Childrens Sermon Service

Good morning, boys and girls. Today is called Reformation Sunday. Reformation means to change or to make better. It is called that because a man named Martin Luther wanted to make some changes in the church about 400 years ago. He wanted the church to speak the truth. Our lesson today is about truth. I was thinking about truth and changes in the church, so I brought a beautiful picture of a sunrise. A sunrise is a beautiful sight to see. Have any of you ever actually seen the sun come up very early in the morning? (Let them respond.) Of course, we know that the sun doesn't really move, WE DO! That's a truth that is hard to understand because it always looks like the sun is the one moving. But it isn't. Even though we know the truth, we still can enjoy the sunrise. It starts with everything dark. Then all of a sudden it gets lighter, but there is no sun to see yet. Then the sky gets pink in the east. Pretty soon you can see just a little sliver of the sun -- as bright red as can be. Then you can watch it come right up in the sky, a little at a time until the whole sun is bright in the sky. As it gets higher and higher, it gets brighter and brighter and it changes from that red ball of fire to a yellow ball so bright you can't look at it at all. It's too bright. All of this happens so fast. In a matter of a few minutes it goes from darkness to the bright yellow sun you can't look at.

Do you worry every night whether the sun is going to come up the next morning? (Let them respond.) No, we just know it's going to be there. It is a truth we don't worry about. Even when it's a dreary day out, we still know that the sun is really behind all the clouds even though we can't see it. We just don't worry about the sun because we know it's there. It doesn't change.

Our lesson today is about another truth. It's another truth that we don't need to worry about either. It's the truth that Jesus came to make us free. That is the truth Martin Luther was interested in 400 years ago, too. The church had forgotten why Jesus came. They had covered over the truth with a lot of other stories and laws. Martin Luther wanted the church to teach the truth about God to the people. Being free means we don't need to worry. It means we are all children of God. That's even more exciting than a sunrise!