Aliens!
Children's sermon
Object:
Pipe cleaners, pieces of felt, or other craft materials. The best approach is to read the message and see what other ideas you might come up with for a fun, quick activity with your kids. Ahead of time, use your materials to create a couple of examples you can show during the message.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. (vv. 16-18)
Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a question for you. Who can tell me what an alien is? (Let them respond.) Maybe you’ve seen a movie about aliens, or read stories about aliens? (Let them respond.) Most of the time we seem to think aliens are things that come from someplace else, like some other world in outer space, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And we usually think aliens look different from us too, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
Well, since we are talking about aliens, I brought some things I thought we might be able to use to make ourselves look a bit like aliens (show the materials you brought and show your creations as you continue.) Maybe we could create some alien ears we could wear, or alien hair, or eyes, or something else. I’ll bet you have some ideas about what aliens might look like, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Let’s see what we can create.
(Spend a few minutes letting the kids create things, talking with each one about what they are creating, or helping them find the idea for what they will create. Have fun with this part. End by having some or all of them show and explain their creations.)
Now I have another question for you. Did you know that Jesus said that he was an alien? And did you know he even said that we are aliens? (Let them respond.) Yes, he did. One day Jesus was talking with God about us, and he said:
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it…As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
Jesus said that we are not of this world, but he has sent us into this world. So, if we are from another world, I guess that means we are kind of like aliens, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) But we didn’t land here from another planet, and we don’t look different than everyone else, right? (Let them respond.) Jesus didn’t say we are aliens because we come from someplace else, or because we look different than other people, but we are like aliens because if we do the things God wants us to do, we behave very differently than other people.
Jesus game some examples of how we behave differently. He said that if some bully comes up and pushes you, most people will get angry and push them back, but we won’t do that. He said we just turn the other cheek and not behave the way the bully did. And he said that if we see someone who is hurt, or sick, or lonely, we won’t just walk past them and ignore them like other people might do, but we will stop and try to help them. And he said that if we have two coats and see someone who doesn’t have any coats, we will give them one of ours so they can be warm, too.
If we follow God, we might not look different than anyone else (show the alien pieces you made again.), but we sure do act differently, don’t we? Jesus sent us here to take care of each other the way God wants us to take care of each other. That’s pretty special, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)
I hope you’ll remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a question for you. Who can tell me what an alien is? (Let them respond.) Maybe you’ve seen a movie about aliens, or read stories about aliens? (Let them respond.) Most of the time we seem to think aliens are things that come from someplace else, like some other world in outer space, don’t we? (Let them respond.) And we usually think aliens look different from us too, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
Well, since we are talking about aliens, I brought some things I thought we might be able to use to make ourselves look a bit like aliens (show the materials you brought and show your creations as you continue.) Maybe we could create some alien ears we could wear, or alien hair, or eyes, or something else. I’ll bet you have some ideas about what aliens might look like, don’t you? (Let them respond.) Let’s see what we can create.
(Spend a few minutes letting the kids create things, talking with each one about what they are creating, or helping them find the idea for what they will create. Have fun with this part. End by having some or all of them show and explain their creations.)
Now I have another question for you. Did you know that Jesus said that he was an alien? And did you know he even said that we are aliens? (Let them respond.) Yes, he did. One day Jesus was talking with God about us, and he said:
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it…As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
Jesus said that we are not of this world, but he has sent us into this world. So, if we are from another world, I guess that means we are kind of like aliens, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) But we didn’t land here from another planet, and we don’t look different than everyone else, right? (Let them respond.) Jesus didn’t say we are aliens because we come from someplace else, or because we look different than other people, but we are like aliens because if we do the things God wants us to do, we behave very differently than other people.
Jesus game some examples of how we behave differently. He said that if some bully comes up and pushes you, most people will get angry and push them back, but we won’t do that. He said we just turn the other cheek and not behave the way the bully did. And he said that if we see someone who is hurt, or sick, or lonely, we won’t just walk past them and ignore them like other people might do, but we will stop and try to help them. And he said that if we have two coats and see someone who doesn’t have any coats, we will give them one of ours so they can be warm, too.
If we follow God, we might not look different than anyone else (show the alien pieces you made again.), but we sure do act differently, don’t we? Jesus sent us here to take care of each other the way God wants us to take care of each other. That’s pretty special, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)
I hope you’ll remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
