Lectionary
The upside down Kingdom The Song of Mary
Copyright sundaychildrensfocus.com Andrew Hewlett Feel free to use this on Sunday morning but please give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus and consider linking to this site. A.H.
Copyright 2008 Andrew Hewlett sundaychildrensfocus.com If you use this story at your Sunday morning service please give credit to sundaychildrensfocus.com and consider putting a link on your church web site. Thank you! A.H.
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.
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Copyright Sundaychildrensfocus.com 2010 Andrew Hewlett - Feel free to use this kids sermon on at your Sunday morning service but please give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus.com and consider linking to this site. Thank you. A.H.
(Note: Christians have different convictions regarding Halloween. Adapt this kids sermon to you own church fellowship)
Basic plan: Explain to the children that when you were young you went outside in the dark at Halloween and held your parent’s hands. You didn’t need to be afraid because they were always with you. Explain how God is always with us and we need not fear if we know we are close to him. Dramatize this by taking a child by the hand and walk past some of the children as they make scarry faces.
Children sermon / interactive Sunday School lesson: Good morning children! Do you know what time of year it is? Yes, that’s right. It’s Halloween. (It’s also a time many churches celebrate the great saints of God down through the ages.)
Sometimes Halloween can seem like scary time. Some people dress up as ghosts, monsters and all kinds of evil looking creatures. When I was very young, I went outside at Halloween with my mother and saw some frightening things! But I wasn’t really that afraid because I held my mother’s hand and I knew she was right their beside me.
I will show you what it was like. Betty, will you come here and hold my hand. Now, let’s have the other kids make a scary face! (Holding the young child, walk past the children making faces.) Now Betty, was that really scary? (Most likely they will be laughing.) No? That’s good. There was no need to be afraid because I’m right here with you holding your hand.
I want you all to know that there are many places in the bible where God says he is with us always, so we don’t need to be afraid. Jesus also said, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28). Although we can’t see God holding our hand, the Bible says he is right beside us. He is just like a parent holding us close. So, even at Halloween we don’t need to be afraid – God is with us!
Children’s Prayer: Dear God, thank you that you are with us always. When we are afraid help us to remember you are right beside us. In Jesus’ name – Amen!
Copyright Sundaychildrensfocus.com 2021 Feel free to use this at your own church. Please “Like” us on social media or link to this site. Blessings, Pastor Andrew
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