Who is my neighbor?
Children's sermon
Object:
a hammer
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (v. 29)
Good morning, boys and girls! Today I'm going to talk about neighbors. How many of you have neighbors? (allow answers) What are your neighbors like? (allow answers) Everyone's neighbors are different.
Your parents might remember an old TV show called Home Improvement. Home Improvement was a TV show about a fix-it man and his family. One character in Home Improvement was named Wilson. He was the family's neighbor. He was a well-known character because the audience never saw all of his face. Usually when Wilson talked to the family, he was on the other side of a tall fence. You could only ever see the top half of his face! Wilson was a good neighbor. He would often give advice or help them solve problems. Even though the audience was never sure what Wilson looked like, they knew he was a good neighbor.
What makes a good neighbor? (allow answers) Does a good neighbor have to be a specific age? (allow answers) What does a good neighbor have to do? (allow answers)
Now we have another question -- who is your neighbor? What qualifies a person as a neighbor? Does a person have to live close to you to be your neighbor? (allow answers) How close do you think they have to live -- next door? Around the block? Down the street? (allow answers)
Our gospel lesson talks about neighbors. A man asks, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus says that neighbors aren't necessarily the people who live right next door to us -- they can be anyone!
Jesus' story also talks about loving your neighbors. No matter how far away or how close they are, and no matter if they are good neighbors or bad neighbors, everyone deserves to be treated with kindness! How can you show kindness to the people around you? (allow answers) You can show kindness by holding the door open for people who have their hands full. You can show kindness by returning something someone drops.
Maybe we should all try to be neighbors like Wilson from Home Improvement. Wilson is more concerned with being a good and caring neighbor than he is with even showing his face. For Wilson, being a neighbor is about helping others, not about making himself feel important. As we act as neighbors, we can learn a lesson from Wilson. To be a neighbor, we should put others first. And who are our neighbors? Everyone! Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! Today I'm going to talk about neighbors. How many of you have neighbors? (allow answers) What are your neighbors like? (allow answers) Everyone's neighbors are different.
Your parents might remember an old TV show called Home Improvement. Home Improvement was a TV show about a fix-it man and his family. One character in Home Improvement was named Wilson. He was the family's neighbor. He was a well-known character because the audience never saw all of his face. Usually when Wilson talked to the family, he was on the other side of a tall fence. You could only ever see the top half of his face! Wilson was a good neighbor. He would often give advice or help them solve problems. Even though the audience was never sure what Wilson looked like, they knew he was a good neighbor.
What makes a good neighbor? (allow answers) Does a good neighbor have to be a specific age? (allow answers) What does a good neighbor have to do? (allow answers)
Now we have another question -- who is your neighbor? What qualifies a person as a neighbor? Does a person have to live close to you to be your neighbor? (allow answers) How close do you think they have to live -- next door? Around the block? Down the street? (allow answers)
Our gospel lesson talks about neighbors. A man asks, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus says that neighbors aren't necessarily the people who live right next door to us -- they can be anyone!
Jesus' story also talks about loving your neighbors. No matter how far away or how close they are, and no matter if they are good neighbors or bad neighbors, everyone deserves to be treated with kindness! How can you show kindness to the people around you? (allow answers) You can show kindness by holding the door open for people who have their hands full. You can show kindness by returning something someone drops.
Maybe we should all try to be neighbors like Wilson from Home Improvement. Wilson is more concerned with being a good and caring neighbor than he is with even showing his face. For Wilson, being a neighbor is about helping others, not about making himself feel important. As we act as neighbors, we can learn a lesson from Wilson. To be a neighbor, we should put others first. And who are our neighbors? Everyone! Amen.
