Category Archives: Church

Easter 7C

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Day: Easter 7C

Lectionary Passage: John 17:20-26

Scripture Focus: John 17:20-21

Object: Paper Chain People

Preparation: You will need scissors and a piece of butcher paper. First, fold paper accordion-fashion so that all sections are equal. The number of folds determines the number of people in the chain. Then on the top section, draw a person whose hands extend the folds of the paper. Third, carefully cut around your person. Finally, open out the paper and reveal your paper chain people. TIP: Don’t try to fold the large paper while you’re talking with the kids. Instead, have the paper folds done in advance and just make the cuts to create the people chain.

(Begin making the paper chain people) I don’t know about you, but one of the things I love most about coming to church is that I get to see some friends. And you know we’re not just friends because we like the same tv shows or cheer for the same teams or play the same games. Even though that stuff is cool, we’re friends because of something even greater. We’re friends because we all love Jesus.

In our Bible story for today, Jesus says that he wants us all to be one. I think that means that Jesus wants everyone who loves him to be stuck together with other people who love him (reveal paper chain people). By sticking together, we are one. So together we can learn about following Jesus, we can teach others about Jesus, and we do a lot of other cool stuff that we couldn’t do on our own. So, I’m glad that we are one big group all stuck together!

Let’s pray: God, thank you for sticking us together so that we can all grow closer to you through Jesus. Amen.

Epiphany 3C

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Day: Epiphany 3C

Lectionary Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Scripture Focus: 1 Corinthians 12:12

Object: None

In our Bible story today, Paul tells us about the Body of Christ. He says that the church is like a Body. It has lots of different parts, but all of them are important.

Let’s think about that: We’ve all got eyes so we can see. We’ve got mouths so we can talk. Ears to hear with. Legs to walk around on. Those are all different parts of the body and each one has a special purpose! Can you imagine if you didn’t have eyes? You wouldn’t be able to see. And if you replaced your ears with extra legs you wouldn’t be able to ear… and you would look really weird with legs growing out of your head! Or what if we were all ears! We could hear really good, but we wouldn’t be able to do anything else. Each part of our body is important and without a part we just wouldn’t work right.

The same thing is true in the church. We have different people who do different things. We’ve got teachers, preachers, singers, helpers, cooks… all kinds of people! And that’s a good thing because it takes all different kinds of people working together to make the church work right.

Let’s pray: God, thank you for giving us so many different people in the church. Help us to always work 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 2B

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Day: Easter 2B

Lectionary Passage: Acts 4:32-35

Scripture Focus: Acts 4:32

Object: Candy (or stickers) to share

Good morning boys and girls! I’ve brought this gigantic bowl of candy with me this morning. I love candy. Raise your hand if you like candy (let the kids raise their hands). You do?! Well. I bet you are wondering if I will share with you… hmmm… hmmm… of course I will share with you! It’s good to share with others.

In fact, in our Bible story for today, we learn that the very first believers in the early church shared everything they had. They didn’t just share candy, they shared everything!! They were so good at sharing what they had that there wasn’t a needy person among them. Because everyone shared, everyone had what was needed. If we ask, God will help us become great at sharing, too. And the more we practice sharing, the better we become at it! So, I want us to remember to share with others.

Let’s pray: God, help us to share all the gifts you have given us. Amen.

All Saints Sunday

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Day: All Saints Sunday

Lectionary Passage: Revelation 7:9-17

Scripture Focus: Revelation 7:13-14

Object: Secret Message and Decoder

Preparation: You will need to print out and prepare the secret code maker/breaker. Then, prepare this message: 19/12/15/2  Click Here for Secret Code Maker

I’m so glad you are all here this morning because I have a secret message that we’ve got to figure out! (Show the kids the secret message 19/12/15/2) Luckily, I’ve brought a decoder with me. You see all I have to do is line up the numbers and the letters. Now, let’s crack the code and find out what 19/12/15/2 really means! Okay, “19” is for “H”. Let’s see, “12” is for “O.” “15” is for “L.” And “2” is for “Y.” What does that spell? HOLY.

In the Bible, God tells us to be holy. But it’s not always easy to figure out what that means. Thankfully God gave us these really great people called saints to help us crack the holiness code. Saints are people in the church who help us grow up and become strong in our faith and love for God. They can be people like our Sunday school teachers, our pastors, our parents, or even our friends. Saints are people who set good examples for others to follow. And they help us to figure out what it means to be holy. Because sometimes that can be as tough as breaking a code!

