Richie Rich
Children's sermon
Children's Sermons A To Z
Exegetical Aim: We must show concern and care for others.
Props: Photographs of children who are shoeless, shirtless, and hungry.
Lesson: Good morning! (response) How many of you have shoes on this morning? (response) How many of you have dirty socks on? (response) Just checking. I wonder how many shoes we have here. Let's count them. Everyone stick out your shoes. Count with me. Count the shoes. There are 26 shoes here this morning. I have a photograph here of some children in Latin America. How many shoes do you see in this picture. Look closely and count them. (none - they don't have any shoes) Why don't they have any? (because they are poor)
How many shirts do we have here this morning? Let's count them. Count with me. Count the shirts. We have twelve shirts. I have another picture of some children in Africa. How many shirts do you see in this picture? (in your photo there may be two of six that have a shirt) Why are these children without shirts? (they're poor)
What did you have for breakfast? (response) What did you have to drink? (response) As another counting exercise, count the number of eggs, pancakes, and orange juices the children consumed. I have one more picture to show you. Look at these boys and girls. This should be a photo of children suffering malnutrition. What do you see? (response) How many eggs do you think these children had this morning? (response) How many pancakes? (response) Do you think they had any orange juice? (response) That's sad, isn't it? (response)
Additional prop: For churches too limited in resources to accomplish this additional prop, please skip this paragraph. Have a child enter the sanctuary in a battery--powered car and stop before the children. The child should be well dressed and wearing sunglasses and jewelry. Getting out of the car, the child will say, "Hello, everyone! Sorry I am late for church, but I was waiting for my cell phone to charge. Pause. What are you doing? (response) Hey! Look at those photographs of those kids. They really need to put some clothes on. At this time the cell phone is rung by a person in the vestibule. If a phone line is not available, use another cell phone to place the call. Answering the phone, the child says, "What? Your kidding? Okay. All right. Sorry, I've got to go. See ya 'round." Getting back in the car, the child drives out of the sanctuary. Watch in silence as the car exits. Speak to the children about what just happened. What was that? (response) What did he say about these people in the picture? (response) Do you think he noticed that they were poor? (response) Why didn't he notice? (response)
Application: Jesus told a story about a man who was very rich who lived in luxury every day, and outside the man's house at the gate was a man who was very poor and starved every day for something to eat. Even the dogs would come up and lick the sores on this poor man's body. Jesus said the rich man never helped the poor man. [This can be inferred from the passage. Jesus did not explicitly say this.] What do you think happened to them when they died? (response) The rich man was punished and the poor man was comforted. It is very important to love and care for people, especially those who are hungry and sick. That's the kind of people that God wants us to be.
Let's Pray: Father, we don't want to ignore people who are sick and hungry. Teach us to be tenderhearted and to reach out to those who need shoes, clothes, and food. Amen.
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Proper 21
1 Timothy 6:6--19
Storing Up The Good
Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate "storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation." (v. 19)
Props: A cup of water, a cup of coffee with some grounds, two coffee filters, and a pitcher.
Lesson: Today we are going to do an experiment. Hold up the cup of water. What do I have here? (response) Yes, it is water. I'm going to pour this water through this filter and into the pitcher. After I am done, I want you to tell me if there is anything remaining on the filter. Pour the water through the filter and into the pitcher. Do you think the water left anything on the filter? (response) Look at it. What do you see? Do you see anything other than a little wetness on the filter? (response) No? Hmmm, what do you know? Do the exact same thing with the cup of coffee. After questioning the children, pour the coffee and grounds into the pitcher through the filter. Before I show you the filter, what do you think is on it? Will I find water? (response) No? I won't find water? Let's look at the filter and see what is left. Ooh, look at the leftover coffee. There's some of the grounds. Does that look good? (response)
Application: Which of the liquids left the cleanest filter? (response) The water, right? Why? (response) Yes, because whatever goes into the filter leaves a trace of itself. If you pour something clean through the filter, the filter will remain clean. If you pour coffee that is dark and has grounds, it will leave the filter dark and with grounds. The same thing is true in your life. If a person has badness inside of him, what will come out of that person? (response) You are correct; badness will come out of that person, just like the grounds inside of that coffee are left behind in the filter. But if a person is good and puts good things inside of oneself, like prayer, and good manners, and love, and respect, then what will come out of that person? (response) Goodness will come out, just as the water that was clean and didn't leave any other particles in the filter. The Apostle Paul told us to store up good things in our lives, so that we might enjoy eternal life. Let's only put good things in our lives, so that only good things will come out.
Let's Pray: Dear God, thank you for giving us so many good things in life. Help us to act good, to love Jesus, and to pray so that we can store up goodness inside. That way, we may enjoy eternal life and let only good things come out of our lives. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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Props: Photographs of children who are shoeless, shirtless, and hungry.
