Echoing God's love
Children's sermon
Object:
Create an echo by having someone out of view in the back of the church or in the sacristy repeat what you say. Make sure they can hear you clearly or give them a copy of the first few things you say.
Good morning, boys and girls. (have someone repeat what you said, but don't pay any attention to it) You certainly look handsome and beautiful today. (repeat) How many of you had a good sleep last night? (repeat) How many of you could hardly wait to get to church this morning? (repeat) That's strange; do you hear an echo? (repeat) I think I hear an echo! (repeat) Does anyone else hear an echo? (repeat, this will end the echo)
If we were in the mountains or a tunnel, you could hear an echo, but we are not in any mountains or a tunnel, so we had to pretend. But what is an echo? (let them answer) That's right; it is a sound that comes back to us from a sound that we have made. It imitates us.
Saint Paul said that we should be imitators of God. How do you think we could imitate God? Do you think we can create a world? (let them answer) No, we can't create a world. How else could we be imitators of God? We can't die on a cross and forgive all of the sin in the world. Only God could do this in Jesus. We can't walk on water or turn water into wine. Only God could do that kind of miracle.
But Paul said we should imitate God. God does something and we should do something like God. What do you think we could do to imitate God? (let them answer)
Paul said we can imitate God with his love. In other words, we can love other people like God loves us. We can forgive other people like God forgives us. We can share with other people like God shares with us. Boy, would that change the world!
Imagine how much God loves us. He is with us all through the day and watches over us at night. God gives us good feelings like the feelings we have for our moms and dads and grandmothers and grandfathers. Paul says we can imitate that kind of love. We can go out of our way to show people how much we love them.
Today, when you go home, tell your family that you are going to imitate God by loving everyone you meet. Tell all of your friends that you are an imitator of God when you forgive them or when you tell them how much you love them. Thanks for coming today. (have the voice repeat) Remember, I love you. (repeat) What a nice echo. (have the voice say, "What a nice pastor")
If we were in the mountains or a tunnel, you could hear an echo, but we are not in any mountains or a tunnel, so we had to pretend. But what is an echo? (let them answer) That's right; it is a sound that comes back to us from a sound that we have made. It imitates us.
Saint Paul said that we should be imitators of God. How do you think we could imitate God? Do you think we can create a world? (let them answer) No, we can't create a world. How else could we be imitators of God? We can't die on a cross and forgive all of the sin in the world. Only God could do this in Jesus. We can't walk on water or turn water into wine. Only God could do that kind of miracle.
But Paul said we should imitate God. God does something and we should do something like God. What do you think we could do to imitate God? (let them answer)
Paul said we can imitate God with his love. In other words, we can love other people like God loves us. We can forgive other people like God forgives us. We can share with other people like God shares with us. Boy, would that change the world!
Imagine how much God loves us. He is with us all through the day and watches over us at night. God gives us good feelings like the feelings we have for our moms and dads and grandmothers and grandfathers. Paul says we can imitate that kind of love. We can go out of our way to show people how much we love them.
Today, when you go home, tell your family that you are going to imitate God by loving everyone you meet. Tell all of your friends that you are an imitator of God when you forgive them or when you tell them how much you love them. Thanks for coming today. (have the voice repeat) Remember, I love you. (repeat) What a nice echo. (have the voice say, "What a nice pastor")
