Category Archives: Ephesians

Pentecost 11B

Posted on by

0

Day: Pentecost 11B

Lectionary Passage: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 5:2

Object: Jelly Belly jelly beans

Good morning! Today I’ve brought with me one of my favorite candies: Jelly Belly  jelly beans. These are very fun to eat because they have all kinds of flavors. Like this one, it’s root beer (eat the jelly bean)… and sure enough, it tastes exactly like root beer! (Continue along this line with 2-3 other flavors to give kids a clear idea that they jelly beans have true to life flavor) Of course, these jelly beans are not actually the real thing. It’s not like we just had some (restate the flavors). But these jelly beans sure come close to the real flavor. You could say that they imitate the real thing perfectly!

That reminds me of our Bible passage for the day. It says that we should be “imitators of God.” Well, that doesn’t mean we are God. It means that we are like God as much as possible. Like these jelly beans. They aren’t really (restate the flavors) but they are imitations of the real thing. We aren’t God, but we can imitate God by loving others and showing that love to everyone we meet. Through us, people can get a taste of the real thing: God’s amazing love through Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray: Help us God to imitate you every day and show others the love of Jesus Christ in all we do. Amen.

Lent 4B

Posted on by

0

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

Posted on by

0

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.