How We Know Who Jesus Is

I post these Children’s Sermons to inspire other Children’s Ministers with ideas for their work.

Text: I John 5: 14-21

How We Know Who Jesus Is: The Letters/Word  from God

Do any of you kids know what these are? Hold up a stack of letters.

Yes, they are letters. When I was a kid, if you lived out of town and wanted to send a message to your grandmother or your friend at camp, you….wrote a letter. You had stationary or a postcard; you needed a pen; you needed to know the address so the letter would go to the correct place, and you needed a stamp.

In other words, it took time and thought, and you didn’t just do this to say hi. You usually asked the person how they were, told them you missed them, and told them what you were doing.

And if you were really fortunate, you received letters too. And if you were very fond of the person, you kept their letters

This stack is from my best friend Cheri, whom I met in high school. We wrote letters back and forth when we went away to college. She went to school in Kansas,

This is a stack of letters from my Dad to me at college…

This is a stack from my grandmother…

All these letters are about 40 years old. My best friend Cheri has passed away, as has my dad and my grandparents. But I remember them so well. They were in my life. I hugged them. I have their letters written in their handwriting with their own words. They are not going away. What happens if I begin to forget them—which could happen if my memory goes bad? I have their letters. What do I do when I’m really sad that they are gone? I might read some letters.

The set of letters from my dad is really special. There were times when I was younger that I wondered why my parents got divorced. When my dad left our home, three of my relatives said my dad was a bad person. He didn’t really love us kids.  It took me a long while to learn that this was not true, and later, I knew this was an outright lie. As I spent more time with my dad and became an adult, I figured this out. I learned that he was asked to take an important job in Chile in South America, but he turned it down because he couldn’t see us if he lived there. When he turned that job down, he lost the job he had.

I found that my dad really cared for me. Whenever I was sick he would call me each and every morning to see how I was doing. And he was the only one who could talk me into not going to work if I felt sick.

And one of the best proofs of his love for me is in his letters. In his handwriting, in his own words.

That’s the way it is with the book of I John. John is writing repeatedly that we can KNOW that Jesus loves us. John was a first-hand eyewitness. He was there. John was Jesus’ friend. He saw him do miracles. He asked Jesus hard questions. He was there when Jesus died. He was the first man to realize that Jesus had risen from the dead.

But there were people around when John was alive who were saying that Jesus wasn’t God. That He had not died and risen again. They were telling lies. John wrote this book so that you and I would KNOW, that we would be  CONFIDENT or SURE that Jesus is God’s Son. That we have eternal life with him. We do not need to be tricked and believe these lies.

I want to encourage you to use your printed Bible, not the one on your phone or laptop, and read and re-read God’s word. Remember, it is God’s letter to you and me telling us the entire story of God. Mark it up with a reminder about how He loves you and how you know you have eternal life. Touch the real thing. Bring your actual Bible to church and write what you learn in Sunday School or church in the margins. Teach yourself and remind yourself of God’s love and will for you by reading the real book, the real letter, so to speak. Let’s pray.

Thank you for the gift of your Word, Lord. Thank you for giving us this love letter of how you love us so much you sent Jesus to save us from our sin. And you want us not just to hope this is true or wish it is true. You want us to KNOW that it is true. Help each of us to love your Word and to read it over and over, reminding us of your unchanging love for us.

T

When Following God Costs your Reputation

I post these Children’s Sermons to inspire other Children’s Ministers with ideas for their work.

Text: Matthew 1: 18-25

What’s your reputation? Everyone has a reputation. It’s what folks think about you. He’s a hard worker. She is a wonderful cook. He really cares for his grandmother. Things like that.

I bet a few of you cringed when you saw this picture. It’s true most of us don’t like snakes. Most of us give snakes a bad reputation. We think they are bad, so we do not want to consider that we are wrong. When you work in the garden, they can slither out from some bushes and frighten you. When that happened to me, I screamed, left all my garden tools on the ground, and ran inside. I don’t get up the nerve to return to the garden until the next day.

It’s too bad that snakes have this scary, dangerous, fearful reputation. They don’t all deserve it. Sadly, some people kill them because of their fear of snakes. Just because the snake is a snake. As scared as you are of them, they are more scared of you. They’ll be running the other way too.

