Childrens Sermon Service

Object: A copy of the game questions. Towels or pieces of cloth large enough to completely cover a child’s face when they drape it over their head. Have one for each child to use during the message.

The Game: The game is a simplified version of a “Truth or Lie” game some of the children may be familiar with. The idea will be that you ask a child a question and tell them they can either answer truthfully or give an answer that is not true. The rest of the group then needs to decide if they believe the answer is the truth or a lie. You may download and use questions from the attached list or make up your own. Depending on the time you have, you can have all of the children take a turn answering a question, or you can ask for a few volunteers or just pick a few children yourself. Keep the game light and fun. The point is not to shame anyone for lying but to introduce the idea of truth and untruth.

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But before I tell you the story, I have a game for us to play.

(Introduce how you are going to play the game and then have fun playing it. Continue the message when you are ready to end the game.)

How did you like our game? (Let them respond.) Now I have a question for you. In the game, you could either tell the truth or tell a lie, couldn’t you? (Let them respond.) It was our choice, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, we always have that choice even when we aren’t playing the game, don’t we? (Let them respond.) So, I wonder, have you ever made the choice to tell a lie when it wasn’t part of a game? (Let them respond.) I think we have probably all done that sometime, haven’t we? (Let them respond.) Well, our story today reminds us that lying is not a game, and it has real consequences. Who can tell us what a consequence is? (Let them respond.) A consequence is something that happens after we do something else. It’s like this. Has anyone ever told you a big lie before? (Let them respond.) And after you found out they lied to you, was it kind of hard for you to trust them when they told you something else later? (Let them respond.) Yeah. If they lied to you that time, you wonder if they are lying to you the next time they tell you something, don’t you? (Let them respond.) So, one of the consequences of telling a lie is that people might not believe you again, even if you are telling the truth.

Well, our story today reminds us there is even a bigger consequence if we lie and do not tell the truth. One day, Jesus was talking with his friends and told them that God had sent him there to take care of the people who loved God and make sure they were okay. Now here is the part we need to remember. Jesus told them it was easy to tell the difference between the people who loved God and the people who did not love God. I brought some things to help us understand what Jesus meant. (Hand each child a cloth or towel.)

Jesus said that God wanted us to always tell the truth to each other, and if we loved God, that’s what we would do. And Jesus said it was just like there was a bright light in the world, and the people who always told the truth were standing in that light. But the people who did not always tell the truth were like this. (Put a cloth or towel over your head and face and have the children do the same.) People who were not always truthful were in the darkness because they did not love God. Jesus said that people were in the darkness because they had things to hide and couldn’t be trusted because they did not tell the truth. But the people who always told the truth didn’t have to hide anything and could be trusted. (Take off the cloth or towel and have the children do the same.) They were in the light and loved God.

Jesus said that was the biggest consequence of telling lies. He said that being truthful or lying shows who we really are. We might say we love God. We might go to church, read the bible, and even say our prayers. But Jesus said those things didn’t prove that we love God. He said that if we love God, we are truthful, honest, and fair to everyone.

Our story reminds us that we always have a choice about telling the truth, but there are consequences to what we choose.What is the consequence if we are not truthful and tell lies? (Put on the cloth or towel and have the children do the same.) Jesus said we will be in the darkness and can’t be trusted because we don’t love God, didn’t he? But what is the consequence if we are truthful and don’t tell lies? (Take off the cloth or towel and have the children do the same.) Jesus said it proves that we love God, and we will be with God in the light.

Now I have one last question for you. Isn’t it okay to tell a lie to some people sometimes? (Let them respond.) But that isn’t what Jesus said, is it? (Let them respond.) What did Jesus say happened if we were not truthful? (Put on the cloth or towel and have the children do the same.) It means that we can’t be trusted and won’t be able to help other people the way God wants us to.And what did Jesus say happens if we tell the truth? (Take off the cloth or towel and have the children do the same.) It means we can be trusted and will be able to help other people the way God wants us to.

Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and be truthful so we can 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.