| Linda Carroll |
| May 2007 - Children's Sermon |
| Acts 16 |
Preparation: Trick cards (one for each child); practice doing card tricks. 1-2 personal miracle stories with any appropriate visuals. I’ve included mine in the text of this sermon.
[Do magic trick] What I did for you was just a trick. I didn’t really [do whatever it looked like]. I just fooled you.
In today’s bible story, we heard about something that sounded like magic but it was real. God, has real power. He does not do magic. He does miracles. He did a really cool miracle in today’s story. The story begins after Jesus had ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit had been sent to help people say and do the wonderful things that Jesus did. Paul and Silas were out doing God’s work when they made some people angry. The authorities put Paul and Silas in jail and locked chains around their feet. Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God. Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
Where do you think Paul was? He was still there. Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." When the jailer saw that they were all there, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and asked to become a Christian.
What was the miracle in that story? [The earthquake.] That was no magic trick. That was the power of God. Can you think of any other miracles in the Bible? [Possible answers: Noah; Red Sea; Daniel in the Lion’s Den; Three guys in the fiery furnace; Jesus healing, raising, feeding.]
We can experience miracles today. In today’s bulletin prayer list, you will see “Mary”. That’s my sister. Over a year ago, Mary was diagnosed with a disease that would probably kill her if it was not treated. There is one treatment but it doesn’t work for everyone. It is a yearlong treatment and can cause the patient to feel even sicker. Before the treatment, the doctor tested Mary to see how much virus was in her. The number was larger than this [hold up sign with “10,000” on it]. After 12 weeks of treatment, the doctor re-tested her. If the number was just a wee bit smaller, then we would know that the treatment should work. If the number was the same or larger, then there was no need to continue the treatment. The doctor hoped the number would be smaller like [hold up sign with “9000” on it]. The number was [hold up sign with “5” on it]. The doctor and everyone were amazed and thrilled. The treatment is now over and Mary’s virus count is zero. She’ll continue to be tested for a year. If the virus is still zero, we can say that she is cured.
Our family has had another miracle, my niece, Maddie. My niece, Maddie, has in her baby book our church bulletin from before she was born. That’s because her name was on the prayer list. She was due to be born in Sept. of 2005 but in May of that year, her parents were told that Maddie would be born with extraordinary needs. She would be very sick.
Two months earlier Maddie’s brother and parents had moved to Columbus, OH, from Houston, TX nearly one thousand miles away from friends and family. Her parents wondered why this diagnosis had to come so soon after moving from their support network. More on that later.
On Sept. 19, 2005. Madeline Grace was born kicking and screaming, and for Maddie’s parents all fears quickly passed to love and joy at seeing their beautiful daughter. That feeling was short-lived, however, because that night a doctor came to tell them they were transporting Maddie to Children’s Hospital because her heart wasn’t beating properly.
At the children’s hospital, they got additional scary news. Maddie had 2 holes in her heart, which caused her aorta to only be 1/10 the size it should have been. This meant extensive open heart surgery had to be performed. Ten days after her birth, Maddie had her sternum cracked, heart repaired, and aorta enlarged. [show picture]
The next week brought more terrifying news. Something was not right with Maddie’s digestive system, so the doctors did surgery to see what was happening inside her. This surgery revealed that nearly all of Maddie’s small intestine was dead or severely infected. Rather than remove any of it, they placed her on extremely aggressive antibiotic treatments and decided to look again in 2 days. Though Maddie’s parents didn’t know it at the time, the chances of Maddie’s survival from this infection were slim. The surgeon was able to save about ¼ of her small intestine. When the doctor emerged from surgery, she told Maddie’s parents that Maddie’s Guardian Angel must have been with her to make it through her third incredibly serious surgery in less than two weeks. If Maddie survived, they were told the recovery would be very long and slow, and her stay in the hospital would most likely be about a year.
The months passed slowly, but Maddie continued to progress and really impressed her doctors and nurses. In her short life, Maddie has had over 12 surgeries, involving the brain, eye and skin. In her ordeal she has earned several nicknames from doctors and nurses, including “Miraculous Maddie” and “The Divine Ms. M.” In June, 2006, she was even awarded a Children’s Miracle Network Medal.
Back to the reason for the move to Ohio. Maddie’s parents didn’t know why the best job moved them so far from friends and family, but now they understand God’s plan. Maddie’s parents nearly moved to Pascagoula, MS instead of Ohio, which was very hard hit by Hurricane Katrina less than 2 weeks before Maddie’s birth. The hospital there could not have helped Maddie. Had they stayed in Houston, Texas, the Children’s Hospital was full with victims of the Katrina disaster, and may not have had the space to admit her. Maddie’s parents believe that had they been any place other than Columbus, Ohio, Maddie might not be with us.
Today Madeline Grace, who the doctors said was missing part of her brain and might never eat, see, or walk, is a very happy 18 month old toddler who can almost do everything “ordinary” children her age can do. [show picture]
I love the stories of Mary and Maddie, Paul and Silas, and all those other miracle stories. These stories show the amazing power of God who loves us very much.
We all have had times when God did not send that miracle that we had earnestly prayed for. I cannot explain why. I can tell you that at those times I’m sad and angry with God. What I do is take a deep breathe and say, “God, I trust you.” The miracle then becomes how God helps the rest of us cope with a deep and painful loss.
I have a deck of magic cards for each of you to take home. You will learn how to do the magic trick but you will not gain any special power. When you perform your trick for your family and friends, I want you to remember that it is God who has real power. Magic is a trick invented by people. Miracles are real and they’re from the power of God.