Youth Group Skit idea: Have two volunteers come up front. With various articles of clothing, dress up a “big shot.” (Big hat, sun glasses, cigar, fancy coat, etc. You can have fun with this. ) Ask him to puff out his chest and look very important. Choose a smaller person to be a servant with a towel and serving tray. With this visual aid, discuss what it is to be truly great. Explain how Jesus said the greatest is the one who is the servant of all.

 

Object lesson items: Two bags or boxes: 1. (Rich / Important person) Big hat, sunglasses, cigar, wallet with lots of money, foot rest, etc. Consider adding huge bible or other religious items. 2. (Servant) Towel, platter / tray.

 

Good morning! Today I need two volunteers. (Pick a big strong person.) Bill, would you come up here? You are an important person. However, this morning I’m going to make you really important. Please put on this hat. That looks great. Now, try these sunglasses on and take this cigar. Do you feel pretty powerful and important? Perhaps you should also stand on this box to make you a bit higher than everyone else. Now, I want you to wait there for a minute. You can think about money, power, and how wonderful it is to be so great!

 

I need a second person now. (Someone small.) Yes, Betsy. Please come up and help me out here. I know he is a little scary but I’d like you to stand next to Bill here. I’m going to dress you up like a servant who helps people. Here is a towel you can hold. That’s for washing peoples feet, washing dishes, drying someone’s tears etc. You can hold this plate in the other hand. You could use it for carrying food to someone who is hungry or carry glasses of water for those who are thirsty.

 

(To the congregation / group) Here is my question for today. Which of these two people is the greatest? Bill or Betsy? Most people think Bill is the greatest. However, Jesus said it is the servant (Betsy) who is the greatest of all. (If Bill is on the ball, he will be shocked and horrified.) In our bible reading from Matthew chapter 23 Jesus said that it was the one who served others who was the greatest. God sees things much differently than most people. In God’s eyes, the servant who shows love to others is truly the greatest.

 

Prayer: Dear God, help us to know true greatness by learning to serve and love others. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

 

Copyright 2011 sundaychildrensfocus.com Andrew Hewlett   Feel free to use this on Sunday morning but please give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus and consider linking to this site. Thanks. A.H.

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Show the children a coin and demonstrate how you can “flip a coin” and make a decision by guessing “Heads” or “Tails.” Explain how you can trick a person by saying “Heads I win, Tails you loose.” Tell the children about how some religious leaders tried to trick Jesus and get him in trouble with a coin. If the children are very young you might want to simply go with the idea that it was impossible for them to out-smart Jesus.

 

(Note: R.T France, N.T. Wright and J. Nolland all have a slightly different take on this passage. You may want to adjust the ending to fit your own theological take on things. I would be very easy to confuse the kids with a bunch of religious theo-babble.)

 

Complete Children’s sermon: 

Good morning children! (Show them a coin.) Do you know what this is? That’s right. It is a quarter. When I was young, I played soccer. We would flip a coin in the air like this (demonstrate) to decide what team would start with the ball. This side of the coin (show them) would be “heads.” You can see the head of George Washington (or the Queen if you are in Canada). This other side we would call “tails.” One player would chose “heads” or “tails,” and then we would flip the coin to see which side landed face up. The winner of the coin toss would get to start the game and pick which side of the field to start begin. (Ask one of the children to make a choice and then flip the coin.) Your right! When I was young, we would often flip a coin if we needed to make a decision. Sometimes we would play a little trick on each other. Perhaps there were two of us and we had only one candy. We needed to flip a coin to see who was going to get the candy. However, the person would say, (listen carefully) “Heads I win – tails you loose.” Can you see that this would mean that the other person would always loose. It was a way of tricking the person.

 

In our bible reading today some religious leaders tried to trick Jesus with a coin. They asked him if money should go to Caesar the ruler, or to God. Some of the people there felt money should go to Caesar and some felt it should not. They really wanted to trick Jesus and get him in trouble. However, Jesus was too smart for them. He said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.” Jesus was letting them know that they could not trick him. He was the one in control. I think he was also reminding them that they had not been very faithful in offering their lives to God.

 

 

Idea for Youth group talk or Children’s sermon:   

Show the children a “Guinness book of world records.” Ask them is they know what is the greatest

(fill in the blank) in the world. Test them on some fun facts about greatness. Explain how the religious teachers tested Jesus by asking him what was the greatest commandment of all. Discuss with the children how Jesus said the greatest command of all was to love God and to love others.

 

Object lesson items: A Guinness book of world records. (Ask families who have children. This is a popular book. You can also find it at the library.)

 

Children’s sermon / Sunday school lesson introduction:

Good morning children! I’m going to show you a very interesting book I have here this morning. It’s called the “Guinness book of world records.” Have you heard of this book? It is full of world record holders. It lists the greatest athlete in the world, the greatest hamburger, the greatest painter, and the greatest roller skater. (Show some pictures to the children and have some fun. Then ask them some “test” questions about greatness.) Who do you think is the greatest singer of all time? What is the greatest rock and roll band of all time?

(You might even mention that the Bible is mentioned as the best selling book of all time.)

 

Today’s bible reading from the gospel of Matthew tells how the religious leaders asked a “test” question to Jesus. They asked him what was the greatest commandment of all. Of course, Jesus knew the answer! He said that the greatest commandment was to “love God and to love others.”  He said that the whole message of their bible (the Law and the Prophets) was about the importance of loving God and loving others. That is important for us to know too. It’s nice to know who is the greatest hockey player, what is the greatest country in the world and what is the greatest book in the world. Yet, it is most important that we know the greatest commandment is to love God and love others.  

 

Children’s prayer: Dear God, Jesus taught that the greatest command of all. With the help of your Holy Spirit help us to obey this command to truly love you and to love others. In Jesus’ name – Amen!


Copyright 2011 sundaychildrensfocus.com Andrew Hewlett  Feel free to use this Sunday morning but please give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus and consider linking to the web site.  Thank you!  A.H.