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Choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• Sermon seed: Unique and Claimed by God, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22,
  anonymous  (see below)

• Water, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 , by Rev. F. Schaefer
  (please scroll down)

• Remember Your Baptism, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 , by Rev. F. Schaefer
  (please scroll down)

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Unique and Claimed by God
a children's sermon seed based on Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
anonymous

On Baptism of the Lord Sunday you might want to zero in on identity with the children. Consider talking about the Father saying to Jesus, "you are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Jesus was identified as God's beloved Son. To illustrate how everybody was uniquely and lovingly created by God, take an erasable ink pad and have each child place a finger on the pad and their print on an index card....talk about how unique fingerprints are..none are exactly the same...we are that precious to God....we are his unique children, none exactly the same, all in whom he is well pleased. We are identified in baptism as his children.

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Water
a children's sermon for the Lord's Baptism theme
by Rev. F. Schaefer

Theme: Water/Baptism

Objects:  pitcher with water, a couple of paper cups, and a super soaker (water gun).

Good morning boys and girls.  Today, I brought a pitcher, because our lesson is about water. This pitcher is filled with crystal-clear, chilled fresh water.  Doesn't it look delicious?  You know, they say that nothing can quench your thirst like water when you're really thirsty.  Is there anybody among us who is thirsty and who would like to try some of the water? (use the paper cups and let some of the kids try it, then ask them how it was.)

What else is water good for?  (let hem name some examples of the following properties):
- rain makes plants / veggies grow
- cleansing power
- refreshing quality - (here you may want to surprise them with the super soaker)
- healing properties - water flushes toxic agents out of our bodies, etc.

In today's lesson, we have another quality of water. Read Luke 3:21. God has given us water for baptism.  As Jesus was baptized with water, the Holy Spirit of God entered him.  Most of you have been baptized too.   (Baptist tradition:  most of you will one day make a decision to follow Jesus and be baptized).  And as you were (will be) baptized with water, something of God, called the Holy Spirit, has entered (will enter) you too.  It is one of the great mysteries of the church that nobody can really fully understand--not even preachers.   Somehow, the water of baptism is connected with the Holy Spirit.

What do you think, do we have good reasons to thank God for giving us water?  Pray with me, will you?:

Thank you loving and almighty God for giving us water;
   water refreshes us,  it satisfies our thirst, it gives us plants and life.

Thank you God for giving us your Holy Spirit;
   just like water, your Spirit give us new life.

Thank you for water, thank you for your Spirit, thank you for life. Amen.

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Remember Your Baptism
a children's sermon for the Lord's Baptism theme
by Rev. F. Schaefer

Props: a picture of you at your own baptism (or a copy of your baptism certificate).  Also, prepare the font (or baptismal pool) and see to it that you have some water in it.

Greetings, my little friends.  Today, I would like for us to gather around the baptismal font (pool).  Who of you has been baptized?   Does any of you remember your baptism?  I think, none of us (who have been baptized as babies) can really remember this event too well.

But, I bet if we were to ask our parents, they could tell us what it was like.  Most likely they can even show us a picture of our baptism.   Show your picture (or baptism certificate).  Look, this is what I remember my baptism by.   Isn't that neat.  It's probably hard to believe for you that I used to be a tiny baby too.

It is good to remember our baptism, because it has an important message for us:  namely the good news that God loved us even before we knew about him.  God chose us, before we could choose him.  And before we could even make a decision, God already made us his children.

Of course, some people get baptized when they are older and they can remember their baptism a little better.  In our gospel story today, the Lord Jesus was baptized too. And he was a young adult when John the Baptist led him to the water.

You know, of course, that we use water in baptism.   So, I thought that this morning we could remember our baptism by feeling some of the water from the font on us again. (Wet your hands in the font and spritz some water into the group of children while saying: "remember your baptism.  You may also want to let some of the adults experience the water--those who sit in the first few pews, perhaps.)