Let’s pray: Thank you God for giving us great saints to be examples of living the way of Jesus Christ. Help us to follow in their footsteps. 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 11A

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Day: Pentecost 11

Lectionary Passage: Psalm 105:1-6 23-26 45c

Scripture Focus: Psalm 105:2

Object: None

I bet you’ve noticed that in worship we do a lot of singing. Every Sunday we sing songs together. Have you ever wondered why we do that? Well, the answer is pretty simple. Do you want to know? Okay, I’ll tell you. We sing songs in church because the Bible tells us to!

It says that we should sing praises to God and tell of all God’s wonderful works. So, whenever we get together for worship, we sing songs about God to God. And, you know what? No matter what, we can all sing to God. Even if you’re not the best singer, God made your voice and wants to hear it! So, remember to sing songs to God and sing them loudly!!

Let’s pray: God thank you for giving each of us a special voice to sing praises to you. Help us to sing loudly in church because we are singing to you. Amen.

 

Special Installment: First Sunday of New Appointment

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Special: First Sunday of Appointment

Scripture Focus: John 20:19b

Object: None

Preparation: The goal of this sermon is to introduce yourself to the children, but you also have the opportunity to do two things in the process.  You will need to prepare by thinking through these two points. First, it’s a great time to establish how you would like the children to address you. For instance, do you want to be called Brother/Sister Name or Pastor Name or something else? Second, you can opt to teach the children a fun greeting to use whenever you see each other, like a fist bump or a high five. As pastors, it is important to be mindful of safe interactions with kids and that hugging is not always appropriate. This way, you have established a fun and healthy alternative greeting.

Note: United Methodist pastors move -  a lot. For most adults, changing pastors is part and parcel of being United Methodists, but to many children this means losing the only pastor they can remember. Little People Big Word wants to help with this transition with a kid-friendly  introduction to the new pastor.

Good morning everyone! My name is (clearly tell the children your name just as you want them to call you) and I’m your new pastor. I am so excited to be here. And I just wanted to take this time to say a special hello to you guys. Sooo… hello (be sure to smile!).

You know, there are all kinds of ways to say hello to people. In the south we/they say “Hey Y’all!” If you’re a business person, you might shake hands like this… (pick a child to shake hands with…) mind if I shake your hand? In our Bible story, Jesus says hello to the disciples in a really special way. He says “Peace be with you.” And we do that in the church, too, whenever we Pass the Peace. We say hello to one another by hugging or shaking hands and saying “Peace of Christ.” There are so many different ways to say hello!

I thought it would be cool if we had our very own special way to greet each other. Just something special we can do when we see each other. Let’s do this (reveal your special way of greeting: fist bump or high five or whatever). Let’s practice that(pick a child to practice with), will you practice with me? (let the child answer) Great! What’s your name? (let the child tell you his/her name) So, whenever we see each other, I’ll say, “Hi Name” and you’ll say “Hi Title Name” and we will (fist bump or high five or whatever). Now we have our very own special way to say hello! I can’t wait to learn all your names and get to know you better. I’m really glad to be your new pastor.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for bringing us together. Help us become good friends. 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.

Epiphany 8A

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Day: Epiphany 8

Lectionary Passage: Matthew 6:24-34

Scripture Focus: Matthew 6:30-33

Object: None

Note: This sermon draws attention to how children dress for church. Be sure to compliment every style and be positive and reassuring that any kind of clothing is acceptable to God.

Good morning everyone! My oh my, doesn’t everyone look very nice today! I love to see all the pretty dresses and the sharp looking sweaters, and don’t you look stylin’ in your jeans, and I bet you are nice and comfy in your sneakers — not like me in this silly dress shoes. As much as I love that all of you look so nice, you know what? It wouldn’t bother me one bit if you came to church in clothes that weren’t so nice. You see, we’ve got this idea in our heads that you’ve got to wear certain clothes to church, but that’s not true at all!

Our Bible story for today tells us that we don’t have to worry about clothes at all! God doesn’t care what clothes we wear and neither should we. It doesn’t matter if we have fancy dresses or expensive jeans or the most fashionable stuff. Clothes aren’t important. What’s important is God. Especially when it comes to church! We shouldn’t worry about clothes especially if it gets in the way of coming to church and learning more about God. God and the things Jesus teaches us are way more important than clothes.

Let’s pray: God help us remember that it doesn’t matter how we dress just that we show up to church to learn more about you. Amen.