Saved!
Children's sermon
Object:
a rope
I brought some rope with me this morning to help me tell a
story. The story is about a boy about your age whose name was
Robert. Robert went with some friends to a place his mother had
told him not to go near -- the river. It was usually a calm
river -- but deep. This day, however, was different. The water
was high and flowing swiftly because of the melting snow
upstream. Robert and his friends loved putting floating things
in the river to see how fast the water would take them away.
Robert found a large log and he struggled to get it to the river
and put it in. Then it happened. He slipped and fell right into
the rushing waters. How do you think Robert felt? (Let them
answer.)
Robert was scared. He was also very cold because the waters were so cold from the melting snows. But Robert was so scared he scarcely noticed how cold the water was as the rushing river took him off, just like the log Robert had tried so hard to put in the river.
Luck would have it that a man was watching the river downstream and saw what happened. He heard the shouts of the boys and heard Robert's calls for help. The man ran to a docked boat and pulled a rope like this from it. As the river swept Robert by him, he got Robert's attention and threw the rope to him. The rope landed just within reach and Robert grabbed it and the man pulled him to safety. Robert's life was spared by the man and his rope.
The next day at school Robert told his classmates about his adventure in the river. He told about how he had accidentally fallen in and the swift river carried him away. But then Robert bragged about how he calmly swam to shore (even though Robert didn't know how to swim) and saved himself.
This story is a lot like how God saves us. We are carried away by sin and death and then God throws us a rope that saves us. We call that rope "grace" and that is what makes us safe. We, like Robert, do not save ourselves. We are saved by God who loves us and does what he must to save us.
Dear God: Thank you for saving us by grace. Amen.
Robert was scared. He was also very cold because the waters were so cold from the melting snows. But Robert was so scared he scarcely noticed how cold the water was as the rushing river took him off, just like the log Robert had tried so hard to put in the river.
Luck would have it that a man was watching the river downstream and saw what happened. He heard the shouts of the boys and heard Robert's calls for help. The man ran to a docked boat and pulled a rope like this from it. As the river swept Robert by him, he got Robert's attention and threw the rope to him. The rope landed just within reach and Robert grabbed it and the man pulled him to safety. Robert's life was spared by the man and his rope.
The next day at school Robert told his classmates about his adventure in the river. He told about how he had accidentally fallen in and the swift river carried him away. But then Robert bragged about how he calmly swam to shore (even though Robert didn't know how to swim) and saved himself.
This story is a lot like how God saves us. We are carried away by sin and death and then God throws us a rope that saves us. We call that rope "grace" and that is what makes us safe. We, like Robert, do not save ourselves. We are saved by God who loves us and does what he must to save us.
Dear God: Thank you for saving us by grace. Amen.
