A Servant to All
Children's sermon
Object:
fire helmet (optional)
First Thoughts: This is another of Jesus' teachings designed to help the disciples understand the gravity of the Christian call. They keep getting confused about what greatness is. Their initial thoughts are the same as the world: greatness means elevation over others, power to control, securing one's own sense of security. But greatness in the gospel is submission to another's needs, the power to stay compassionate and connected even in the most difficult circumstances, recognizing our security lies in being faithful and trusting to God and in caring for God's family. Jesus is guiding us past our understanding of ourselves as independent, self-sufficient creatures and guiding us into realizing we are part of a human organism in which we serve a particular God-given function. The health of one of us is determined by the health of the rest of us. The disciples struggled with this idea, as we all do in our Christian walk. In preparation for your time with the children, you might reflect a bit on the state of your own spiritual greatness. Can you see in your own committed path how you fit into the larger picture of God's kingdom? In your time with the children, for instance, do you see how your gifts are strengthening others' walk with God and how that strengthens your own walk? Ask God to give you the heart of a servant as you come to your children this morning.
Teaching As A Team:
Leader 1: Hey (name), what have you been up to lately?
Leader 2: I visited the fire station this past week.
Leader 1: That sounds fun.
Leader 2: It was fun. In fact, I liked it so much that I told one of the firefighters that I wanted to become one.
Leader 1: You did?
Leader 2: Yeah, what could be better than riding on that big fire truck with the lights flashing and siren wailing, driving fast through all the streets while everyone else pulls over for you?
Leader 1: That does sound like a blast.
Leader 2: Anyway, the firefighter said I could hang around with them for a day to see what they really do. And you know what? Being a firefighter is a lot of work, and it's even kind of boring sometimes.
Leader 1: What do you mean?
Leader 2: We had to wash the fire truck, clean the bathrooms at the station, and cook dinner. And the only time we got called out it was to get a cat out of the tree. And then I talked with another firefighter who told me that one time he was fighting a fire and almost got stuck in a building. If he didn't have the rope around him to find his way out, he might have died in there. I never thought about that.
Leader 1: Yep, there's more to firefighting than it seems. You know, Jesus tried to tell the same thing to James and John. They told Jesus that they were ready to be God's servant, like Jesus. They thought it would be fun. But Jesus told them that being God's servant was harder than it seemed. They would need to put other people's needs before their own, be brave when others wanted to hurt them, and be kind when others were mean. He told them the only way you can be great in God's kingdom is to let yourself be poor.
Leader 2: Like with the firefighter -- I thought it would be lots of fun. But it's also hard work, sometimes boring, and sometimes dangerous.
Leader 1: That's right. Firefighters are servants in the community, just as Christians are servants in our world. It's hard to be a servant.
Leader 2: You know? I think I'll keep the hat anyway. One day, maybe, I'll be ready to be a firefighter.
Leader 1: I'm sure that's true. Just like us -- if we keep praying and worshiping together and practicing kindness in the world, one day we'll be a lot more like Jesus, God's ultimate servant.
Teaching On Your Own: (wears hat) Guess where I went this week? I went to the fire station. It was so much fun that I decided I wanted to be a firefighter. I mean, what could be better than riding on that big fire truck with the lights flashing and siren wailing, driving fast through all the streets while everyone else pulls over for you? Doesn't that sound like fun? Anyway, the firefighter said I could hang around with him for a day to see what they really do. And you know what? Being a firefighter is a lot of work, and it's even kind of boring sometimes. We had to wash the fire truck, clean the bathrooms at the station, and cook dinner. And the only time we got called out it was to get a cat out of the tree. And then I talked with another firefighter who told me that one time he was fighting a fire and almost got stuck in a building. If he didn't have the rope around him to find his way out, he might have died in there. I never thought about that. There's more to firefighting than it seems.
You know, Jesus tried to tell the same thing to James and John. They told Jesus that they were ready to be God's servant, like Jesus. They thought it would be fun. But Jesus told them that being God's servant was harder than it seemed. They would need to put other people's needs before their own, be brave when others wanted to hurt them, and be kind when others were mean. He told them the only way you can be great in God's kingdom is to let yourself be poor. Like with the firefighter -- I thought it would be lots of fun. But it's also hard work, sometimes boring, and sometimes dangerous. Firefighters are servants in the community, just as Christians are servants in our world. It's hard to be a servant. I think I'll keep the hat anyway. One day, maybe, I'll be ready to be a firefighter. Just like us -- if we keep praying and worshiping together and practicing kindness in the world, one day we'll be a lot more like Jesus, God's ultimate servant.
Closing Prayer: Thank you God, for your servant Jesus, who gave us an idea of what true love and kindness looks like. Help us to grow in our bravery and compassion, so we can be more like Jesus every day, truly great in your eyes. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this lesson in a home or classroom environment, spend some time talking about the kinds of things the children want to do when they grow up. Ask them to share why this is something that sounds fun to them. Then talk about how actually doing something is harder than how it seems on the outside. Ask the children to think about what it would be like to really be an adult doing these jobs. Emphasize the boring stuff, scary stuff, and difficult stuff. Connect your conversation to the lesson. Christians all want to be like Christ, and there are parts about Christianity that are really fun. Talk about having friends at church, learning Bible stories, and singing fun songs. But Christ also did some very difficult things. He always cared for people even when he was tired and just wanted a nap, he forgave people when they were really mean to him, and he had faith in God even when he was in danger of losing his life. If we want to be like Christ, we have to grow strong like he was strong so we can do the fun parts and the difficult parts of being Christian. Ask the children about the kind of things they can do to get stronger so they can turn into mature Christians. Talk about worshiping together, praying to God and listening quietly for God to answer, and asking other mature Christians to help the children when they have problems. As a craft idea, provide each child with a piece of PVC pipe painted black and two black balloons or plastic balls. Using a glue gun, spread adhesive onto each end of the PVC pipe and then glue the balloons/balls on either end -- making a fake dumbbell. Once the craft is done, lead the children in exercises doing bicep curls as you take turns shouting out a spiritual exercise we can do together. Close with a prayer.
