| Linda Carroll |
| September 2007 - Children's Sermon |
| Luke 15:1-10 and 1 Timothy 1:12-17 |
Preparation: One baggie of 10 pennies for each child. Prepare at least 11 (have adults participate if necessary). One small bag of M&Ms for each child. Collection plate, remove velvet cushion so that pennies can be heard.
What makes you happy? What do you do when you’re happy? Birthdays, graduations and weddings are happy events. Usually a party is given to celebrate. Isn't that interesting--we're so happy about the birthday that we give. In the gospel reading today, Jesus talked about two people who were so happy that they called together their family and friends. I’m sure that they gave a party for them to celebrate. Again, we have people who are so happy that they give.
When you think about church, what makes you happy here? [music, friends, cookies] What makes you happy about being a Christian? I think if we all thought about it for awhile, everyone of us would come up with what St. Paul said in his letter to Timothy that we just heard. St. Paul said that he is so grateful that even though he was the biggest sinner in the whole-wide world, Jesus still came to save him. Do you know what St. Paul did because he was so happy? He spent the rest of his life teaching others about Jesus. He gave his time, talent and treasure traveling and teaching.
So what should we do because we are so happy that Jesus came to save us and because we love this church? We can give in some way. In church, we talk about giving our time, talent and treasure. Can you give me an example of giving time and talent? [building repair, music, food preparation, count money, computer skills, art, acolyte, teaching, leadership] [outside church -feed, clothe, shelter] How can you give your time and talent? [music, acolyte, picking up the nursery, ushering, Christmas pageant, helping your parents to their giving] The older you get, the more you will have opportunities to give.
How can you give your treasure? We’re talking about money. During each service, the ushers pass the collection plate so that we can give a portion of our treasure. Deciding how much to give can be a very hard decision to make. In the bible, God told his people to give one tenth of all they had. That’s called a tithe. Let’s practice that. Here are bags of 10 pennies. [Hand out baggies of pennies] How many pennies is one tenth of ten pennies? Let’s all give one tenth. [pass collection plate] Do you have a lot leftover? Look how much the church has! The church has more than any one of us could have given alone. How do you feel about giving your tithe? St. Paul also wrote, “God loves a cheerful giver.” Let’s start over. [Give back penny]
You each have 10 pennies. [Show candy] I have bags of M&Ms. I will sell one bag to you for 10 pennies. [wait for responses] But wait, here’s the collection plate coming around. [respond according to action—give or not give. “Is it harder to think about giving up that penny?” “You don’t have enough to buy the candy now. How do you feel?”] I do (or don’t) feel the cheer!
St. Paul also wrote that we should give what we feel in our hearts is right to give. I feel my heart is telling me to give that one-tenth that God talked about near the beginning of the bible. Those of you who know me, know that I don’t like to spend money unless it is on something very important and something that I love very much. I love this church and its work is important, and I love that even though I am the biggest sinner in the whole-wide world, Jesus came to save me. Each of us needs to remember our happiness and gratefulness for the love and sacrifice of Jesus and the work of this church. From that happiness, we should cheerfully give our time, talent and treasure.
You all can each have the candy and the ten pennies to remember this lesson. But also remember, that the collection plate will be coming around very soon.