Peter and the wall
Children's sermon
Object:
a tulip
"And they glorified God because of me." (v. 24)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Have you ever heard of a country called Holland? (allow answers) Holland is in Europe, and Holland is famous for these kinds of flowers. (show tulip) Can you tell me what kind of flower this is? (allow answers) This flower is called a tulip. In Holland, they grow fields and fields of them.
Holland is also located near the ocean. The country sometimes has problems with floods. So, a long time ago, they built a lot of flood walls in Holland to keep floods out of their cities.
Walls are a good way to keep out water -- unless they start to leak. There is an old folk tale about a little boy in Holland who saved the country from flooding because he found one of these leaks.
The story goes that this little boy, whose name was Peter, was walking home one evening when he saw a little leak in the flood wall. Peter went closer to look at it. The hole in the wall was just the size of his little finger. It wasn't a big hold at all! But Peter knew that if the water kept seeping through that hole, eventually it would wear away a bigger hole, and then the whole wall could come crashing down and water would flood the city! Peter didn't have anything to plug up the hole so that he could run and get help. So do you know what Peter did? (allow answers) Peter stuck his finger in the hole. He had to sit there all night, holding his finger in the wall and keeping the water from bursting through, until a man walked past in the morning. Peter told the man about the hole in the wall, and the man ran into town to get help. He came back with people who fixed the wall and let Peter go home.
Peter was a hero for Holland. He saved his whole city from flooding! Because of Peter, the people of Holland thanked God that night in their prayers.
Our second reading today was written by a person with another P name. This person was Saint Paul. Paul used to be a person who hurt God's people. But then Jesus appeared to him, and Paul saw the light. He saw that he had been doing the wrong thing and should instead be following Jesus. From then on, Paul spent his life showing people the way to God. Like Peter in Holland, Paul saved people's lives by doing what he could. Paul's job wasn't always fun -- and I'm sure that it wasn't fun for Peter to sit in the dark with his finger in the flood wall! -- but he knew that it had to be done. Although they saved lives in different ways, both Peter and Paul caused people to thank God for their blessings. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Have you ever heard of a country called Holland? (allow answers) Holland is in Europe, and Holland is famous for these kinds of flowers. (show tulip) Can you tell me what kind of flower this is? (allow answers) This flower is called a tulip. In Holland, they grow fields and fields of them.
Holland is also located near the ocean. The country sometimes has problems with floods. So, a long time ago, they built a lot of flood walls in Holland to keep floods out of their cities.
Walls are a good way to keep out water -- unless they start to leak. There is an old folk tale about a little boy in Holland who saved the country from flooding because he found one of these leaks.
The story goes that this little boy, whose name was Peter, was walking home one evening when he saw a little leak in the flood wall. Peter went closer to look at it. The hole in the wall was just the size of his little finger. It wasn't a big hold at all! But Peter knew that if the water kept seeping through that hole, eventually it would wear away a bigger hole, and then the whole wall could come crashing down and water would flood the city! Peter didn't have anything to plug up the hole so that he could run and get help. So do you know what Peter did? (allow answers) Peter stuck his finger in the hole. He had to sit there all night, holding his finger in the wall and keeping the water from bursting through, until a man walked past in the morning. Peter told the man about the hole in the wall, and the man ran into town to get help. He came back with people who fixed the wall and let Peter go home.
Peter was a hero for Holland. He saved his whole city from flooding! Because of Peter, the people of Holland thanked God that night in their prayers.
Our second reading today was written by a person with another P name. This person was Saint Paul. Paul used to be a person who hurt God's people. But then Jesus appeared to him, and Paul saw the light. He saw that he had been doing the wrong thing and should instead be following Jesus. From then on, Paul spent his life showing people the way to God. Like Peter in Holland, Paul saved people's lives by doing what he could. Paul's job wasn't always fun -- and I'm sure that it wasn't fun for Peter to sit in the dark with his finger in the flood wall! -- but he knew that it had to be done. Although they saved lives in different ways, both Peter and Paul caused people to thank God for their blessings. Amen.
