Login / Signup

Free Access

Tell God When You Are Happy

Children's sermon
A More Urgent Season
Sermons And Children's Lessons
"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.' " (vv. 46-47)

Have you had any complaints lately at home, any situations in which you told your parents you didn't like something? Have you had to do something or eat something you didn't like lately? (Let them answer.)

That's right, you let your parents know what you thought of the creamed asparagus they made you eat, or how your bedtime is unfair because your friend down the street gets to stay up later. You may have mentioned once or twice (perhaps in a rather loud and insistent voice) that you didn't think you were dirty enough to take a bath. If you have brothers and sisters, I am sure you complained when your sister got three pieces of bacon and you only got two, or when your older brother got a new bike and you got the one he used to have.

Now let me ask you: have you ever told your parents when you are happy about something? Did you tell them you liked the dinner they cooked, or you appreciated the way they took time off from work to see your school play? When you have a wonderful day at school, or when everything just seems to be going right for you, do you come home and tell your parents all about it?

I'll bet you are much quicker to tell your parents when you are unhappy than when you are happy. For example, when you are playing with your friends, you don't come running to your parents just to tell them what a great time you are having. But if your friend knocks you down, or if you get into an argument about the rules of the game, you come running and screaming to your parents in a minute, right! Most people are like that -- bad news is louder than good news.

The point is, we are the same way with God. We talk to God when we have problems, or when we are worried about something, or when we want something we do not have, and that is all well and good. It's perfectly all right to share our burdens with God and pray to Him when all is not well. But don't you think God also wants to hear from us when we are happy, too? Don't you think we can also talk to God when we are joyful and generally pleased with our lives?

That's what Mary did at the beginning of the Christmas story. When Mary learned that she was to give birth to Jesus, she was very happy. In fact, she was overjoyed, and the very first thing she did was tell God how she felt. She said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." ("My soul declares how great God is, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.") Just as parents love to hear from their children when they are glad, I am sure that Mary's prayer of joy pleased God as well.

Long after Christmas is over and the presents are all unwrapped, there will be other things to make you glad in the year ahead. So remember Mary and take her example to heart. Don't just tell God when you are sad or upset about something; tell God when you are happy as well. Amen.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Thomas Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For November 2, 2025:
Thomas Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For November 2, 2025:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message involves roleplay. You will need a chair for Zach to stand on, unless it is ok for him to stand on a front pew. For the best fun, you will also want to have an adult volunteer play the role of Jesus and walk in when it is time. Whether he is in costume is up to you.

* * *
John Jamison
Object: You will need one or more pictures of people recognized as saints. You may find some pictures by Googling “public domain pictures of saints” and printing images from the results.

* * *

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 and Psalm 119:137-144
Walter Elwell in the Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook notes of righteousness that it is, “Right standing, specifically before God. Among the Greeks, righteousness was an ethical virtue. Among the Hebrews it was a legal concept; the righteous man was the one who got the verdict of acceptability when tried at the bar of God’s justice.” God is a righteous God, even when is people are not righteous.
Frank Ramirez
One of the features of synagogue worship is the Shema. The Hebrew word is “Hear!” and is the opening for Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” God’s people are commanded to “hear” these words. They come from the Lord. And these three scriptures invite us to hear God and each other, something that is lacking in our society today.
Wayne Brouwer
Fred Craddock tells of a vacation encounter in the Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee years ago that moved him deeply. He and his wife took supper one evening in a place called the Black Bear Inn. One side of the building was all glass, open to a magnificent mountain view. Glad to be alone, the Craddocks were a bit annoyed when an elderly man ambled over and struck up a nosey conversation: “Are you on vacation?” “Where are you from?” “What do you do?”
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Psalm 149

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, but your commandments are my delight. Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live. (vv. 143-144)

When I was an associate pastor in Janesville, Wisconsin one of my responsibilities was to give a lecture on spirituality once a month at a drug treatment facility. The students who attended were persons who had been convicted of drunk driving and were required to attend the class as a condition of their sentence. Attendance was always good.
Frank Ramirez
Call them the good old days. Call it the Golden Age. It’s not unusual for people to look back in their youth, or to the youth of their country, as somehow more perfect, honorable, or simpler. C.S. Lewis was always skeptical about claims that chocolate was better in one’s youth. It wasn’t better. Our taste buds were stronger and more receptive.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
The Roman Catholic Church's canonisation of Edith Stein some years ago, fuelled considerable controversy. Edith Stein was born and bred into a Jewish family, becoming a Roman Catholic Christian at the age of 31. She was also a leading German intellectual in the early thirties, during the run-up to World War 2, although she gave up that career in order to become a Carmelite nun. But she didn't deny her Jewish roots, for in 1933 she petitioned the Pope, Pious XI to write an encyclical in defence of the Jews.
Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus didn't reject anyone, even those who were liars and cheats. By a simple act of friendship Jesus turned Zaccheus' life around. In our worship today let us consider friendship and all that it means.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, there are some people I don't like.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I reject.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I keep out of my circle of friends.
Lord, have mercy.


Reading:

SermonStudio

Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The world offers many blessings, but none of these things will save us: only the blessing of God in Jesus Christ can do that.

Old Testament Lesson
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Daniel's Apocalyptic Dream
Perry H. Biddle, Jr.
Comments on the Lessons
John W. Clarke
This chapter of Luke brings us ever closer to the end of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus enters Jericho, just fifteen miles or so from the holy city of Jerusalem. It is here that Jesus transforms the life of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. This is one of the few stories that is peculiar to Luke and is a wonderful human-interest story. The fact that Zacchaeus is willing to climb a tree to see Jesus is a clear indication that he really wanted to see and meet the carpenter from Nazareth. His eagerness to see Jesus is rewarded in a very special way.
Scott A. Bryte
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
Mark Ellingson
This is a story written for people who had been or were about to be persecuted, if not enslaved. (The book of Daniel was probably written in the mid-second century B.C. during a period of Seleucid [Syrian] domination in Palestine.) It tells them and us how their ancestors had once faced a similar slavery under the oppression of the Babylonians centuries earlier. The implication was that if these ancestors could endure and overcome such bondage, so could they and so can we.
Gary L. Carver
Ulysses S. Grant fought many significant battles as commander of the Union forces in the War Between the States. He also served as President of the United States where he probably engaged in as many battles as he did while he was a general. Toward the end of his life he fought his toughest battle -- with cancer and death.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL