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...
Easter 2
20 – Sermons
170+ – Illustrations / Stories
26 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
20 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter 3
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter 4
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
33 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
33 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: A sheep or lamb stuffed animal.

Note: For the best experience, when you ask the questions, take the time to draw the children out a bit and help them come up with answers. Make it more of a conversation if you can.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! Let’s get started! (Hold the sheep in your lap as you continue.)

The Immediate Word

Dean Feldmeyer
Katy Stenta
Thomas Willadsen
Christopher Keating
George Reed
Mary Austin
For May 4, 2025:

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice… (vv. 11-12a)

Phillip Hasheider is a retired Wisconsin beef farmer and an award-winning author who was dead for six minutes and came back to tell about it. If you have ever thought about dying and wondered what it would be like, then Hasheider’s Six Minutes in Eternity is a book you will want to read.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Coffin
A medical worker is working long, hard, stress filled hours in an urban hospital setting. One day he or she is called into the administrator’s office to be terminated due to angering professionals in the upper echelon. The worker protests that it is, “My word against their word, why am I to be the scapegoat?” The administrator pulls rank! The worker is asked to turn in their badge and do not come into the premises again unless as a patient. The now unemployed medical worker still feels the calling to be a healer. So, they get a job at an alternative/natural health medicine store.
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
Martin Luther believed that the story of Paul’s conversion demonstrates that there is no need for special revelation. The reformer commented:

Our Lord God does not purpose some special thing for each individual person, but gives to the whole world — one person like the next — his baptism and gospel. (Complete Sermons, Vol.7, p.271)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
I've recently spent several hours by the lakeside, for I've been in retreat this past week in the little village of Hemingford Grey, in Huntingdonshire. A great delight for me was to walk to the flooded gravel pits, sit on a bench in glorious sunshine, and watch the water birds. For me, that's a wonderful way to become very aware of the presence of God through the beauty of his created world. And sitting like that for several hours, doing nothing but watching and waiting, I can't help but absorb the peace which passes all understanding.

SermonStudio

Constance Berg
When Beth was a teenager, she lived on the streets. She smoked cigarettes and drank beer and her parents had said that she had to choose: her friends or her family. Beth chose her friends and lived from house to house and eventually in homeless shelters. She barely avoided being raped at one point. About six months of shelter-hopping was all she could take, and she found a shelter that sponsored her until she took the GED. They told her she was brilliant: she was just bored and dissatisfied with the status quo. The shelter supervisors suggested she look into community college.
James Evans
(For alternative approaches, see Epiphany 6/Ordinary Time 6, Cycle B; and Proper 9/Pentecost 7/Ordinary Time 14, Cycle C.)

The main theme of this psalm is captured profoundly in the movement within a single verse: "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with morning" (v. 5). Casting life experiences between light and dark is not unique or novel, of course, but the poet's treatment of these themes offers some fertile ground for reflection.

Elizabeth Achtemeier
We have three different accounts of the conversion of Saul in the Gospel according to Luke (9:1-20; 22:6-16; 26:12-18). They differ in a few minor details, but essentially they are the same. In addition, Paul writes of his conversion in Galatians 1:11-16, and in 1 Corinthians 9:1 and 15:8-9, stating that at the time of his conversion on the road to Damascus, he saw the Lord. For Paul, that made him an apostle, equal to the twelve. An apostle, in Paul's thought, was one who had seen the risen Christ and had been sent to announce that good news.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
Once in a far-off land, there was a great king whose dominion extended far and wide. His power and authority were absolute. One day, as events would happen, a young man, a commoner, committed a grave offense against the king. In response, the king and his counselors gathered together to determine what should be done. They decided that since the offense was so grave and had been committed by a commoner against someone so august as the king, the only punishment that would satisfy justice was death.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL