How far?
Children's sermon
Object:
a rope
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (vv. 38-39)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today, I need a volunteer. (choose a volunteer) I need you to take one end of this rope. I'll take the other end. Now, walk as far away from me as you can without letting go of this rope.
How far can (s/he) go? (allow answers) Not very far!
Now imagine that this rope was between you and someone in your family. Now imagine that you could not love that person if they went further away from you than this. That sounds silly, doesn't it? (allow answers) We can love people no matter how far away they are! What is the farthest you have ever been away from your parents? Have you gone across town? Or maybe have you visited relatives in a different city? Or have your parents gone far away on business or on a vacation and left you at home? (allow answers) Sometimes the people we love have to go far away from us. Luckily, there is no distance too far for us to stop loving and caring about them. Even astronauts who go to the moon still have families they love and think about!
Our Bible verse today talks about how God loves us. Just like we can love our families without being near them, so God loves us no matter how far away we go. He loves us to the highest heights and the deepest depths. No walls can separate us from God's love. No people can make God stop loving us. Nothing we have done in the past and nothing we will do in the future could make God stop loving us as his own special children. Maybe we do things that God doesn't like -- but sometimes your brothers or sisters might not do things that you like. That doesn't mean you stop loving them!
God's love is longer than any rope a human can create and it lasts until the end of time. In the words of our Bible verse today: "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today, I need a volunteer. (choose a volunteer) I need you to take one end of this rope. I'll take the other end. Now, walk as far away from me as you can without letting go of this rope.
How far can (s/he) go? (allow answers) Not very far!
Now imagine that this rope was between you and someone in your family. Now imagine that you could not love that person if they went further away from you than this. That sounds silly, doesn't it? (allow answers) We can love people no matter how far away they are! What is the farthest you have ever been away from your parents? Have you gone across town? Or maybe have you visited relatives in a different city? Or have your parents gone far away on business or on a vacation and left you at home? (allow answers) Sometimes the people we love have to go far away from us. Luckily, there is no distance too far for us to stop loving and caring about them. Even astronauts who go to the moon still have families they love and think about!
Our Bible verse today talks about how God loves us. Just like we can love our families without being near them, so God loves us no matter how far away we go. He loves us to the highest heights and the deepest depths. No walls can separate us from God's love. No people can make God stop loving us. Nothing we have done in the past and nothing we will do in the future could make God stop loving us as his own special children. Maybe we do things that God doesn't like -- but sometimes your brothers or sisters might not do things that you like. That doesn't mean you stop loving them!
God's love is longer than any rope a human can create and it lasts until the end of time. In the words of our Bible verse today: "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Amen.