Special people
Children's sermon
Object:
a blue ribbon or trophy
A person who does a wonderful job at some athletic competition
will get one of these (hold up the ribbon or trophy). To get a
ribbon a person has to do a good job. To get a blue ribbon a
person has to do the very best job. If an athlete is running a
race, that athlete has to finish first. If jumping the high jump,
the athlete who wins the blue ribbon has to jump the highest.
This year the Olympic Games are being held in Atlanta. People who have won many ribbons and trophies in their native countries will come to the United States to compete in the Olympics. The people who march in the opening ceremonies are very special people. They are the very best athletes in the world! I would not be able to march with them because I'm not nearly as good an athlete as these people. Probably none of us here would be good enough to march with those special Olympians. These athletes are the world's best. They are a special group of people.
But I'm here to tell you that you, too, are a special group of people. You and I belong to God. We are God's own people. Here's the way Peter described us: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people ... Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people ...."
Do you know what you did that was special? Do you know how you got to be such a "chosen race," "royal priesthood," "holy nation," "God's own people"? Here is how you got to this wonderful, honored place. Are you listening? I'm going to tell you how you accomplished it: You did it by doing nothing! God's grace made you one of God's own!
What is God's grace? God's grace is that love God has for you and for me even though we did nothing to earn that love. That kind of special love is called "unconditional love." There is not enough money in the world to buy it and no one is talented or good enough to earn it. It is a gift from God. It is your gift from God.
Dear God: Thank you for making us special people. Amen.
This year the Olympic Games are being held in Atlanta. People who have won many ribbons and trophies in their native countries will come to the United States to compete in the Olympics. The people who march in the opening ceremonies are very special people. They are the very best athletes in the world! I would not be able to march with them because I'm not nearly as good an athlete as these people. Probably none of us here would be good enough to march with those special Olympians. These athletes are the world's best. They are a special group of people.
But I'm here to tell you that you, too, are a special group of people. You and I belong to God. We are God's own people. Here's the way Peter described us: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people ... Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people ...."
Do you know what you did that was special? Do you know how you got to be such a "chosen race," "royal priesthood," "holy nation," "God's own people"? Here is how you got to this wonderful, honored place. Are you listening? I'm going to tell you how you accomplished it: You did it by doing nothing! God's grace made you one of God's own!
What is God's grace? God's grace is that love God has for you and for me even though we did nothing to earn that love. That kind of special love is called "unconditional love." There is not enough money in the world to buy it and no one is talented or good enough to earn it. It is a gift from God. It is your gift from God.
Dear God: Thank you for making us special people. Amen.
