Wheat And Weeds Separated
Children's sermon
Object:
Set of red and black checkers (or two colors of marbles as an option)
...The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat... (v. 24b)
Good morning girls and boys,
How many of you are in school? (raise hands) (presenter talks informally about their schools, teachers and subjects) Did you know that Jesus was a teacher? In his day they called those like him a Rabbi. Teachers, and Rabbi's, often taught by telling a tale. That's what parables are. Parables are tales made up to teach a lesson.
Today Jesus teaches a tale about weeds and wheat which is really about good and evil.
Both wheat and weeds are planted and let grow until harvest time. Then the wheat and weeds are to be separated. So lets do an experiment. Here are red and black checkers. Each take a pair -- one black and one red. (hand two checkers out to each child)
Let the red represent wheat and the black represent the weed. Now children, caress your checkers lovingly. Pet them like a pet with great fondness. Pretend your checkers are wheat and weeds growing and flourishing. Now let's throw all the checkers into this basket. It's harvest time. Separation time. (Place two separate containers before the children. Instruct them to place their checkers into the two proper containers -- black in black and red in red.)
Jesus, the teacher or rabbi, explains to the disciples that the wheat are the children of the kingdom and the weeds are the children of the evil one. When the end of all things happens wheat and weeds are separated. The weeds are burned and destroyed.
Jesus does not simply mean there are good and bad people. He means that the evil in all of us is burned away on the last day. We are God's saints because of Jesus right now. We are also God's sinners right now in need of daily confession and forgiveness.
So in our lives sometimes we feel more like the black checker and yet we know that in God's eyes, because of Jesus, we are the red checkers. Loved, forgiven and saved.
Prayer: Lord Jesus burn away the evil that wants to live in me. Help me to grow in your grace, now and until the harvest. Amen.
Good morning girls and boys,
How many of you are in school? (raise hands) (presenter talks informally about their schools, teachers and subjects) Did you know that Jesus was a teacher? In his day they called those like him a Rabbi. Teachers, and Rabbi's, often taught by telling a tale. That's what parables are. Parables are tales made up to teach a lesson.
Today Jesus teaches a tale about weeds and wheat which is really about good and evil.
Both wheat and weeds are planted and let grow until harvest time. Then the wheat and weeds are to be separated. So lets do an experiment. Here are red and black checkers. Each take a pair -- one black and one red. (hand two checkers out to each child)
Let the red represent wheat and the black represent the weed. Now children, caress your checkers lovingly. Pet them like a pet with great fondness. Pretend your checkers are wheat and weeds growing and flourishing. Now let's throw all the checkers into this basket. It's harvest time. Separation time. (Place two separate containers before the children. Instruct them to place their checkers into the two proper containers -- black in black and red in red.)
Jesus, the teacher or rabbi, explains to the disciples that the wheat are the children of the kingdom and the weeds are the children of the evil one. When the end of all things happens wheat and weeds are separated. The weeds are burned and destroyed.
Jesus does not simply mean there are good and bad people. He means that the evil in all of us is burned away on the last day. We are God's saints because of Jesus right now. We are also God's sinners right now in need of daily confession and forgiveness.
So in our lives sometimes we feel more like the black checker and yet we know that in God's eyes, because of Jesus, we are the red checkers. Loved, forgiven and saved.
Prayer: Lord Jesus burn away the evil that wants to live in me. Help me to grow in your grace, now and until the harvest. Amen.