The black snake is common in our state. And we need black snakes. Don’t ever kill one. Farmers need black snakes because they eat the rodents that devastate their crops. We need snakes to eat mice that carry disease. So while snakes have bad reputations, the truth is that most are quite good. It is you and I that need to rethink the false reputation that we have given them.

Then there are spiders. Most of us don’t like spiders. We’re scared they will bite us. They look creepy. We have given spiders a bad reputation. But actually many spiders are good and we need them. If you find a spider in your home it is actually eating mosquitoes, cockroaches, and moths that eat clothing. Instead of killing a spider in your house, leave it alone, or carefully capture it with a jar and set it free to work outdoors. So while spiders have bad reputations, the truth is they are quite good. It is you and I that need to rethink the false reputation that we have given spiders.

In today’s sermon we will learn about Mary and Joseph. They began their lives with good reputations. Today, I’ll tell you about Joseph. Joseph was engaged to marry Mary. He loved her so much. She loved him, too. I imagine they were so excited to be married. But then Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant. He was shocked. He was upset. He knew he was not the father of Mary’s baby growing inside her. If he wasn’t the father, that meant only one thing. Mary must have cheated on him. She must have been with another man. What was Joseph to do!

First, he knew he couldn’t marry her. The fact that this had happened meant he couldn’t trust her. She had a ruined reputation. How would he ever be able to know if she was telling the truth? If she had really loved him, this wouldn’t have happened. He was devastated. And while the custom in those days might be to have Mary publicly shamed and even killed, Joseph couldn’t do that. He still cared about her. So Joseph decided to end their plans to be married quietly.

But you know what God did.? He sent an angel to visit Joseph in a dream. The angel told him that Mary was pregnant with God’s Son, through the Holy Spirit. He told Joseph to go ahead and marry her.

Joseph had to decide if he would believe God and possibly risk what others thought of him, and his reputation. He would have to risk that people thought that he and Mary hadn’t waited until they were married to get pregnant. They would be put to shame because of that. Perhaps that would even cost Joseph some of his business. But Joseph obeyed God and married Mary.

Sometimes, when you follow God, it can cost your reputation. That’s a hard thing to think about, isn’t it? Sometimes, God calls you and me to give up what people think about us and do what He tells us to do. It can be costly. Let’s pray.

Dear God, Thank you that Mary and Joseph obeyed you when it was so very hard to be put to shame. Thank you for telling us this Bible story to remind us that following often means giving up our reputation. It can mean being teased because we believe in you or tell others about you. It can mean being laughed at because we won’t make fun of someone whom everyone else likes to tease. Help us to love you more than what people think about us. In Jesus name, Amen

Sanctification: What it Looks Like for Kids

I post these Children’s Sermons to inspire other Children’s Ministers with ideas for their work.

See that long word? Sanctification.

The idea for the story I will tell comes from a sermon that Robert Munger preached many years ago. It was called My Heart God’s Home. If you listen carefully, you may see more clearly how sanctification works.

This is a similar story I wrote for us.

Julie was 9 years old. She grew up as much as you in a family whose parents loved God; She was a follower of Jesus Christ. One day, she told God, “I want to grow in my faith and be more like you.” This is what happened.

Julie was eating her after-school snack when the doorbell rang. She ran to the door, opened it, and saw Jesus standing there.

“Hello, Julie, “said Jesus. ”I came to stay with you a while.”

Julie was astounded but very happy. She welcomed Jesus into her house and took him to the kitchen, where she served him part of her snack. A banana and 2 chocolate chip cookies.

"Is there something special you want to do,” she asked.

“Nothing in particular,” Jesus replied. I just want to hang out here for a few days. What would you normally do this time of day?”

“I have to practice my piano for an hour before Mom comes home from work,” Julie sighed.

“Well then,” Jesus responded I’d love to hear you play.

While Julie pulled out her time sheet form, Jesus pulled up a chair and sat beside the bench.

Julie entered the starting time of her practice. She looked at the clock and the form and was about to note 3:30 p.m. instead of the actual time, 4:00.

