Childrens Sermon Service

Good morning, boys and girls. Did you ever think that you would like to be a missionary? (let them answer) What do missionaries do? (let them answer) They go places where God needs them to help people and to teach about Jesus. Some missionaries are like pastors, some are like doctors, some are like farmers, some are like builders, and many are teachers of languages, but all are servants of God.

I brought something with me this morning. Do you recognize it? (show the stamp) That's right, it is a postage stamp. If you want to send a letter through the mail, you must put a postage stamp on it. If you don't, the letter will go nowhere. With a postage stamp, I can send a letter to anywhere in the United States. I can send a letter to someone who lives next door to the church or I can send my letter to a person in Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, or Florida. That is amazing, isn't it?

Jesus said to his disciples that he was going to send them into the world to be missionaries just like God had sent him into the world. They were supposed to preach, teach, heal, and bring people together that believed in Jesus. The disciples were to build churches with the help of people in the towns, and there was nowhere that the disciples should not go. They went to many countries and took with them the teachings and message of Jesus.

But there was a very important something that they had to have before they could do the work Jesus asked them to do. Do you know what it was? (let them answer) It was not money, extra clothes, or shoes, or anything like that. They needed the Holy Spirit! Jesus asked them all to come near and he shared with them the Holy Spirit. Now they were ready to go.

The stamp on my letter is a little like the Holy Spirit. My letter will not go anywhere without the stamp. Missionaries will go nowhere without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes from God and lives with us every moment. The Holy Spirit gives us courage and good judgment. The Holy Spirit spreads friendship and peace before us so that we can go anywhere and speak about the joy of knowing God.

The next time you mail a letter or receive a letter, look at the stamp and see how powerful the stamp was to bring you a message from a far place. When you are looking at the stamp you will remember the day when Jesus and gave the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit.