The Power Of The Tongue
Children's sermon
Ants Work Best Together
31 Object Lessons from Nature
Object:
a frog
Scripture: Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Material: a frog
Our visitor in class this morning is this cute little frog. (describe the frog, his coloring, how you came to have him, and so on) His name is __________. (children relate better to the less usual animals if they have names)
Frogs are very handy to have around. Do you know why? It's because of what they eat. Frogs eat lots of flies and mosquitoes and other biting bugs that we don't like. They also eat crickets and grasshoppers and mealworms. And frogs don't stop there! (let your voice get more and more excited) Frogs eat regular earthworms, beetles, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, crane flies, lacewings ... and even other frogs. As a matter of fact, frogs will eat just about anything that moves and will fit down their throats.
How do they do it? Well, here is the trick. Frogs have tongues that flick way, way out of their mouths. So when Mr. Frog sees a tasty bug ... or his tasty neighbor frog ... he just flicks his sticky tongue out there and catches him. Then, gobble-gobble down the throat, and it is done. Yes, old Mr. Frog can do a lot of damage with his tongue.
You know who else can do a lot of damage with a tongue? You can. You and you and me. The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. We can use our tongues to hurt people, or to help people. No, we don't do it by flicking our tongues out and eating our neighbors like the frog. We do it by flicking our tongues out and saying unkind and hurtful words. Let's learn from the frog, and use our tongues only for life.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Material: a frog
Our visitor in class this morning is this cute little frog. (describe the frog, his coloring, how you came to have him, and so on) His name is __________. (children relate better to the less usual animals if they have names)
Frogs are very handy to have around. Do you know why? It's because of what they eat. Frogs eat lots of flies and mosquitoes and other biting bugs that we don't like. They also eat crickets and grasshoppers and mealworms. And frogs don't stop there! (let your voice get more and more excited) Frogs eat regular earthworms, beetles, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, crane flies, lacewings ... and even other frogs. As a matter of fact, frogs will eat just about anything that moves and will fit down their throats.
How do they do it? Well, here is the trick. Frogs have tongues that flick way, way out of their mouths. So when Mr. Frog sees a tasty bug ... or his tasty neighbor frog ... he just flicks his sticky tongue out there and catches him. Then, gobble-gobble down the throat, and it is done. Yes, old Mr. Frog can do a lot of damage with his tongue.
You know who else can do a lot of damage with a tongue? You can. You and you and me. The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. We can use our tongues to hurt people, or to help people. No, we don't do it by flicking our tongues out and eating our neighbors like the frog. We do it by flicking our tongues out and saying unkind and hurtful words. Let's learn from the frog, and use our tongues only for life.
