Login / Signup

Free Access

Advent Sale - Save $131!

Is God Here?

Children's sermon
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43a)
Transfiguration Sunday - C
John Jamison
Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (vv. 32-33)

Object: Have two cards to show. One should be a card for a celebration like a birthday card, and the other should be a card for something sad, like a ‘get well’ or sympathy card.

Hello, everyone! Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.)

But, before I tell you the story, I have something to show you (Show the two cards.) Who can tell me what I have here? (Let them respond.) They are cards we might send to people, aren’t they? This one (show the happy card) is one we might send to someone who is having something happy happening in their life, like a birthday. Can you think of other times we might send someone a happy card? (Let them respond.) Yes. And this one (show the sad card) is one we might send to someone who is having a sad or difficult time, like they are sick, or can you think of other sad times we might send someone a card like this one? (Let them respond.) Yes.

In our story today, Jesus and his disciples were really tired because of all the people who had been coming to see them every day. They were exhausted, and if we were there, which kind of card do you think we might have sent them? (Show the two cards and let them respond.) Probably a sad card, right? Because they were so tired and worn out. Well, Jesus didn’t give them a card, but he did take them on a short trip so they could get away from all the people and get some rest. Have you ever been really tired and just needed some quiet time for yourself? (Let them respond.) Yes, that has happened to me, too.

Jesus took them on a hike to a mountain a few miles away. When they got to the top, they all just sat around and rested for a while. But while they were there, something happened. Something happened that let them know that God was right there with them on that mountain. It would probably be pretty exciting if God showed up with us right here, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, the disciples got all excited on the mountain top, and were having a great time. Which kind of card do you think we would send them now? A happy card or a sad card? (Let them respond.) Probably a happy card, right? They were having a great time, and thought it was a lot better than the time they spent back down the mountain. In fact, they were having such a great time on that mountain, they didn’t want to go back down with the people, and they begged Jesus to let them stay up there where everything felt good and happy.

I think we usually like the happy times better than the sad times too, don’t we? (Let them respond.) We would rather get happy cards than sad cards, wouldn’t we? (Let them respond.) And, sometimes when we are having a sad time, we even think maybe God isn’t with us anymore, don’t we? (Let them respond.)

Well, Jesus didn’t let them stay on that mountain top. He took them all back down the hill and back so they could help the people who were waiting for them. He took them back to the hard work, instead of staying where everything was happy. But Jesus told them not to worry about it, and that God would be with them no matter what kind of day they were having; a happy one or a sad one. And Jesus wants us to remember that God is with us all the time. Even when we are feeling really sad, or really scared, or really alone, Jesus wants us to know that we are never alone. God is always with us.

So, the next time you are having one of those sad times, remember that God hasn’t left you or forgotten about you. God is with us no matter what kind of day we are having. And the next time you see someone who is having one of those sad times…I hope you will remember that God loves them and wants us to help take care of them. So maybe we can do something or say something to let them know they aren’t alone. Because remember, God loves every one of us no matter who we are, what we have, where we are from, or even what kind of day we are having.

I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to love other people and help them know how much God loves them, too.

Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Baptism of Our Lord
29 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
40 – Children's Sermons / Resources
25 – Worship Resources
27 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Epiphany 2 | OT 2
30 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
39 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Epiphany 3 | OT 3
30 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
25 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Tom Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
George Reed
Christopher Keating
For January 18, 2026:

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Jackie thought Miss Potter looked something like a turtle. She was rather large, and slow and ponderous, and her neck was very wrinkled. But Jackie liked her, for she was kind and fair, and she never seemed to mind even when some of the children were quite unpleasant to her.

