Dead batteries
Children's sermon
Object:
A flashlight with dead batteries inside; a set of goodbatteries, and a battery recharger
Good morning, boys and girls. I brought some things with me
this morning that I want to show you. You know what most of this
is. (One at a time, hold up the flashlight and battery recharger.
Ask the children to identify the items. They may need help with
the recharger.) That's right. I have a flashlight. I also have a
battery recharger.
I'm going to turn on my flashlight and let's see what happens. (Turn it on. Since it doesn't work, pass it around to see if anyone can get it to work.) It doesn't work. Can any of you get this to work? Maybe my batteries are emptied of their power. I just happen to have some recharged batteries in my battery recharger. Let's see if the recharged batteries work. (As you continue to talk, replace the dead batteries with the new ones, or ask one of the children to replace the batteries. When the new batteries are in the flashlight, turn it on.) Now let's try my flashlight and see if the new batteries work. (Turn on the flashlight.) Look at that. My flashlight works. My flashlight works because my recharger gave these batteries new life. I can place these dead batteries in the recharger. By tomorrow morning the dead batteries will be like new also.
The battery recharger is like this morning's Bible story. Paul tells people that Christ sent Paul to tell everyone about Jesus. Paul was sent to tell people about Jesus so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. That may be a difficult thing to understand. If the cross was like these dead batteries, then Jesus would have died for nothing. The dead batteries don't work. But, the cross is like the recharged batteries. The recharged batteries give my flashlight light. The cross gives all Christians the faith that Jesus will come again. That's what Paul's message is about: The cross is not emptied of its power. The cross means we have life.
I'm going to turn on my flashlight and let's see what happens. (Turn it on. Since it doesn't work, pass it around to see if anyone can get it to work.) It doesn't work. Can any of you get this to work? Maybe my batteries are emptied of their power. I just happen to have some recharged batteries in my battery recharger. Let's see if the recharged batteries work. (As you continue to talk, replace the dead batteries with the new ones, or ask one of the children to replace the batteries. When the new batteries are in the flashlight, turn it on.) Now let's try my flashlight and see if the new batteries work. (Turn on the flashlight.) Look at that. My flashlight works. My flashlight works because my recharger gave these batteries new life. I can place these dead batteries in the recharger. By tomorrow morning the dead batteries will be like new also.
The battery recharger is like this morning's Bible story. Paul tells people that Christ sent Paul to tell everyone about Jesus. Paul was sent to tell people about Jesus so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. That may be a difficult thing to understand. If the cross was like these dead batteries, then Jesus would have died for nothing. The dead batteries don't work. But, the cross is like the recharged batteries. The recharged batteries give my flashlight light. The cross gives all Christians the faith that Jesus will come again. That's what Paul's message is about: The cross is not emptied of its power. The cross means we have life.
