Category Archives: Mark

Pentecost 8B

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Day: Pentecost 8B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Scripture Focus: Mark 6:34

Object: None

Welcome boys and girls! It’s so wonderful to see you this morning. I bet each one of us has a favorite animal. My favorite animal is (share your favorite animal; you may want to open it for the children to share their favorite animal…). I think if the Bible had a favorite animal it would be sheep! Sheep are mentioned more times in the Bible than any other animal. They are mentioned about 400 times!

Our story for today is one of those places where the Bible mentions sheep. It says that when Jesus saw the crowds of people who came to listen to him, he felt sorry for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. You see, when sheep don’t have a shepherd to lead them, they tend to panic and run in circles, or wander off into dangerous places. Sheep have even been known to run right off a cliff!

Jesus said people are like sheep because sometimes we are just as foolish as sheep. We run away from God or we don’t follow God’s rules. And when we turn away from God’s loving care, we’re just like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus wants every person to know that he is willing to be their shepherd. He wants everyone to follow him so that they will be loved and protected.

Let’s pray: God, help us to be smart sheep who follow Jesus instead of silly sheep who run away and get into trouble. Amen.

Pentecost 3B

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Day: Pentecost 3B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 4:26-34

Scripture Focus: Mark 4:26-29

Object: Package of seeds

Good morning. I’ve brought with me this morning some seeds. They came in this really pretty package. I take them out to look at them, but they always look the same (show the kids the seeds by pouring them into your hand). I can’t figure out why they haven’t started to grow. The package says they are suppose to grow into (name of seeds) but so far a whole lot of nothing has happened. What do you suppose I’m doing wrong? (Let the kids answer… plant the seeds!)

Oh! I have to plant the seeds! Well that makes sense. A seed needs sunlight and water to grow. Nothing is going to happen if they just stay in this package.

That reminds me of our Bible story for today. Jesus explained many things to us by using picture stories called parables. In our story for today, he compared the Kingdom of God to a seed. The seed has to be planted in order to start growing. Then it grows and grows.

When we tell others about Jesus and about how much God loves them, it’s like planting a Kingdom seed in their heart. God uses us to help others come to Jesus! So we are all Kingdom seed planters and we can grow in faith together.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for asking us to help plant Kingdom seeds in others so that we can all grow in faith together. Amen.

Pentecost 2B

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Day: Pentecost 2B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 3:20-35

Scripture Focus: Mark 3:31-35

Object: Family picture

Good morning everyone! Today I brought a family picture with me. That’s me there (describe the people in the picture with special attention to point out how you are related). But you know, this is only one of my families. I have another much bigger family and you are part of it. It’s called the church!

The church is a family, too. In our Bible story for today, Jesus explains that his followers are like family to him. He says that anyone “who does God’s will is [my family].” That means everyone in this sanctuary (emphasize the whole congregation) is a family. But the church family is even bigger! It includes every Christian in the whole world! We are part of one big family. So no matter what happens, I hope you will remember that the church is your family and you are always welcome among family.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for giving us two families. One we are born into and one that we have as the church. Amen.

Easter B

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Day: Easter B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 16:1-8

Scripture Focus: Mark 16:5-7

Object: Real Easter Eggs (if you’re feeling less ambitious, plastic eggs will work)

Preparation: For this lesson, you will need to hallow egg shells and then fill the shells with strips of paper. To hallow eggs: (1) piercing a hole in each end of the egg, (2) reach through one hole with a needle to gently break up the yolk, (3) blowing air into one hole to force the egg contents to flow out the other end, (4) run cold water into the intact eggshell to clean, and finally (5) dry the shells in the microwave for 15-30 seconds. Once the eggs are ready, cover one hole using white tissue paper and a clear glue stick. Then, write phrases such as “Jesus loves you” and “Jesus died for you” and “Jesus lives” on 1/4-inch strips of paper and gently slide the rolled paper strips through the second hole. Finally, cover the second hole.

