love

  • Children's object lesson -Watch what you say


     

    Children’s Sermon: The power of words.

     (this object lesson has been floating around in Christian circles for many years)
    Object Lesson Idea:
    What we say can hurt others and hurt ourselves. This is a well known toothpaste tube object lesson about being careful about what we say to others. Once we say something we can’t take those words back. It’s like trying to get toothpaste back in the tube after it has been squeezed out.
     
    Objects needed: Toothpaste tube(and a toothbrush)
     
    Full Children’s Object Lesson:
    Good Morning Children. What are some of the things you do when you get up in the morning? After having breakfast what do you do to make sure your teeth are nice and clean? That’s right, you brush your teeth! I brought my toothpaste and toothbrush along this morning because it can help explain something that Jesus taught. Two of the bible readings that we have today (James ch.1 & Mark ch7) talk about being careful what we say to others. Without thinking we can say things to another person that really hurts them. After saying something hurtful or mean we might realize what we have done and we would like to take those words back – but it’s too late. Once we have said something to another person we can’t take those words back. It is like this toothpaste tube. Sometimes I squeeze far too much toothpaste out of the tube (demonstrate). You can try to put it back in (demonstrate) but it just doesn’t work. It just makes a mess. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube it is too late to put it back in. Saying an unkind word to another person is pretty easy to do. It is as easy as squeezing this toothpaste out of a tube. We would like to take those words back but we can’t get them back. (You could get the children to say something and then to try to grab those words in the air and put them back in their mouths. It doesn’t work.) Perhaps you have had someone say unkind words to you and you know how that feels. Always make sure your words won’t hurt another person because once you have spoken those words it’s too late to take them back. Tomorrow morning when you squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube remember this lesson and do your best to speak kind words to whoever you talk to during the day. 
     
    Children's Prayer: Dear God, we know that our words can bless others or hurt others. We know that we can’t get our words back once we have spoken them so help us, through your Holy Spirit, to make sure our words are always spoken in love. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
     
    Sundaychildrensfocus.com Andrew Hewlett 2009

    lightoftheworld

  • Children's sermon for Valentines Day


    Valentines Day Children's Sermon   



    Children’s Sermon idea for Valentines Day / Sunday: Show the children how to say “I love you” in sign language. (One handed (see above) or Point to yourself (I), Cross your arms across your chest (Love) and then point to the other person (You). Show them a cut out paper heart with the words “I love you” written inside. Explain how we could also give a Valentines heart to people as a way of telling them we love them.
    Remind them how God showed his love by sending us his son Jesus. Remind them that it is important to tell people closed to us that we love them.
    -- (You might also want to tell them about Saint Valentine who demonstrated his love by helping people who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus.)
    Or....try this Valentines Day kids sermon - 
     
    Object lesson items: A red paper valentines heart (with the words “I love you.”)
     
    Full Valentines Day message: Good morning children! What special day does this heart remind you of? That’s right- Valentines Day. Saint Valentine was a real person who showed his wonderful love by helping people in need. Valentines Day is a great day to tell people how much we care about them and love them. This morning I want to show you a very interesting way of saying, “I love you.” I’ll show you how to say “I love you” in sign language. (Get the children to copy the hand motions for “I love you.” You could also show them the one handed method (Hand outstretched with 2 middle finger folded down.) What are some other ways we can tell people we love them? (Discuss the importance of demonstrating love and telling people with love them.) Those are all very good ideas. (Hold up a red paper heart) When I was young we would sometimes hand out red Valentines Day hearts to people. It was a simple way of telling people how much we cared about them. Do you see these words here? This says, “I love you.” There are many ways of showing people our love. Valentines Day is a good day to tell people and show people we love them. God showed his love to us by sending his son Jesus. It’s important that we pass on that love to others too.
     
    Children’s Prayer: Thank you for St. Valentine who showed his love by helping people in need. Help us to show love to others by our words and by our actions. In Jesus’ name – Amen!
     
    (Please overlook typos and other grammatical mistakes. It’s almost midnight and I can barely keep my eyes open!)
     
    Copyright 2012 SundayChildrensFocus.com 

  • Children's sermon Grace lavished on us

    “The Riches of God’s grace that he Lavished on us” Ephesians 1:8

    Gospel idea: Demonstrate visually what it means for God to “lavish” his grace and goodness on us. Show the children a serving tray with a plate, bowl and cup. Demonstrate how a very stingy person might give a very small portion. Then have fun filling everything to overflowing and explain that is how God lavishes is grace and love to overflow on us, his children.

    Objects needed: Plate, bowl and cup (and perhaps a tray underneath to catch any overflow) and some appropriate food items.