StoryShare

Keith Hewitt
Larry Winebrenner
Contents
"The End and the Beginning" by Keith Hewitt
"John's Disciples become Jesus' Disciples" by Larry Winebrenner
"To the Great Assembly" by Larry Winebrenner


* * * * * * * *

SermonStudio

Mariann Edgar Budde
And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God." And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him ...
E. Carver Mcgriff
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Isaiah 49:1-7 (C, E); Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 (RC)
Paul E. Robinson
A man by the name of Kevin Trudeau has marketed a memory course called "Mega-Memory." In the beginning of the course he quizzes the participants about their "teachability quotient." He says it consists of two parts. First, on a scale of one to ten "where would you put your motivation to learn?" Most people would put themselves pretty high, say about nine to ten, he says.
Charles L. Aaron, Jr.
The first chapter of John bears some similarity to the pilot episode of a television series. In that first episode, the writers and director want to introduce all of the main characters. In a television series, what we learn about the main characters in the first episode helps us understand them for the rest of the time the show is on the air and to see how they develop over the course of the series. John's narrative begins after the prologue, a hymn or poem that sets John's theological agenda. Once the narrative begins in verse 19, John focuses on identifying the characters of his gospel.
Dallas A. Brauninger
E-mail
From: KDM
To: God
Subject: Enriched
Message: I could never be a saint, God. Lauds, KDM

The e-mail chats KDM has with God are talks that you or I might likely have with God. Today's e-mail is no exception: I could never be a saint, God. Lauds, KDM. The conversation might continue in the following vein: Just so you know, God, I am very human. Enriched, yes; educated, yes; goal-oriented, yes; high-minded, yes; perfect, no.
Robert A. Beringer
Charles Swindoll in his popular book, Improving Your Serve, tells of how he was at first haunted and then convicted by the Bible's insistence that Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)." The more he studied what the Bible says about servanthood, the more convinced Swindoll became that our task in this world, like that of Jesus, is not to be served, not to grab the spotlight, and not to become successful or famous or powerful or idolized.
Wayne H. Keller
Adoration And Praise

Invitation to the Celebration

(In advance, ask five or six people if you can use their names in the call to worship.) Remember the tobacco radio ad, "Call for Phillip Morris!"? Piggyback on this idea from the balcony, rear of the sanctuary, or on a megaphone. "Call for (name each person)." After finishing, offer one minute of silence, after asking, "How many of you received God's call as obviously as that?" (Show of hands.) Now, silently, consider how you did receive God's call. Was it somewhere between the call of Peter and Paul?
B. David Hostetter
CALL TO WORSHIP
Do not keep the goodness of God hidden in your heart: proclaim God's faithfulness and saving power.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Emphasis Preaching Journal

William H. Shepherd
"Who's your family?" Southerners know this greeting well, but it is not unheard of above, beside, and around the Mason-Dixon line. Many people value roots -- where you come from, who your people are, what constitutes "home." We speak of those who are "rootless" as unfortunate; those who "wander" are aimless and unfocused. Adopted children search for their birth parents because they want to understand their identity, and to them that means more than how they were raised and what they have accomplished -- heritage counts. Clearly, we place a high value on origins, birth, and descent.
R. Craig Maccreary
One of my favorite British situation comedies is Keeping Up Appearances. It chronicles the attempts of Hyacinth Bucket, pronounced "bouquet" on the show, to appear to have entered the British upper class by maintaining the manners and mores of that social set. The nearby presence of her sisters, Daisy and Rose, serve as a constant reminder that she has not gotten far from her origins in anything but the upper class.

At first I was quite put off by the show's title with an instant dislike for Hyacinth, and a

CSSPlus

Good morning, boys and girls. Do you remember a few weeks ago when we were talking about the meaning of names? (let them answer) Some names mean "beautiful" or "bright as the morning sun." Almost every name has a special meaning.

Good morning! What do I have here? (Show the stuffed animal
or the picture.) Yes, this is a lamb, and the lamb has a very
special meaning to Christians. Who is often called a lamb in the
Bible? (Let them answer.)

Once, when John the Baptist was baptizing people in the
river, he saw Jesus walking toward him and he said, "Here is the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Why do you
think he would call Jesus a lamb? (Let them answer.)

To understand why Jesus is called a lamb, we have to go back
Good morning! How many of you are really rich? How many of
you have all the money you could ever want so that you can buy
anything you want? (Let them answer.) I didn't think so. If any
of you were that rich, I was hoping you would consider giving a
generous gift to the church.

Let's just pretend we are rich for a moment. Let's say this
toy car is real and it's worth $50,000. And let's say this toy
boat is real and it's worth $100,000, and this toy airplane is a

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL