learn from them, and love them.
Let’s ask God to help us this week to respect our parents, obey them, love them, and learn from them. I am sure He will help us, since that is His plan for our families. (prayer).
Suggested Song: “Thank You God for Families” (Tune of “God is so good”)
March 14
(Have your Bible open to Matthew 19)
Are you at church with your family today? I hope so. Families are so special. Last week we talked about honoring our fathers and our mothers. This week we will talk about children. The Bible says “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Did you hear that? You are a gift, a very special gift.
The Bible talks many times about children. Did you know Jesus loved children very much. He even used a child to perform one of His miracles. He used the fish and loaves of bread in the lunch of a young boy to feed 5000 people. In Matthew 9, Jesus took time out from his teaching to heal a young girl who was very ill.
My favorite story in the Bible about children is in Matthew 19. Jesus was very busy. He had been teaching all day. His disciples thought He should rest. Some families brought boys and girls to Jesus to ask Jesus to bless them. The disciples tried to send them away. Jesus took time with each child. Then He made sure that the disciples understood just how important children are to him. He even said adults need to learn to trust Him just as children do.
Jesus loves you very much. Every child is very important to Him. Maybe we should remember this week to be kind to every child we meet. They are special gifts from God too. (Prayer)
Suggested Song: “Thank You God for People” (Tune of “God is so Good”)
March 21
(Open you Bible to 2 Timothy)
Thank you for joining me today. I love the time we spend together.
Timothy was a friend of Paul. They often traveled together to tell others about Jesus. We don’t know anything about Timothy’s father. We do know he lived with Lois, his mother, and with Eunice, his grandmother. They had taught him all about the Bible and what it had to say about God and about Jesus. He had learned so much that he was ready to do the job God wanted him to do.
Maybe you have learned about God and Jesus from your mother. Maybe it is your grandmother who has taught you so many things about the Bible. For some of you it is some other grown-up who loves you so much that they bring you to church so you can learn more about Jesus and how much He loves you. These people are helping you get ready for the job God has in mind for you.
This week please thank someone who has helped you learn about God. Let’s start by thanking God now for the people who love you. (Prayer)
Suggested Song: “Thank You God for teachers” (Tune “God is so Good”)
March 28
(Open your Bible to John 14)
I am so glad for this time we have together each week. We have been talking about the people in your lives. We talked about parents, and children, and grandparents. The Bible names lots of other people who are special to us too. There is a story of Adam and Eve. They were the first married couple. There were the brothers, Jacob and Esau, There was Ruth who loved her mother-in-law so much that she chose to give up her own family to live where Naomi lived and serve the God Naomi served. There was the story of Joseph, who had 11 brothers. There are other stories of friends, like Jonathan and David. Jesus had some very close friends named Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
God is so good to us. He gives us very special people in our lives. We are so happy to know them. But sometimes we don’t get to be with the people we love. Maybe our grandparents live far away. Maybe our best friend moves to a state where we have never been. Sometimes someone we love becomes ill or is hurt, and they die. When we do not see the people we love, we miss them very much. But Jesus has really good news for us in the Bible. He says, “I go to prepare a place for you …., that where I am, you may be also.
Someday we will see the people who have meant so much to us. We with visit with them and with Jesus. Part of God’s plan is that love lasts forever.
Thank you God for giving us so many wonderful people in our lives. Amen.
Suggested Song: “God is so Good”
Sermons prepared by Janelle Fraze. |
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