Childrens Sermon Service

And he said, "Beware that you are not lead astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'the time is near!' Do not go after them.' " (v. 8)

Object: a picture of a large maze that you can put on an easel and a black or red marking pen


Good morning, boys and girls. Have your parents warned you about not speaking to strangers? (let them answer) Have they told you not to get into a stranger's car? (let them answer) Have you also been told not to leave school if a stranger comes to pick you up? (let them answer) You must never follow strangers, no matter what kind of treat they promise you. Scary things can happen to children and adults when they don't follow these rules.
Sometimes people make promises they can't keep. If I told every one of you that I would give you a new bike, a new computer game, and all of the ice cream you could eat, would you believe me? (let them answer) Of course you wouldn't believe me. I could never get new bikes, computer games, and ice cream for all of you. It would just be a trick to get you to follow me.
This is a picture of a big maze. See if you can help me get from the outside of the maze to the inside. (begin taking advice as fast as you can and make marks on the paper to the dead-ends) My goodness, we're not getting anywhere. It looks like we're moving in the right direction and then we come to a dead-end. It's hard to take everyone's advice and still study the whole maze.
Before he returned to heaven, Jesus warned us to be very careful of who and what we follow. He said there would be a lot of people claiming to be the Christ and asking us to follow them. Jesus said we should wait until the time is right. We'll know the time is right if we listen to the voice of God and not pretenders. Jesus tells us to wait until we are asked to speak and then he will give us the words to say. Jesus never lies and never leads us in the wrong direction.
People worry a lot about the future. We worry about things that we can't change or understand. Jesus asks us not to spend time worrying. Instead, he asks us to do good things for others and for God. If we are busy doing the right things, we won't have time to worry. Being a Christian may not always be easy. Sometimes it will take a lot of courage. We must trust Jesus every day of our lives.
The next time you see a maze and are worried that you'll get lost in it, I want you to take your time, study the puzzle, and work slowly to find the right way.