Children's Sermon / Object lesson    Mark 4: 26-34 The Kingdom of God and the mustard seed

This parable emphasizes the small, humble beginnings of the Kingdom. (Not what many people expected)

Basic Children’s sermon idea: Hold up a small seed and then show the sort of large bush that it can grow into. Explain that this is how the Kingdom of God and /or the Church of God grows. It starts with small beginnings.

Props needed: A small seed and a large bush in a pot.

Children’s sermon / object lesson: Good morning children! Can you see what I have in my hand? It’s very hard to see. Look closely and you will see a very small seed. It doesn’t look very important. It doesn’t look very powerful. It looks like it would never get any bigger.

However, if left a seed like this in the ground, and watered it, and left it grow, it would slowly grow into a large bush like this one over here. That is amazing that such a large bush could come from such a small seed.

Jesus said that this is how his Kingdom would grow. Some people expected that it would start with an amazing show of power. But Jesus said it would start very small way – like this little seed. Jesus started telling people about God and his wonderful love. Later his followers told others of how Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to die for us. It did not seem like a powerful beginning. However, just like a little seed in the ground his kingdom grew bigger and bigger. At first there were just a few believers in Jesus. Now, many years later his kingdom family stretches all around the world. There are followers of Jesus in every country of the world.

Kid’s prayer: Dear God, thank you for the good news message of Jesus and his love. Thank you that even though this good news message started with just a few people that it now has grown to be a huge church family all around the world. In Jesus name – Amen!

Copyright Sundaychildrensfocus 2021 Feel free you use this on Sunday morning but please “Like” this on the Home Page link. Thank you. A.H.

Lecionary Gospel text for this Sunday: Mark 3:20-35 Who are my mother and brothers? Or, fits with Galatians 3: 23-29 - June 19 2022

Main children's sermon idea: As followers of Jesus we are part of a large wonderful family -the family of God

Overview: Have various children mention who is in their family. Ask their family members to stand up. Explain how Jesus said his followers (you and me) are also part of another family; the family of God. After having some individual families stand up, have everyone in the congregation stand up and highlight that we belong to this great family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.  

Full kids talk: Good morning children! Who here is a member of a family? (Be sensitive to the wide variety of family situations in your fellowship). That’s right. All of you are from some type of family, big or small. Carol, is your family here this morning? Let’s get them to stand up. I can see you have a mother and two brothers. Richard, do you have family member here today? (Get them to stand up in the congregation)

It’s wonderful that we are part of some type of family that cares for us and loves us. However, did you know that as a follower of Jesus you are a part of another wonderful family? It’s called the family of God! In our bible lesson today from Mark chapter 3 Jesus said that his followers (who were doing his will) were brothers and sisters together. Let’s have this big family stand up. (Ask the whole congregation to stand.) Do you see all these people here this morning? As followers of Jesus we are part of this big family. Can you see Betty over there? She is a grandmother to her own family but think of her as like a grandmother to all of us as well. Look around this circle that we are sitting in. Think of these people as being like your brothers and sisters in God’s big family.

Children’s Prayer: Dear God, thank for our families that loves us and looks after us each day. Thank you also that as followers of Jesus we are a part of wonderful big family called the family of God. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

Copyright Sundaychildrensfocus.com 2021 Feel free to use this story on Sunday morning but please give credit to this web site and please “Like” us on your social media platform. A. H.

Sermon for kids on the love of Jesus   

Ephesians 3:18 “How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ?”

Children’s sermon idea: Ask the children if they know how big the love of Jesus might be. Show various measuring devices (Start with a small ruler, a small measuring tape and then extend a large surveyors tape measure) Read out a paraphrase of Ephesians 3:18. Explain how the love that Christ has for us is so great it’s impossible to measure. We need to ask for God’s supernatural power to help us understand how great and wonderful his love is.

Object lesson items needed: Ruler, tape measure, etc.