    Full Children’s Message: God morning children!  One of our bible readings this morning is from the book of Ephesians (NIV or ESV). In verse 8 of chapter 1 Paul says that God “lavished” his grace and goodness on us. That is a word you may or may not know. To lavish means to be super generous. It means to give to overflowing. Let me show you what I mean.  (Pull out your tray with the plate, bowl and cup).  Now, if you came over to my house for dinner and I gave you a very small portions like this (very carefully place a little bit of food /water in the containers.) How would you feel about that?

    Now, let’s see what it would look like if I decided to “lavishly” dish out the food. (Have fun pouring large quantities of food out. Make sure you really fill things up till they overflow.) To lavish a plate with food is to make it overflowing so there is more than enough.

    Now the bible says God “lavished” his grace, forgiveness, love and goodness on us. He has given us these things in abundance so that they can overflow in our lives.

    All of us have times when we feel sad and alone. However, if you are feeling that way remind yourselves that God’s love for us is lavished on us to overflowing. His grace (unmerited favor) towards us full to overflowing too.

    Children’s Prayer: Dear God, thank you that you are not stingy with your forgiveness, love and grace. Thank you that you lavish these on us so that they overflow from our lives into the lives of others. In Jesus’ name, Amen!  Feel free to use this on Sunday morning but please give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus.com and please "like" this page. 

    Grace lavished illusration

     

     

  • Children's Sermon on the Wonderful Love of Jesus

    Sermon for kids on the love of Jesus   lovesign

    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.

  • Imitating Christ's Humility

    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!

  • Kids sermon - Jesus healing on the Sabbath

     Children's Sermon on Luke13 Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath

     What days are for helping others?  Cool
     
    Kid’s sermon idea: Show the children a calendar and explain how it shows the days of the week. Discuss what days might be best for various activities (going to church, getting together with family members, going to school, etc.) Ask them what would be appropriate days for helping someone in need. Explain how Jesus taught that everyday was a good day to heal and to do good.
     
    Object lesson item:  A large paper calendar (Showing a week or a month / page)
    You might want a felt pen to write in the calendar or draw symbols.
     
    Full Children’s Talk: Good morning children! Do you know what this is? This is a calendar and it has a space here for each day of the week. Can you say the various days of the week? (Get them to say the various days of the week and point to the days / squares on the calendar.) That’s very good. Now, what do you think would be a good day of the week to go to church? Yes, Sunday is the day most people go to church. That’s what today is. When would be a good days to go to school? I agree, those would be good days. What would be a good day to get together for a walk in the park with some friends? Yes, Saturday might be the best day because there is no school on that day. Now, here is a tricky question. When is a day that would be good for helping others? Or, think of this: When is a day that you could not show love to others? (Let the children respond.)  I think you are right. Every day is a good day to show love and help others in need. Our bible reading today from Luke 13 explains how Jesus did a wonderful miracle by healing a crippled woman. But unfortunately, some people were very upset and said that he helped and healed this woman on the wrong day. They were mad at Jesus because they felt he was showing love on the wrong day! Jesus told them that even a special day of rest was a good day to help someone in need. He let them know that every day of the week was a good day for showing love to people. Showing love to people could happen on any day. (If you have been using a felt marker you could draw in a cross or a heart in each day of the week.)
     
    Children’s Prayer:  Dear God, thank you that Jesus showed love and helped people on every day of the week. Help us to remember that it is important to show love to people whenever there is a need. In Jesus’ name – Amen!
     

    Copyright 2013 Andrew Hewlett and Sundaychildrensfocus.com   Feel free to use this on Sunday but please give credit to Sundayschildrensfocus and consider linking to this web site. Thanks – A.H

  • Kids talk - chosen and adopted by God

    God chose us and adopted us into His family

    Theme: God chose us and adopted us into the family of God                
     
    Text: Ephesians 1: 3-14 (Trinity 4) (I usually go with the Gospel but the beheading of John the Baptist doesn't seem appropriate for young kids!)
     
    Basic idea: Demonstrate how a child is chosen and adopted into a family. Show how God has chosen us and adopted us into his family.
    --Alternate: Involve the children in choosing some objects. Show some objects that you have chosen for some purpose. Describe that God has chosen us to be a part of his family.
     
    Full Story: (Find a family that is known to have adopted a child recently and ask them prior to the service if they can be used as an object lesson. Otherwise, carefully choose “actors” from the congregation.)
     
