Login / Signup

Free Access

Trusted Advice

Children's sermon
Children are at a stage in life where they are told to do all kinds of things. These directions come from adults, teachers, parents, family. There was a time children were expected to do everything an adult told them. Today, we know to help children distinguish between trusted directions from a trusted adult and directions from a stranger. It’s not always straightforward though. A police officer is technically a stranger, but children should recognize they are trusted strangers.

This story can help kids clarify to whom they should be listening. The wisemen knew that Herod did not actually want to meet Jesus, he had meanness intended for that meeting. They did not listen because they did not trust Herod. Joseph gets another visit from an angel and knows to trust the message. This teaches that not all directions come from a loving place and that we can be wise to think about who to follow.

To begin you are going to play a game of “Simon says” but change it to be “Pastor (your name) says.”

In your message say something like:

Are there a few of you here who trust me? It’s okay if you do not, I won’t be mad. I will work on earning your trust in the future, but if there are a couple of you who do trust me would you please stand up. For those of you standing, I want you to close your eyes; now stand on one foot; now open your eyes, and have a seat.

You must trust me a lot to follow my directions. Who are some other people we trust and follow their directions? (teachers, parents, friends, coaches, and more) I am so glad you have trusted people in your life. These are the people we can talk to if things go wrong or if we are feeling bad. We also know that what they say is worth listening to.

Do you remember a few weeks ago Joseph, who was like Jesus’ foster Dad, got a message from an angel? Remember the angel told Joseph not to worry and to name Jesus…Jesus, which means God with us, and that’s who Jesus is: God with us. In this week’s story and angel showed up again. We don’t know if it is the same angel. It could have been and Joseph trusted his angel friend. It also could have been a new angel, but because the angel had on the angel uniform Joseph knew they could be trusted.

I have never seen an angel uniform I’m only guessing they must all look similar. Maybe they have a bright light around them, wings, and a halo. We don’t really know. But Joseph had had good experiences with angels and knew they brought important messages. So when this one showed up and saidit was  time to move, Joseph followseddirections.

The wise men, on the other hand, got directions from someone they did not trust. Herod told them to come back and tell him where Jesus was. The wisemen did not trust Herod and felt like he wanted to hurt Jesus so they decided not to follow Herod’s directions. It was a good thing too because they were right, Herod was not someone to trust.

You will get lots of directions this week. Some of them will come from trusted people like parents and teachers, and some will come from people we do not trust. The Bible lesson this week teaches us to be careful which directions we follow and that if a trusted person gives us a direction we should listen. Let’s pray for help with that this week.

Pray: Trusted God, thank you for the great people all around us. Help us listen and follow the right directions and keep us away from people who mean to hurt us. 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

Nazish Naseem
Mary Austin
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
For October 12, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 29:1,4-7

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (vv. 12-13)

“I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.”

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message is a role-play story. If you have enough children, you could have them play the roles of the ten lepers. However, for the most fun, I suggest planning ahead and recruiting ten adults from your congregation to play the roles.

* * *

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott

Call to Worship:

Jesus healed ten sick people, but nine of them were only interested in themselves and their own condition. Just one was able to look beyond his own concerns and say thank you. In our worship today let us look beyond ourselves and see God.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we are consumed by ourselves and fail to really care about other people.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we focus so intently on ourselves that we forget to say thank you.
Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
(See Easter 6, Cycle A for an alternative approach to vv. 8-20.)

Schuyler Rhodes
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (v. 10). "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). These two powerful statements reveal for us the inadequacies of the translation process of the English language. These two juxtaposing passages reveal only a tiny fraction of the contradictions and conflicts found within our holy Word. No wonder people have trouble reading and understanding.
Scott Suskovic
"... suffer as I do" (2 Timothy 1:12).

It was in 1965 that the Rolling Stones recorded the song, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." Even today, over forty years later, we are still saying the same words and feeling the same emptiness of trying and trying, but getting no satisfaction. Commercials promise it with whiter teeth and fresher breath. Wall Street promises it with higher returns. Soap operas promise it with a dynamic love life. Yet those who have conquered each of those summits come up with the same cry, "I can't get no satisfaction." Can you?

Stephen M. Crotts
Have you ever had this experience? You walk into a dark room to do something, flick on the light switch, and nothing happens. I suspect a lot of our Thanksgivings are like that. Thursday late in November rolls around and suddenly it's Thanksgiving! So everybody gives thanks! But quite often the gratitude is just not there. Like the light switch, we reach for it at the appropriate time and it won't work. It's burned out.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
Once there was a wise king who died. His son, who was young and rather brash, came to the throne and after only two months ordered a review all of his father's appointments. He called in the royal secretary, the royal treasurer, and the viceroy for interviews. He found them all to be unworthy and sent them into exile with only the shirts on their backs. Next he decided to interview the local bishop. A courier was sent to the bishop's residence with this message: "You are to report to the palace and answer the following three questions: 1) What direction does God face? 2) What am I worth?

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL