Never Alone
Children's sermon
Object:
A gesture. I use a closed fist in the message, but you can use another gesture if you prefer.
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” (vv. 26-27)
Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a question for you. Have you ever been alone and gotten scared? (Let them respond.) I think we all have, haven’t we? (Let them respond.) Maybe it’s at night when it gets dark, or maybe we are someplace we haven’t been before, and we are all by ourselves and we get kind of worried. Has that ever happened to you? (Let them respond.) Yeah, me too.
Well, our Bible story today tells about the time Jesus’ friends started to get really scared when they thought they were going to be alone. You remember on Good Friday when Jesus died, and his disciples got scared because they thought he was gone? (Let them respond.) And do you remember on Easter when he came back to be with them all? (Let them respond.) That made them feel better, didn’t it? (Let them respond.) Then, do you remember a few days after that Jesus talked with them and then went up to heaven? (Let them respond.) How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) Yes, they started to worry again because Jesus wasn’t going to be there with them any longer, didn’t they? (Let them respond.)
But God didn’t want them to be afraid, so Jesus told them that after he was gone God was going to send his Spirit to stay with them, and that way they would never have to be alone again. God’s Spirit would stay with them so they weren’t alone.
So, when Jesus left, God’s Spirit came to be with those people, and from then on, they knew they were never, ever alone again. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, I’ll tell you something that is even cooler. God’s Spirit is still with us now, just like it was with those people a long time ago — so we are never, ever alone either.
Do you know what I think the absolute coolest thing is about God’s Spirit? (Let them respond.) A spirit is different than a person, like you or me, or even Jesus. A person can just be in one place at a time, can’t they? I mean, if you are here now, you can’t also be at the park eating ice cream right now, can you? (Let them respond.) And if Jesus was in one place with some people, he couldn’t have been in a different town with other people at the same time, could he? (Let them respond.) But God’s spirit is different and can be with all of us, all the time, wherever we are.
I would like us to try something. I want us to close our hands into a fist for a minute. Not a tight fist, but just close it nice and easy. Okay? (Let them respond.) Now, let’s close our eyes for a minute, too, okay? (Let them respond.) And now, let’s take a nice, slow, deep breath and imagine that our closed hand isn’t empty, but we are holding the hand of God’s Spirit that is standing right next to us. We know what it feels like to hold someone’s hand, don’t we? (Let them respond.) So let’s just imagine we are holding God’s hand for a second. (Pause.) Okay, we can open our eyes again and open our hands.
Now, we were just pretending, but the next time we start to get a little scared, that is a great way to remind ourselves that God is right here with us and we are not alone. Just close your eyes, and close your hand around God’s Spirit’s hand, and remember you are not alone. Do you think you can try that? (Let them respond.) Great!
And then, since we know we are never alone, we can stop worrying and do the things we need to do to take care of each other the way God wants us to take care of each other. Not be afraid, because we know we are not alone. Pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)
I hope you’ll remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
Hi, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a question for you. Have you ever been alone and gotten scared? (Let them respond.) I think we all have, haven’t we? (Let them respond.) Maybe it’s at night when it gets dark, or maybe we are someplace we haven’t been before, and we are all by ourselves and we get kind of worried. Has that ever happened to you? (Let them respond.) Yeah, me too.
Well, our Bible story today tells about the time Jesus’ friends started to get really scared when they thought they were going to be alone. You remember on Good Friday when Jesus died, and his disciples got scared because they thought he was gone? (Let them respond.) And do you remember on Easter when he came back to be with them all? (Let them respond.) That made them feel better, didn’t it? (Let them respond.) Then, do you remember a few days after that Jesus talked with them and then went up to heaven? (Let them respond.) How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) Yes, they started to worry again because Jesus wasn’t going to be there with them any longer, didn’t they? (Let them respond.)
But God didn’t want them to be afraid, so Jesus told them that after he was gone God was going to send his Spirit to stay with them, and that way they would never have to be alone again. God’s Spirit would stay with them so they weren’t alone.
So, when Jesus left, God’s Spirit came to be with those people, and from then on, they knew they were never, ever alone again. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, I’ll tell you something that is even cooler. God’s Spirit is still with us now, just like it was with those people a long time ago — so we are never, ever alone either.
Do you know what I think the absolute coolest thing is about God’s Spirit? (Let them respond.) A spirit is different than a person, like you or me, or even Jesus. A person can just be in one place at a time, can’t they? I mean, if you are here now, you can’t also be at the park eating ice cream right now, can you? (Let them respond.) And if Jesus was in one place with some people, he couldn’t have been in a different town with other people at the same time, could he? (Let them respond.) But God’s spirit is different and can be with all of us, all the time, wherever we are.
I would like us to try something. I want us to close our hands into a fist for a minute. Not a tight fist, but just close it nice and easy. Okay? (Let them respond.) Now, let’s close our eyes for a minute, too, okay? (Let them respond.) And now, let’s take a nice, slow, deep breath and imagine that our closed hand isn’t empty, but we are holding the hand of God’s Spirit that is standing right next to us. We know what it feels like to hold someone’s hand, don’t we? (Let them respond.) So let’s just imagine we are holding God’s hand for a second. (Pause.) Okay, we can open our eyes again and open our hands.
Now, we were just pretending, but the next time we start to get a little scared, that is a great way to remind ourselves that God is right here with us and we are not alone. Just close your eyes, and close your hand around God’s Spirit’s hand, and remember you are not alone. Do you think you can try that? (Let them respond.) Great!
And then, since we know we are never alone, we can stop worrying and do the things we need to do to take care of each other the way God wants us to take care of each other. Not be afraid, because we know we are not alone. Pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)
I hope you’ll remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