“I can’t cheat on my time sheets,” Julia thought. “Jesus would certainly know.” She used her hand to cover up the entries she had made earlier that week. Monday said she had practiced for 45 min starting at 3:20. She had never been home that early. She had marked Tuesday similarly, crediting herself for 15 minutes that she hadn’t played. She felt Jesus’ eyes on her and said,

“Why don’t you get something to drink while I practice some more?” Said Julie. Jesus looked up at her and said gently, “Will you look to me to help you fill this sheet out, honestly?”

Julie thought about saying, “What are you talking about? Instead, she heard herself say, “Yes. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to lie about this.”

The next morning, Jesus accompanied her to school.

In her third class, she had a math test. She was feeling anxious and upset, worrying if she could pass. She looked at Matt’s desk and saw that he had written the answer to a problem stumping her.

“Oh,” she thought! “Of course, that’s the right answer! I was just about there figuring it out,” she told herself as she wrote the answer to the problem. She finished the test and turned it in

After class, she walked with Jesus to the cafeteria for lunch.

“How did the test go?” he asked.

“Oh great!” Julie said.

“So it was easy for you?”

Julie looked up and saw Jesus looking straight at her. Immediately, she remembered Matt’s paper.

“Oh. Oh, I did have some trouble, but then I remembered how to fix this one problem.”

She kept walking but realized Jesus was still standing where he’d been when He had asked that question. She looked into his eyes, and they were no longer glistening with excitement as they had been when she first took him to school. All of a sudden, she knew why Jesus looked that way. He knew about Matt and the right answer. She began to feel awful. So awful she didn’t want to eat lunch.

“I cheated she admitted. I looked at Matt’s paper and saw his answer.”

Jesus nodded. “Yes, I know.”

The rest of the day went about as well as it could considering that Jesus had already discovered her cheating. After school she enjoyed a nice snack with him and immediately played her piano. For some reason, the time seemed to fly, and she noticed that when she practiced the hard parts over and over, she was getting much better.

That evening, Julie took Jesus back to her room while she finished her homework Jesus said, “Something really smells bad in here.” Julie could smell it too.

"Maybe I’ll just open the window she said. Again, Jesus said, “It’s really bad in here, and I think it’s coming from under the bed.”

Julie’s face grew red, and she felt angry. “Why was Jesus so nosy?” she thought.

She didn’t want him involved in every part of her life. If there was one thing she didn’t want Jesus to see, it was the box under the bed, but she knew it wouldn’t be of any use to hide it.

She reached under the bed, grabbed the box, and brought it close to her chest.

“You know, this is mine. You don’t need to see everything I do or say.”

Jesus looked at her. It was as if he saw right through her. “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. But you were the one who prayed and asked to become more like me.”

Julie began to cry. “It’s so hard. Maybe I want to be some of each. Maybe I should not have prayed that prayer. This is not going the way I want it to.”

Jesus looked at her for a long while and then said, “I know. You cannot become more like me unless you let me help you. You don’t have the power to change yourself. But you have me with you. I want to help you.”

Julie quit holding the box so hard, and then the lid opened and out fell a necklace and a five-dollar bill. She covered her eyes and admitted,

“I found the necklace on our sidewalk. The next day after I came home from school, a note on our front door asked our family if we had seen it. I threw the note away. I didn’t want Mother to know I had the necklace. And the $5, I stole from mom’s wallet. I was mad b/c she didn’t pay me my full allowance b/c I didn’t do all my chores.”

Julie hung her head in embarrassment. Here was Jesus seeing these things.

“Would you like me to take this hiding box for you?” he asked. Julie nodded her head. “I’m so sorry I took these things.” Jesus said, “I forgive you.”

Why don’t you return the necklace and the money?”

For the first time, this idea sounded wonderful to Julie.” I can do that,” said Julie “if you help me”.

Then she added. “I’ve been thinking about that math test. If you help me I’m going to talk to my teacher about what I did.” “I think that’s a good idea,” said Jesus.

The next morning she woke up and there was a note from Jesus.

“Dear Julie, ”When you wake up I will not be here in person. I have other work to do. But you know my Spirit will be with you wherever you go. I hope you will continue to desire to follow me. Listen to my still, small voice that tells you not to act in revenge or fear or to lie. I am with you, helping you become more and more like me. Let’s pray.

