Category Archives: Pentecost Sunday

Pentecost is celebrated as the birthday of the Church by the gift and power of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost C

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Day: Pentecost Sunday C

Lectionary Passage: John 14:8-17, 25-27

Scripture Focus: John 14:15-17

Object: A lamp that plugs in

Today I’ve brought a pretty simple thing with me. It’s a lamp. Let’s turn it on (switch the unplugged lamp on an off). Well, that’s strange. My lamp is giving us any light…. oh, that’s because it isn’t plugged it! (plug the lamp in) And we have light! A lamp needs more than just a switch to work. It needs electricity. We can’t see the electricity but we know it’s there because it powers the lamp.

And that reminds me of the Holy Spirit. We can’t see the Holy Spirit but we know it’s there because it powers us to follow Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives us energy and keeps us going even when things get tough. Can you imagine that something invisible can be so powerful?! But that’s exactly the case with the Holy Spirit. We can’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t powerful.

Let’s pray: God, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to live inside of us and power us to follow Jesus. Amen.

Pentecost B

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Day: Pentecost B

Lectionary Passage: Acts 2:1-21

Scripture Focus: Acts 2:2

Object: None

Today is Pentecost Sunday! We celebrate Pentecost each year to remind us what happened on the very first Pentecost. After Jesus went back up to heaven, his disciples were gathered in a room. Suddenly, there was a sound of rushing wind. It was very loud and it filled the whole room. Fire appeared above the heads of each of the disciples, and they began to speak in many different languages.

At Pentecost the disciples were filled with God’s Holy Spirit. It’s pretty hard to picture what the Holy Spirit looks like because you can’t see the Holy Spirit with your eyes. But, you can feel the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost, the disciples felt the Holy Spirit like a rushing wind. I want you to fan yourself for a second (fan yourself with your hands to show the children what you mean). Now, I can’t see the wind created by fanning, but I sure can feel it! That’s a lot like God’s Holy Spirit. We may not be able to see it, but we can feel the Holy Spirit doing amazing things.

On Pentecost Sunday we celebrate that God sent the Holy Spirit to help all disciples, including you and me. And though we might not be able to see the Holy Spirit, the more we grow closer to God, the more we’ll be able to feel the Holy Spirit all around us.

Let’s pray: We praise you, Holy God, for the gift of your Spirit who lives and moves all around us. Amen.

Pentecost 18A

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Day: Pentecost 18

Lectionary Passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 1:6-7

Object: None

Good morning everyone. Today I want to tell you about a really amazing city called Thessalonica. It’s talked about in the New Testament. In fact, there are two whole books of the Bible that are letters addressed to people living in Thessalonica! It was the capital of a country, just like Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States. And Thessalonica was at a crossroads. That means two major roads went like this (make an X with your arms) and Thessalonica was in the middle. So lots and lots of people traveled through the city to trade things. It was also on the ocean so ships came back and forth all the time. It was a major city!

But the coolest thing about Thessalonica was that it had a strong group of Christians living there. In our Bible story for today we learn that this group was so in love with God and faithful to following Jesus’ way that they were an example for the whole entire country! One city was an example for the WHOLE ENTIRE COUNTRY!

That just goes to show you that a few people can do amazing things with God’s help. And that’s good for us to remember because with God’s help the few of us here today could be an example for the whole entire city of Atkins!

Let’s pray: God help us be strong witnesses like the Christians of Thessalonica and help our whole entire become friends with Jesus. Amen.

 

Pentecost Sunday A

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Day: Pentecost

Lectionary Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

Scripture Focus: 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Object: Stickers, one per child

Note: You can use any object for this children’s that is one thing with a variety of kinds, like multiple kinds of fruit or multiple kinds of lollipops. Whatever you choose, be sure to have plenty to give one to each child to reinforce the gift theme.

This morning I’ve got some stickers with me! I’ve got Superman, and Dora the Explorer, and…, and Spiderman (tell the three or four different kind of stickers that you have to share), but even though they’re different kinds, they’re still all stickers! That doesn’t change just because one is Dora and another is Superman. They’re still all stickers.

And that reminds me of our Bible story. It’s talking about gifts from the Holy Spirit. It says there are all kinds of gifts. Kind of like I have all these different kinds of stickers. But, they are still all from the same Spirit! So even though some people get one gift and another person gets another gift, they all receive their gifts from the same Spirit.

To help you remember that we’re all given gifts from the same Spirit, I want to give you a sticker to take home. It will remind you that the Holy Spirit gives each of us different gifts but they all come from the same Spirit.

Before we get our stickers, let’s pray: God, thanks for giving us amazing gifts through the same Holy Spirit. Help us to use our gifts to serve you. Amen.