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Watching

Children's sermon
Luke 21:25-36
First Sunday of Advent - C
Arley K. Fadness
Object: 
Binoculars or telescope
“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (V. 27)

Good morning boys and girls,

I’m so happy to see you this morning. Know why? I get to listen to you and you get to listen to me. Got your ears on?

There was a writer whose name was William Sanson. This fellow, William Sanson, was asked, “What is your favorite hobby?” Know what he said? “Watching.” His favorite hobby was simply “watching.” Let’s think about that. Watching.

What are some things you watch? (children respond) Some kids, and adults too, do bird watching. Some people watch the stars and the moon. Some kids watch bugs squirm. Some adults watch their garden growing. So what else do people watch? (children respond)

Jesus told a parable about watching. He said when you watch a tree in spring and you see the leaves appear, what does that tell you? (children respond) Yes, summer is coming. So like leaves appearing in spring, be alert and watch for signs that tell the Son of Man is going to appear.

It’s like a little girl watching for her dad to come home. He has been far away in Afghanistan. She watches. (look through the binoculars) And when he comes down the path, she puts down her binoculars and runs to meet him. He sweeps her up in his loving arms. They hug and kiss. Oh what joy!

So in this Advent Season we, too, watch for Jesus’ coming. By watching we know that God’s promises are true. We need not be afraid of scary things. We are happy and joyful like the little girl who watches for her returning father.

Prayer: Jesus, help us to watch for your comings. Watching we celebrate when you were born, watching we see you in the Bible and in the Sacraments, watching we see you coming again in clouds. Amen.
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John Jamison
Object: This message is a role play. You can do this with only two children playing the parts of the two women, but if you have more children, you could have two more playing the parts of the children, another playing the part of the synagogue leader, and another playing the part of the country’s leader. You can also add any other roles you might want to add to make it interesting. Also, I have created places for your characters to speak, but you can add more of those to make it all more fun and memorable.

* * *

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C. Knight Aldrich, a medical doctor and the first chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago (1955-1964), was a keen analyst of the motivations for our behaviors. He worked with the social services agencies of Chicago for a time, particularly spending hours with teenagers who had been arrested for shoplifting or other theft. Aldrich interviewed them to find out how they had come to this. He also talked with the parents, attempting to discover how they had handled the problem from the first time they knew about it.
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“Not at all,” Pastor John said. “I did have to go to that place on Thursday evening.”

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Call to Worship:
Jesus was aware of people's deepest needs and what prompted their actions. In our worship today let us consider how we can discover people's deepest needs and the motives for their actions.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we see only the surface and condemn without real understanding.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we are afraid to get sufficiently close to other people to see their inner needs.
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Indeed, this is a day of rest and gladness.
This is God's Sabbath, created for our reflection and renewal.
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So do we come as one people to worship God, our Maker and our Sustainer.

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