Thankful
Children's sermon
Ping-Pong Words
And 30 More Children's Sermons
Object:
Scripture Reference
... giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-- Ephesians 5:20
Materials Needed
Card stock printed with scripture reference and verse
Clothespins, one per child
Telling The Story
(Show a clothespin.) What is this? (Let the children answer.) That's right! It's a clothespin. I'm going to tell you about how a clothespin reminded a woman to be thankful.
One day, a woman decided that she was tired of digging through her sock drawer, trying to find matching socks. She pulled out sock after sock, until she found a pair, and then she decided to do something about the mess.
First she went to the store and bought a basket to put her socks in. Then she bought a package of clothespins. At first, she wasn't sure how many clothespins she'd need, but finally decided on a package of fifty. With fifty clothespins, she thought she could match her socks and have a lot of clothespins leftover for crafts or other projects.
She went home, dumped the contents of her messy sock drawer out onto the living room floor, sat down, and sorted her socks. Each time she found a pair, she pinned them together so that the matches wouldn't separate and put the pinned-together socks in the basket.
"My plan is brilliant," she thought, "When I'm done sorting, I'll never have to hunt for socks again. I'll just reach into the basket and grab a clothespin!"
But guess what? She didn't get to finish the job that day, and do you know why? It was because she had more than fifty pairs of socks. Some of them had holes in the heels. She kept those to wear around the house when her feet were chilly, but she didn't want to wear shoes. But most of them were nice socks. There were dark ones for winter and white ones for summer. There were plain ones and socks with flowers that she wore with her jeans. There were argyle socks, striped socks, and socks covered in squiggly lines. She even found one pair of socks that she'd bought several years before but had never worn!
This woman had more than fifty pairs of socks, but she didn't realize it because she took them for granted. In our country, socks aren't very expensive. They're made by machines and sold in bundles at many different stores. If our socks wear out, we just throw them away and buy new ones. Because we don't have to work very hard for our socks and because they're so inexpensive to buy, it's easy for us to forget that not everyone has so many. It's easy to take them for granted and to not be thankful.
But what does the Bible say? (Hold up the card stock printed with the scripture reference and verse and read it.) Ephesians 5:20 says, "... giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." God wants us to be thankful for everything, even little things that we might take for granted.
The woman in this story is the woman who wrote this book. She bought more clothespins and finished sorting her socks. Whenever she puts on a pair of socks in the morning, she clips the clothespin to the edge of the basket so she'll know where they are when she does the laundry. And whenever she sees the clothespins on the edge of the basket, she thinks of Ephesians 5:20 and remembers to be thankful for "little things" that she used to take for granted.
I have a challenge for you this week. After our prayer, I'm going to give each one of you a clothespin. Clip it somewhere -- like the edge of your pillowcase or on the handle of your toothbrush -- somewhere that you'll see every day. When you see the clothespin, say a short prayer and thank God for something that you've taken for granted, like your socks, and then ask God to bless the people who don't have the thing you've taken for granted.
Let's pray.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for this beautiful day, and thank you for everything you've given us. Please help us to be thankful for everything, even items such as toothbrushes and socks that we tend to take for granted. Please also show us how we can help the people who don't have the material things that we have. Thank you for guiding us.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Give each child a clothespin to take home.
... giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-- Ephesians 5:20
Materials Needed
Card stock printed with scripture reference and verse
Clothespins, one per child
Telling The Story
(Show a clothespin.) What is this? (Let the children answer.) That's right! It's a clothespin. I'm going to tell you about how a clothespin reminded a woman to be thankful.
One day, a woman decided that she was tired of digging through her sock drawer, trying to find matching socks. She pulled out sock after sock, until she found a pair, and then she decided to do something about the mess.
First she went to the store and bought a basket to put her socks in. Then she bought a package of clothespins. At first, she wasn't sure how many clothespins she'd need, but finally decided on a package of fifty. With fifty clothespins, she thought she could match her socks and have a lot of clothespins leftover for crafts or other projects.
She went home, dumped the contents of her messy sock drawer out onto the living room floor, sat down, and sorted her socks. Each time she found a pair, she pinned them together so that the matches wouldn't separate and put the pinned-together socks in the basket.
"My plan is brilliant," she thought, "When I'm done sorting, I'll never have to hunt for socks again. I'll just reach into the basket and grab a clothespin!"
But guess what? She didn't get to finish the job that day, and do you know why? It was because she had more than fifty pairs of socks. Some of them had holes in the heels. She kept those to wear around the house when her feet were chilly, but she didn't want to wear shoes. But most of them were nice socks. There were dark ones for winter and white ones for summer. There were plain ones and socks with flowers that she wore with her jeans. There were argyle socks, striped socks, and socks covered in squiggly lines. She even found one pair of socks that she'd bought several years before but had never worn!
This woman had more than fifty pairs of socks, but she didn't realize it because she took them for granted. In our country, socks aren't very expensive. They're made by machines and sold in bundles at many different stores. If our socks wear out, we just throw them away and buy new ones. Because we don't have to work very hard for our socks and because they're so inexpensive to buy, it's easy for us to forget that not everyone has so many. It's easy to take them for granted and to not be thankful.
But what does the Bible say? (Hold up the card stock printed with the scripture reference and verse and read it.) Ephesians 5:20 says, "... giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." God wants us to be thankful for everything, even little things that we might take for granted.
The woman in this story is the woman who wrote this book. She bought more clothespins and finished sorting her socks. Whenever she puts on a pair of socks in the morning, she clips the clothespin to the edge of the basket so she'll know where they are when she does the laundry. And whenever she sees the clothespins on the edge of the basket, she thinks of Ephesians 5:20 and remembers to be thankful for "little things" that she used to take for granted.
I have a challenge for you this week. After our prayer, I'm going to give each one of you a clothespin. Clip it somewhere -- like the edge of your pillowcase or on the handle of your toothbrush -- somewhere that you'll see every day. When you see the clothespin, say a short prayer and thank God for something that you've taken for granted, like your socks, and then ask God to bless the people who don't have the thing you've taken for granted.
Let's pray.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for this beautiful day, and thank you for everything you've given us. Please help us to be thankful for everything, even items such as toothbrushes and socks that we tend to take for granted. Please also show us how we can help the people who don't have the material things that we have. Thank you for guiding us.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Give each child a clothespin to take home.
