Category Archives: Ephesians

Lent 4B

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Day: Lent 4B

Lectionary Passage: Ephesians 2:1-10

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 2:8

Object: A favorite gift

Good morning everyone! I brought with me one of my favorite gifts of all time (show the children the gift and describe how it was wrapped up and presented to you on a special occasion, be sure to emphasize its tangibility). I will always treasure this gift.

In our Bible story today, we learn that God has given us a gift, too. It’s not like this. It’s not something we can see or hold or touch. We can’t even wrap it up in pretty paper. But it is a very precious gift. It is called grace. Grace is God’s special gift to us.

God gives this grace to us when we believe in Jesus Christ. This grace is powerful stuff because it wipes away our sins, that the bad stuff we’ve done. Without God’s grace, we would be in big trouble, like eternal time out! But, thankfully God loves us and gives us this amazing gift of grace. Of course, we don’t have to pay for this gift and we can’t do anything to earn it. All we need to do is believe in Jesus Christ and God will give us the gift of grace.

We may not be able to wrap it up in pretty paper, but God’s gift of grace is the best gift we can ever receive!

Let’s pray: God, we are so thankful that you give us the gift of grace. Amen.

Lent 4A

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Day: Lent 4

Lectionary Passage: Ephesians 5:8-14

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 5:8-14

Object: Different size lights (i.e. flashlight, lamp, pin light, etc.)

Today I’ve got several things with me. Let me show them to you and then we’ll see what one thing they all have in common. Here’s the first one (point to or hold up a lamp). And the second one (hold up a flashlight). And, the last one is… here (pull a pin light out of your pocket). Even though these things are all different sizes and shapes, they have one thing in common: They’re lights! (Turn all the lights on) And when a light is on, it’s no longer dark. Which is really a good thing because when it’s dark, you tend to fumble around and even stub your toe!  The one and only job of a light is to shine in the darkness.

And that is what our Bible passage is talking about. Only instead of regular lights like these, it calls Jesus “light.” You see, thanks to Jesus we are no longer in the dark. We are no longer fumbling around and stubbing our toes on all kinds of bad stuff. Because thanks to Jesus, we can see the bad stuff in our way and avoid it. Jesus shines his light in the world and everyone who follows him is no longer in the dark! His light has made everything clear for us, just like these ordinary lights do in a dark room.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for sending Jesus to be a light in the dark. Help us to follow in his path and not stumble around in the darkness anymore. Amen.