Open Ears
Children's sermon
The Giant Book Of Children's Sermons
Matthew To Revelation
Object: some ear muffs, cotton, ear plugs
Good morning, boys and girls. Have your parents ever accused you of being deaf? I mean, does your mother or dad ever say something to you and you pretend not to hear what they say? (let them answer) I brought along a couple of things to show you how you can keep from hearing what you don't want to hear.
I suppose the least effective way is to wear ear muffs. (put a pair of ear muffs over your ears) When you have these on and they fit well, it keeps some of the sound out. Whatever someone says is harder to hear with ear muffs on than it is without them. But a lot of sound still gets in, and if you want to keep all the sound out you have to try something else.
The second thing I have is some cotton. That's better than ear muffs. When you have cotton in your ears, it's hard to hear what someone is saying. (have the children talk and show them that this makes it harder to hear when they speak softly)
The last item that I brought with me is a pair of ear plugs. I know that a lot of you have worn these when you have gone swimming. You can almost shout, and it sounds like you are far away. It is hard for you to understand what other people are saying when you have ear plugs in your ears.
But why do people do things like this? Why don't they want to hear certain things?
I can tell you a story about a man called Stephen who was one of the early followers of Jesus. He was one of the most devoted disciples. He preached and preached about the love of God and what Jesus had done for everyone. He also told the people about all the ugly things that they were doing, and he asked them to change. There were some people who could not stand to hear about the way they were or about the goodness of Jesus. Do you know what they did? They put their hands over their ears and started screaming and yelling so that they could not hear anything that Stephen said. Try it. Put your hands over your ears and yell and see if you can hear anything that I say. You can't, can you? That's what the people did, and after they could not hear Stephen they took him out and killed him. Stephen was the first man who died for Jesus. We call him a martyr. Stephen was the first Christian martyr.
It may be hard to listen to everything that is said, but closing your ears with cotton, ear plugs, or even your hands is the wrong thing to do. Listen to what is said and try to understand why someone is saying it, and you will be better for it. Only cowards try to shut out the world and the love that God tries to share with all of us.
Will you all keep your ears open and listen? (let them answer) That's wonderful.
Good morning, boys and girls. Have your parents ever accused you of being deaf? I mean, does your mother or dad ever say something to you and you pretend not to hear what they say? (let them answer) I brought along a couple of things to show you how you can keep from hearing what you don't want to hear.
I suppose the least effective way is to wear ear muffs. (put a pair of ear muffs over your ears) When you have these on and they fit well, it keeps some of the sound out. Whatever someone says is harder to hear with ear muffs on than it is without them. But a lot of sound still gets in, and if you want to keep all the sound out you have to try something else.
The second thing I have is some cotton. That's better than ear muffs. When you have cotton in your ears, it's hard to hear what someone is saying. (have the children talk and show them that this makes it harder to hear when they speak softly)
The last item that I brought with me is a pair of ear plugs. I know that a lot of you have worn these when you have gone swimming. You can almost shout, and it sounds like you are far away. It is hard for you to understand what other people are saying when you have ear plugs in your ears.
But why do people do things like this? Why don't they want to hear certain things?
I can tell you a story about a man called Stephen who was one of the early followers of Jesus. He was one of the most devoted disciples. He preached and preached about the love of God and what Jesus had done for everyone. He also told the people about all the ugly things that they were doing, and he asked them to change. There were some people who could not stand to hear about the way they were or about the goodness of Jesus. Do you know what they did? They put their hands over their ears and started screaming and yelling so that they could not hear anything that Stephen said. Try it. Put your hands over your ears and yell and see if you can hear anything that I say. You can't, can you? That's what the people did, and after they could not hear Stephen they took him out and killed him. Stephen was the first man who died for Jesus. We call him a martyr. Stephen was the first Christian martyr.
It may be hard to listen to everything that is said, but closing your ears with cotton, ear plugs, or even your hands is the wrong thing to do. Listen to what is said and try to understand why someone is saying it, and you will be better for it. Only cowards try to shut out the world and the love that God tries to share with all of us.
Will you all keep your ears open and listen? (let them answer) That's wonderful.