Lesson: Good morning! (response) How many of you have shoes on this morning? (response) How many of you have dirty socks on? (response) Just checking. I wonder how many shoes we have here. Let's count them. Everyone stick out your shoes. Count with me. Count the shoes. There are 26 shoes here this morning. I have a photograph here of some children in Latin America. How many shoes do you see in this picture. Look closely and count them. (none - they don't have any shoes) Why don't they have any? (because they are poor)
How many shirts do we have here this morning? Let's count them. Count with me. Count the shirts. We have twelve shirts. I have another picture of some children in Africa. How many shirts do you see in this picture? (in your photo there may be two of six that have a shirt) Why are these children without shirts? (they're poor)
What did you have for breakfast? (response) What did you have to drink? (response) As another counting exercise, count the number of eggs, pancakes, and orange juices the children consumed. I have one more picture to show you. Look at these boys and girls. This should be a photo of children suffering malnutrition. What do you see? (response) How many eggs do you think these children had this morning? (response) How many pancakes? (response) Do you think they had any orange juice? (response) That's sad, isn't it? (response)
Additional prop: For churches too limited in resources to accomplish this additional prop, please skip this paragraph. Have a child enter the sanctuary in a battery--powered car and stop before the children. The child should be well dressed and wearing sunglasses and jewelry. Getting out of the car, the child will say, "Hello, everyone! Sorry I am late for church, but I was waiting for my cell phone to charge. Pause. What are you doing? (response) Hey! Look at those photographs of those kids. They really need to put some clothes on. At this time the cell phone is rung by a person in the vestibule. If a phone line is not available, use another cell phone to place the call. Answering the phone, the child says, "What? Your kidding? Okay. All right. Sorry, I've got to go. See ya 'round." Getting back in the car, the child drives out of the sanctuary. Watch in silence as the car exits. Speak to the children about what just happened. What was that? (response) What did he say about these people in the picture? (response) Do you think he noticed that they were poor? (response) Why didn't he notice? (response)
Application: Jesus told a story about a man who was very rich who lived in luxury every day, and outside the man's house at the gate was a man who was very poor and starved every day for something to eat. Even the dogs would come up and lick the sores on this poor man's body. Jesus said the rich man never helped the poor man. [This can be inferred from the passage. Jesus did not explicitly say this.] What do you think happened to them when they died? (response) The rich man was punished and the poor man was comforted. It is very important to love and care for people, especially those who are hungry and sick. That's the kind of people that God wants us to be.
Let's Pray: Father, we don't want to ignore people who are sick and hungry. Teach us to be tenderhearted and to reach out to those who need shoes, clothes, and food. Amen.
?
Proper 21
1 Timothy 6:6--19
Storing Up The Good
Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate "storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation." (v. 19)
Props: A cup of water, a cup of coffee with some grounds, two coffee filters, and a pitcher.
Lesson: Today we are going to do an experiment. Hold up the cup of water. What do I have here? (response) Yes, it is water. I'm going to pour this water through this filter and into the pitcher. After I am done, I want you to tell me if there is anything remaining on the filter. Pour the water through the filter and into the pitcher. Do you think the water left anything on the filter? (response) Look at it. What do you see? Do you see anything other than a little wetness on the filter? (response) No? Hmmm, what do you know? Do the exact same thing with the cup of coffee. After questioning the children, pour the coffee and grounds into the pitcher through the filter. Before I show you the filter, what do you think is on it? Will I find water? (response) No? I won't find water? Let's look at the filter and see what is left. Ooh, look at the leftover coffee. There's some of the grounds. Does that look good? (response)
Application: Which of the liquids left the cleanest filter? (response) The water, right? Why? (response) Yes, because whatever goes into the filter leaves a trace of itself. If you pour something clean through the filter, the filter will remain clean. If you pour coffee that is dark and has grounds, it will leave the filter dark and with grounds. The same thing is true in your life. If a person has badness inside of him, what will come out of that person? (response) You are correct; badness will come out of that person, just like the grounds inside of that coffee are left behind in the filter. But if a person is good and puts good things inside of oneself, like prayer, and good manners, and love, and respect, then what will come out of that person? (response) Goodness will come out, just as the water that was clean and didn't leave any other particles in the filter. The Apostle Paul told us to store up good things in our lives, so that we might enjoy eternal life. Let's only put good things in our lives, so that only good things will come out.
Let's Pray: Dear God, thank you for giving us so many good things in life. Help us to act good, to love Jesus, and to pray so that we can store up goodness inside. That way, we may enjoy eternal life and let only good things come out of our lives. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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