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Choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• What's Your Gift to Jesus? by Rev. Joe Hadley (see below)

• Jesus in Unexpected Places, by Janey Roth (scroll down)

• Angels We Have Heard On High, Luke 1:39-55
  by Rev. F. Schaefer  (scroll down)

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What's Your Gift to Jesus?
a Christmas children's sermon
by Rev. Joe Hadley

Find a small, shallow box with a lid that can be removed. Wrap the lid like a Christmas present complete with a "To" and "From" tag. On the part where it says "To" write "Jesus." On the "From" part, write the words "All of us." To the inside of the bottom section, tape a small mirror. Then put the two parts together, so it looks like a wrapped present.

Tell the children, "This is the time of year that we are busy getting and giving presents to each other, but did you know that some Wise Men once gave Jesus some very expensive gifts? (Tell the story briefly and let them know this is the beginning of our custom of gift giving.) Then, ask, "What do you suppose Jesus wants from us this Christmas? Look in this box, and you'll see what Jesus wants for Christmas." Then let the children look inside at the mirror, one at a time.

Hint: You might want to control this by holding onto the box and sliding the lid off yourself. Also, tell them not to tell the "secret" about what's inside until everyone has had a chance to see.

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Jesus in Unexpected Places
a Christmas Eve children's sermon
by Janey Roth

SUPPLIES: A soft baby blanket, a baby cap, a handful of hay or straw, a piece of burlap cloth.

This morning I want to talk to you about newborns. Today, when a baby is born, his or her mommy goes to a nice, clean, warm hospital where there are doctors and nurses to care for her and her new baby. She and the baby sleep on soft beds covered with soft sheets like this. The nurses wrap the little baby in a soft blanket to keep it warm. They even put a little cap on it’s head to help the baby stay warm and cozy.

Let’s think for a moment of what it was like the night that Baby Jesus was born. Mary didn’t have a hospital to go to. She didn’t even have a bed to sleep in. All she probably had were a few blankets to lay on the hay. Have you ever felt of hay? Is it soft or hard? Is it comfortable? Would you want to sleep on it? Mary had her baby, Baby Jesus, and laid him in a manger, not in a crib. There wasn’t a soft mattress for the baby to sleep on. It says in the Bible that she wrapped him in bands of cloth. Do you think it was soft like this blanket? Probably not. It was probably more like this. Is this soft?

Is this the way you would expect a king to be born? Sleeping on hay? Wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger? No, it isn’t. But it was. Christ was found in the most unexpected place. He was found where no one would have expected a King to be. I think it’s still like that today. I think that we can find Christ in the most unexpected places. We can search for him in big fancy cathedrals, we can search for him in palaces, we can search all of the finest places you could imagine. Do you know where we can find him? We find him down at We Care, where people are passing out gifts to those that don’t have any. We find him in the hospitals and nursing homes where people are being cared for. We find Christ at school when we play nicely with our friends. We can find him in our own home, when we close our eyes and pray together. We can find Christ’s presence in all of the goodness, kindness and love that is shown throughout the world.

Today, I want you to think of one kind thing you can do for someone. It may be as simple as giving someone a hug. And when you do this thing, you’ll feel good about it, and I want you to know, that Christ is with you.

 

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Angels We Have Heard On High
A children's sermon based on Luke 1:39-55
by Rev. F. Schaefer

Props:  angel figure from a manger scene

Today, I brought a piece of my nativity scene (introduce your angel figure by having it fly in from over your head).  No guesses needed here.   That's right, I got Mr. Herald Angel here.  Who of you has a manger scene at home?    Is yours under the Christmas tree?  You know, some manger scenes don't come with an angel any longer; do you remember if your manger scene--if you have one--has an angel?

Well, I'm glad that mine does, because I think that the angels are very important in the Christmas story.  Maybe you can help me remember some of the angels in the Christmas story?  OK, let's see, we have three shepherds, a sheep, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, three wise men, a cow and a donkey. Who of them talked to an angel in the story? (Encourage their answers, if no answer, start prompting)...the sheep?  Did the sheep talk to an angel? (shake your head slightly to encourage the no answer) What about the shepherds?  Yes, that's how they knew about Jesus. 

The angel told them (hold up your angel).  What about Joseph?  Yes, an angel told Joseph that Mary was supposed to have baby Jesus.  He told him to take care of Mary and baby Jesus (and, of course, an angel told him in a dream to flee to Egypt later).   What about Mary?   Yes, you're right, Mary had a vision of an angel too.   The angel told her that she would have a baby.  He told her that she should name him Jesus, and that Jesus was a very special child--that he was going to be the Savior of the whole world, that he was going to show people a new way to God.

You see already, why I think that angels are important in the Christmas story.    They were very involved in it.  In fact, it looks like the angels were working overtime on that first Christmas.  Who of you would like to meet a real angel some day?  I wonder what that would be like.  Do you suppose that you'd be a little frightened when all of a sudden an angel pops up right in front of you--out of nowhere?  Well, Mary was a little frightened at first, but then the angel said: "Don't be afraid, Mary, I bring good news."  Angels are nice.  They are God's helpers.   What do you think, should we say thank you to God this morning for angels?   OK. let's bow our heads for prayer:

Prayer:  Thank you, God, for sending your helpers, the angels, to Mary and Joseph and the shepherds.  Without their help there may not be a Christmas to celebrate.    Thank you God for sending angels to watch over us, too.  Help us not to forget your angels this Christmas.  Amen.