Getting Distracted
Children's sermon
Object: A heart stereogram image (like the one below), or another stereogram you might choose to use. For extra fun, download and print the below pdf or find a suitable stereogram of your own and print copies of the image to give to each child to take with them.
Download printable heart stereogram.
NOTE: The stereogram is a 3D image centered in the noise of the rest of the image. The key is to let your eyes go out of focus and not try to focus directly on the image itself. Sometimes it helps to hold a finger 6 or 7 inches in front of the image and focus on that finger. The 3D image is really there. Really.
Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. (vv. 5-6)
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story for you today, okay? (Let them respond.) Great!
This story is about a day Jesus and his disciples had been visiting the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was big. It was a really tall building, made out of bright, white stone, and its edges were all covered with gold. Real gold! There was a little bitty room inside the temple, called the Holy of Holies, where they believed God actually came from heaven to visit them sometimes. The people believed that if they wanted to talk to God, they had to come to the temple to do that. So, the temple was the most important place in the world for the people. They came from all over the country to see the temple, and to do things like pray and give their offerings to God.
As Jesus’ disciples were leaving, some of them looked back at the huge building and said how magnificent it was to look at. Jesus told them that, yes, the temple was a great building, but one day it would be destroyed. He said that one day soon, every stone of the building would be thrown down, and there would be a new temple that would be greater than the old one.
The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus meant. They thought Jesus was saying there was going to be some kind of war or something and some enemy army was going to come and destroy the temple. But Jesus was telling them that he was God’s son, and that he was going to be more important than any building, even more important than the big, beautiful temple. One day soon, the people wouldn’t need to come to a building to be close to God. Jesus would be the way for them to be close to God.
But the disciples got really nervous when he said it. They started asking him, “When is it going to happen?” And “Who is going to destroy it?” And a lot of other questions. One of them, speaking for all of them, asked, “How will we know when it is going to happen so we can be ready?”
They were getting really afraid.
Jesus knew they didn’t understand him, so he told them not to worry about the building, or when it might be destroyed. He said that many people would try to predict what was happening. Many people would tell them that bad things were going to happen, and that they should watch out and be careful. Many people would tell them they needed to watch out for enemies who wanted to hurt them.
But Jesus said that those people were only trying to distract them from what was really important. They didn’t need to worry about a building, or enemies. All they needed to worry about was doing what they were supposed to do to follow God. He told them to not get distracted, no matter what other people might say. He told them to not listen to all of the noise other people will make. Don’t be afraid. Just ignore the chatter and listen to what God is saying. Jesus said that they should love each other the way God loves them. Take care of each other, and don’t worry about the rest.
But sometimes it is kind of hard to not worry isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes other people say a lot things that scare us. Sometimes all of their talking gets really noisy. And sometimes, with all of the noise we can’t hear what God is saying.
It’s kind of like this picture. (Show the stereogram.) Can anyone tell me what this is a picture of? (Let them respond.) It is a picture of something we all know. Can anyone tell me what it is? (Let them respond.) This is called a stereogram. It is a real picture of something, but it is covered with other dots and things that create a lot of noise that makes it tricky to see what the real picture is. Can anyone see it yet? (Let them respond.)
[Use this paragraph if you have copies of a stereogram for them.] I have a copy for each of you so you can take it and see if you can figure out what the hidden picture is.
There really is a picture in there, but sometimes it can be difficult to not get distracted by all of the noise and see what the real picture is. It is just like Jesus telling his disciples that we need to be careful to not get distracted by all of the noise people make trying to scare us, and just pay attention to what God is telling us. And who can remember what God is telling us we are supposed to be doing? (Let them respond.) Jesus said that God wants us to love each other the same way God loves us. Everyone! Everywhere!
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to love others and do as much as we can to help take care of other people.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
Download printable heart stereogram.
NOTE: The stereogram is a 3D image centered in the noise of the rest of the image. The key is to let your eyes go out of focus and not try to focus directly on the image itself. Sometimes it helps to hold a finger 6 or 7 inches in front of the image and focus on that finger. The 3D image is really there. Really.
Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. (vv. 5-6)
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story for you today, okay? (Let them respond.) Great!
This story is about a day Jesus and his disciples had been visiting the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was big. It was a really tall building, made out of bright, white stone, and its edges were all covered with gold. Real gold! There was a little bitty room inside the temple, called the Holy of Holies, where they believed God actually came from heaven to visit them sometimes. The people believed that if they wanted to talk to God, they had to come to the temple to do that. So, the temple was the most important place in the world for the people. They came from all over the country to see the temple, and to do things like pray and give their offerings to God.
As Jesus’ disciples were leaving, some of them looked back at the huge building and said how magnificent it was to look at. Jesus told them that, yes, the temple was a great building, but one day it would be destroyed. He said that one day soon, every stone of the building would be thrown down, and there would be a new temple that would be greater than the old one.
The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus meant. They thought Jesus was saying there was going to be some kind of war or something and some enemy army was going to come and destroy the temple. But Jesus was telling them that he was God’s son, and that he was going to be more important than any building, even more important than the big, beautiful temple. One day soon, the people wouldn’t need to come to a building to be close to God. Jesus would be the way for them to be close to God.
But the disciples got really nervous when he said it. They started asking him, “When is it going to happen?” And “Who is going to destroy it?” And a lot of other questions. One of them, speaking for all of them, asked, “How will we know when it is going to happen so we can be ready?”
They were getting really afraid.
Jesus knew they didn’t understand him, so he told them not to worry about the building, or when it might be destroyed. He said that many people would try to predict what was happening. Many people would tell them that bad things were going to happen, and that they should watch out and be careful. Many people would tell them they needed to watch out for enemies who wanted to hurt them.
But Jesus said that those people were only trying to distract them from what was really important. They didn’t need to worry about a building, or enemies. All they needed to worry about was doing what they were supposed to do to follow God. He told them to not get distracted, no matter what other people might say. He told them to not listen to all of the noise other people will make. Don’t be afraid. Just ignore the chatter and listen to what God is saying. Jesus said that they should love each other the way God loves them. Take care of each other, and don’t worry about the rest.
But sometimes it is kind of hard to not worry isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes other people say a lot things that scare us. Sometimes all of their talking gets really noisy. And sometimes, with all of the noise we can’t hear what God is saying.
It’s kind of like this picture. (Show the stereogram.) Can anyone tell me what this is a picture of? (Let them respond.) It is a picture of something we all know. Can anyone tell me what it is? (Let them respond.) This is called a stereogram. It is a real picture of something, but it is covered with other dots and things that create a lot of noise that makes it tricky to see what the real picture is. Can anyone see it yet? (Let them respond.)
[Use this paragraph if you have copies of a stereogram for them.] I have a copy for each of you so you can take it and see if you can figure out what the hidden picture is.
There really is a picture in there, but sometimes it can be difficult to not get distracted by all of the noise and see what the real picture is. It is just like Jesus telling his disciples that we need to be careful to not get distracted by all of the noise people make trying to scare us, and just pay attention to what God is telling us. And who can remember what God is telling us we are supposed to be doing? (Let them respond.) Jesus said that God wants us to love each other the same way God loves us. Everyone! Everywhere!
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to love others and do as much as we can to help take care of other people.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. 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.
