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Please choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• Jesus Loves Me This I Know, Ephesians 3:14-21
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer        (see below)
   
• Sometimes God Needs Our Help for Miracles
  John 6:1-21, by Rev. Frank Schaefer       (see below)

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Jesus Loves Me This I Know
Ephesians 3:14-21
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Good morning, my young friends, I thought today we could start by singing a song that everybody knows and loves: Jesus Loves Me This I Know. Let's all sing it together, young and old.

Have the congregation and kids sing

Now, the song says right upfront that the Bible tells us that Jesus loves us. But where exactly does it tell us that in the Bible? 

Actually there are a lot of passages, but the message that Jesus loves us is definitely in one of our readings today--it's a passage from Ephesians. Let me just read a portion of this passage to you:

"I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge..." Ephesians 3:18

Here the apostle Paul, who wrote these words, tells us that it is important for us to truly understand, how much Jesus loves us....

1. He wants us to know how wide Jesus' love is (stretch out your arms). Jesus loves the whole world, that's how wide his love is  for us.

2. He wants us to know how long Jesus' love is (reach your arms out in front of you). Jesus loved everybody whom he ran into, that's how long his love is  for us.

3. He wants us to know how high Jesus' love is (stretch our your hands toward the ceiling). Jesus reached up and calmed the storms in the sky for us, that's how high his love is for us.

4. And lastly, he wants us to know how deep Jesus' love is. (lower your hands as much as you can toward the ground). Jesus reached down very low to pick people up, that's how deep his love is for us.

Amen.

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Sometimes God Needs Our Help for Miracles
a sermon based on the Feeding of the Multitude--John 6:1-21
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Objective: miracles can happen if we share with others.

props: a loaf of bread and two baskets. (Have the baskets stacked, one inside the other and the loaf in the top one).

Tell the children briefly about the miracle of the feeding of the multitude. Then ask: Do you think this miracle could have happened if the little boy hadn't shared his fish and bread (shake your head slightly to encourage the "no" answer)?

That's right, the miracle happened because one person shared what they had; or, actually, because a lot of people shared that day. Because, as people received a piece of bread they took some and passed it on to the people next to them. Same with the fish.

Now, I don't claim to be a miracle worker, but I thought we could re-enact what happened. I brought in a little loaf of bread. Do you think all of us could eat a little of it and still have left-overs? I don't know, but let's see what happens.

(Break the loaf in two pieces, take a little piece from one half yourself to eat, then pass it on to the child sitting next to you. Ask the kids to follow your example (you may want to help the smaller kids). In the end (if the loaf was big enough in comparison with the number of children) it will appear as if there is more bread, because the bread crumbs take more space than the compact loaf. Even your second basket may be filled a little.

Point out that there appears to be just as much bread than what you started with even though we all ate a piece. Correlate this to how sharing what we have can bring forth a miracle by God. God wants us to share what we have so that all can be satisfied and no-one needs to go hungry...