Category Archives: Philippians

Pentecost 17A

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Day: Pentecost 17

Lectionary Passage: Philippians 4:1-9

Scripture Focus: Philippians 4:6

Object: “Prayer Hand”

Preparation: For today’s lesson, you will teach the kids the “Prayer Hand.” It may be helpful print out copies of the “Prayer Hand” for each child to take home. Click Here for Prayer Hand

Our Bible story for today tells us that we should pray to God about everything. So I thought we should learn a cool way to pray using our hand. Everyone put your hand in the air and we are going to learn how each finger reminds us to pray for something special.

First, the thumb (point to your thumb) is closet to our heart so it reminds us to pray for those closest to us, like our family and friends.

Our index finger (point to your index finger) is also called our pointer finger and it reminds us to pray for those who teach. Like your teachers at school, Sunday school teachers, and pastors.

Our middle finger (point to your middle finger) stands taller than the rest and reminds us to pray for leaders, like the President and the Governor because they need God’s guidance to make important decisions.

Our ring finger (point to your ring finger) is weak and cannot stand alone well so it reminds us to pray for the sick. You can even name people you know who aren’t feeling well.

And last is our pinkie finger (point to your pinkie finger)! It’s the smallest one of all and reminds us to pray for ourselves.

Now when you go home you can all pray using your fingers and remember to ask God for everything!

Let’s pray: Thank you God for always listening to us in prayer and letting us ask you for all things. Amen.

Pentecost 16A

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Day: Pentecost 16

Lectionary Passage: Philippians 3:4b-14

Scripture Focus: Philippians 3:8

Object: None

Good morning everyone! I want to describe someone to you this morning. Listen closely. This person lives in a big fancy house. He has lots of cool toys, the most expensive and fancy clothes, he has all the best games for his Wii and Playstation, he has a pool and trampoline in the backyard, he goes to Disney World every year, and he gets to eat his favorite dessert every night. Do you think he has a great life? (Let the kids answer Yes!)

What if I told you he isn’t friends with Jesus? And that all that stuff we think he is so great gets in the way of him knowing Jesus. Would you still think he has a great life? (Shake your head no so the kids know the answer is No!)

You’re right! A life without Jesus isn’t great. Even if we have all the best stuff in the world, if we aren’t friends with Jesus then it is all just silliness. And that’s exactly what our Bible story is all about. A guy name Paul is talking about how he was the most popular and the very best at his job but he didn’t know Jesus loved him. But then he became friends with Jesus! And suddenly all that other stuff wasn’t as important as loving Jesus with his whole heart.

We need to remember that all the toys and money and cool clothes in the world are not as important as loving Jesus.

Let’s pray: Help us God to love Jesus more than any other stuff and to remember that being friends with Jesus is the greatest treasure. Amen.

Pentecost 14A

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Day: Pentecost 14

Lectionary Passage: Philippians 1:21-30

Scripture Focus: Philippians 1:27

Object: None

Good to see everyone this morning. I hope you’re all having a great day. But you know, sometimes we have bad days. It’s just a fact of life. We can’t all be happy all the time. And that’s okay. Everybody has tough days. The important thing is to not take your tough day out on other people. So you can’t do things like hit your sister just because you’re mad or yell at your parents because you’re frustrated or do other mean stuff.

Because the way we treat people on our tough days is just as important as how we treat them on our best days. And that’s what our Bible story is getting at. It says that no matter what’s going on, we’ve got to live in a way that brings honor to God. That means we’ve always got to be nice and treat others well, even when we are having a bad day!

I know that can be hard. But know this: You don’t have to do it alone! God will help you. If you are having a tough day and you know you are treating others rough I want you to take a break and pray this prayer, say the words after me:

God,

Today is tough, don’t let me be rough,

Help me be kind, while things unwind

Amen.