Remember me
Children's sermon
Object:
a rosary
"I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers." (vv. 15-16)
Good morning, boys and girls! Can anyone tell me what this is? (show rosary; allow answers; if desired, pass rosary around so children may see it) This is called a rosary. How many of you have heard of a rosary? (allow answers) How many of you have seen a rosary? (allow answers) Can anyone tell me what you might use a rosary for? (allow answers)
A rosary is a set of prayer beads used mostly in Catholic churches. Although rosaries are specific to Catholics, people of many denominations and religions use different kinds of prayer beads to help them meditate on God.
How do you think prayer beads might be used? (allow answers) Each bead on a set of prayer beads represents one prayer. When Catholics say the rosary, which means to say a series of prayers while using their prayer bead rosary, they say a certain prayer several times in a row. They move their fingers from one bead to the next each time they complete the prayer. That way, they don't have to keep track in their head how many times they have said their prayer -- the beads do it for them! It's like when you want to count something that is in a pile. Once you have counted them, you move them from one pile to a new pile, so that you don't count it twice. Moving things from one pile to the other helps you keep track of where you are. Rosaries or other prayer beads do the same thing!
Prayer beads help people remember how many prayers they have said so they can focus on the words of the prayer instead of on keeping track of numbers. Have you ever had trouble remembering things that you wanted to pray about? (allow answers) Sometimes we get sidetracked during our prayers and forget important things that we wanted to tell God! Wouldn't it be nice to have prayer beads that could help us remember all the people we need to pray for!
That may not be how prayer beads work, but lucky for us, God knows the prayers that are in our hearts. Even if we forget to say them out loud at church, before bed, or at mealtimes, God has heard the prayers that we say to ourselves silently. We don't need prayer beads or a special time -- church, bedtime, meals -- to pray to God. We can pray to him at all hours of the day or night. Our prayers can be long or short, silent or out loud, said where others can hear them or just whispered to ourselves. God hears them all -- and isn't that good to know? Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! Can anyone tell me what this is? (show rosary; allow answers; if desired, pass rosary around so children may see it) This is called a rosary. How many of you have heard of a rosary? (allow answers) How many of you have seen a rosary? (allow answers) Can anyone tell me what you might use a rosary for? (allow answers)
A rosary is a set of prayer beads used mostly in Catholic churches. Although rosaries are specific to Catholics, people of many denominations and religions use different kinds of prayer beads to help them meditate on God.
How do you think prayer beads might be used? (allow answers) Each bead on a set of prayer beads represents one prayer. When Catholics say the rosary, which means to say a series of prayers while using their prayer bead rosary, they say a certain prayer several times in a row. They move their fingers from one bead to the next each time they complete the prayer. That way, they don't have to keep track in their head how many times they have said their prayer -- the beads do it for them! It's like when you want to count something that is in a pile. Once you have counted them, you move them from one pile to a new pile, so that you don't count it twice. Moving things from one pile to the other helps you keep track of where you are. Rosaries or other prayer beads do the same thing!
Prayer beads help people remember how many prayers they have said so they can focus on the words of the prayer instead of on keeping track of numbers. Have you ever had trouble remembering things that you wanted to pray about? (allow answers) Sometimes we get sidetracked during our prayers and forget important things that we wanted to tell God! Wouldn't it be nice to have prayer beads that could help us remember all the people we need to pray for!
That may not be how prayer beads work, but lucky for us, God knows the prayers that are in our hearts. Even if we forget to say them out loud at church, before bed, or at mealtimes, God has heard the prayers that we say to ourselves silently. We don't need prayer beads or a special time -- church, bedtime, meals -- to pray to God. We can pray to him at all hours of the day or night. Our prayers can be long or short, silent or out loud, said where others can hear them or just whispered to ourselves. God hears them all -- and isn't that good to know? Amen.
