Stamina
Children's sermon
Object:
a stopwatch
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (v. 7)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have ever been in a race? (allow answers) How many of you have been in a footrace -- a running race? (allow answers) How do you feel when you are running a race? (allow answers) Running is hard work!
Think about the last race you ran. At the starting line, you feel energetic and ready for the race. Your muscles are quivering with excitement -- you can hardly wait to start! Then the whistle blows. You start out sprinting. It feels good to stretch your legs and move fast enough to make the wind blow your hair back from your face. But soon, your energy starts to fade. Your steps are shorter. Your muscles start to cramp up. When you breathe, it burns your throat and lungs. You have to gasp for a breath. When you get to this point, you want to stop and take a rest. But you know that you have to keep going -- the finish line is still somewhere ahead. How do you find the strength to keep going when you get to that tired point in a running race? (allow answers) It's hard to go on, but you keep running until you are almost to the finish line. When you are close to the finish line, you get a new burst of energy. You somehow find the strength to push yourself to sprint the last few steps to the finish line. Once you cross the finish line, how do you feel? (allow answers) All that pain is worth it when you finish the race.
Living our faith is a lot like running a race. When we start out in the faith, we are excited to spread God's love. We are quivering with the excitement of sharing our faith with everyone! The beginning of our journey is a sprint. We are full of enthusiasm. After a while, we get tired. The race -- life -- seems to last forever. We are tired. The finish line seems so far away! We want to take a rest by the side of the track.
We have to stay strong. Even though the finish line seems like it is far away, someday we will be close enough to see it. We will find that same well of energy that we feel at the end of a foot race. Every step we take brings us one step closer to that finish line. When we reach the finish line, we will know that our hard work and perseverance was worth it.
As followers of Jesus, it is our job to run the race of faith with strength and stamina. When we reach our finish line, we want to be able to say the words that we heard today in the second reading. We want to be able to say, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have ever been in a race? (allow answers) How many of you have been in a footrace -- a running race? (allow answers) How do you feel when you are running a race? (allow answers) Running is hard work!
Think about the last race you ran. At the starting line, you feel energetic and ready for the race. Your muscles are quivering with excitement -- you can hardly wait to start! Then the whistle blows. You start out sprinting. It feels good to stretch your legs and move fast enough to make the wind blow your hair back from your face. But soon, your energy starts to fade. Your steps are shorter. Your muscles start to cramp up. When you breathe, it burns your throat and lungs. You have to gasp for a breath. When you get to this point, you want to stop and take a rest. But you know that you have to keep going -- the finish line is still somewhere ahead. How do you find the strength to keep going when you get to that tired point in a running race? (allow answers) It's hard to go on, but you keep running until you are almost to the finish line. When you are close to the finish line, you get a new burst of energy. You somehow find the strength to push yourself to sprint the last few steps to the finish line. Once you cross the finish line, how do you feel? (allow answers) All that pain is worth it when you finish the race.
Living our faith is a lot like running a race. When we start out in the faith, we are excited to spread God's love. We are quivering with the excitement of sharing our faith with everyone! The beginning of our journey is a sprint. We are full of enthusiasm. After a while, we get tired. The race -- life -- seems to last forever. We are tired. The finish line seems so far away! We want to take a rest by the side of the track.
We have to stay strong. Even though the finish line seems like it is far away, someday we will be close enough to see it. We will find that same well of energy that we feel at the end of a foot race. Every step we take brings us one step closer to that finish line. When we reach the finish line, we will know that our hard work and perseverance was worth it.
As followers of Jesus, it is our job to run the race of faith with strength and stamina. When we reach our finish line, we want to be able to say the words that we heard today in the second reading. We want to be able to say, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." Amen.
