___________________________________________________
 

Choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• Jesus' Sunday School Lesson, Luke 24:45
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer           (see below)
   
• Believe it or Not, Luke 24:36-48
  by Randy L Quinn                   (see below)
   
• God in the Stranger,  Luke 24:13-35
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer                 (see below)

___________________________________________________

Jesus' Sunday School Lesson
based on Luke 24:45
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Luke 24:45: "Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,..."

How many of you are in school already?  What do you do in school? Why do we go to school (the answer we're looking for is: "learn" although there is no wrong answer obviously).

One of the most important things we do besides (repeat some of the things the kids said), is to learn.  During the week, we learn important things in school; we learn about language, how to read and write, we learn about our world and how it works.

Do we go to school on Sundays too?  You bet. It's called Sunday School. And in our Sunday School classes we learn about ......that's right about God/Jesus/the bible.

In our bible lesson today, Jesus had a Sunday School class with the disciples.  In Luke 24:45 we read: "Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,..." You see, the disciples didn't understand why Jesus had to die, and how he was raised from the dead. But Jesus explained the bible to them and by doing so he opened the minds of the disciples.

And that's why Sunday School is so important, because Jesus still explains things to us through our Sunday School teachers. How else will we understand the bible?

Today's bible lesson teaches us that our faith is not just a matter of the heart, but of the mind (the brain) too; that's why it's so important for us to read the bible and go to Sunday School.

Today, I want to have all those in our congregation stand who teach Sunday School. Would you please stand?  I want you to look at all these wonderful people who prepare bible lessons most every week to continue what Jesus started among his disciples.

Let us pray: "Dear God, today we want to thank you for our church, for our Sunday School program and especially for our Sunday School teachers. Bless them, Lord, as they explain to us the mysteries of our faith. Continue to be with all of us and open our minds too, so that all fear and doubt will make room for the knowledge of you and your peace.  In Jesus' name...Amen."

---

Believe it or Not
a children's message based on Luke 24:36-48
by Randy L Quinn   

Two weeks ago we celebrated Easter.  But on the church calendar, Easter isn’t just an important day in history.  It’s the most important day of all.  So we do three things to help us remember how important Easter really is.

First, we gather and worship every Sunday to remember that it was on the first day of the week that Jesus was raised from the dead.  This isn’t the last day of the week, the Sabbath day, it’s the first day of the week; it’s the beginning of the new life God has in store for each of us and for all of us.

Second, we prepare for Easter during a season we call Lent.  It’s a season for praying and fasting as we prepare to celebrate the most holy day.

And third, we celebrate what is often called “The Great Fifty Days.”  That’s the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost.  In this season of Easter, we continue to use white on the altar to remind us of the new life Christ brings and we continue to hear stories of the resurrection.  We continue to tell the story that Jesus has been raised from the dead.

This is only the Third Sunday of Easter.  That’s still pretty close to Easter Sunday, so our scripture lesson will take place shortly after Easter.  In fact, it may be later in the day on the same day as Easter.

But before we get to that, I have a candy bar for each of you this morning.

You don’t believe me?  It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?  But I do.  Here it is.

(I suspect the looks on their faces will tell the story.)

When something surprises us, we often don’t believe it at first, do we?  Even though we can see the surprise in front of us, we don’t believe our own eyes.

Well, the Disciples were so surprised by Jesus being raised from the dead that they found it hard to believe, too.  They wanted to believe it, but they couldn’t trust their eyes.

Maybe they thought it was a dream.  Maybe they thought he was just an angel.

So when Jesus comes again, he wants to prove it to them.  What do you think he would do to prove it was he and not a dream or an angel?  (Hopefully they’ll think of the nail prints in his hands and feet.  If not, I’ll help them.  I’ll also suggest eating food to prove he is real.)

I want you to listen carefully when Daniel reads the scriptures this morning.  Let’s see how Jesus tried to help them believe what they were seeing.

Let’s pray: "God, when you do things that surprise us, help us remember that you are the one who brings all good things to us.  Even candy bars.  Amen."

---

God in the Stranger
A children's sermon based on Luke 24:13-35
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Today's gospel story is about being hospitable to strangers.

That's a big word isn't it: hospitable. Being hospitable means being nice, friendly or helpful to others.

Two disciples traveled with what they thought was a stranger, but it was really Jesus in disguise.  And they didn't recognize Jesus until they ate together.    And then, when they finally did recognize Jesus, he disappeared before their eyes.   It's a good thing that the disciples were friendly to the stranger or else they would have rejected Jesus.

Have you ever dressed up as somebody or something else? Like for a costume party? Or for Halloween? Did you have fun doing that?  Did people still recognize you?

One of the things we can learn from today's lesson is that we should be hospitable to everybody even when they're strangers.  In other words, we should be friendly and nice to everybody, because we just don't know who we have in front of us.    The stranger may be a very important person.  He or she may even be a person sent to us by God ("some have hosted angels unawares") or it may be Jesus in disguise.

Now, you all know that you should never talk to or follow a stranger in the street.  It is very important to remember that.

What I mean by being friendly to strangers is that we should be friendly and have a smile for people who may be new in your school, or here at church, or in any of your after-school or sports programs.

Or it may be a person who needs our help; like the person in the story of the Good Samaritan who was robbed and beaten and lay by the wayside.

But, of course, we should not just be hospitable and friendly to strangers, but to all people.

What do you think, can we do that?  Can we be friendly and have a smile for everybody, and be helpful today?

Prayer: "Dear God, we thank you for the bible in which you gave us many examples of how to live a good life.  Lord help us to be  hospitable, friendly, and helpful to others; and help us not to fear the new people we meet, but to receive them with a smile.  Amen."