Sermons4Kids

[Soldier4Christ]

 Christ the King

John 18:33-38

You'll need: color pictures of each of the following items to show as you talk about each one.  I downloaded the pictures I needed from Google images.

a king's crown
a king's robes
a scepter
treasure/jewel chests

a crown of thorns
a shepard's robe and sandals
a cross
a heart

(The following was a question and answer session and the kid's got ALL the answers right the first time, your kids probably will too.)

Today is Christ the King Sunday! It is a special day in the church year, so today let's talk about kings.

You kids all know about kings, even though America got rid of her king about 200 years ago! So tell me about kings, what do king's wear?

That's right, they wear a crown and they wear royal robes.

They also carry something that represents their power and authority -- do you know what that is called? It's called a scepter!

Kings also have LOTS of this stuff. Where do kings get all that treasure and jewels and gold? You're right again! From the people!

If all these pictures show what a king looks like, then we have a serious problem in church today, because this morning we are supposed remember Jesus as Christ the King, and He certainly didn't look or act like the kind of kings we're used to!

We know Jesus didn't wear a gold and jeweled crown, he wore a different kind of crown, what was it? A crown of thorns!

And Jesus didn't wear royal robes with white ermine down the front did He? He wore a simple robe and sandals.

And Jesus didn't carry a scepter to show His power, what did He carry? You're right again! He carried a Cross and he carried all our sins to that cross too.

And finally, does Jesus want boxes of jewels and diamonds and gold coins? No, what Jesus wants to gather to Himself is our hearts and our love.

Jesus is a king, but a different kind of king than we're used to. He isn't a king with a gold and jewel crown, who has riches and jewels and servants, and who orders people and armies around. Jesus is a king, but the best kind of king. He is the King of Heaven (where he promises to take us), the King of Love (which he offers to us freely), the King of Sacrifice, who talks all of our sins and the things we do wrong, and He wipes them away.

Jesus doesn't want to be king of countries and armies, He wants to be the King of our hearts and our lives. He is the most wonderful King, the best kind of King, a King who wants to give us forgiveness, love, heaven, and eternal life with Him!

Let's thank God for sending Christ the King to us!

Dear God, thank you for being the kind of King who doesn't want gold and power and treasure, but a King who wants our hearts and love. Thank you for being a King who wants to give everything that is good to his people, and to us, his little children. Thank you for having Christ the King go to the cross for each one of us, to wash away our sins. And thank you for the home is preparing for us in heaven.  Amen

[Soldier4Christ]

Learning To Obey

Adam and Eve knew not to eat of the tree of knowledge. The enemy (Satan) came and tricked them so they would disobey what God said. They had to live with the discipline God gave them. God still loved them – but they still had to live with the choices they made. And it is the same for us. If you never learn to obey when you’re young, when you’re older you will find it hard to obey your teachers, your coach (if you play sports), people you work for, the laws of the land and God. It is hard to get along with someone that has not learnt to obey. They often won’t listen and want to do everything their own way. Maybe you know someone like that! They end up hurting themselves – and God. It makes God sad when we don’t obey. Obedience need’s to start in the home with Mum & Dad. If we learn to obey Mum & Dad we will know how to obey when we’re older. This is one of the most important lessons to learn, and maybe the hardest. God has given us all a free will – which means we are free to make our own choices. We can choose to obey or not. It’s our choice. But we need to remember what happened to Adam and Eve. There is a price to pay! Jesus is our example. He obeyed His parents. If you find it hard to obey – tell Jesus. He understands and will help you. Remember He was a kid Himself once!

[Soldier4Christ]

Fear Not!

Read: Isaiah 43: 1-5

The Lord God, the creator of the universe, tells us to ‘Fear Not’, and that we are so very precious to Him. He has created us, and has saved us. He knows us and calls us by name. We are His very own children. (V.1). Whatever we go through, we can be sure that God is always with us. He walks with us every day. Just remember next time you feel afraid, that God is standing right by your side, and that He will walk with you. Keep on calling out to Jesus and He will be there. He loves you and you are so very precious to Him. You needn’t be afraid when you know Jesus is by your side. Greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world.

Is there something you feel afraid of? Tell Jesus now how you feel and ask Him to help you not feel afraid anymore.

[Soldier4Christ]

Helping Others

Read: Luke 10: 25-37

We read in this story of the Good Samaritan, how a man was badly hurt, and though some people came his way, they did not stop to help. Only the Samaritan stopped to help and take care of the injured man. Who do you think pleased God? Do we stop to help someone that has been hurt, or just needing a helping hand? Sometimes when somebody is in need, it’s often at a time that is not good for us to stop and help the person out. We need to remember that this person is more important than what we may want to do. It pleases God when we put aside our own interests for the interests of others. Who knows, we may be the one in need of
help one day!

[Soldier4Christ]

Trust!

