God's Treasure!
Children's sermon
Object: Create fifteen (15) small bags by tying the tops of little pieces of cloth with a piece of string or yarn. Stuff them with a bit of cloth or paper to make them look full. For the roleplay, have each child say the words their characters speak as you come to them.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
(Pick your rich man and your three servants and have them stand.)
One day a rich man called three of his servants to meet with him. When they got there, he reached into a box and got five bags, then handed them to the first servant. Then he got two more bags and handed them to the second servant and got one more bag and handed it to the third servant. The servants looked inside their bags and saw they were filled with gold. The man said, “I need to be away for a while, and I want you to take care of my treasure while I am gone.”
(Before continuing, you should give the first servant five more bags, and the second servant two more bags)
The man was gone for a long time, and when he got back, he called his servants to meet with him again. When they got there the first servant said, “Master, I know how much you like gold, so I took a chance and used the five bags you gave me to go out and earn five more bags of gold for you.” (Have the servant proudly show all ten of his bags of gold.)
The master said, “You have done an awesome job taking care of my treasure!” and gave the first servant five more bags to keep for his own. (Have the master give the first servant five more bags of gold.)
The man looked at the second servant, and the servant said, “Master, I knew you liked gold too, so I took a chance and used the two bags you gave me to go out and earn two more bags of gold for you.” (Have the servant proudly show all four of his bags of gold.)
The master said, “You have done an outstanding job taking care of my treasure!” and gave the second servant two more bags to keep for his own. (Have the master give the second servant two more bags of gold.)
The man looked at the third servant, and the third servant said, “Master, I knew how much you liked gold too. I was so afraid I might lose some of it that I took the bag you gave me and buried it in the yard where it would be safe. And here it is!” (Have the servant proudly show his bag of gold.)
The master looked at him and said, “You knew how important my treasure is to me, but you just hid it and didn’t try to use it at all? You could have done great things with my treasure, but you didn’t even try.”
Then the master looked at the first servant and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have done more, so you will receive more.” (Have the master take the bag from the third servant and give it to the first servant.)
Does anyone have an idea why Jesus told this story? (Let them respond.) I don’t think he was really saying that we should all love gold, do you? (Let them respond.) No, I don’t think the story is about that kind of treasure. I think it is about the treasure that God gives us. Do you know what I think the treasure is that God gives us? (Let them respond.) I think the greatest treasure that God has given us is our hands. (Show your hands.) And our eyes. (Point to your eyes.) And our voices. (Point to your mouth.) And our ears. (Point to your ears.) And our feet. (Point to your feet.) I think this is the greatest treasure because these are the things we can use to help take care of each other. We can use our hands to touch each other or help pick someone up if they fall. We can use our eyes to see when one of us might need help. We can use our voices to say, “Hi!” to each other. We can use our ears to listen to each other. And we can use our feet to go and be with someone who might be lonely or afraid.
Jesus said that the most important things are that we love God and love all of God’s children. That means you and me. (Point to you and the children.) And it means those people. (Point to the congregation.) And it means the people outside who aren’t here with us, no matter where they are. (Point out to the world.)
God has given us the things we can use to take care of each other. God does not want us to hide those treasures but wants us to be a good and faithful servant, and use our treasures to help all of God’s children, even if it seems a bit risky to do it.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
(Pick your rich man and your three servants and have them stand.)
One day a rich man called three of his servants to meet with him. When they got there, he reached into a box and got five bags, then handed them to the first servant. Then he got two more bags and handed them to the second servant and got one more bag and handed it to the third servant. The servants looked inside their bags and saw they were filled with gold. The man said, “I need to be away for a while, and I want you to take care of my treasure while I am gone.”
(Before continuing, you should give the first servant five more bags, and the second servant two more bags)
The man was gone for a long time, and when he got back, he called his servants to meet with him again. When they got there the first servant said, “Master, I know how much you like gold, so I took a chance and used the five bags you gave me to go out and earn five more bags of gold for you.” (Have the servant proudly show all ten of his bags of gold.)
The master said, “You have done an awesome job taking care of my treasure!” and gave the first servant five more bags to keep for his own. (Have the master give the first servant five more bags of gold.)
The man looked at the second servant, and the servant said, “Master, I knew you liked gold too, so I took a chance and used the two bags you gave me to go out and earn two more bags of gold for you.” (Have the servant proudly show all four of his bags of gold.)
The master said, “You have done an outstanding job taking care of my treasure!” and gave the second servant two more bags to keep for his own. (Have the master give the second servant two more bags of gold.)
The man looked at the third servant, and the third servant said, “Master, I knew how much you liked gold too. I was so afraid I might lose some of it that I took the bag you gave me and buried it in the yard where it would be safe. And here it is!” (Have the servant proudly show his bag of gold.)
The master looked at him and said, “You knew how important my treasure is to me, but you just hid it and didn’t try to use it at all? You could have done great things with my treasure, but you didn’t even try.”
Then the master looked at the first servant and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have done more, so you will receive more.” (Have the master take the bag from the third servant and give it to the first servant.)
Does anyone have an idea why Jesus told this story? (Let them respond.) I don’t think he was really saying that we should all love gold, do you? (Let them respond.) No, I don’t think the story is about that kind of treasure. I think it is about the treasure that God gives us. Do you know what I think the treasure is that God gives us? (Let them respond.) I think the greatest treasure that God has given us is our hands. (Show your hands.) And our eyes. (Point to your eyes.) And our voices. (Point to your mouth.) And our ears. (Point to your ears.) And our feet. (Point to your feet.) I think this is the greatest treasure because these are the things we can use to help take care of each other. We can use our hands to touch each other or help pick someone up if they fall. We can use our eyes to see when one of us might need help. We can use our voices to say, “Hi!” to each other. We can use our ears to listen to each other. And we can use our feet to go and be with someone who might be lonely or afraid.
Jesus said that the most important things are that we love God and love all of God’s children. That means you and me. (Point to you and the children.) And it means those people. (Point to the congregation.) And it means the people outside who aren’t here with us, no matter where they are. (Point out to the world.)
God has given us the things we can use to take care of each other. God does not want us to hide those treasures but wants us to be a good and faithful servant, and use our treasures to help all of God’s children, even if it seems a bit risky to do it.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And 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.