Full kid’s sermon: Good morning children! One of this morning’s bible readings, from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, is about the wonderful love of Jesus Christ. I want you to think about this question: How big is the love that Jesus has for us? – For you and me? (Let the children respond. Then hold up a ruler). Do you know what this is? Yes. It’s a ruler. We use it to measure things. If I could measure the love of Christ how big would it be? Maybe it is so big that we would have to use a tape measure like this one. (Extend the tape as wide as your hands can go) Do you think Christ’s love for us is this big? No, it’s even bigger than that. Extend the tape out all the way. Is it this big? No, it’s even bigger still. (If you have one extend a surveyors tape the whole length of the church). Is the love that Jesus has for us this big? No, it’s even bigger! The love of Jesus is so big and wonderful that it’s almost impossible to measure and fully understand. In our bible reading today the apostle Paul said that he needed to pray for supernatural wisdom, from the Holy Spirit, in order to understand this amazing love. I believe it’s important for us as well to try to understand how big this love is. So let’s pray:

Children’s Prayer: Dear God, we know that it’s impossible to measure your love with a ruler or tape measure. Give us special (supernatural) wisdom through your Holy Spirit to try to understand your great love that you have for us. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

copyright 2018 Andrew Hewlettt and Sundaychildrensfocus.com   Feel free to use this and share it but please give credit to Sunday Children's Focus and "Like" and /or  link to this site.  Thank you!  A.H.

Sundaychildrensfocus Mark6 - Come away with Jesus to a quiet place  - Spending time with Jesus

In Mark 6:31 Jesus said: “Come away with me to a quite place and get some rest.”   (Rough Draft)

Summary: Gather the children up front and tell them you have some important things to tell them / read to them. Prearrange to have a number of people interrupt you with various distractions. (Prayer requests, your cell phone going off, people asking for various things. Have some fun with this.) Explain how it’s not working very well with all the noise and distractions. Tell the children about the Mark chapter 6 where Jesus was tired and exhausted by all the people in need and how he asked his disciple get away with him to a quiet place. Explain how we all need time to withdraw from the crowds and spend some quiet time with Jesus.

Full children’s message for the text this week: (Pre-arrange to have various people interrupt you and distract you.) Good morning children! I want you to gather around me while I read out a very important words from the bible (I’m going to read out some special Jesus sayings from the gospel of John). Begin reading in a soft voice as the interrupting people come forward with various requests. Be friendly but make it clear that your quiet time with the children is not working very well with all the disruptions.

Debrief: Well children, I’m not sure if you heard those important words from the bible with all the people bothering us. In the Gospel of Mark (chapter 6) it says that Jesus and the disciples were healing people and doing wonderful things. However, there were so many people in need they were getting exhausted. Jesus encouraged the disciples to come away with him to a quiet place where they could get some rest.

In our lives we can become so busy and bothered that we need to get away and spend time alone with Jesus. In fact, I think we should find some time ever day just to be alone with Jesus. We don’t need to go far. It might be in a quiet room in the house or your favourite spot outside in the yard.(Just make sure you tell your parents where you are.) It just needs to be some place that is quiet. We could read our bible, pray or just be rest quietly. You might think of Jesus and the wonderful things he did or listen for his still small voice of love and assurance. Jesus wanted to spend time alone with the disciples and he also wants to spend quiet time with us as well.

Children’s Prayer: Dear God, thank you that Jesus wanted his disciples to come away with him to be together and find rest. Please help us to set aside some time in our busy day) to rest with you and your Son Jesus. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

Copyright Andrew Hewlett (and Sunday Childrens Focus) Feel free to use this on Sunday but please facebook "like" this page (on left side of menu) and consider linking your web site. Thank you!  A.H.

Children's lesson - Come to the Light of Jesus Christ -

John 3: 21 “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light…” Lent 4 

Overview of the spontaneous drama: Ask the children if they have ever played “Hide and Seek”. Have the young children pretend to hide from God in a dark hidden place close by. (Do this up at the front of the Church or in your home. You could dim the lights to add to the effect.) Hold up a candle or other light and explain how this reminds us of Jesus who is the light of the world. Ask them to come out of hiding and walk towards the light (as you hold up the lit candle for all to see). Explain that the life and love of Jesus is like a light shining out into the world and that we need to come to that wonderful light.