Dear Father, our stories are not so different than Julie’s. We all have things we choose to say and do that we don’t want You to see. Speak to our hearts and help us to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit’s nudges so that we might be sanctified to be more like you. We cannot do this on our own, we need your help.

Better Proof than a Glass Slipper: Signs for Faith

I post these Children’s Sermons to inspire other Children’s Ministers with ideas for their work.

Text: I John 5:6-13

Remember the story of Cinderella? She was raised by a wicked stepmother who gave her all the hard and dirty household chores. She scrubbed floors, she cleaned out the fireplace. She woke up before dawn and worked late into the night. Her clothes were covered in soot and cinder. No one would guess that she was a beautiful young woman, that is, until the fairy godmother waved that magic wand, transforming her into a beautiful princess, and gave her a ticket to the magnificent ball in honor of the prince.

What a night she had! Of all the beautiful young women, the prince only wanted to dance with her! If he had seen her in her everyday life, he would never, ever have believed she was the same person!

Then the clock struck 12, and Cinderella made a mad dash before the prince saw her as she looked before. In doing so, she accidentally left her shoe behind.

But there was a problem. The prince wanted to see her again. He didn’t know where to find her. He hired investigators who knocked on all the town doors to locate the beautiful Cinderella. He gave them the only thing they had to identify her: the glass slipper. If it fit perfectly, he would know that the girl was the beautiful and enchanting Cinderella.

Every young lady wanted to be chosen by the prince, even though they each knew they were not the one with whom the prince had danced. So they pretended they were her. Those with big feet shoved their foot into the shoe and pretended it didn’t hurt. Those with little feet pretended the shoe fit fine even though they tripped when walking.

You know the end of the story. Cinderella was the only young lady in the kingdom whose foot fit the shoe. That was how the prince knew it was her. It was all the proof that he needed.

John wrote this book of 1 John so that we who have faith in Jesus as God’s Son could be sure in our faith. In our passage today John gives three signs that proved that Jesus was who he said he was and signs that they would know they were his followers. In this section, John used the word testimony. It is even a stronger, better word than sign because it means the proof was so strong it could be used in a court of law. Then he said it was the testimony of God which is greater than any testimony at all.

Our passage today contains three testimonies: One is water, One is blood and One is God’s Spirit.

Water reminds us that Jesus was baptized, and when that happened, God’s Spirit came out of the sky like a dove, and God spoke from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased. ”  This is the sign of water that John mentions in our Bible passage today.

Blood reminds us that when Jesus died blood poured out of his body. His blood was poured out to cover your sin and mine. If this hadn’t happened, our sins would not have been forgiven. We would have no reason to have faith in him.

A third testimony was the Holy Spirit. When we become a follower of Christ, his Spirit lives with us. We have the proof of God’s gift of salvation from our sin living with us. When we believe God, we believe all that He tells us about his Son and his Spirit lives inside of us.

God gave us something more valuable than a glass slipper to prove to us who He is.

I hope that all your life you will wonder with amazement how God cares for us so much that He left heaven and became a human being like us in order to bring us back to God. I hope all your life you will be amazed that Jesus obeyed God to do this—He had to leave heaven to die in our place. He had to be a human being. We have a God who loved us so much that He rescued us. He gave us Jesus. Let’s pray.

Thank you, Father God, for giving us signs to prove that you are God and that Jesus was your son who came to earth as a human while being God. You knew we would need signs or proof. Thank you for giving us your word, especially for this book I John, written by Jesus’ close friend. Continue to work in our hearts, drawing us to love you more. In Jesus’ name.. Amen.

How Do We Know What We Believe is True?

I post these Children’s Sermons to inspire other Children’s Ministers with ideas for their work.

Text: I John 4

When I was a kid the school bus stopped in front of our door. However, our house was set back from the road so you needed at least 2 minutes to get to bus stop in time. If you were still running to the bus stop the driver often kept on going because the trees in our yard blocked his view.

