Freedom
Children's sermon
Cows In Church
80 Biblically Based Children's Sermons
Object:
Red, white, and blue clothing. Other options include a flag, a bunch of red, white, and blue flowers, a piece of patriotic bunting, etc.
"Does anyone know today's date?" I ask the children who have just gathered on the chancel steps.
"July third," several answer. As part of my preparation to talk with the children this morning, I have dressed in red, white, and blue.
"July third ..." I repeat thoughtfully. "Well then, why do you suppose I have dressed like this?" I ask.
"Because tomorrow is the FourthofJuly," the children answer, making the name of the holiday into one solid word.
"The Fourth of July?" I question. "Why would I dress in red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July?"
"Because they are patriotic colors," the children tell me.
"Oh," I reply. "So you're saying the Fourth of July has something to do with our country. And you're right, of course. It is a day we celebrate something called 'freedom.'
"Over 200 years ago, the people who had settled here in America were subjects of the King of England. The English passed some tax laws that the people in America didn't think were fair. So, the Americans declared their independence, their freedom from England.
"Now, the interesting thing about freedom is that it is never just from something. It is also for something. If the Americans declared their freedom from England, what did they declare it for?" I ask, hoping some of the children are old enough to have discussed this with their parents or have had it in history at school.
"To rule themselves?" comes a questioning response.
"Yes, the Americans declared their freedom from England for self-rule. What does it mean to be free?" I ask. "Does it mean you can do anything you want to do?"
Some of the children look puzzled; one starts to nod affirmatively; most of them shake their heads to indicate "No."
"No, being free doesn't mean doing anything you want to do," I continue. "That would be a mess and make it pretty hard to live with each other. But being free does mean having a voice in what happens and having some choice about our actions.
"Even in the United States of America everyone has not always been free. Our country fought a Civil War in the mid-1800s and one of the issues that caused the war was slavery. In the end, slavery was abolished in this country.
"God created us to be free creatures and gave us the freedom to choose our actions and our responses to one another and to God. We've talked about that before -- that if we did not have the freedom to choose to love God, if God made us give our love, then it would not mean anything. But God risked giving us freedom.
"Now, sometimes we make choices that are not good. They may seem good, but when they end up making us angry with one another or hurting one another, they cause separation from one another -- and from God too. And that is what we call sin.
"But God cares about us so much that God didn't just leave us to our mistakes. Instead, God sent us Jesus to show us how to live and to save us from our enslavement to sin. Jesus set us free from the power of sin for life and the freedom to choose to return God's incredible, steadfast, eternal love. Tomorrow, on the Fourth of July, as we celebrate our country's freedom, I hope that you will think about what it means to be free, to have the right to choose, and remember that you were born free as children of a loving God who cares for us so much that, for God, giving us freedom is worth every risk.
"July third," several answer. As part of my preparation to talk with the children this morning, I have dressed in red, white, and blue.
"July third ..." I repeat thoughtfully. "Well then, why do you suppose I have dressed like this?" I ask.
"Because tomorrow is the FourthofJuly," the children answer, making the name of the holiday into one solid word.
"The Fourth of July?" I question. "Why would I dress in red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July?"
"Because they are patriotic colors," the children tell me.
"Oh," I reply. "So you're saying the Fourth of July has something to do with our country. And you're right, of course. It is a day we celebrate something called 'freedom.'
"Over 200 years ago, the people who had settled here in America were subjects of the King of England. The English passed some tax laws that the people in America didn't think were fair. So, the Americans declared their independence, their freedom from England.
"Now, the interesting thing about freedom is that it is never just from something. It is also for something. If the Americans declared their freedom from England, what did they declare it for?" I ask, hoping some of the children are old enough to have discussed this with their parents or have had it in history at school.
"To rule themselves?" comes a questioning response.
"Yes, the Americans declared their freedom from England for self-rule. What does it mean to be free?" I ask. "Does it mean you can do anything you want to do?"
Some of the children look puzzled; one starts to nod affirmatively; most of them shake their heads to indicate "No."
"No, being free doesn't mean doing anything you want to do," I continue. "That would be a mess and make it pretty hard to live with each other. But being free does mean having a voice in what happens and having some choice about our actions.
"Even in the United States of America everyone has not always been free. Our country fought a Civil War in the mid-1800s and one of the issues that caused the war was slavery. In the end, slavery was abolished in this country.
"God created us to be free creatures and gave us the freedom to choose our actions and our responses to one another and to God. We've talked about that before -- that if we did not have the freedom to choose to love God, if God made us give our love, then it would not mean anything. But God risked giving us freedom.
"Now, sometimes we make choices that are not good. They may seem good, but when they end up making us angry with one another or hurting one another, they cause separation from one another -- and from God too. And that is what we call sin.
"But God cares about us so much that God didn't just leave us to our mistakes. Instead, God sent us Jesus to show us how to live and to save us from our enslavement to sin. Jesus set us free from the power of sin for life and the freedom to choose to return God's incredible, steadfast, eternal love. Tomorrow, on the Fourth of July, as we celebrate our country's freedom, I hope that you will think about what it means to be free, to have the right to choose, and remember that you were born free as children of a loving God who cares for us so much that, for God, giving us freedom is worth every risk.