You know what, There are a lot of things that remind us of Easter.  There are flowers, chocolate bunnies, and pretty baskets. And there are eggs! Just like this one (hold up the egg for the kids to see). But, this isn’t an ordinary egg. This is a REAL (emphasize the word) Easter Egg. Let me show you why: (smash the egg in your hands or on the altar rail)

I bet you were expecting something else! But, this is a Real Easter Egg and inside are special messages about Easter (read the messages).

You see, Easter isn’t really about bunnies and baskets. It’s about Jesus. On Easter, the disciples went to the tomb and discovered that Jesus was alive! Jesus died a few days earlier but because God is more powerful than any of the bad stuff in the world, God raised Jesus from the dead. That’s the real message of Easter. As followers of Jesus, we need to remember to share the real message of Easter: Jesus is alive! And that’s very good news.

Let’s pray: God, we are so excited to celebrate that Jesus is alive! It proves that you are greater than any of the bad stuff in the world. Help us to always remember that Easter is about Jesus.

Palm Sunday B

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Day: Palm Sunday B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 11:1-11

Scripture Focus: Mark 11:8-10

Object: Palm branch

Have you ever been to a wedding? At most weddings, there is a flower girl. And her job is to walk down the aisle just before the bride comes down and scatter flower petals on the ground. She just tosses a few here and a few there so that when the bride walks down she is walking over flowers. It’s one of the special ways that the bride is honored on her special wedding day.

Well, something like that happened to Jesus. He wasn’t getting married, but he was making a big entrance into the city of Jerusalem. As he came through the gate and down the city streets, people threw palm branches on the road for him to walk over. You see, palm branches are symbols of victory and carpeting Jesus’ path with them was a sign of praise for Jesus. They were honoring him!

Today we celebrate Jesus’ big entrance into Jerusalem by waving palm branches and putting them on the altar table. That’s also the reason we call this day “Palm Sunday.”

Let’s pray: God, thank you for sending your Son Jesus. Help us to always remember that he is special and worthy of our praise. Amen.

Lent 2B

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Day: Lent 2B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 8:31-38

Scripture Focus: Mark 8:33

Object: None

Good morning boys and girls. Raise your hand if you have a best friend (let the children raise their hands). Oh good! Best friends are wonderful. My best friend is… (name your best friend and then describe why you are such good friends).

Jesus had close friends, too. The Bible talks a lot about one of Jesus’ closest friends. His name was Peter. Jesus called Peter a “rock” and he was a good friend. But one day Peter didn’t like what Jesus was saying and tried to make him be quiet. Peter didn’t understand that Jesus was telling the truth about what was going to happen: That Jesus was going to die on the cross. Peter didn’t believe that was true and wanted Jesus to stop talking.

But God sent Jesus to save us from our sins and Jesus knew he was going to die on the cross. To make Peter understand, Jesus told him “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus wanted everyone to know that no one was going to stop him from following God’s plan and anyone who got in his way was going against God. Even though Peter was Jesus’ close friend, Jesus knew that he couldn’t let Peter stand in his way of doing the right thing. That’s a good lesson for us to remember. Even our closest friends may try to stop us from doing what’s right or they may try to get us to do something wrong, but we need to stand up to them just like Jesus stood up to Peter.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for sending Jesus to save us from our sins. Help us remember to follow him always. Amen.

Transfiguration B

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Day: Transfiguration B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 9:2-10

Scripture Focus: Mark 9:2-3

Object: Hiking Equipment, optional

Have you ever gone mountain climbing? It is super exciting. It’s like going a really cool adventure. When I go mountain climbing, I like to have my best hiking boots, like these, and some rope just in case and of course I always carry a flashlight. I don’t get to mountain climb very often and that makes it really exciting and special when I do. It’s a great treat to get away from my everyday stuff and go on an adventure like climbing a mountain.

You know, Jesus was a mountain climber, too. Today’s Bible story tells of a really important time when Jesus and three of his friends climbed a mountain together. When they got to the top of the mountain something amazing happened! As Jesus was praying, he began to glow with this amazing light. Then, out of nowhere, Moses and Elijah appeared! When Jesus’ friends saw this they were a little scared and a little excited all at the same time. They were seeing something amazing. They didn’t expect that at all!

