Learning To Forgive A Lot
Children's sermon
The Giant Book Of Children's Sermons
Matthew To Revelation
Object: a small bag of potatoes and a twenty--pound bag of potatoes
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to have a little experiment that I hope will prove something about the way that God loves and takes care of us. I need two volunteers to help me. (choose two, one of them a lot smaller than the other if possible; give the larger sack of potatoes to the smaller child) Now the only thing that you must do to help in this experiment is to each hold a sack of potatoes. (hand out the sacks) Now I want you to hold these sacks while I tell a story about Jesus.
A long time ago, Jesus ate dinner in the house of a very important person. While he was there, a woman who did not have a very good reputation showed up at the place where they were eating, and began to pay a lot of attention to Jesus. She washed his feet and dried them with her hair, and she did other things that showed how much she believed in him as someone special. The people who were eating were shocked that Jesus would let someone with such great sin care for him. They said some pretty nasty things to Jesus, and about the woman. Of course, she could hear what they said, but they never talked to her. Instead, they just pretended that she was not there as a person, but only as a bad thing.
Jesus then said to the important man that he had done none of the things for Jesus that she had done, even though Jesus was a guest in his house. It was true that the woman had sinned a lot, and it would take a lot of forgiveness to forgive her. But Jesus said that when you forgive a person a lot, then they also love a lot.
I want to prove that last point. I am going to take away the potatoes from this person and see if he (she) is really glad that I have taken them away. (take away the potatoes from the large child with the small bag) Do you feel really happy that I have taken away the potatoes so that you do not have to carry them any longer? (now take away the big sack from the little person) How do you feel now that I have helped you? (let this one answer) You seem a lot happier than the other person. Do you think it's because you had the bigger sack? (let them answer) I think that this has something to do with it.
I think that this is what Jesus was trying to tell the people that day. The woman knew that she had sinned a lot. She was so glad for the forgiveness of Jesus that she wanted to do something to show it. The others felt that they had not done much wrong, and therefore they did not appreciate what Jesus did for them. It is a hard lesson to learn, but an important one to know that the forgiveness of Jesus is the most precious gift we have.
Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to have a little experiment that I hope will prove something about the way that God loves and takes care of us. I need two volunteers to help me. (choose two, one of them a lot smaller than the other if possible; give the larger sack of potatoes to the smaller child) Now the only thing that you must do to help in this experiment is to each hold a sack of potatoes. (hand out the sacks) Now I want you to hold these sacks while I tell a story about Jesus.
A long time ago, Jesus ate dinner in the house of a very important person. While he was there, a woman who did not have a very good reputation showed up at the place where they were eating, and began to pay a lot of attention to Jesus. She washed his feet and dried them with her hair, and she did other things that showed how much she believed in him as someone special. The people who were eating were shocked that Jesus would let someone with such great sin care for him. They said some pretty nasty things to Jesus, and about the woman. Of course, she could hear what they said, but they never talked to her. Instead, they just pretended that she was not there as a person, but only as a bad thing.
Jesus then said to the important man that he had done none of the things for Jesus that she had done, even though Jesus was a guest in his house. It was true that the woman had sinned a lot, and it would take a lot of forgiveness to forgive her. But Jesus said that when you forgive a person a lot, then they also love a lot.
I want to prove that last point. I am going to take away the potatoes from this person and see if he (she) is really glad that I have taken them away. (take away the potatoes from the large child with the small bag) Do you feel really happy that I have taken away the potatoes so that you do not have to carry them any longer? (now take away the big sack from the little person) How do you feel now that I have helped you? (let this one answer) You seem a lot happier than the other person. Do you think it's because you had the bigger sack? (let them answer) I think that this has something to do with it.
I think that this is what Jesus was trying to tell the people that day. The woman knew that she had sinned a lot. She was so glad for the forgiveness of Jesus that she wanted to do something to show it. The others felt that they had not done much wrong, and therefore they did not appreciate what Jesus did for them. It is a hard lesson to learn, but an important one to know that the forgiveness of Jesus is the most precious gift we have.
