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Hang on!

Children's sermon
Luke 21:5-19
Proper 28 | Ordinary Time 33 - C
Object: 
a dumbbell or another heavy object and some candy
Good morning! I brought something good for you today and I really want each of you to have some. (Show the candy.) But ... I'm not going to just give it to you. I want you to do something to show that you really deserve it. I have a test that you have to pass before you can have the candy. You see this dumbbell? It's heavy. If one of you can hold this dumbbell up in the air for one minute, everyone will get a piece of the candy. Who wants to volunteer? (Pick someone who can do it and time them. As the minute is going by, question them about how hard it is and whether their arm is getting tired. Encourage them to endure.)

Well, he did it! So we all get a piece of candy. (Distribute the candy.) It wasn't easy to hold that up in the air for a minute, but he did it and we all benefited from his endurance, didn't we? (Let them answer.)

You know all of us need to hold on to something in our lives and endure. God has given each of us faith and He wants us to hold on to that faith until the end. Sometimes it is not easy to be a Christian. Sometimes we are tempted to do things that other kids do even though we know it's wrong. When we are tempted, we need to hold on to our faith and endure. We need to resist temptation and be strong. God promises us that He will reward us with wonderful things if we endure and don't give up. Just as __________ endured and held the dumbbell up, we all need to endure.

Dear God: Give all of us the strength to endure until You return to take us to Heaven. Amen.
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