Never give up
Children's sermon
Object:
bread crumbs (enough so that the children can see them and taste
them)
She [the Canaanite woman] said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from their masters' table." (Matthew 15:27)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like bread? (let them answer) Do you have a favorite kind of bread? (let them answer) My favorite kind of bread is French bread. I really like it when it is warm and I can eat it with good olive oil. Have you ever had that kind of bread? (let them answer)
There are two kinds of problems with that kind of bread. One is that it is not easy to cut without squeezing and squashing it. The other problem is that it can be messy. Have you ever squashed your bread? (let them answer) Do you ever leave a lot of crumbs on the table? (let them answer)
Crumbs are not worth very much are they? Little pieces here, little pieces there, some on the floor, some on your plate, some on the table, and some in the basket. That can mean lots of crumbs if you put them all together.
There is a story in the Bible about crumbs. It is about a woman from Canaan who has a daughter so sick that she is kind of crazy. She does bad things and it hurts her and hurts her mother. One day when Jesus was passing through, this woman saw Jesus and knew about his great power. Canaanite people did not worship God as the disciples of Jesus worshiped God. They heard her calling out to Jesus for help and they tried to get rid of her. The more they tried to get rid of her, the more she called out. Finally, she got close enough to Jesus to look him in the face and tell him how ill her daughter was and that she needed to be healed. Jesus looked at her and told her that the work God had sent him to do was to change the ways of his own people, the Jews. There was not enough time to do what God asked him to do and still heal everyone else in the world. Jesus said healing the sick was like feeding children. It takes time to feed children.
The Canaanite woman pleaded with Jesus and said she would take anything that was left over. It would be enough to heal her daughter. She called it the leftover crumbs that fell from the table to the floor. This woman really believed in the power of Jesus. Jesus looked at her and told her that her faith in God was really great and because of her faith, her daughter would be healed. And the daughter was healed immediately.
We learn two things from this lesson. First, we should never give up asking God for what is really important to us. Second, even the smallest part of God's power is great enough to take care of our problems. The next time you see some crumbs on your table or floor, I want you to think about this story and the faith of the woman and remember the great power of God. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like bread? (let them answer) Do you have a favorite kind of bread? (let them answer) My favorite kind of bread is French bread. I really like it when it is warm and I can eat it with good olive oil. Have you ever had that kind of bread? (let them answer)
There are two kinds of problems with that kind of bread. One is that it is not easy to cut without squeezing and squashing it. The other problem is that it can be messy. Have you ever squashed your bread? (let them answer) Do you ever leave a lot of crumbs on the table? (let them answer)
Crumbs are not worth very much are they? Little pieces here, little pieces there, some on the floor, some on your plate, some on the table, and some in the basket. That can mean lots of crumbs if you put them all together.
There is a story in the Bible about crumbs. It is about a woman from Canaan who has a daughter so sick that she is kind of crazy. She does bad things and it hurts her and hurts her mother. One day when Jesus was passing through, this woman saw Jesus and knew about his great power. Canaanite people did not worship God as the disciples of Jesus worshiped God. They heard her calling out to Jesus for help and they tried to get rid of her. The more they tried to get rid of her, the more she called out. Finally, she got close enough to Jesus to look him in the face and tell him how ill her daughter was and that she needed to be healed. Jesus looked at her and told her that the work God had sent him to do was to change the ways of his own people, the Jews. There was not enough time to do what God asked him to do and still heal everyone else in the world. Jesus said healing the sick was like feeding children. It takes time to feed children.
The Canaanite woman pleaded with Jesus and said she would take anything that was left over. It would be enough to heal her daughter. She called it the leftover crumbs that fell from the table to the floor. This woman really believed in the power of Jesus. Jesus looked at her and told her that her faith in God was really great and because of her faith, her daughter would be healed. And the daughter was healed immediately.
We learn two things from this lesson. First, we should never give up asking God for what is really important to us. Second, even the smallest part of God's power is great enough to take care of our problems. The next time you see some crumbs on your table or floor, I want you to think about this story and the faith of the woman and remember the great power of God. Amen.
