Tall Enough
Children's sermon
Cows In Church
80 Biblically Based Children's Sermons
Object:
A small stepladder
"Is anyone here this morning who is eight years old?" One young lady, somewhat shyly, holds up her hand. "Ah, I see one of you is. When I was the age of most of the rest of you (younger than eight), I had two great goals in life. The first was that I wanted to be eight years old. The second was that I wanted to be tall enough to see the top of the refrigerator. I knew if I could just wait long enough and if I ate all my vegetables, I'd BE eight one day AND I'd be tall enough to see the top of the refrigerator too." A few of the children make faces as I speak of eating vegetables.
"I tried to be patient, but sometimes the waiting got hard. In fact, sometimes when people asked me how old I was, I said, 'Eight!' even though I wasn't yet. Sometimes it seemed like saying I was eight would make it true sooner.
"Then one day in February, many, many years ago, I woke up to my eighth birthday. It was wonderful actually to have a dream come true, especially since we had moved recently...
"You see, we lived in a rented house, and when we moved, that refrigerator I was so sure I'd get tall enough to see the top of stayed behind. The refrigerator in the new place was TALLER than the old one. That meant I was going to have to wait longer and grow some more to be tall enough to see the top of the new one.
"But finally the day came that I knew I was getting close. I couldn't see it yet, but I could touch the top of the refrigerator with my hand. I just had to wait a little longer ...
"About then, we moved again. And guess what?"
"You got another refrigerator with the new house and it was taller!" several of the children say together.
"That's right!" I respond. "And, do you know what else?" The children look puzzled, obviously trying to think what else there could be.
"I never have grown tall enough to see the top of our refrigerator -- at least, not without help. We moved a lot and went through quite a few refrigerators before I realized all I had to do to see the top of it was to stand on something, something like this stepladder I am sitting on.
"This is a very OLD ladder. In fact, it was right in front of me all those years when I thought I wasn't tall enough to see the goal I had set for myself. Help was right there, right in front of me. However, because I thought I needed to 'do it on my own,' I didn't see the ladder.
"But one day, I could stand the suspense no longer; I finally used the ladder. There really wasn't much to see on top of the refrigerator, but I learned something important from the experience. I learned that it's all right to need help sometimes; I learned that sometimes help is right in front of us and we just don't see it; and I learned that it's all right to ask for help. In fact, sometimes when we ask for help, we are telling another person 'I need you.' Sometimes, it's nice to know you're needed.
"No matter how tall you get or how long you live, there will always be times when you need help. And there will always be someone you can ask for help. Who do you suppose I mean?"
"Jesus?" says one child with a question mark in her voice.
"Yes, Jesus, your friend who is always there no matter what. Some of you may not ever grow tall enough to see the top of your refrigerator, at least, not without standing on a ladder. But I do hope you'll remember that it is all right to ask for help; it's all right to ask another person for help and it's all right to ask God too. God listens to our prayers, you know, and answers them, even though we may not recognize the answer or the answer may be 'No.'
"And just as we ask things of God, sometimes God asks things of us. But of one thing you can be sure: God is never going to ask you to reach higher or farther than your arms will stretch. So if it ever seems like God is asking you to reach an 'impossible' goal, you might remember to look around for the help God is surely offering at the same time. Like this ladder, it may be right in front of you!"
"I tried to be patient, but sometimes the waiting got hard. In fact, sometimes when people asked me how old I was, I said, 'Eight!' even though I wasn't yet. Sometimes it seemed like saying I was eight would make it true sooner.
"Then one day in February, many, many years ago, I woke up to my eighth birthday. It was wonderful actually to have a dream come true, especially since we had moved recently...
"You see, we lived in a rented house, and when we moved, that refrigerator I was so sure I'd get tall enough to see the top of stayed behind. The refrigerator in the new place was TALLER than the old one. That meant I was going to have to wait longer and grow some more to be tall enough to see the top of the new one.
"But finally the day came that I knew I was getting close. I couldn't see it yet, but I could touch the top of the refrigerator with my hand. I just had to wait a little longer ...
"About then, we moved again. And guess what?"
"You got another refrigerator with the new house and it was taller!" several of the children say together.
"That's right!" I respond. "And, do you know what else?" The children look puzzled, obviously trying to think what else there could be.
"I never have grown tall enough to see the top of our refrigerator -- at least, not without help. We moved a lot and went through quite a few refrigerators before I realized all I had to do to see the top of it was to stand on something, something like this stepladder I am sitting on.
"This is a very OLD ladder. In fact, it was right in front of me all those years when I thought I wasn't tall enough to see the goal I had set for myself. Help was right there, right in front of me. However, because I thought I needed to 'do it on my own,' I didn't see the ladder.
"But one day, I could stand the suspense no longer; I finally used the ladder. There really wasn't much to see on top of the refrigerator, but I learned something important from the experience. I learned that it's all right to need help sometimes; I learned that sometimes help is right in front of us and we just don't see it; and I learned that it's all right to ask for help. In fact, sometimes when we ask for help, we are telling another person 'I need you.' Sometimes, it's nice to know you're needed.
"No matter how tall you get or how long you live, there will always be times when you need help. And there will always be someone you can ask for help. Who do you suppose I mean?"
"Jesus?" says one child with a question mark in her voice.
"Yes, Jesus, your friend who is always there no matter what. Some of you may not ever grow tall enough to see the top of your refrigerator, at least, not without standing on a ladder. But I do hope you'll remember that it is all right to ask for help; it's all right to ask another person for help and it's all right to ask God too. God listens to our prayers, you know, and answers them, even though we may not recognize the answer or the answer may be 'No.'
"And just as we ask things of God, sometimes God asks things of us. But of one thing you can be sure: God is never going to ask you to reach higher or farther than your arms will stretch. So if it ever seems like God is asking you to reach an 'impossible' goal, you might remember to look around for the help God is surely offering at the same time. Like this ladder, it may be right in front of you!"