    Good morning children. One of our bible readings for this morning says that God has chosen us and adopted us into his family – the family of God. Do any of you know what it means to be adopted? That’s right. If there is a child who needs parents and is alone, a family can have that child become a part of their family. The mom and dad become the child’s parents and the child becomes a new member of that family. It is a very wonderful thing. I’ll show you how that works. Let’s pretend that Sally is alone and doesn’t have a family to live with. To demonstrate that we will ask her to sit up here all alone on this bench. Now over here we will ask Bob and Carol to stand up with their children. They have lots of love to share and they begin looking for a child that could join their family. (Walk the family over toward the child “Sally” that is alone on the bench.) Then they choose this child who will become part of their family. They need to sign some official papers promising to look after the child. (Pull out a clipboard and a pen and hold it in front of the parents as if they are signing a document). Now, family members I’d like you to open up your arms like this (extend your arms to the child) showing that you are choosing this young child to join your family. Now Sally, come off the bench and join this family. (Lead the child into the family’s arms.) Now Sally is been adopted into this family and is a real member. Thank you for helping me act this out.
    TRANSITION: In the same way that someone can be chosen and adopted into a family the bible says that God chose us and adopted us into his family – the family of God!
    We may have our own family that we belong to, but as followers of Jesus we have been chosen and adopted into the family of God as well. Now, I would like all the members of the congregation to stand up and extend your arms to us (the story teller and the children up front) just like the family members we had up here. Great. Let’s all walk down into the congregation (the family of God) to show that we have been adopted into this big part of the family of God. Well done. We are going to pray now but I would like the members of the congregation to keep standing with your arms extended in welcoming love.
     
    Pray: Heavenly Father, thank you that even though we have our own family, you have also chosen us and adopted us into the family of God – the Church. Thank you for your great love and for making us a part of this wonderful family. In Jesus’ name – Amen.
     
    Copyright Andrew Hewlett and Sundaychildrensfocus.com   Feel free to use this story on Sunday morning but give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus.com and please consider linking your web site to this site. Thank you.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Sermon for Kids about the Earthquake in Nepal

     Children's Sermon about the Earthquake in Nepal  

     

    Showing the compassion of Jesus

     

    Object lesson idea:(Overview -Adapted from a story I used when there was an earthquake in Haiti) 

    Display two “houses” made of small blocks of wood or perhaps marshmallows. Have one house represent a typical house in Canada or United States. This “house” could be glued together if made by wood and if made with marshmallows it could be sewed together or held together with nails or toothpicks. The other “house” would look the same but have nothing binding the blocks together. Shake the structure like an earthquake and let the children observe what happens. Explain how poor countries like Nepal can’t afford to build houses with expensive reinforcing and other safety features. Pray for the people of Nepal and involve the children in some relief or development project.
     
    Objects: Two small houses made with building blocks or marshmallows (see above). Reinforce one of the structures with tape, thread, toothpicks etc. (You could also drive reinforcing nail up through the piece of plywood and place marshmallows over the nails. Place the “houses” on a tray ready for an “earthquake.” A small world map or globe.
     
    Full Children’s Sermon: Good morning Children. In our church this morning we are praying for the people who live in a country called Nepal. It is a small country and most of the people who live there are very poor. It’s this small country here on this map. (Use a globe or projected map)  Do you know what happened there recently? Yes. That’s right. There was a very big earthquake that destroyed many buildings and homes. It may be hard to understand how this happened. I want to show you one reason so many people were hurt or killed. Do you see this tray here? I made two little houses out of marshmallows. I’m pretending the marshmallows are like building blocks of cements. This house on the left will represent a typical house in the Canada / USA/ etc. I’m pretending that this house on the left is a house in Kathmandu, the main city of Nepal.
    Let’s see what might happen if there was an earthquake. (Shake the try up a down, back and forth until the unsecured “building blocks” of the Nepal house fall down.) What happened here? Yes, this house that has a steel nail through the centre is standing strong. However, this house here fell completely down. This building was not nearly as strong as this building. This building is like many of the buildings in Kathmandu. The people are strong and hard working but they are very poor and they cannot afford to build houses as strong as our houses. When an earthquake shakes the country many of the houses fall down and many people are injured our killed. It’s very sad. As followers of Jesus we need to think of ways that we can help the people in Nepal as they try to recover from this tragedy. How could we possibly help out and support them in this time of need? (Let the children respond.) Those are all very good ideas. We can send doctors to help, we can send food and clothing, and we can send money so they can buy the things they don’t have. Later on we might be able to be involved in helping them rebuild some to the homes that have been destroyed. (Consider presenting a specific project that the church is involved with.
     

    Children’s Prayer: Dear God. We know that there are many people who need help in the country of Nepal. Please send many doctors and other helpers to support the people. And show us what we can do to put the love of Jesus into action and help these people in need. In Jesus’ name – Amen! 