I was the oldest in my family. I had two scrawny brothers who made it their calling to harass me. They would often try to beat me up, banged on my bedroom door to break in my room, stuff me in a sleeping bag, or chase me around the yard with pyracantha clippings in their hands. This bush is also known as the firethorn, and it hurt a lot if one’s brother swung it at your face, arms, or legs. Did I mention that I became a very fast runner? Even though the plant has lovely orange berries, I will never ever plant one of these bushes because of those bad memories.

Back to the school bus. I planted my books by the front door the night before as part of my plan to catch the bus. But my brothers had other plans. They would stand by the door and shout, “Here comes the bus! Here comes the bus!” I would burst from the breakfast table or the bathroom, grab those books, and realize there was no bus. However, my brothers were crafty. Sometimes, they yelled, “Here comes the bus! And it was true!” Then I had to fly out the door, hoping that the bus was delayed while someone else was getting on. I couldn’t trust those brothers with the truth.

Today’s passage in I John 4 is far more serious than knowing if the bus is coming or not. But it is similar in that it’s about being tricked. It was written about 60 years after Jesus had lived on the earth. Even though that wasn’t a long time in church history, it was long enough for wicked people to spread the story that because Jesus was God, he could never have come to earth as a baby and grown up as a human like we are.

What difference did this lie make? These people still said Jesus was God, isn’t that ok? No, it makes all the difference if Jesus wasn’t human. If He wasn’t human, then he couldn’t have ever lived among the disciples as a man and taught them while living everyday life. He certainly would not have suffered the physical whippings and shaming that the Roman soldiers did to him. He could not have known what it was like to suffer and could never relate to you and me when we suffer. He certainly couldn’t have died for our sins. And he surely would not know death, nor would he ever be resurrected from the dead, proving that He had satisfied God’s demand that our sin be punished. We would have no way to be saved from our sins We would have no hope. When we died, we would be separated from God forever. So you see, a lie like this changes everything about who God is and about our relationship with him.

Even though we live 2,000 years after John wrote this book in the Bible, many lies are being told about faith in God today. This letter from John is in our Bible today because you and I will hear lies from these tricksters. Here are some of their lies:

1. Everyone is going to heaven there is no such place as hell.

2.   You can believe what you want, but be good and nice.

3.   We are almost the same as Jesus. We are sons of God like He is. He was just a good man.

I have friends who believe that everyone is going to heaven. I have friends who believe if you’re good and kind, you will be fine after you die. I have a friend who grew up being taught that there isn’t sin, pain. sickness, or death in the world. They are all an illusion, all make-believe.

You may say, well, this is good to know, but I wouldn’t be tricked by that. I agree, if we read God’s word and study it, we will always know if we are being tricked. We have God’s Spirit inside of us and we can listen to God, read his word, and ask our pastor and our parents when we have questions that make us wonder if something is true. You may even doubt what is true and what is not. As you get older, you will hear lies such as: God did not create the world, that there is no purpose for us being here, or that when you die, that’s the end. There is nothing else.

A great teacher once said, “The Bible Can Take All Comers.” That means that God’s Word can handle our doubts and questions. We are free to ask our questions because we have God’s Words and other believers to help us along the way.

I never did get wise enough to figure out if the bus was coming or not coming. Eventually my middle brother got old enough to ride that same bus with me. And he was always running behind. He should have thanked me because I always asked the driver to wait for him. But maybe not. After all, he didn’t like going to school and would have been happier to stay home. Let’s pray.

Dear Lord,

We thank You for Your Word that tells us who You are, what You’ve done for us through Your son Jesus Christ, and how, as believers, we should live. Protect us from the lies around us. Give us wisdom from your Spirit to tell the difference between lies and tricks and truth.

Thank you for placing us in a body of believers in this church to grow together, ask good questions, and find the truth in your Word. Will you help us speak this truth to our friends who are being tricked and who have been told lies? Help us to tell our friends how much you love them. You loved them so much that you sent your Son, who left heaven and became a human being who got tired and hungry, who cried and suffered pain like we often do. But more than that, He died for each of us. He gave his life so that we may have our sins forgiven and live with him forever.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Seeds with Weeds

I gave this “Children’s” Message based on I John 2:28-3:10 during our sermon series on the book of I John. I hope it will be a tool you can use to convey God’s love and desire for all of his children to be like him. God plants the seed of faith in the hearts of believers. He goes on to call all believers, those with this seed of faith implanted in their hearts, his children, readily affirming that He is our good Father.

