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The Chain!

Children's sermon
Mark 1:14-20
Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - B
John Jamison
Object: A length of chain. You can use a piece of chain that is any length, but if you can find a chain with large links, the message will be more memorable. You might be able to borrow a larger chain from someone who works in construction, towing, trucking, farming, or other roles that use heavy equipment.

Note: If you have a small group, another option would be to get a small length of chain to give to each child as a part of your message.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! I have something to show you. Who can tell me what this is? (Hold up the chain and let them respond.) It is a chain, isn’t it? (Let them respond as you show the chain around to let the children see it.) Now, there is something very special about this chain. Can anyone tell us what is so special about this chain? (Let them respond as you hold up one of the links in the chain.) It is this. Does anyone know what we call this piece of the chain? (Let them respond.) We call it a link, don’t we? And why do we call it a link? (Let them respond.) Because it links together with all of the other links, and that’s what makes the chain work. The links all work together so the chain can pull things, or lift things, or do lots of other things we need chains to do.

The links all look alike, don’t they? (Let them respond.) They do all have the same basic shape and size, but if we look at them really, really closely, we can see they are all a little bit different, aren’t they? (Let them respond, as you look closely at the links.) Some of them have little scratches or marks on them. Some of them are bent just a little. Some of them are a little different color than the others. They are all links in the chain, but they are all a little bit different from each other, aren’t they? (Let them respond.)

So let me ask you a question. If we look at all of the links in this chain and see that they are all a bit different, is there one link that is better or more special than the other links? (Let them respond.) What would happen if one of the links in this chain said, “I am more important than the rest of you links, so I’m not going to hold on to you as tight anymore.” What do you think would happen to the chain if one of the links said that? (Let them respond.) The chain would probably break apart, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) If we tried to lift something with it, it would fall down, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) Or if we tried to pull something with the chain, we wouldn’t be able to pull it very far, would we? (Let them respond.) So even though all of the links in the chain are different, the only way the chain works is if all of those links work together, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) And that is what is special about this chain!

One day Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and saw some people fishing. Jesus invited them to come with him and help him do his work for God. They were all going to work together, just like our chain, to do the work Jesus needed to do. These men were fishermen, but Jesus found other people too. One of them was even a tax collector, and nobody liked tax collectors. But even though they were all different, Jesus told them to work together so they could do the work God wanted them to do. They were different, but each one of them was just as important as all the rest of them. They were just like the links in our chain, weren’t they? (Let them respond.)

That’s what Jesus wants us to do, too. Even though we are all a little bit different from each other, and even though we sometimes might see people who are very different from us, Jesus wants us to be the links in his chain and help him do the work God wants us to do. And who remembers what God wants us to do? (Let them respond.) God wants us to take care of each other. That’s our job. That’s the chain we are the links to.

I hope our story today will help us remember that our job is to work together to help people who need our help, like links in God’s chain.

Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
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"The Way to God" by Peter Andrew Smith
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* * * * * * * *


The Way to God
by Peter Andrew Smith
Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)

In his story "The Way to God," Peter Andrew Smith tells of a people seeking to know God in their lives who discover the answer is not about what they do but about how they live.

* * *

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This is a dangerous psalm -- dangerous, because it is so open to misinterpretation.

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Lesson 1: Isaiah 58:1--9a (9b--12) (C); Isaiah 58:7--10 (RC)
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I had a much-loved professor in seminary who confessed to some of us over coffee one day that he frequently came home from church and was so frustrated he had to go out and dig in the garden, even in the middle of winter. Robert Louis Stevenson once recorded in his diary, as if it were a surprise, "I went to church today and am not depressed." Someone has said, "I feel like unscrewing my head and putting it underneath the pew every time I go to church." Thoughts like these are often expressed by people who have dropped out of church, especially youth and young adults.
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Emphasis Preaching Journal

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CSSPlus

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought some salt with me this morning. (Show the salt.) What do we use salt for? (Let them answer.) We use it for flavoring food. How many of you put salt on your popcorn? (Let them answer.) What else do we use salt for? (Let them answer.) We put salt on the sidewalks in winter to keep us from slipping. We put salt in water softeners to soften our water.

In this morning's lesson Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth. What do you think he meant by that? (Let them answer.) In Jesus' time salt was very important. It was used to keep food
Good morning! Once Jesus told a whole crowd of people who
had come to hear him preach that they couldn't get into Heaven
unless they were more "righteous" than all the religious leaders
of that day. Does anyone know what that word means? What does it
mean to be righteous? (Let them answer.) It means to be good, to
be fair, and to be honest. Now, what do you think he meant by
that? Was he telling people that they had to do everything
perfectly in this life in order to get into Heaven? (Let them
answer.)
Good morning! How many of you own your own Bible? (Let them
answer.) When you read the Bible, do you find some things that
are hard to understand? (Let them answer.) Yes, I think there are
some tough things to comprehend in the Bible. After all, the
Bible is God's Word, and it's not always easy to understand God.
He is so much greater than we are and much more complex.

Now, I brought a New Testament with me this morning and I
want someone to read a verse for us. Can I have a volunteer? (Let
Teachers and Parents: The most common false doctrine, even
among some who consider themselves strong Christians, is that we
can earn our way into Heaven by our own works. Our children must
learn the basic Christian truth that Heaven is a gift of God and
that there is no way to be righteous enough to deserve it. We
must rely on the righteousness of Christ for our ticket into
Heaven.

* Make white paper ponchos with the name JESUS written in
large letters on each one. (A large hole for the head in a big

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