Read: Psalm 37: 1-8

We read in this Psalm that those that are doing evil things seem to be prospering. But we are not to get angry or upset about that because God will have the last word and He will judge. We are told here to trust in the Lord. No matter what is happening around us, God desires us to trust in Him. Things can look real bad for a while – but God will come through. As we commit our way to the Lord and delight in Him, He will bring it to pass. He will give us the desires of our hearts. We need to be still and rest in the Lord, to wait on Him and to keep on trusting Him. God will never let you down. He is fully trustworthy. So often people can let us down – but God never will.

If there are things in your life today that are tearing you up inside, give it over to God completely and place your hope and trust in Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Cannot Lie

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19)

Has anyone ever lied to you? When someone lies, it becomes harder for us to trust him. If he lied to us once, he might lie again. How can we ever be sure he is telling the truth?

God never lies. In fact, the Bible says in Titus 1:2 that He cannot lie. It goes against His perfect, holy nature to lie. He is absolutely truthful.

What are some things God tells us in His Word?

He says...

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).

"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions" (Isaiah 44:22).

"I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3).

"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5).

"I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3).

Do you believe these things? Remember, the God who says these things to you cannot lie.

Everything God tells us in His Word is true, because God cannot lie.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is Forgiving

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12)

How far is the east from the west? Let's suppose you decide you want to measure the distance between east and west. If you were to get into an airplane and start traveling east, you could circle the earth for the rest of your life and never find the end of east. You could fly west around our planet a zillion times and never find a point where west meets east. The fact is, neither east nor west has an end, and the space between east and west is infinite.

When you trust in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made on Calvary, He forgives your sins and removes them from you as far as the east is from west. In other words, God will not judge you for the sins you have committed. He erases the penalty of those sins completely.

Are there sins in your life that are burdening you? Have you ever trusted Christ and asked Him to forgive you of your sin? Have you committed sins since you became a Christian that you have not repented of? God will forgive you if you will pray and ask Him. What a comfort to know that your God will remove your sin as far as the east is from the west!

God forgives you when you repent of your sins, and He erases the penalty completely.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is a God of Truth

"He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Have you ever broken something like your mom's good china or a special glass? Glass is fragile; it is easily broken. It's the same way with trust. Trust in a friend can easily be broken. One of the quickest ways to lose a person's trust is by lying. If a person lies to you, you never know when to believe him.

Lies are told in several different ways: telling a half-truth, sharing a story in a way that makes you look better than what actually happened, being one way with one person and another way with somebody else, or allowing a lie or rumor to continue when you know that it is not true. No matter what form it takes, a lie is a sin.

If God lied only once, we would never be able to trust Him or His Word. But God cannot lie. He does not have the ability to lie. We can trust God completely because He is a God of truth – everything He says is true; His words are reliable. What a comfort to know that all of God's promises in His Word are true. If you are a child of God, one way to be like your Father is to be truthful.

You can trust God because He is a God of truth.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Comforts the Fearful

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." (Psalm 56:3)

Like many people, Maggie was afraid of the dark. She was afraid of the scary things she couldn't see in the dark. Maggie shared a bedroom with her sister Kathi, and she made Kathi promise not to go to sleep until after she had fallen asleep so that Kathi could protect her from all of the "scary things" in the room.

For the times that Maggie's fears were very strong, her mother told her to quote Bible verses and pray. Maggie's mom said that the Lord promised in His Word that He would calm all of Maggie's fears. Psalms 56:3 says, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Maggie's mom explained that God did not want her to be afraid; instead He wanted her to trust Him with all her fears. Maggie followed her mom's advice and began to see how the Lord was more powerful than anything real or imagined. As she quoted verses, she was reminded of God's control over everything. As a result, she started being less and less afraid of the dark.

The Lord promises us in His Word that He will comfort us when we are afraid. Isaiah 41:10 says, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God." Whether it is something small, like being afraid of the dark, or something large, the Lord asks us to trust Him to comfort us in the midst of our fears.

God's Word is able to comfort His children when they are afraid.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Can Make You Happy

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom,...yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

A young missionary in China named Hudson Taylor was writing a letter home to his sister Amelia. What happy news could he share? Many of the Chinese people were dying from famine. He had very little money. The other missionaries did not like the way he dressed as the Chinese did. And the girl he loved and wanted to marry had just told him that she would not marry him. Hudson had every reason to be sad. His eyes moved to the Bible beside him on his desk. What had he read that very day about God's love? He picked up his pen and wrote, "The love of God never changes. Can we ever love Jesus as much as He loves us?"

What would it take to make you happy? Another new toy? A room all to yourself? An "A" on your math paper? Having a certain person for your best friend? Only knowing God and His love for you can make you happy deep down in your heart. Only He can give you happiness that lasts, even when things go wrong.