  • Short, Interactive, Sermons for kids

    Children's Sermons - Free (Christian (Gospel) object Lessons for kids - Children's Church / Sunday School (or Homeschool) /Bible lessons etc. Season of Lent  (Planning to include asap short kids videos on YouTube) 

     

     

     

    - Object lesson for Easter Day -  orTry this Resurrection Easter skit -

     Text for this week Matthew 21:1-11    Palm Sunday - (Stay tuned: Planning to make short videos that I can send out to our children during this time of Covid-19) or Check out this for Palm Sunday and Holy Week - (Walking with Jesus - Palms, Bread and Wine, and the Cross.) -->

    -- (You'll notice I've made it more interactive so parents can be involved in the discussion. 

    : Lazarus - come out -wake up! - To Jesus bringing the dead back to life is just like waking someone up! Here is what I put together --

    John 9:1-41  I was blind but now I see - the man born blind. Spiritual blindness - and seeing Jesus (Lent 4) 

    John 4:5-42 The woman at the Well (Jesus gives the water of life!) 

     ( Good News!  - We will be restructuring this web site to get it more organized and user friendly for hand held devices - stay tuned!  God willing there will be new material posted up as well - Turning over a new leaf in 2020!)

     

     

     

    bethlehem

     

     

     

      tree 

     

     

     

    ==> Unrelated interlude - I believe my daughter has real gift for capturing the beauty of creation. Can't help boasting a bit. Check out Judith's instagram page!   (If you look closely I'm in there with Judith on my shoulders - few years ago)                                                     

    Creative Sunday school ideas 4 kids: FREE: Children's sermons / skits (note: Many of these sermons for kids could be adapted into great sermon illustrations for youth group / adults) Short children's sermons    

    (Please Note: Consider visiting the resources on the right side of the page. That's how I am able to provide this material free to you) and please "Like" a page if you find something helpful)- 

     

    Easter Devotions / Kids talk for Youth Group, Sunday school, or Children's Church  -                                                                                                    balloons

    Sunday School Teachers: Great ideas and illustrations for anyone involved in ministry to children.---

    --Christ Centered / Evangelical - focusing on the Gospel as "Good News." -

    Designed primarily for the short "Children's Focus" during Sunday Morning worship, these Children's sermons can be used in a variety of ways: An introduction to a Sunday School lesson, for Children's Church/Chapel, Youth Groupor Kids club, etc. I trust these Christian sermons for Children will be a great resource for Pastors and Sunday School teachers.  Blessings,  Pastor Andrew  -- Any feed back would be much appreciated!    pastorandrew(at) opengatechurch (dot) ca  

    Note: Stay tuned as I post stories on YouTube -Valuable to God- Gods Love - Secure in God's love- Repentance - 

    These Sermon's for Children are:

    • Biblical - Present good theology even if it's in a simplified form.
    • Fun  - Avoid the "O brother, here comes the boring message" reaction.
    • Interactive - That's how kids learn. It's best when they use all the senses. I try to involve the congregation too.
      Christ centered- Most of these stories are focused on Jesus and the love of God.
    • Short - Most children have a short attention span.  (Sunday school teachers know this well)

    Free Childrens Sermons 
    - In the near future I will be including ideas on:
    -- Sunday School Crafts
    -- Sunday School Gamesor Youth Group Games
    -- Other Sunday school ideas     ...stay tuned!
    -- Printable Bible quizzes for kids

  • Valentines Day & Cross

     

    Children's Sermon for Valentines Day     



    Children’s Sermon idea: When we give a valentine it reminds the person of our love for them. We have a crossin our church and that reminds us of God’s love for us.
     
    Objects: A valentine heart, a large visible cross in the church that you can point to and/ or a small cross you can hold up.
     
    Children Sermon: Good morning children. Do you know what special day it is? Here is a hint. (Hold up your valentine heart.) That’s correct. It’s Saint Valentines day. Saint Valentine was a Christian bishop who lived a very long time ago. He was well known throughout his country for the great love that he had for people in need. When we think of St. Valentineand Valentines day we are reminded about love. When we give a Valentines day heartto someone it reminds them of our friendship and love that we have for them. God doesn’t send out Valentines cards to people but did you know that there is something that always reminds us of God’s great love for us? If you look around you can see that reminder right here in this church. Do you know what it is? Look right over there. It’s the cross. The cross is a symbol / reminder that Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to suffer and die for us. Where ever we see a cross it should be a reminder that Jesus loves us so very much. He suffered and died on the cross which might make us sad. However, the good news is that he rose again and he is alive. If you are ever tempted to doubt how much God the Father and Jesus love you, look at a cross. It reminds us that we are deeply loved and very precious to God.

    Children’s Prayer: Heavenly Father. We pray that when we give Valentine cards to our family and friends they would know that we really do care about them and love them. We also thank you so much for sending Jesus to save us. We know that he loved us so much he was willing to suffer and die for us. That is amazing. Whenever we see a cross help us to remember your great love.Amen!

  • We are precious to God

    Short video on the fact that we are precious to God

    Highlights the fact that we are valuable to him - no matter who we are.