| Linda Carroll |
| January 2008 - Children's Sermon |
| 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 |
Preparation: Gather: Personal Navigation System (I use TomTom). Be sure you know how to make it talk; Recording of a man saying the quotes below and something to play it on. Be able to pause between lines; a bible; candy wrapped in scripture and gift cards from a Christian bookstore. (WWJD items would also be appropriate here)
This is an unusual day for our church. Our church leaders and other Episcopal leaders in southwestern Virginia are meeting in Roanoke this weekend. They do this once a year to discuss lots of subjects. The longest discussions are the ones where people disagree. Disagreements happen in churches and that’s OK. In fact, the bible reading we just heard was about one of the first disagreements among the early Christians. It was about whom to follow. St. Paul said, “One of you says ‘I follow Paul’; another says, ‘I follow Apollos’; another says, ‘I follow Cephas’; and another ‘I follow Christ.’” (Paul, Apollos and Cephas were early Christian leaders) St. Paul points out that they were all baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. So whom should they follow? [Jesus] In whose name were you baptized? [Jesus] Whom should you follow? [Jesus] Once the early Christians realized that they were to follow Jesus, they got on with their church work. Following Jesus or doing what Jesus would do is what the folks in Roanoke are keeping in mind as they work through their disagreements.
Have you ever been lost? How did you know which way to go? In the car, have your parents ever disagreed on the right road to follow? I have a terrible sense of direction. I get turned around often and don't know which way to go. For Christmas, I received on these. [show TomTom] Do you know what it is? [Explain and press buttons to hear directions]
Two weekends ago, my daughter, Ann, and I drove to Winston-Salem, NC. We’ve been there several times, so I didn’t think I needed TomTom. I took it anyway just to try it out. We were going through the city of Greensboro when all the traffic moved to the left lane. I thought maybe we should move to the left lane, too. TomTom said, “Stay right.” I said to Ann, “Everyone else must know something we don't know. Maybe we should move to the left.” TomTom said, “Stay right.” Sure enough, TomTom was correct. The right lane got us heading towards Winston-Salem. Just down the road, a big truck was in front of us blocking our view of the road ahead. I was afraid that we’d miss the signs to Winston-Salem. I was very nervous. TomTom said, “Stay right. In 2 miles, exit right. Exit number 127” Once again, TomTom was right. It lead us safely through Greensboro to our hotel in Winston-Salem.
On the drive home, I realized that I was not as nervous as I usually am about finding my way through strange cities. I was confident that even if I took a wrong turn, TomTom would safely guide back on the correct path home. As long as I followed TomTom, I would be fine.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a TomTom not just for telling us which way to turn while driving, but for all the decisions we make each day.
Imagine it's morning and you're looking in your closet and you hear:
“Wear the red sweater” [pause]
Or you've finished your homework and you're packing up your books and you hear:
“You should study your spelling words one more time” [pause]
Or it's a cold, rainy Sunday morning and your bed is warm and cozy then you hear:
“You must worship the Lord your God” [pause] Would you get up and go to church?
Or you're outside playing when you see the annoying kid down the block coming; he always picks a fight, but you hear:
“Love your enemies” [pause]
Finally, the church is looking for volunteers and you'd rather not be bothered, but you hear:
“Preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.”
Who do you think was talking? That was a friend, but the last three lines were the very words that Jesus said.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a box that would say the words of Jesus, or God, or the Prophets or the Apostles? And it would play just when we needed them? I don’t think there is such a thing. Maybe someone could just write them down and we could read them over and over until we knew them really well. We could know them so well that the words would pop into our heads just when we need them. What do you think of such a book? [pull out bible]
In 10 days, we start a special time in the church calendar. It’s one of those purple, getting ready times. We will be getting ready for Easter. Do you know what that time is called? [Lent] In Lent, we traditionally try to give something up or do something extra to help us think about Easter. One thing I want to do is read the bible more often. I looked in some stores for something to help you all learn what's in the bible. I found candy that has a bible verse on it, but I didn't think that was enough. I didn’t know what you had at home and you’re different ages so I finally decided to give you each a gift card for a bible store. You can take your parents to the store and pick out something that is just right for you.
Remember that the bible has directions in it for how to live our lives. It’s just like the TomTom that guides me when driving. But if I don’t use the TomTom, I may make a bad decision and get lost. If I don’t use the bible, I may make a bad decision and get lost in another way. Remember that time when everyone was in the left lane and I was told to go right? Sometimes it seems that everyone is doing something that Jesus would say is wrong. You have to “go right.” And remember that time when the big truck blocked my view ahead? I had to put my faith in TomTom to lead me. Sometimes our problems can be so big that we’re not sure we can handle what’s ahead. That’s the time that we give that problem to God and trust him to show us way through. Let’s use Lent to learn more about the directions and promises in the bible. Deal?
Homework!…for parents: Talk to children about times when everyone went left and what you did. Or about a time you faced a huge problem and how you handled it. In both cases, talk about the role God played in those situations.