Childrens Sermon Service

First Thoughts: The last Sunday before we begin the season of Advent, this Sunday is called Christ the King Sunday. Today we will likely celebrate with hymns about God's royalty and cosmic power. But we must not forget how regularly God reverses our expectations. What we think of as God's power is an all-encompassing love. What we think of as victory turns out to be a holy sacrifice. What we think of as a king will be a tiny helpless baby. We will use this lesson as a way to reinforce for our children the radical nature of the gospel message, how it is different from that of the world, how it challenges and corrects that of the world, and just for a moment think about the times in your life when God turned things over for you. What was it like for you? Exciting? Liberating? Terrifying? Carry your awareness of God's presence in your life with you in your time with the children.

Props You Will Need: a cardboard crown, decorated to look like gold with jewels

Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has on the crown)
Leader 1: Hey, what's that you have on your head?
Leader 2: It's a crown. Can't you tell?
Leader 1: Yes. But why are you wearing it in church?
Leader 2: Well, today is the Sunday when we remember Christ as our king, isn't it? I thought the best way to celebrate was to wear a crown.
Leader 1: And I see you really decorated it.
Leader 2: I thought a king as important as Christ would want a crown decorated with the most valuable things on earth like rubies and emeralds. And I even made it look like gold!
Leader 1: It's very beautiful. But you know, I don't think Christ would agree that gold and jewels were the most important things on earth.
Leader 2: You don't?
Leader 1: No. You see, in our lesson today, a man named Pilate asked Jesus about his kingdom. Jesus told him that Jesus' kingdom would be very different from anything we see here on earth. In Jesus' kingdom there won't be great armies who do battle, but faithful disciples who will share God's love. There won't be fancy jewels or great palaces, but loving and open homes where a stranger can always find a place to rest. There won't be lots of rules and laws, but a simple requirement that people live according to God's truth and compassion.
Leader 2: I guess you're right. Jewels wouldn't matter that much to a king like Christ.
Leader 1: But you know what would be important? Folks like us.
Leader 2: Us?
Leader 1: That's right. Christ came to earth to share God's love with us and to help us live lives that were kind and happy. That means we're pretty important, doesn't it?
Leader 2: Does that mean if Christ were decorating a crown, he would use pictures of us?
Leader 1: You know, I think it just might!

Teaching On Your Own: See what I have here? It's a crown. Can anyone guess why I've got a crown here today? Today is the Sunday when we celebrate Christ as our king. And what do kings wear? Crowns! See how I decorated it? I put lots of jewels on it and even made it look like gold. I thought I would decorate it that way because lots of folks think that gold and jewels are the most valuable things on earth, which would make this crown very valuable. But you know what? Now that I think about it, I'm not sure Christ would agree that gold and jewels are all that important.

You know why? In our lesson today, a man named Pilate asked Jesus about his kingdom. Jesus told him that Jesus' kingdom would be very different from anything we see here on earth. In Jesus' kingdom there won't be great armies who do battle, but faithful disciples who will share God's love. There won't be fancy jewels or great palaces, but loving and open homes where a stranger can always find a place to rest. There won't be lots of rules and laws, but a simple requirement that people live according to God's truth and compassion. So I guess jewels wouldn't matter that much to a king like Christ, would they? But you know what would be important? Folks like us. Christ came to earth to share God's love with us and to help us live lives that were kind and happy. That means we're pretty important, doesn't it? In fact, if Christ were decorating a crown, I think he would use pictures of us. What do you think?

Closing Prayer: Christ our king, thank you for making us the jewels in your crown. Help us to make you beautiful with our own acts of kindness and love. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, spend more time with the children thinking about the nature of kings and kingdoms. Maybe even bring in a few fairytale books to look through. Invite the children to share everything they know about this subject. Then ask them to compare/contrast what they know about kingdoms with the kind of kingdom Christ would bring. Remind the children that the most important thing in God's kingdom is kindness, mercy, and simplicity. Everything in Christ's kingdom will reflect these values. For example, instead of servants running around, everyone would be princes and princesses. Instead of having a feast in a great hall, there would be a great big picnic outside, where everyone could join in. Instead of the king giving orders and punishing folks, the king would be like a shepherd to his people making sure they have enough and are taken care of.

As a craft idea, give the children construction paper to make a crown. Before they glue it together, though, give them a chance to decorate the crown with the most important things in the world. This might include pictures of people and nature or scenes where people are sharing and loving each other. You could also provide pictures from magazines or cards and allow the children to create a collage for the crown. When the crowns are complete, invite each child to place his or her crown on her head and remind them that, in Christ's kingdom, they are royalty every time they honor these important things. Close in a time of prayer.