Pay Attention to Your Giving

"Are we poor?" Twisting around in the front seat to check out the expression on my son's face, I asked, "Are you serious?" Never one to abandon his position, Nick rattled off his evidence, "We live with Aunt Jo and Uncle Ralph, we can't afford new clothes, not good ones, anyway, and anytime I need money for school, you get mad!" The move back home, the career change, the sacrifices necessary to save for a downpayment, all at the same time, changed our family's spending habits. Nick made a valiant effort to process the changes using his seven-year-old worldview, and came to the obvious conclusion: we were now poor. Makes me smile to this day. Nick doesn't remember asking the question, but he remembers that every Sunday we placed a check in the church offering basket.

A child's sense of what matters and his attitudes about money and stuff and God are formed day by day, every day. From the tenderest of ages, our children soak up their world by studying people--all people, all the time--people at home, people at church, people at school, people in public, people on television. Too often the messages teach them they don't have enough, they need more.

What are you teaching your kids about money, about spending, about saving, about giving, about stewardship of God's monetary blessings? Pay attention to your giving. Your children do. Jesus does, too.

1 As Jesus looked up, he saw some rich people putting their gifts into the Temple money box. 2 Then he saw a poor widow putting two small copper coins into the box. 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 4 They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4 NCV

This lesson calls for: play money, one piece per child, a large, clear coin-filled jar, and a church offering basket within easy reach.

(As the kids arrive at the front of the church, hand each a piece of play money while asking questions. You will get some cute answers.)

This is play money.
Do you have any real money?
How do you get real money?
Where does money come from?

Here is a story about money.
Jesus went to church. He watched the people giving money to God. Jesus kept His eye on a rich man who put in lots of money. Will one of you play the rich man? (Choose a big boy.) Al, you are the rich man. Put your hand in the jar, and get as much money as you can hold. Get lots. Now put all those coins in the basket. Good job.

Jesus also spotted a poor woman who put in only one cent. (Hold up a penny.) What is this? (A penny) Is this much money? (No) The poor woman only had one cent. It was all of her money. She put her last cent in the basket for God. Will one of you play the poor woman? (Choose a little girl.) Anna, here is the poor woman’s money. Now put the penny in the basket. Good job.

The poor woman had no money left. She could not buy bread or any food to eat. Why did she want to give all her money to God? Was she silly? No. Did she worry? No. The poor woman gave everything to God, because God always gave everything to her. She trusted God to give her food. Somehow He always did.

God gives everything to us, too. Can you name some things God gave you? Raise your hand if you have a mom. Raise your other hand if you have a dad. You all do! God gave you all moms and dads! Do your moms and dads drive a car? God gave you all cars. How about food? Did any of you eat breakfast this morning? Waffles? Oh, my, what a yummy breakfast. God gave you moms and dads, houses, cars, food, even toys and games and clothes. That is so much! God is good!

(God bless Cameron, who spoke up.) “My dad and mom don’t have any money to buy me what I want.” (Or you can start this topic by asking, “Do you sometimes want something, and your mom or dad say, ‘No, we don’t have money for that?’”) Cameron, here is what you need to think about when that happens. Dads and moms get all this money from God. First they give some money back to God because they want to thank Him. Second, they use some money to pay for a house. Do you boys and girls get to live in the house? Third, they use some money to pay for a car. Do you children get to ride in the car? Fourth, they use some money to buy clothes for you boys and girls. Moms and dads buy you clothes again and again, because you grow! They also use some money to buy food to feed your hungry tummies.

Moms and dads must be careful with the money God gives them. They try to be smart when they spend money. They try not to waste money, because money is a big gift from God. Are any toys and games at your house, Cameron? Not all the toys and games you like, but that is not a bad thing.

Here in our church, we all give money to God, too. We pass this basket around, and people put in some money for God. Does Jesus take a peek at us when we give money at church like He did in our story today? Yes, He always sees us.

Remember the rich man and the poor woman? Jesus said one of them gave more. Raise your hand if you think the rich man gave more. Raise your hand if you think the poor woman gave more. The rich man had a lot of money left over. He didn’t care about the money he gave to God. He didn’t even need it. Jesus said the poor woman gave more, because she gave all!

Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands. Let’s talk to God to thank Him.
Dear God, You give us everything. Thank you! Please help us not to want too much. In Jesus name we ask, amen.

Easter Eye Witnesses

Sorry for posting in reverse order, but that's how my memory works. I love the account in John of the two men on the road to Emmaus because they witnessed the risen Lord. Jesus was not just a good man who lived long ago, not just a prophet, and certainly not a myth. He is alive. He is the risen Son of God. Hallelujah!

These Easter bible lockets can take some time, depending on how you decide to finish off the necklaces. You can use 36 inches of yarn and tie 3 or 4 square knots and that will look fine. Or get fancy by making the size adjustable with sliding Chinese button knots. Here is the link to learn how to close your necklaces with sliding Chinese button knots:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Au8vFvc2s. 
Use 0.5 - 1.0 mm cord to fit the lockets' opening. If you do these knots, be sure to get real satin rattail cord--yarn won't work. It comes in lots of colors or my favorite, rainbow!