But despite the seed of faith rooted in our hearts, we have weed seeds, sin seeds, sprouting all over our lives. What do we do about these intruders? Why does God keep calling us his children if our “seed packet” contains a seed of faith and a bunch or nasty weed seeds?

Main Idea: As believers, we have been given both the seed of faith from God our Father and a new name, his children. However, our seed of faith grows among weed seeds of sin. Even though He knows we will sin, He calls us to to confess our sin and ask him for forgiveness. He wants us to turn from our sin and live righteous lives and in doing so we will become more and more like Jesus. 

I like to grow plants. And I really like to plant the seed instead of buying the plant mostly because then I get to watch it grow. When I buy a packet of zinnia seeds, they will grow into zinnia plants. When I buy a packet of marigold seeds they will grow into marigold plants. When I buy a packet carrot seeds they will grow into carrots. If I saw a seed packet at the store that said: one zinnia seed and lots of weed seeds would I buy it? Absolutely not. That would be ridiculous! What if I found the seed for the best-tasting carrot inside a packet of ferocious weed seeds? Would I buy it? Of course not!

But guess what? God would buy that seed packet! Isn’t that strange.

John uses the word “seed” as a picture of what is inside each of God’s children. It is the seed of our faith, the seed inside of us which has been planted by God’s Spirit so that as we grow we look and act more and more like our Father God. 

Just as my zinnia seeds turn into beautiful zinnia flowers and my marigold seeds become marigold flowers, and my carrot seeds become delicious carrots, each of us who believes in Jesus has the seed of faith inside of us so that we will grow to be like our Father in Heaven.

In today’s passage from the Bible, in I John 2 and 3, God calls all of us who follow Jesus his children. And he is not speaking of just those of us who are actually young children, but our parents and grandparents and all adults who follow him. It is a great honor for God to call us his children. He didn’t have to call us that, but He wants to be our Father. We have our earthly fathers with whom we live and often look and act like. But it is even more important that we have God as our perfect Father. He will never leave us. He will never fail us. Our human parents make mistakes and sometimes do the wrong thing, but God is our perfect Father.

In God’s eyes, If you were a real seed packet it would say something like:  ___________(Name), Child of God. Plant and water and ____will become more and more like God her/his father.

Your parents have a seed packet too. It says Mr. and Mrs. ________, Children of God. As you grow you become more like God’s child you obey him. You turn away from sin in order to grow like God. So do your mother and father and all of us who are followers of Jesus. 

It is amazing to me that God, the Creator of the world, would call us his children when we do wrong things. It’s like we have the seed of faith in Jesus, but lots of weed seeds that are our sin. Why didn’t God give me the seed packet name like this:

Mrs. Fischer: A Human Being that I Created and Love:

Packet includes: One faith seed and a Lot of Weed Seeds. Will have trouble growing sometimes, will need to be weeded.

Would you buy a seed packet that had weed seeds in it? I wouldn’t buy a seed packet that had a weed seeds in it! I never, ever would. But not God. He says, “you are my child” and He buys us even though we have lots of weed seeds! In fact He still calls our seed packets: _________(Name), My Child. He knows I have weed seeds, but He still calls us his children. And He calls us his children because He wants us to live and act like him because He calls himself our Father. Wow!

What will happen with those weed seeds? God doesn’t want those weed seeds to keep sprouting. We need to hear God’s Spirit talk to us when we want to do the wrong thing. He says,“You are my child. Doing this wrong thing is not the way to live as my child. Stop growing weeds of sin.”

Instead when you sin, repent, tell God you’re sorry and turn away from your sin and live rightly. He longs for you and me to live righteously. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Let’s Pray:

Dear Jesus, You call us your children. We are amazed that we are called not only the children of our parents, but the children of the Most High God, the Creator God, the God who Died for us. Thank you for loving us so much, for wanting us so much that you have named us your children. Will you help us grow into children who live rightly? May we be quick to repent and turn from sin and return to following you. Thank you for planting the seed of faith in our hearts. We want to grow into beautiful children of yours our Father God. Amen.