Childrens Sermon Service

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (vv. 11-12)

I have a few questions for you.

Have any of you ever been sick? (Let them respond) How did you feel? Did you feel lucky? (Let them respond.)

Have any of you ever gotten hurt? (Let them respond) How did you feel? Did you feel happy? (Let them respond.)

Have any of you ever had problems with a bully? Someone who was mean to you? (Let them respond) Did you feel lucky to have that bully? (Let them respond.)

Have any of you ever failed at something? Maybe a test at school, or maybe lost a game you really wanted to win? (Let them respond) Did that make you feel happy? (Let them respond.)

Have any of you ever felt lonely? Like no one cared about you? (Let them respond) Did that feel really great? (Let them respond.)

Have any of you ever felt really sad because of something that happened to you? (Let them respond) Were you happy that happened? (Let them respond.)

Did any of those things make you feel happy and made you glad they happened? None of these things sound very good, do they? They sure don’t sound like God was blessing us, do they?

Have you ever heard someone use the word “blessed” or “blessing”? (Let them respond.) Maybe you heard someone said, “God bless you!”, or “That is a blessing”. What do you think it meant to be “blessed”? (Let them respond) Most people think that to be “blessed” means to be happy, or lucky, or maybe they received a gift, or something really nice has happened to them.

But guess what. one day Jesus was standing on a hill next to the Sea of Galilee talking with a bunch of people and he said something like this:

Blessed are you when people insult you, pick on you, and say all kinds of bad things about you, or you are sad, or lonely, or sick, or afraid, or have failed, because you are close to the Kingdom of God.

That sure sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Those aren’t the exact words Jesus said, but I think it is what he meant. I think he was reminding us that sometimes, even things that are pretty lousy and painful can be blessings from God. I don’t mean that God makes us sick or hurt on purpose, but if we do get sick, or hurt, or sad, or afraid, we can remember what it felt like so we can help other people when they have those problems.

Have you ever been around someone who was sick and was really grumpy? If you have been sick before, you know how bad they feel and understand that is why they are being grumpy and need someone to care for them.

Have you ever been around someone who had a lot of changes going on in their life and they were being really angry and mean? If you have been afraid before, you know how they feel and understand how they need someone to care about them and help them feel less alone and afraid.

 Have you ever been around someone who failed a test or lost a game and were being really quiet and sad? If you have failed or lost before, you understand how they feel, and how much they need someone to care about them.

Those lousy things that happen to us sure don’t feel like things that should make us happy, or rich, do they? But that isn’t what the word “blessing” means. If we are blessed, it means we have been given something that helps us do a better job of serving God.

Jesus was reminding us that if we have been sick, or hurt, or bullied, or afraid, it means we will understand what people are feeling when those things happen to them. We know how bad they feel, and we can help care for them the way God wants us to take care of each other.

I have something for you. (Give each child a band-aid.) I’ll be you know what this is, don’t you? (Let them respond) Sometimes when we get hurt we get a band-aid to put on it. The next time we get a band-aid, maybe it can help remind us how to help take care of others when we see they have a band-aid too.

Let’s say a short prayer to thank God for helping us learn how to take care of each other.

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you again for reminding us how much you love all of us, helping us learn from our unhappy times. Please help us remember to use remember how we felt, so we can understand other people and care for them the way you would care for them.