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Choose from the following children's sermons:

• Family Stories, Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67,
  by Rev. Randy Quinn (see below)
   
• Two Voices, Romans 7:15-25, by Rev. Frank Schaefer (see below)
   
• My Yoke is Easy, Matthew 11:29, by Rev. Frank Schaefer (please scroll down)

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Family Stories,
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
by Randy Quinn

Do you know what a family reunion is?

It’s a time and a place when people who are a part of the same family meet.  Usually it’s more than just our Moms and Dads and more than Grandparents.  It includes all of our cousins, the cousins of our Moms and Dads, and maybe even the cousins of our grandparents.

Most of it depends upon the size of the family.  The one we attended last weekend had 71 people there.  They were all children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of my grandparents, Frank and Luella Miller.  Some of them hadn’t even met each other before.  I know I had only heard about some of them before, including the widow of my cousin who died in Iraq a year and a half ago.

So what do you think we do at a family reunion?  Well, usually we eat.  And kids usually find kids their same age and play games.  At ours, some played baseball and some played tag.  Some watched movies together.

Do you know what the adults did?  They sat around and visited.  They told stories.  They told stories about each other and they told stories about our family.

A family reunion is a time to remember the story of how that family came to be a family.  In our family, someone made a book about our ancestors that helped us all learn some of the stories we didn’t even know.

The Bible is the story of a family, too.  It’s the story of God’s family, a family that includes each of us.  In fact, when we come together on Sunday morning, it’s like a family reunion.  We play and we eat and we tell stories about how God is at work.

Let’s pray: God, thank you for including us in your family.  When we gather here each week, help us to greet people as if they were our brothers and sisters, our aunts and uncles, and cousins.  Help us share your love and to tell the stories of faith so we might all grow in our faith each week.   Amen.

 

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Two Voices
a children's sermon based on Romans 7:15-25
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
 

Good morning, my little friends.  Have you ever been unsure of what to do?  For example when you are asking your mom if you can watch TV and she asks: "did you do your homework?" When you say no, I didn't do my homework, will she let you watch TV?  Probably not.

So then, maybe you're hearing different voices in your head. One is the good guy talking, saying: "you really should say no and then do your homework first, and then watch TV." 

But then there is another voice, the bad guy, who's saying: "well, if you say no, then you're going to miss the beginning of your favorite show."  And then the bad guy voice might say: "and besides, you already did most of the homework anyhow.  So it's not really lying."

But then you might hear the good guy voice again, saying: "but wait a minute, if mom finds out later on that you haven't done all your homework, you're going to be in so much trouble.  She'll think you were lying for sure."

So, what would you guys do?  Would you fib to your mom, and maybe get so see you favorite show?  Or would you tell the truth and do your homework first before you can watch TV?

I made up this example, so you understand a bit better what St. Paul is talking about.  We have read from his writing earlier.  When he says: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Rom 7:15)" he is talking about those two voices we sometimes hear.  And often time people will listen to the bad guy voice and do things they should not do.  Yes, even adults listen to the bad guy voice,  even Christians.

But then St. Paul tells us what we should do when we hear those two voices in our head.  Who do you think can help us?  That's right.  God / Jesus can.  And that's what St. Paul is telling us too.  He says that Jesus can rescue us and Jesus can help us to the right thing.

So next time you hear the bad guy voice in your head, say a prayer; ask Jesus to help you do the right thing even though the right thing may not be all that much fun.

 

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My Yoke is Easy
a children's' sermon based on Matthew 11:29
By Rev. Frank Schaefer
   
 props: a home-made yoke (take a broom stick and tie a piece of rope on each end; have two plastic buckets ready for each end of the rope; make sure the ropes are short enough so that a child can use the yoke to lift up the buckets; fill something heavy (e.g. gravel or small rocks) into the buckets.

Start by reading Mt. 11:29 where Jesus says: "My yoke is easy, my burden is light." Tell the children about yokes; that they are still used in some cultures to carry heavy loads, like water, building materials, etc.

Illustrate how a yoke makes heavy loads easy to carry by having a volunteer carry the two buckets with the gravel for a little stretch.  Then tie the buckets to each end of the rope hanging from the yoke.  Have the child carry the buckets with the yoke and ask him or her whether the load was easier to carry. The answer should be yes, of course.

Conclude the illustration by applying it to life.  When Jesus says, "my yoke is easy," he means that if we choose to follow Jesus that he will make our lives easier to bear. Choosing  Jesus is like choosing to carry heavy things with a yoke--which, as we have seen, makes things easier to carry.

Prayer: "Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for calling us; we thank you for your good offer of making our lives easier when we follow you.  Lord we do choose to follow you; please help us to walk with you every day; protect us and help us grow in you.  Amen."