Login / Signup

Free Access

The wind

Children's sermon
John 3:1-17
Second Sunday in Lent - A
Object: 
an electric fan or some hand fans
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (v. 8)

Good morning, boys and girls. I brought along a helper this morning that I am sure all of you have seen many times and have enjoyed. Our helper this morning is Mr. Fan. How many of you have a fan at home? (let them answer) Almost all of us have a fan somewhere in our house, don't we? Tell me what you like about being near a fan. (let them answer) When you are hot and the air is not moving, it is a good time to have a fan. What does the fan do to you that make you feel better? (let them answer) It blows air on you and makes you feel cooler.

Do you know where the wind comes from? (let them answer) If you are outside, you might see things blowing around and the leaves on the trees moving, and you feel the wind on your body. Where does the wind come from? Is the wind in a big building and comes out when someone opens the door? (let them answer) Is the wind in a big cave until someone says, "Let the wind blow," and it blows? Is the wind in the heavens or in the oceans? Does wind come from the top of a mountain or a big field of corn? We don't know, do we? We have never made wind or seen someone send the wind but we know it is here.

Jesus told a man named Nicodemus that the Spirit of God is like the wind. We can't see the Spirit, we can't taste the Spirit, and we can't feel the Spirit, but the Spirit comes. When the Spirit comes, it enters into our hearts. The Spirit gives us life and that is very special. We are not like a rock because we have a spirit that lives inside us. We can't see the Spirit enter into other people, but we know that he does because we see things change inside other people.

The Spirit of God is alive and moving all of the time. The Spirit of God works with people like you and me and also with our church. Jesus says we are born of the Spirit, and it is like a new beginning for our lives. Everyone that believes in the power of God has the Spirit inside of him or her.

The next time you feel the wind blow, see if you can find the place where it started. I don't think you will. The next time you feel love in your heart, you will know that the Spirit of God is inside of you. 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