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Choose from the following children's sermons:
 

• Planting and Reaping, Galatians 6:1-16
  by Rev. Randy L Quinn                 (see below)
   
• Being God's Missionaries, Luke 10:1-11,16-20
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer                 (see below)

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Being God's Missionaries
a children's sermon based on Luke 10:1-11,16-20
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Props: a globe or map of the world; (if you have a church group that went on a mission trip you may want to use their help with this kids talk)

Good morning my little friends.  Today I brought this globe (map) for "show and tell."  Who can tell me what we can see on it?   That's right: it's the world with all its different countries.

Look how many countries there are.  Isn't that amazing?    Who of you have ever been to a different country--maybe you went on a vacation to Canada or Mexico or maybe you traveled oversees?

Do people in all of these countries speak the same language?  Do they have the same customs, traditions, and cooking?

That's right, people in different countries have different languages, customs and are different in many other ways.  Do you think that people in other countries know about Jesus and what Jesus has done for us?

People of many countries know about Jesus, but there are also many countries that haven't even heard of Jesus yet.  What do you think, should they be told about the good news of Jesus's love and forgiveness?

You are right, people in any country have the right to hear about the good news of Jesus.  That's why the (our) church sends out missionaries to different countries in the world.  Missionaries are messengers for Jesus.

These missionaries go to great lengths to bring the message of Jesus to foreign countries.  For once, they have to travel really far.  Look how far some of these countries are away from where we are (show on map /globe).

Missionaries often have to learn a different language so that the people can understand what they are saying about Jesus's love.  Do you know how long it takes to learn a new language?  And missionaries also have to get used to different foods, different means of transportation, different ways of doing things.

Being a missionary means hard work, it's a big commitment and it takes a special calling by God. But you know there is a way in which we can all be a part of God's mission.  We can all be God's missionaries.

We can be missionaries by giving money or clothing, or food for missions.   And we can pray for our missionaries that God will help them in their work.   How about doing that right now?

Let us bow our heads and pray: "Dear God, we thank you for our missionaries and the important work that missionaries do.  We ask you to strengthen them, to help them in their work and struggles. And help us to understand how important it is that people in far-away countries hear of your love and salvation. Amen."

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Planting and Reaping
Galatians 6:1-16
by Rev. Randy L Quinn  

Do any of you know what the word “reap” means?  It means to cut and gather, like cutting the grass with a lawn mower and then gathering up the clippings.  Most of the time we use it to talk about the grain farmers gather; it’s also what we do when we pick apples off a tree.

Do you know what it means to “sow”?  That means to scatter seed, to plant the grain so there will be something to reap when it grows and ripens.

In our text today, Paul talks about sowing and reaping.  We might say it’s about planting seeds and picking fruits.

Have any of you ever planted a seed and waited for it to grow?

How long did you watch?  What did you do while you were waiting?

And if you planted grass seed, do you think if you waited long enough that it would become an apple tree?

What if you planted a seed and then unplanted it every day.  Do you think it would still grow?  Would there be anything to “reap”?

In our scripture for today, Paul reminds us that what we plant will determine what will grow and what we will reap – but he’s not talking about seeds we plant in the ground.  He’s talking about things we do or say, like being honest.  If you are honest, then people will learn to trust you.  But like the seeds in the ground, it may take a while before people notice.  You just have to plant the seeds and wait.  You sow honesty and later you can reap trust.  You sow kindness and later you can reap friendship.

Let’s pray: 

God of the harvest, remind us that what we do today has lasting results.  Help us to live today with a sense of faith, hope, and love, to live with joy and generosity so you may reap a bountiful harvest.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.