Our Days Are In His Hands
Children's sermon
... Let the Children Come
Fifty-two Object Lessons For Children In Worship
Object:
Yearly calendar cards
Happy New Year! That's an appropriate greeting for this time of year, isn't it, boys and girls? We all want to look forward with anticipation of happiness for ourselves and for others as well.
Why do we have a New Year's Day holiday? (Responses may vary greatly. Aim for the idea of marking new beginnings, at least in our time accounting system.)
We mark the passage of time by the sun and the rotation of the earth around the sun, don't we? It takes just over 364 days for the earth to complete one revolution around the center of our solar system. And we mark these annual events with a number to denote the passage of time. Who can tell me what the number of the New Year is? (Response.) And soon we will mark the start of a new century, won't we? Who can tell me when that will be? (Response.) Of course, the correct answer is 2001.
I suppose that it is good for us to have a time when we can look back at a year that has just passed and forward to a new year's beginning, so that we can see where we are in our personal lives as well as world history.
Many people take this time of year to do some very special reflecting and make some plans for the new year. Do you know what we call the plans or promises that we make at the start of the year? (Response -- Resolutions.)
New Year's resolutions may be a good way to remind us of things we want to change in the days ahead, but it is not just at one time of year that God wants us to look at our lives and make changes. He expects the process of growth and change to take place continually as we become the new people that He wants us to be as the people of his kingdom.
Here is a brand new year that I am putting into your hand. May it be happy in the Lord. (Pass out the yearly calendars.)
(Prayer for the opening of a new year of promise.)
Why do we have a New Year's Day holiday? (Responses may vary greatly. Aim for the idea of marking new beginnings, at least in our time accounting system.)
We mark the passage of time by the sun and the rotation of the earth around the sun, don't we? It takes just over 364 days for the earth to complete one revolution around the center of our solar system. And we mark these annual events with a number to denote the passage of time. Who can tell me what the number of the New Year is? (Response.) And soon we will mark the start of a new century, won't we? Who can tell me when that will be? (Response.) Of course, the correct answer is 2001.
I suppose that it is good for us to have a time when we can look back at a year that has just passed and forward to a new year's beginning, so that we can see where we are in our personal lives as well as world history.
Many people take this time of year to do some very special reflecting and make some plans for the new year. Do you know what we call the plans or promises that we make at the start of the year? (Response -- Resolutions.)
New Year's resolutions may be a good way to remind us of things we want to change in the days ahead, but it is not just at one time of year that God wants us to look at our lives and make changes. He expects the process of growth and change to take place continually as we become the new people that He wants us to be as the people of his kingdom.
Here is a brand new year that I am putting into your hand. May it be happy in the Lord. (Pass out the yearly calendars.)
(Prayer for the opening of a new year of promise.)
