Money and evil
Children's sermon
Object:
a $50 or $100 bill
Good morning! I don't normally carry around a lot of money,
but I brought some with me today. (Show them the bill.) This is a
lot of money in one bill. We don't get very many of these in the
collection plate on Sunday. How many of you have seen a bill this
large? (Let them answer.)
Saint Paul tells us that the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil, and he's certainly right. People do all kinds of
evil things for money. Every time we read the newspaper, we can
see stories about people who have committed all kinds of crimes
in order to get money. Just this week I read about ... (share
with them a recent newspaper story).
Now, be sure you understand what Saint Paul is saying. Is he
telling us that money is evil? (Let them answer.) No, he doesn't
say that money is evil in itself. He says that the love of money
is a root of all kinds of evil. Can money be used for good? (Let
them answer.) Of course it can! Most of the time it is used for
good. We use it to buy our food, clothing, shelter, and all the
things we need in this life. We offer some of our money to God
when we make our offering on Sunday morning. None of those things
are evil, are they? (Let them answer.)
So when will money cause us trouble? When will it be a root
of evil in our lives? (Let them answer.) Yes, it will cause
trouble when we begin to love it so much that we do evil things
to get it, like when we lie or steal to get it and we begin to
think that money is more important than our family or our God.
When that happens, money becomes our God, and that would be
really bad, wouldn't it? (Let them answer.)
I'm sure that all of you would like to have this bill (show
the bill), and if you earn it in an honest way, there would be
nothing wrong with you having it. But, I'm also sure none of you
would do anything dishonest to get it, would you? (Let them
answer.)
Okay, that's good. Let's ask God to help us to be the kind
of people who never fall in love with money.
Dearest God: Please keep us faithful so that we will never let
money become more important to us than You are. Amen.
but I brought some with me today. (Show them the bill.) This is a
lot of money in one bill. We don't get very many of these in the
collection plate on Sunday. How many of you have seen a bill this
large? (Let them answer.)
Saint Paul tells us that the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil, and he's certainly right. People do all kinds of
evil things for money. Every time we read the newspaper, we can
see stories about people who have committed all kinds of crimes
in order to get money. Just this week I read about ... (share
with them a recent newspaper story).
Now, be sure you understand what Saint Paul is saying. Is he
telling us that money is evil? (Let them answer.) No, he doesn't
say that money is evil in itself. He says that the love of money
is a root of all kinds of evil. Can money be used for good? (Let
them answer.) Of course it can! Most of the time it is used for
good. We use it to buy our food, clothing, shelter, and all the
things we need in this life. We offer some of our money to God
when we make our offering on Sunday morning. None of those things
are evil, are they? (Let them answer.)
So when will money cause us trouble? When will it be a root
of evil in our lives? (Let them answer.) Yes, it will cause
trouble when we begin to love it so much that we do evil things
to get it, like when we lie or steal to get it and we begin to
think that money is more important than our family or our God.
When that happens, money becomes our God, and that would be
really bad, wouldn't it? (Let them answer.)
I'm sure that all of you would like to have this bill (show
the bill), and if you earn it in an honest way, there would be
nothing wrong with you having it. But, I'm also sure none of you
would do anything dishonest to get it, would you? (Let them
answer.)
Okay, that's good. Let's ask God to help us to be the kind
of people who never fall in love with money.
Dearest God: Please keep us faithful so that we will never let
money become more important to us than You are. Amen.
