Childrens Sermon Service

Object: A sign that says, “The Home of Jesus!” (Click here to download the sign I used.)

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! This story is about what happened when Jesus went back to the little town of Nazareth where he grew up, and he told everyone who he really was. He told them that he was the one that God had sent to help everyone, just like the prophet Isaiah had said God would send someday. He told them that he was God’s Son. How do you think everyone felt when they heard him say that? (Let them respond.)

The story says they were all amazed when they heard him tell them who he was. Some of them got really excited. Jesus heard them say things like, “This is going to be great! People always laugh at us because Nazareth is so small. People say things like, ‘Can anything good ever come out of that little place?’ But when they find out that Jesus is from here, and that he is God’s Son, well, now they will know how important and great we really are. Now they won’t laugh at us anymore, that’s for sure!”

I wonder if some of them even started making a sign like this one to put at the edge of town so everyone would know? (Show the sign and read it.) Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Now I imagine you want me to do a bunch of miracles here for everyone to see, don’t you?” Everyone smiled and said, “You bet! Show everyone just how great we are.” But instead of doing a miracle, Jesus told them a story about a man called Elijah.

When Elijah lived a long time ago, there hadn’t been any rain for a long time, so the land was really dry. The crops would not grow, and there was no water for farm animals, so most of the people didn’t have much of anything to eat. And they had lots of enemies in the countries around them, so there was no place they could go to get more food. They really needed God’s help, didn’t they? (Let them respond.)

One day, God told Elijah to go get someone to help them. Where do you think God told Elijah to go for help? (Let them respond.) The people had a very rich and powerful king, so did God tell Elijah to go to him for help? (Let them respond.) No, not the king. There were other people in the land who had lots of money and food. Do you think God told Elijah to go ask them for help? (Let them respond.) No. Rather than ask the rich and powerful people for help, God told Elijah to go talk to a woman who lived in a place called Zarephath, and she would help them. Zarephath was a long way away, and the people there were very different from Elijah and his people. They spoke different languages and had different religions. But Elijah thought if there was a woman there who could help them, he would do what God said and go talk to her. He thought she must be a pretty great and important person. But when Elijah got there, he was really surprised.

The woman in Zarephath was old and was a widow. Her husband had died, and she was taking care of her son all by herself. Instead of being great and important, she was so poor that all she and her son had left was a little bitty bag of flour to make some bread with. When Elijah met her, she told him she was going to bake one last little loaf of bread for her and her son to eat, and then they would die because there was no more food. She sure doesn’t sound very great or important, does she? (Let them respond.) Elijah told her that God had sent him, and he asked her if she would bake him a small loaf of bread so he could have something to eat. If she did that, there wouldn’t be anything at all left for her and her son, so what do you think she did? (Let them respond.) She took the last of the flour, baked a little loaf of bread, and gave it to Elijah to eat.

When she found out that God sent Elijah to her, she didn’t ask him to do anything for her or her son, but she did something to help Elijah instead. She did not ask Elijah to make her rich, or powerful, or great. She just did what she could do to help Elijah when he needed help. (Show the sign.) She didn’t even think about putting a sign on her door telling everyone how great she was since God sent Elijah to see her, did she? (Let them respond.)

That is something I think is pretty interesting in the Bible. Most anytime God needed to find someone to help everyone, God did not pick a king or someone rich and powerful that everyone thought was so great. When God needed to pick someone to help, instead of picking the person who was the greatest, God usually picked the person who was the least expected. God was not looking for someone rich, powerful, and great. God was just looking for someone who would take care of everyone, no matter who they were.

So, I have a question for you. If God wanted someone to help everyone today, who do you think God would pick? Would God pick people who want to be rich and important and great, or would God pick people who just wanted to do what they can to help take care of other people? (Let them respond.) I think God would pick the people who want to take care of God’s children, no matter who they are, don’t you? (Let them respond.) To God, the people who are really great are those who help other people more than they help themselves. They take care of God’s children, no matter who they are. So let me ask you one more question. If we want to be really great, what do you think we need to do? (Let them respond.) I think we need to take care of each other, don’t you? We need to take care of all of God’s people, no matter who they are.

Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.