Full drama: Good morning children! Have you ever played a game called “hide and seek”? It really is a fun game where you do your best to hide from the leader. However, you might not know that some people actually try to hide from God! They might not be living the way that God wants so they think it’s best to try to hide from God. Do you think a person can hide from God? No. You are right. It’s impossible to hide from God. Now, just for fun, I want you to pretend to hide from God just up front here in our church. I’ll count to 10 to give you time to hide – just close by in this area. (If possible dim the lights a bit to make the light stand out.) Ok, I hope you can still hear me as you are pretending to hide from God. Now in a few seconds I am going to light a candle. This candle reminds us of Jesus Christ who is the light of the world. This light reminds us of his life and love that is shining out into a dark world. Now I am going to hold up the candle. I want you now to peek out from where you are hiding and look at the light. When you see that light I want you to now come out and walk to this light. That’s right, come out from your hiding place and come to the light. (When the children are all together close to you and the candle ask the congregation to give a cheer!)

You did that very well children. (Ask them to be seated.) That little drama reminds us that we shouldn’t try to hide from God. We should come out from hiding and come to the light of Jesus Christ. His life and love is like a warm and bright light shining out into the world. We want to come close to the wonderful light and not try to hide from him. We can come close to the light of Jesus Christ by living the way he wants us to live. We can come close to Jesus by telling him (in prayer) that we want to follow him and know him more.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you that Jesus is like a wonderful light shining out into the world. When we are tempted to hide from you, help us to remember your life and love is shining out to us like a guiding light. And help us to come near to you so we can know you better each day. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

(Later at home you might want to discuss ways that we hide from God. You might also want to discuss ways that we can draw near to Jesus and welcome him in our lives and hearts.)

Copyright 2018 Sundaychildrensfocus  Andrew Hewlett - Feel free to use this on Sunday morning but please give me credit and click on the facebook "Like" on the life side of the page.  Thank you! A.H.

Children’s sermon on the Parable of the Wedding Banquet / Feast -

Matthew 22: 1-14

Kids talk idea: Ask the children to use their imagination to pretend they invited their friends to a party and ask them how they would feel if everybody was busy. Play to them a series of (pre-recorded) excuses on a phone answering machine (with the standard “beep” after each excuse). Read out a paraphrase of the parable of the Wedding Banquet and explain how God would feel if we never had time for him. (You could flesh this out by saying in the end you might invite others you didn’t know quite as well.)

Prepare: Arrange to have 4 or 5 friends to phone in a short excuse to your home answering machine (Best to do this all at one time). You could have some fun with the excuses. Then record the series of answers on your cell phone or a voice recorder so that you can play it back to the children on Sunday morning. (Use well known people in the congregation and make sure the excuses are pretty pathetic!)

Full Children’s Sermon:

Good morning Children! How many of you have ever had a party and invited friends and family to come? (Allow time for response) Did you send out invitations or phone people to see if they could come? How would you feel if you were planning a really special party and when you invited them to come they all had an excuse why they couldn’t come! How would you feel? Would you be sad? Would you be angry? Now, I have something I would like you to listen to. Imagine I was planning on getting married and was going to have a big party to celebrate. Imagine I sent out messages to all my friends to come and celebrate at my party.  Imagine how I would feel if I heard responses like this on my answering machine: (Play the fun responses you have recorded.)

How would you feel? (Interact with the children) That’s right, I would feel very sad and I might even feel mad!

In our bible reading this morning from Matthew chapter 22 Jesus tells a parable about how God wants us to come to Him and be a part of his wonderful family and Kingdom. Jesus tells us that this is like a wonderful party! (Read a simple paraphrase of the parable) Isn’t that sad. Jesus is telling us that God wants us to follow him and join him in a wonderful celebration but most people are too busy with other things! Children, I know you have many important things to do in life. However, I hope and pray that you always have time for God (the Father) and Jesus His Son! If we miss out on following God and being a friend of Jesus it would be like missing out on the best party of all!

Children’s Prayer: Dear God, Thank you that you love us and want us to be a part of your great family and family celebration. Help us to never be so busy that we put other things before you or your son, King Jesus. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

Copyright 2017 Sundaychildrensfocus  Feel free to use this but please consider linking to this site and “Like us” on facebook. Blessings, A.H. 