But, you know what? God is always doing amazing things like that. We never know where God might surprise us with awesome things. It’s our job to get out of the house and do new things and meet new people so that we can experience all of God’s wonders and surprises, too!

Let’s pray: God, give us the courage to try new things like mountain climbing so that we experience all the wonders you have to offer. Amen.

Epiphany 3B

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Day: Epiphany 3B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 1:14-20

Scripture Focus: Mark 1:17

Object: Fishing gear, especially a net

Good morning everybody! I’ve brought along some of my fisher gear. I’ve got my fishing pole and my fishing hat and most importantly I’ve got my fishing net! I really like to use a fishing net because I can catch a lot of fish at one time.

All this talk about fishing reminds me of our Bible story. There were a group of people whose job it was to catch fish. One day, Jesus came up to them on the sea of Galilee. And he asked them to come follow him. Jesus wanted these people to be his friends. So, they pulled their boats out of the water and left everything behind to follow Jesus.

When they did, Jesus told them they would become fishers of people! That means they were going to tell everyone about the love of Jesus and ask them to be Jesus’ friend, too. And, guess what? That’s our job too! We are called to be fishers of people. Jesus calls all his friends to tell people about God so that we can catch them in our net. And you know, I can’t think of anything better than catching people for Jesus who loves us more than anything! All we have to do is tell others about Jesus and how much he loves us and I bet our fishing nets will get full fast!

Let’s pray: God, thank you for those first fishers of people and please help us be good fishers so your church grows bigger and bigger with new friends. Amen.

Baptism of Jesus B

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Day: Baptism of Jesus B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 1:4-11

Scripture Focus: 

Object: Two identical objects and a marker

Hello everybody!  Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. It happened long ago when Jesus was just about to start his ministry. He went to John the Baptist and asked to be baptized in the Jordan River. And that’s exactly what John did — he baptized Jesus with water. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, something amazing happened: The Holy Spirit came down like a dove and God’s said he loved Jesus. All of this took place to mark Jesus in a special way as he began his ministry to the world.

That same kind of thing happens to each one of us when we are baptized. God marks us and prepares us for ministry to the world. Baptism marks us as God’s people. Think about it like this: Here are two identical paper cups. You can’t tell one from the other. They are the same. But, if I mark this one (draw a cross on one cup) then you can tell it is different from the other. God does something like that to us when we are baptized. We can’t see the mark with our eyes but hopefully we can feel it on our hearts.

But this mark isn’t just decoration! It’s God’s way of preparing us for ministry. Ministry is when we follow Jesus in changing the world through the power of love. You can do ministry in a whole bunch of different ways (this is an opportunity to provide 2-3 examples of how children can be involved in ministry at your church). When we are baptized, God marks us for ministry to the world!

Let’s pray: Thank you God for the gift of Baptism. As we follow Jesus into the waters of Baptism, may we also follow him in ministry to love you and love others. Amen.

Advent 1B

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Day: Advent 1B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 13:24-37

Scripture Focus: Mark 13:35-37

Object: Advent calendar

Preparation: Provide a printable Advent calendar for each child to color and assemble throughout the season.

Good morning! I brought a very special calendar with me this morning. It’s not a typical calendar with 365 days. It only has 28 days. It is called an Advent calendar. An Advent calendar is a special calendar that is used to celebrate the days of Advent as we wait for Christmas Day.

While we are waiting for Christmas, we should also remember that we are waiting for Jesus’ return. That’s what our Bible story is all about. It tells us that Jesus is coming back to earth one day and we have to stay alert and be ready for his return. We don’t know when that will be, but we can be ready by giving our hearts to God and following Jesus’ teaching of how to live. So as you are waiting for Christmas and getting ready for all the fun, remember to stay alert and be ready for Jesus’ second coming.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for sending Jesus to be born on Christmas Day. We are excited to celebrate his birth on Christmas but also to get ready for his return one day in the future. Amen.