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Children's Sermons Following The Lectionary
CHILDREN'S SERMONS FOLLOWING THE LECTIONARY is available free to your Email inbox. They can be sent along with THE McGREGOR PAGE with which it coordinates. To subscribe, unsubscribe or make changes go to http://intenex.net/lists/listinfo/mcgregorpage
CURRENT CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE
(updated May 4, 2008)
--Pentecost 2 – (May 25, 2008)
--Trinity Sunday – (May 18, 2008)
--Pentecost – (May 11, 2008)
--Links
Children's Sermon to go with McGregor Page 610
Pentecost 2 (May 25, 2008)
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Psalm 131
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34
I want to tell you a story about a boy named Fozzle. Now Fozzle liked to talk to God. When the sun came up in the morning, Fozzle looked out the window and said, "Good morning, God. Thanks for the big sun." He went over to the fish tank on his desk and said, "Look, God, all my fish are still alive. Thanks."
Everyone was in a hurry at breakfast. His big sister grabbed a Pop Tart and was out the door. He sat down at the table, poured dry cereal into his bowl and said, "Thank you, God, for Fruit Loops."
When he got up from the table, he went to the refrigerator, got the squeeze bottle of chocolate and carefully squeezed chocolate syrup into a small medicine bottle to take to school with him so he could put it in his milk at lunch. He put it in his pocket and went to school. He forgot about it until recess when, out on the playground, he felt something running down his leg. He looked at his pants and saw brown spots from the syrup oozing through. "Oh," he said to God, "I hope nobody laughs at me. What will I do?" God helped him not cry. Instead, he went in the rest room and cleaned up pretty well.
During the afternoon recess, he got bumped in the nose, and it started to bleed. "Help," he said to God, "What will I do?" He had had nosebleeds before. Some were hard to stop. His mother would fold up a piece of paper until it would fit under his upper lip and stuff it up there until his lip bulged out under his nose. She would put cold wash cloths on the back of his neck and cotton up his nose and a pie pan in his hand to catch the blood that got through. The bad nose bleeds scared Fozzle. He thought all his blood was running out and he would die. "I don't want to die," he would say to God. "Help me."
That afternoon on the playground, Fozzle got scared holding his nose with blood on his hands, and said to God, "Help me go home." Fozzle ran off the playground and across the street. He stopped and asked a man if he were headed toward Elm Street. The man said, "Yes." And, he ran on. When he got home, his mother said, "Fozzle!" And she cleaned the blood off his face and hands with a wet cloth. His nose had stopped bleeding. "We'll have to call the school and tell them you are all right," she said. "You should have gone back into the school to the nurse."
"We don't have a nurse any more," Fozzle said.
"Oh, that's right," said his mother. “Well let's say a prayer first."
They stopped and said a prayer together like this: "Dear God, thank you for watching over Fozzle across all those streets." And Fozzle said, "And thank you for stopping my nose bleed. I was really scared. Amen."
Children's Sermon to go with McGregor Page 609
Trinity Sunday (May 18, 2008)
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20
I want to tell you a story about a girl named Zoreda. She was outside with her father in the front yard watching him put poison on the sidewalk where ants were coming up. She decided to help by stomping on some ants, but they were fast so one would run up on her shoe while she was stomping with the other foot. Then she would jump up and down to get the ants off her feet. Finally her daddy picked her up with one arm and brushed off the ants with his free hand. He put her down in the grass away from the ants and finished his work. Zoreda waited patiently far away from the ants. On the way back into the house, she asked her daddy, "Why are there so many ants?"
"I guess because God wants lots of ants," said her father.
"If God wants lots of ants, why do you poison them?" asked Zoreda.
"Because Mommy doesn't want lots of ants," her father answered.
“Why?” said Zoreda.
“Because Mommy doesn’t want them biting you, and God doesn’t want them biting you either.
That night, when Zoreda and her parents were getting ready for prayers, Zoreda said, "How do you know what God wants?"
"How do you know anyone, Zoreda?" said her mother. "You know people by what they say and what they do."
"And how they look, you know people by how they look," said Zoreda.
"Yes," said her mother, "but you wouldn't know much about a person if you didn't know what they said or what they did. What if Button never moved? (Button was the name of Zoreda’s cat.) What if she were just like a stuffed toy? What if she went 'bow-wow' instead of 'meow'? Would you still think she was your cat?"
"Zoreda," said her father, "we know God because we know what Jesus said, and we know what Jesus did. We don't know what God looks like but we know God by what God says and does."
"Oh," said Zoreda, "is that why you read Bible stories to me, so I'll know what God is like?"
"After you have heard bunches and bunches of stories about Jesus, you know what God is like," said her mother.
"I already know about Jesus," said Zoreda.
"Good, then you can pick out a Bible story for us to read tonight," said her father. And she did. When they were finished, they said a prayer like this: Dear God, thank you for letting us know you. We know you by looking at all the things you have made. We know you because we know Jesus. And we know you because you are listening to this prayer. Amen.
Children's Sermon to go with McGregor Page 608
Pentecost (May 11, 2008)
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 7:37-39
I want to tell you a story about a boy named Hornbeek. Hornbeek was lying in his bed after a nice bath getting ready to go to sleep. His mommy and daddy were seated on the bed beside him. They were talking about things that had happened that day. Hornbeek's daddy asked him, "Did you play with the new boy next door, today?"
"No, he's weird," said Hornbeek.
"What do you mean?" asked his father.
"He talks funny." said Hornbeek trying to copy the way the new boy talked. Hornbeek made himself laugh, but his parents didn't laugh.
"I think the boy has trouble starting words," said his Mother, "but if you wait for him, he can say anything anyone else can say. You just have to wait for him."
"I still think he's weird," said Hornbeek.
"Well," said his father, "God gives different gifts to different people. You learn soccer fast, but you learn piano slowly. You start words quickly, but he starts words slowly. Starting words is not one of his gifts. Do you know what gifts God has given him?"
"No, I didn't think about it," said Hornnbeek.
"When you think someone is weird, you aren't looking for the gifts God has given them, so you won't find them," said his mother. "Tomorrow, you can find out one of his gifts. Maybe he is good at a game."
"Maybe he can play marbles," Hornbeek said.
"Remember in Church the story of Pentecost where God gave something to each of the disciples that made their faces light up, gave each one something wonderful?" asked his father.
"Yes!" said Hornbeek. "They all caught on fire."
"The Bible doesn't say they caught on fire," said his mother. It says there was something like fire on their heads. Maybe it was like fire because it was a bright light."
"Maybe it was like fire because it warmed their hearts," said his father. "We do know that God gave them the gift to love one another, and God has given you that gift too, Hornbeek. God has given you the gift of playing nicely with the boy next door."
Hornnbeek had never thought about that. He'd thought about other gifts from God but never the gift of playing happily with the boy next door. So, he thought about that. But first they said a prayer like this:
“Dear God, thank you for giving us the gift of loving you and loving each other. Help us play happily with others. Amen”
Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Click on the McGregor Page link below for a sermon starter essay to go with this Children's Sermon.
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