Teaching As A Team:
Leader 1: Hey (name), what have you been up to lately?
Leader 2: I visited the fire station this past week.
Leader 1: That sounds fun.
Leader 2: It was fun. In fact, I liked it so much that I told one of the firefighters that I wanted to become one.
Leader 1: You did?
Leader 2: Yeah, what could be better than riding on that big fire truck with the lights flashing and siren wailing, driving fast through all the streets while everyone else pulls over for you?
Leader 1: That does sound like a blast.
Leader 2: Anyway, the firefighter said I could hang around with them for a day to see what they really do. And you know what? Being a firefighter is a lot of work, and it's even kind of boring sometimes.
Leader 1: What do you mean?
Leader 2: We had to wash the fire truck, clean the bathrooms at the station, and cook dinner. And the only time we got called out it was to get a cat out of the tree. And then I talked with another firefighter who told me that one time he was fighting a fire and almost got stuck in a building. If he didn't have the rope around him to find his way out, he might have died in there. I never thought about that.
Leader 1: Yep, there's more to firefighting than it seems. You know, Jesus tried to tell the same thing to James and John. They told Jesus that they were ready to be God's servant, like Jesus. They thought it would be fun. But Jesus told them that being God's servant was harder than it seemed. They would need to put other people's needs before their own, be brave when others wanted to hurt them, and be kind when others were mean. He told them the only way you can be great in God's kingdom is to let yourself be poor.
Leader 2: Like with the firefighter -- I thought it would be lots of fun. But it's also hard work, sometimes boring, and sometimes dangerous.
Leader 1: That's right. Firefighters are servants in the community, just as Christians are servants in our world. It's hard to be a servant.
Leader 2: You know? I think I'll keep the hat anyway. One day, maybe, I'll be ready to be a firefighter.
Leader 1: I'm sure that's true. Just like us -- if we keep praying and worshiping together and practicing kindness in the world, one day we'll be a lot more like Jesus, God's ultimate servant.
Teaching On Your Own: (wears hat) Guess where I went this week? I went to the fire station. It was so much fun that I decided I wanted to be a firefighter. I mean, what could be better than riding on that big fire truck with the lights flashing and siren wailing, driving fast through all the streets while everyone else pulls over for you? Doesn't that sound like fun? Anyway, the firefighter said I could hang around with him for a day to see what they really do. And you know what? Being a firefighter is a lot of work, and it's even kind of boring sometimes. We had to wash the fire truck, clean the bathrooms at the station, and cook dinner. And the only time we got called out it was to get a cat out of the tree. And then I talked with another firefighter who told me that one time he was fighting a fire and almost got stuck in a building. If he didn't have the rope around him to find his way out, he might have died in there. I never thought about that. There's more to firefighting than it seems.
You know, Jesus tried to tell the same thing to James and John. They told Jesus that they were ready to be God's servant, like Jesus. They thought it would be fun. But Jesus told them that being God's servant was harder than it seemed. They would need to put other people's needs before their own, be brave when others wanted to hurt them, and be kind when others were mean. He told them the only way you can be great in God's kingdom is to let yourself be poor. Like with the firefighter -- I thought it would be lots of fun. But it's also hard work, sometimes boring, and sometimes dangerous. Firefighters are servants in the community, just as Christians are servants in our world. It's hard to be a servant. I think I'll keep the hat anyway. One day, maybe, I'll be ready to be a firefighter. Just like us -- if we keep praying and worshiping together and practicing kindness in the world, one day we'll be a lot more like Jesus, God's ultimate servant.
Closing Prayer: Thank you God, for your servant Jesus, who gave us an idea of what true love and kindness looks like. Help us to grow in our bravery and compassion, so we can be more like Jesus every day, truly great in your eyes. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this lesson in a home or classroom environment, spend some time talking about the kinds of things the children want to do when they grow up. Ask them to share why this is something that sounds fun to them. Then talk about how actually doing something is harder than how it seems on the outside. Ask the children to think about what it would be like to really be an adult doing these jobs. Emphasize the boring stuff, scary stuff, and difficult stuff. Connect your conversation to the lesson. Christians all want to be like Christ, and there are parts about Christianity that are really fun. Talk about having friends at church, learning Bible stories, and singing fun songs. But Christ also did some very difficult things. He always cared for people even when he was tired and just wanted a nap, he forgave people when they were really mean to him, and he had faith in God even when he was in danger of losing his life. If we want to be like Christ, we have to grow strong like he was strong so we can do the fun parts and the difficult parts of being Christian. Ask the children about the kind of things they can do to get stronger so they can turn into mature Christians. Talk about worshiping together, praying to God and listening quietly for God to answer, and asking other mature Christians to help the children when they have problems. As a craft idea, provide each child with a piece of PVC pipe painted black and two black balloons or plastic balls. Using a glue gun, spread adhesive onto each end of the PVC pipe and then glue the balloons/balls on either end -- making a fake dumbbell. Once the craft is done, lead the children in exercises doing bicep curls as you take turns shouting out a spiritual exercise we can do together. Close with a prayer.
