Childrens Sermon Service

“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” (v. 31)

Note: The instructions will explain who you are to be speaking too. Most of all, have fun with this!

Let’s have some fun this time and do some acting. And I think it is really going to take some good acting because I know that none of you ever behave like one of the children in this story behaves. This is a story Jesus told about a man and his two sons, so let’s begin by finding our actors for those roles. Don’t worry, I’ll help you know what to say and do.

First, we need a volunteer to play the father. (Let them respond. Pick a child and have them stand.) Great. Now we need another volunteer to play the first son. (Let them respond. Pick a child and have them stand.) And finally, we need one more volunteer to play the second son. (Let them respond. Pick a child and have them stand.) The rest of our group will be the audience. And we will be an active audience. When we hear or see someone say or do something really good, we’re going to cheer and clap. And when we hear or see someone say or do something that we think is nasty, we’re going to hiss. Let’s practice our audience role first. Audience, let’s pretend we just heard someone say something really mean. (Lead the audience in loud hissing.) Now let’s pretend we just heard someone say something really nice. (Lead the audience in loud cheering.) Okay, the audience is ready.

Here is the story. One day there was a father who had two sons. (Have the father take a bow.) The father owned a vineyard and vineyards were a lot of work to keep growing, so the father needed his sons to go out and work with him to take care of the grapes. The farmer walks over to one of his sons, (Guide the father to stand by the first son.) and says, “I have to go to town for a while and need you to go out to the vineyard and do the work.” (Have the father say those words to the first son.)

The son crosses his arms on his chest and says, “I won’t do it. It is too hot out there and I would rather stay inside and play.” (Have the son do that — then lead the audience in ‘hissing’ loudly.) The father shakes his head and walks away. (Father walks away.) After a few minutes, the first son feels bad about what he had said (first son looks sad) and puts on his boots (first son puts on boots) and goes out and starts working in the vineyard. (First son begins working — then lead the audience in loud cheering and clapping.)

Meanwhile, the father walks over to his second son (guide the father to stand by the second son) and says, “I have to go to town for a while and need you to go out to the vineyard and do the work.” (Have the father say those words to the second son.)

The second son smiles and gives his father a ‘thumbs-up’, and says, “Okay, Pop! I’ll get right to work!” (Have the son do that — then lead the audience in loud cheering and clapping.) The father smiles and walks away to go to town. (Father walks away.) After his father was gone, the second son walks back to his bedroom and starts playing a game and does not go to work in the vineyard at all. (Have the son do that — then lead the audience in loud hissing.)

Now, what do you think? Which of the two sons did what his father wanted him to do? (Let them respond.) The first son refused to do what his father asked him to do, but then changed his mind and did it. The second son promised to do what his father asked but didn’t do it. He just lied. None of us ever act like that second son acted…do we? (Let them respond.)

I think Jesus told this story to remind us that it is okay if we sometimes make mistakes that we have to fix, and that we don’t have to pretend to be something we are not. We just need to do our best to do what God wants us to do.

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for forgiving us when we make mistakes. Please help us remember the things you want us to do and help us go ahead and do those things.