Imitating Christ’s Humility  Kids sermon on Philippians 2: 1-13 -

Basic kids story idea: Have fun getting the children to imitate some people in the church (How Bill plays the bass guitar, how Nic plays the drums or how Bud probably drives his car. Explain that the apostle Paul said that we should all do our best to imitate Jesus Christ. (You might highlight the way he showed loved and made himself as servant.)

Full Children's sermon: Good morning Children! Do you know what it means to imitate someone? That’s right. It means doing the same things that another person in doing. We never want to imitate someone to make fun of them or embarrass them. That would be unkind. However, this morning I asked some people if it was alright for us to imitate them. Bill said it was ok for us to imitate him playing the bass guitar. Let’s do that now. (Have some fun with this.) Great! I also asked Nic if we could imitate him playing the drums. Ok, let’s see how you can imitate him playing the drums. That’s very good. I also asked Bud if we could imitate the way Bud probably drives his car. Let’s do that. That is very good children! You really are able to imitate different people well.

This morning we have an important Bible message from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians. He tells Christians that they should do their best to imitate Jesus Christ! We should do what we can to live the same way Jesus did. One of the most important things about Jesus was that he showed love to people. Even though he God’s son and was a King he spent his time serving others. He would even help and serve people that were very poor or were considered by others to be unimportant.

What are some of the ways we can imitate Jesus? (Have a short discussion about things that Jesus did that we can also do to others.) Yes, those are all good ways of imitating the life of Jesus.

Children’s prayer:  Dear God, thank you for the many ways Jesus loved and served others. Help us to imitate him by showing love and kindness to others. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

Church unity - Working as a Team! -

Paul planted Apollos watered but God made it grow  1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Basic lesson idea:  Have a pot of soil and cue up two adult helpers; one to plant a seed in the pot and another to poor water on the planted seed. Then show the children what this might look like when it grows but holding up a beautiful plant. Ask the two individuals (planter and waterer) who had the most important role. Let them argue it out. Let them do some fun boasting. Explain how each had an important part but that it was God who did the most important part in making it grow. (This could stand alone but you can make the connection to how we all work together as a team (as we grow in the church) but God is the one whole helps us to really grow as Christians.

(Alternatively you could get children to help plant the seed and water the seed and just explain how silly it would be to argue who had the most important role)

Children’s sermon:

Good morning children! Look at this small flower pot that has some soil inside. I’m going to ask Mr. Brown to help plant this seed. (Mr. Brown comes over, take the seed from your hand and pushes it into the soil) Now, Mr. Jones, would you help out by watering this seed? (Mr. Johnson pour a small amount of water on the seed).

Now children, we would have to wait a long time for this seed to grow. So, I have a beautiful plant here to show you what it might look like when it is fully grown. It is a very beautiful plant. Now, who do you think had the most important part in growing such a plant? Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones? Let’s ask them. Mr. Brown who do you think had the most important part to play in making this plant grow? Response: “Well, it’s me of course because the seed is the most important thing. Did you see my special wrist action I used when I pushed the seed in the ground?” Then ask Mr. Jones what he thinks. “No no, I had the most important role because without water…” (Let do some fun arguing) Ask the children what they think. They may say God made it grow. If not, explain how each person had an important role to play but the most important part was done by God. God made it grow! It would really be silly to argue about who was the greatest because it was God who did the miracle of making it grow!

Explain how we have pastors, youth workers, organists etc in the church. We also have gifts that we can use in building up the church. Everyone has an important role to play. However, God has the most important role to play because he the one who really makes us grow in faith as Christians. We are all part of the church team and God has the most important job in helping us grow.

Copyright 2017 Andrew Hewlett and Sundaychildrensfocus.com.  Feel free to use this at church but consider linking to this page or click the LIKE button to the left of the page.  Thanks  - A.H. 

Children’s Sermon on Interpreting the Times – Luke 12: 49-57

Idea for the kids talk on Sunday morning:  Jesus talked about interpreting the weather and interpreting the times. Bring up various items related to different weather conditions. (ie Sun glasses, umbrella, rubber boots, sweater, etc)  Describe different weather conditions and ask the children tell you what item would be appropriate for each type of weather. Give a short overview of Luke 12:9-57 and explain that interpreting the weather is important but it is even more important to understand the times and seasons of life. Conclude by telling the children that it is always the right time and season to follow Jesus.

