Backpacking
Children's sermon
Object:
a couple of backpacks
Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt.
(v. 14a)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have a backpack? (let them answer) What do you put in your backpack? (let them answer) How far do you walk with your backpack on your back? (let them answer) Have you ever walked a whole day with your backpack on your back? (let them answer)
Today, I want to tell you a story about a man, a woman, and a baby and how they were warned by an angel to pack up all of their belongings and go to a foreign country. Their names were Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and they did not have a lot of belongings. The country they were told to go to was Egypt. Do you know how far it was from Bethlehem to Egypt? (let them answer) The answer is 200 miles. Today, we drive more than 200 miles a lot of times but when Jesus was a baby, that was a long way. It would take Mary, Joseph, and Jesus about ten days to go 200 miles. It was a hard 200 miles.
First, there were no good roads. Second, the Bible tells us they had to leave in the night. There were no streetlights to help them see where they were going and there were no maps to guide them. There were no places to stop and rest like motels or to eat in like restaurants. Water was very hard to find and they did not have a cooler to keep their food safe. They did not have any kind of wheels, so their feet had to be strong and able to walk in sand and across rocks. Besides all of this, there were robbers along the road just waiting to pounce on them and take everything they had.
God warned them with an angel to move as fast as they could because King Herod was looking for a child whom people said would be the next king. King Herod did not believe the scriptures or even care about God. He just wanted to stay the king for as long as he lived and he was angry enough to kill every child in hopes that he would kill Jesus.
King Herod did not kill Jesus. Instead, Mary and Joseph took him into Egypt, carrying everything they had in backpacks. They lived through the sandstorms, they crossed the deserts, and were protected from the robbers. After about ten days, they arrived in Egypt where they were safe from the wicked King Herod.
The next time you put on your backpack, I hope you will remember the time when the holy family -- Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus -- left Israel and walked to Egypt under the protection of God and his angels. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have a backpack? (let them answer) What do you put in your backpack? (let them answer) How far do you walk with your backpack on your back? (let them answer) Have you ever walked a whole day with your backpack on your back? (let them answer)
Today, I want to tell you a story about a man, a woman, and a baby and how they were warned by an angel to pack up all of their belongings and go to a foreign country. Their names were Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and they did not have a lot of belongings. The country they were told to go to was Egypt. Do you know how far it was from Bethlehem to Egypt? (let them answer) The answer is 200 miles. Today, we drive more than 200 miles a lot of times but when Jesus was a baby, that was a long way. It would take Mary, Joseph, and Jesus about ten days to go 200 miles. It was a hard 200 miles.
First, there were no good roads. Second, the Bible tells us they had to leave in the night. There were no streetlights to help them see where they were going and there were no maps to guide them. There were no places to stop and rest like motels or to eat in like restaurants. Water was very hard to find and they did not have a cooler to keep their food safe. They did not have any kind of wheels, so their feet had to be strong and able to walk in sand and across rocks. Besides all of this, there were robbers along the road just waiting to pounce on them and take everything they had.
God warned them with an angel to move as fast as they could because King Herod was looking for a child whom people said would be the next king. King Herod did not believe the scriptures or even care about God. He just wanted to stay the king for as long as he lived and he was angry enough to kill every child in hopes that he would kill Jesus.
King Herod did not kill Jesus. Instead, Mary and Joseph took him into Egypt, carrying everything they had in backpacks. They lived through the sandstorms, they crossed the deserts, and were protected from the robbers. After about ten days, they arrived in Egypt where they were safe from the wicked King Herod.
The next time you put on your backpack, I hope you will remember the time when the holy family -- Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus -- left Israel and walked to Egypt under the protection of God and his angels. Amen.