The lockets are really small, 11 mm by 13mm, so print a page of the Jesus pictures really, really tiny! 

This Jesus picture is a painting by Akiane Kramarik and is copyrighted, but people have shared it freely on the internet. Go to www.akianeart.com to purchase your own download, see more of her amazing art, and learn her amazing story.

Happy Easter! I want to tell you my favorite Easter story today. 


On the very first Easter day, these two guys were so bummed out about Jesus dying on the cross, they decided to leave town. They were walking away from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus. Suddenly there was another man walking with them! It was Jesus, but Jesus used His amazing power to make it so they could not recognize Him. He said, "Can I walk along with you two?" They said, "Sure." Jesus said, "You guys seemed really bummed out, what's wrong?" They said, "Haven't you heard? Jesus of Nazareth was crucified dead and buried. We really thought Jesus was the Messiah that would save us, but now He's dead."

So Jesus started teaching the men everything in the bible about the Messiah. How the bible says that the Messiah would have to suffer and die. The whole bible is about the Messiah, about Jesus. 

Pretty soon they arrived where the two men were going. Jesus would have kept going, but the men said, "why don't you stay the night here and have supper with us?" So Jesus said okay. When they sat down to supper, Jesus took the bread and blessed it. That was when Jesus allowed the men to suddenly recognize who He was. They said, "Jesus! It's You! You're alive!" Then Jesus suddenly disappeared! The men were so happy and excited, they ran all the way back to Jerusalem and started telling people that Jesus of Nazareth was alive.

I have two reasons why I love this Easter story. First it teaches me that the whole bible is about Jesus. From page one all the way to page 1,255 in my bible. Second, it teaches me that if anyone invites Jesus to be with them, Jesus says yes. To every person, every time! All you have to do is invite Jesus to be in your life. He'll always say yes!

I have an Easter gift for each of you that will help you remember that the whole bible is about Jesus. This is a necklace with a bible locket. The bible opens and inside is a picture of... who do you think? (jesus) Who? (Jesus) I can't hear you! (JESUS!)

Now bow heads, close eyes, fold hands. Let's pray to God.


Dear God,
Thank you for Jesus and for telling us all about Him in Your bible.
Thank you that Jesus was willing to die to save us.
And thank you for raising Him back to life.
Help us all to invite Jesus into our lives. We know He will always say yes.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Mother's Day

Here is a Mother's Day children's sermon that moms will appreciate. The gift is for mom, and not a single child complained. They understood...

Today I'm going to teach you three things. First I will teach you about
candles, then about mothers, then about Jesus.

(Hold up an unlit candle.) What is this? (a candle) (as you light candle) Is it easy or hard to put out a candle's flame? (easy) How can you put out a candle? (fire extinguisher, blow it, spit on fingers and pinch, use "one of those things":) i.e. a snuffer) Right, it is very easy to put out a candle's flame. Let's blow out our candle now (they blow, what fun!)


Today is Mother's Day. Now I know you all love your mothers, right? Raise your hand if you love your mom (raise both your hands high). Our moms take care of us, help us with homework, fix meals, read to us, what else? (clean the house-moms clean everything!) (fix our bathroom-some moms can be plumbers!) They teach us, take care of us when we get sick, and some moms go to work too! Our moms do everything! They are strong and busy and fun.

But sometimes... sometimes... moms get tired, don't they? (nods) Sometimes moms get headaches, or they get sick, or they just don't feel good, right? (nods) And sometimes moms have tears, don't they? (nods) They can be happy tears, like at a wedding. But sometimes our moms are just very sad and they cry, right? (nods) Then what do we do? Hmm...

Well, I learned something in the bible about Jesus. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He still showed how He cared for His mother. He told His disciple, John, to take care of His mother when He went to heaven. Jesus really cared about His mother.

I learned something else in the bible about Jesus. The bible says Jesus would never snuff out a smoldering wick. This part that we light is the wick. (show them on the candle where it is). It is easy to put it out, but Jesus would never do that. Jesus is careful and gentle with the candle's flame. The candle's flame is like a person's light. We say let your light shine, right?

When someone is feeling tired, or sick, or sad, their light is almost out. Jesus is always gentle with a person who is tired. He is gentle when people are sick. And Jesus is very gentle when someone is sad.

That's what we can do when mom is tired. Be gentle with her. When mom is sick, we can give her a gentle hug or gentle words. When she is sad, a gentle gift can help. I want to give you each a gift for you to give to your mothers. It is a brand new candle just like the one we lit here today. Sometimes a candle with a gentle, soft smell helps moms feel better.

(Make sure everybody gets one.) Bow your heads, close your eyes, fold your hands. Let's thank God for our mothers.

Dear God,
Thank you for our moms. Help us to care for them like Jesus cared for His mother. Help us to be gentle with our mothers. In Jesus name we pray,Amen.