Object lesson props:  Unbrella, sweater, rubber boots, sun glasses, sun tan lotion, jacket.

Full Children’s sermon based on the Lectionary Gospel reading: Good morning Children! Look at some of these things I brought with me this morning. (Alternately, you could come out wearing some of the items!) Do you know what all these items are? Have you ever put on any of these items? Ok, now I want to see if you know when you would wear these items. What if it was a really sunny day with no clouds in the sky? What would be good to wear? That’s right. Putting on the suntan lotion would help prevent a sun burn. Yes, wearing the sun glasses would make it easier on your eyes. Now, what if it was a little bit of cloud with cold wind blowing? Yes, I think it would be a good idea to put on this sweater or wind breaker. Ok, what would I wear before going outside if I looked out and saw big, dark clouds? What should I wear with that type of weather? That’s right, it might be wise to put on a rain jacket because the dark clouds might be a sign that it is going to rain. Well done! You are all very good at interpreting the weather and knowing how to prepare.

In our bible lesson from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus talked about the importance of “understanding the times”. He said that people can look at the weather and understand how to prepare and what to do.  But for some reason the people didn’t understand Jesus and the need to follow him! They could understand what to do when the sun came out but they didn’t know what to do when God sent His son Jesus! God sent his son Jesus so we could know Him and discover his love. And we know that Jesus is alive and wants us to follow him and to discover his wonderful life.

So…When you go outside I hope you will remember to check the weather and put on the right clothing. I also hope you will remember that it is always the right time to follow Jesus (to live the way he wants us to live) and discover all we were meant to do and be!

Children’s Prayer: Dear God, help us to be wise and understand that it is always the right time and season to follow Jesus. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

Copyright 2016 Sunday Children's Focus - Andrew Hewlett.  Feel free to use this kids lesson on Sunday Morning / Sunday School but please give credit to SundayChildrensFocus.com and consider linking to this web site. Thank you! A.H.

Widow of Nain Luke7 - Waking up the dead -

Children’s sermon idea: Have a volunteer come up, sit on a chair and pretend to be asleep (They can have some fun snoring, talking in their sleep etc.) Have the children try and wake them up. We can wake up sleeping people by speaking loudly or by touching them. Read the passage about the widow of Nain. When Jesus walked on this earth he was able to wake up the dead!

Objects needed: Chair or recliner

Full interactive kid’s story:  Good morning children! Do you find it easy to wake up in the morning? Who makes sure you wake up? How do they wake you up? Let’s look at some of the ways to wake people up. I’ve asked Mr. Jones to come up and pretend he is sleeping the way he normally sleeps. So,  Mr. Jones, please just sit here, relax and show us how you sleep. (Give some time for him to doze off, snore, etc.) Wow kids!  Do you make noises like that when you sleep?! Let’s see how easy it is to wake him up. Betty, try whispering in his ear. No, that didn’t wake him up. Mike, try saying “wake up” loudly. Hmmm. Let’s give him a shake. (Mr. Jones wakes up – give him a cheer and thank him for helping out.)  

Well, he was certainly sound asleep. It was a little hard but we were able to wake him up. It’s usually easy to wake people up. But we can still awaken people who are sound asleep. Now, listen carefully because I’m going to tell you something truly amazing. When Jesus walked on this earth he could wake up people who were sleeping but he could also wake up people who had died! It’s almost impossible for us to do something like that. But Jesus was God’s son. He could do amazing things. He could even bring dead people back to life! Listen to this account in the Gospel of Luke. (Read the story of the Widow of Nain)   Jesus just said “get up” to the widows son and he got up.  To Jesus, bringing someone back to life was as easy as waking up a sleeping person.

Children’s Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to be the Saviour of the world. Thank you for the great love he has for each of us. Thank you that he even has the power to bring dead people back to life!  In Jesus’ name – Amen!

Copyright 2016 SundayChildrensFocus  Feel free to use this on Sunday Morning but please give credit to SundayChildrensfocus.com and consider linking to this web site. Thank you!  A.H.