Knowing God is the only thing that will make you truly happy.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Loves for You To Pray

"Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense" (Psalm 141:2a).

Are there certain smells that you like? Some people love to smell pine trees or old books. Others like to smell cookies baking or different kinds of flowers – roses, lilacs, hyacinths, gardenias. People like pleasant smells, smells that remind them of loved ones or favorite places.

Prayer can be like a sweet, pleasant smell to God. The Bible compares prayer to incense, a very pleasing fragrance. Did you know that your prayer is like the act of offering up a sweet perfume to God? God loves for you to pray. He wants you to bring all of your concerns to Him – big and small. When you pray, you are showing God that you trust Him and need Him to help you. You are showing Him that you love Him enough to spend time talking to Him.

God's children bring glory to Him when they express their love and trust in Him. And they can express that love and trust through praying. Praying is like giving God a breath of a wonderful, sweet scent that He loves.

God loves for His children to pray, because when they pray they show Him that they love and trust Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Loads Us with Benefits

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." (Psalm 68:19)

In Amy's family, when someone is grumpy or complaining, another family member will suggest playing "the thankfulness game." When playing this simple game, each family member takes turns naming one thing he or she is thankful for. Amy's family always starts with the big things: "I'm thankful for my salvation," for example, or "I'm thankful to have parents." The only rule of the game is that everyone has to say something new; no one is allowed to name something someone else has already said.

After Amy and her family think they've run out of new ideas, they start thinking of silly things. They say things like this: "I'm thankful I don't have fleas," or "I'm thankful for toothpaste." By the end of the game, not only is Amy's family laughing, but everyone is thinking about the enormous number of ways God has loaded them with blessings – from the smallest things in life (things they take for granted), to the greatest blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ. God is a generous God. He doesn't give His children just a few pleasures in life. He loads them with benefits every day.

So when you're feeling grumpy or full of complaints, take out a piece of paper and start writing a list of one hundred things you're thankful for. It won't be long before you realize that God has loaded you with benefits.

God loads His children with benefits.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is Powerful

"Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." (Jeremiah 32:17)

Scientists tell us that there are at least 70 sextillion stars in the universe. Wow! That's the number 7 followed by 22 zeroes!

Scientists also tell us that the Pacific Ocean holds 192 quintillion gallons of water and that the surface of the sun is 16 times hotter than boiling water.

Have you ever stopped to think that there is always enough oxygen for everyone in the world to breathe every day? In fact, by the time you are ten years old, you've taken about 74 million breaths.

So what or who could be more powerful than these facts? GOD! Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." God is so powerful that in one week and with one voice He made the world. He made the sextillion stars, the quintillion gallons of water, and the sun that is hotter than you can imagine. Nobody helped Him or told Him how to do it. He just said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

God is powerful. He has more power than all the people in the world combined. So who do you go to for help? Why not go to your powerful God! He wants to help you.

God has the power to help you; nothing is too difficult for Him!

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is Safety

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:

When Corey was scared, there was only one place he wanted to be. If he had a nightmare, if thunder clashes woke him up, or if the tree branches outside his window looked like giant hands ready to grab him, he ran to his parents' bedroom. In their room there was a small space between the wall and the bed, and Corey was allowed to sleep there on the floor when he was scared. Corey knew that if someone or something was going to get him, they would have to crawl over his dad first. And Corey knew that his father would never let anything bad happen to him.

Psalm 29:25 says, "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe." The word snare means trap. Man isn't strong enough to win every battle or defeat every bad guy. If we trust in men and not in God, we will end up being trapped someday.

The Bible says that God is the only One who can provide true safety. He holds us in the palm of His hand. Just like the game where someone holds a penny in his fist and someone else tries to pry open his fingers to get the penny, God holds us, and no one is strong enough to pry open God's hand. No one!

Next time you're scared, tell God. If you're scared of school, talk to God – He knows all the answers. If you're scared of a person, talk to God – He made that person. If you're scared of the unknown, talk to God – He knows all. God is safety; run to Him!

God is the only one who can keep you safe.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is My Refuge

"Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us." (Psalm 62:

Do you ever need a refuge? A refuge is a place where you go to be safe, a place where you can be free from danger and fear. Everyone is afraid at times. You might feel fearful when you're alone or when you're in bed at night with darkness all around. Sometimes you might worry that something bad will happen to your mom or dad. Sometimes you're afraid because you know you've done something wrong – even if you haven't been caught yet.

God wants to be your refuge at those times. He tells you to pour out your heart to Him. Does that mean you need to use just the right words when you pray? Should you try to pretend you're a brave, good person who doesn't really need His help? Pouring out your heart means telling Him exactly how you feel – because He already knows. Tell Him you feel afraid, or tell Him you know you've sinned and need His forgiveness. He is greater than anything that you fear. And He cares for you.

God wants to be a refuge for me when I am afraid.