Filled with the Holy Spirit Children’s Sermon

Acts 2:4 (NIV) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

When teaching children about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you will want to give them instructions. Here is what I tell children before I pray for them to be filled.

Supplies needed: wrapped candy for each child

Have someone in your church give a testimony about being baptized in the Holy Spirit as a child. If you have children in your ministry who were baptized in the Holy Spirit, have them tell about their experience.

Give each child a piece of candy. Ask them what they had to do to receive that candy. They may answer that they didn’t have to do anything or the they had to reach out and grab it. Tell the children that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a free gift that they only need to reach out and grab.

Here’s how they do that:

1. Ask God for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

2. Praise God out loud using their voices. God doesn’t zap them against their wills so they will speak in tongues. They have to use their voices to praise God first.

3. Surrender their words. When they start to feel their tongues and mouths forming in strange ways, they need to surrender their voices to God and allow Him to speak through them.

4. Wait on God. Sometimes children are not baptized in the Holy Spirit right away. When this happens, instruct them to believe God wants to fill them and to wait on Him to do as He promised.

History of the Pilgrims

Thanksgiving is coming soon, and most children’s pastors have special Thanksgiving services planned. One thing I have always done on Thanksgiving is to teach the children about America’s spiritual heritage ingrained in the Pilgrims and Puritans. These are some of the facts that children are not taught in school.

Most children are taught that pilgrims came to America to flee religious persecution. That’s not exactly true. Pilgrims and Puritans were persecuted for believing that Christians could have a personal relationship with Jesus separate from the Church of England. But they traveled to Holland to flee the persecution, not America.

So why did they travel to America? There were many reasons, but the main reason is they felt compelled by God to come to America and establish a colony of people that honored God. Many called this colony, New Jerusalem, believing that God had established this new land to spread the gospel to the world. William Bradford wrote in his journal that the motivation came from “a great hope for advancing the kingdom of Christ.”

Pilgrims and Puritans were not the same. Pilgrims were separatists who believed they should separate themselves for the Church of England and the world systems. Puritans believed in working within the system. When they came to America, Puritans wished to set up the government so that religious freedom of expression would be established. Pilgrims wanted freedom of religion so they were free to worship without fear of persecution. Both Pilgrims and Puritans wanted freedom of religion to protect the church from the government, not to protect the government from the church.

Many schools teach that Thanksgiving was a secular celebration. But letters written by the Pilgrims tell a different story. God was such a part of their everyday life that they included God in everything. One such letter states that Thanksgiving was a celebration called so that “God be praised” for what He had brought them through.

John Winthrop called New England a City on a Hill in one of his sermon. He, as well as many other Puritans and Pilgrims, believed they had made a covenant with God to be a new nation that was a model of Christianity to the world. William Bradford believed that America was called to spread the gospel to the world. Since the Pilgrims and Puritans came to America, the United States of America has sent missionaries to more nations and more remote places in the world than any other nation on Earth. Could it be they were right?

3 Steps to Delivering a Sermon to Children

You’ve finished game time, praise and worship, teaching the memory verse, and doing skits. You’ve even had a few object lessons to go along with it. It is now time to deliver the final sermon to tie things together in children’s church. Here are three steps to doing that.

1. Decide what method you’ll uses to deliver your sermon. There are a variety of ways to preach a creative sermon to keep the attention of your students. Here are some of them.

Bible Story: Tell the Bible story in an engaging way while introducing the life application involved in the story.

Scripture Passage: If the lesson revolves around a scripture, explain the Scripture thoroughly and show the children how to apply it to their lives.

Object Lesson: Sometimes an object lesson is the best way to deliver a sermon. Christ used this method often like when He talked about the man with the beam in his eye getting a splinter out of his brother’s eye.

Life Application: Point out the different elements you’ve brought out throughout children’s church and show children how to apply these to their lives.

3 Point Sermon: This works best if you’ve discussed the three points throughout children’s church. Then your three point sermon will be a summary to conclude the service.

2. Keep it short (between 5 and 10 minutes): The best sermons for children are ones that are short and to the point. If you take too long, their attention spans will wane. Most children have attention spans that match their age. For instance, a seven year old will have a seven minute attention span. So match the length of your sermon to the attention span of the youngest child.

3. Deliver an anointed Word from the Lord: If your message is just something you put together instead of a message you’ve prayed about and that God is using you to deliver, don’t bother preaching it because it won’t be effective. We need messages from God that we have spent time preparing in prayer and in study if we want to effect our student’s lives.

Keep Your Eyes On Jesus Lesson

This is a classroom small group format lesson about Peter walking on the water. Paraphrase the words in bold print to present them to the class.

Bible Basis: Matthew 14:22-33

Bible Truth: Keep your eyes on Jesus, not on the waves.

Memory Verse: Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the author of faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

Welcome Activity: Waves In Our Lives

Materials: Blue construction paper, cut out shape of wave, poster board, glue, crayons or markers

As children arrive, direct them to sit at the table and cut waves out of the construction paper. They can pattern their waves after the shape of a wave you will cut out ahead of time. Then have them draw pictures on the waves that show problems children face. If children have a hard time with this suggest problems such as divorce, bullying, bad grades in school, and friends moving away. After they finish, they can glue the waves on the poster board hanging on the wall or bulletin board. Helpers should stimulate discussion by asking children about what they do when they have problems in their lives. Who do they talk to about their problems?

Memory Verse Activity:

Materials Needed: cut out picture of Jesus, memory verse poster

Read this week’s memory verse from the poster. Point to each word as you read it:

Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the author of faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Paste a picture of Jesus on top of the waves glued to the poster board. Have the children stare at the picture of Jesus while they say the verse together again. Have them repeat this a few times.

Ask the children questions about staring at the picture of Jesus.

Children, when you were staring at the picture Jesus, could you still see the waves? (Yes, they could still see the waves.)

Which seemed bigger, Jesus or the waves? (Jesus)

Now I want you to stare at the poster board again. But this time, don’t look at Jesus. Only look at the waves. Give the children a few moments do this.

Now which looked bigger, the picture of Jesus or the waves? (They should say the waves. If they don’t, suggest that the waves looked bigger when they focused only on them.)

Children, whatever we keep looking at is what will seem the biggest in our lives. If we look at our problems, they’ll seem bigger. But if we keep looking to Jesus, He is bigger than our problems. Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the author of faith.

After sharing this, connect it to the Bible story in Matthew 14:22-33:

We’re about to hear a story about when Jesus walked on the water. He invited Peter to join him. When Peter looked at Jesus, he had faith enough to walk on the water.

Bible Story: Peter Walks On The Water

Pick one child to play the part of Jesus and one child to play the part of Peter. Divide the remaining children into two groups. One group will be the disciples; the other group will be the waves.

I’m going to tell you the story of when Jesus walked on the water. But I’ll need your help. Have Peter and the disciples stand in the boat you made earlier with masking tape. Have the children who are waves stand outside the boat and sway back and forth and make a soft wrrrrr sound. The child playing the part of Jesus will stand in the corner of the room.

One night, Jesus told Peter and the disciple to get on a boat and go to the other side of the lake. Jesus stayed behind and prayed. Have Jesus get on his knees and pray, and have Peter and the disciples pretend to row.

The waves started getting bigger and pounding on the boat. Tell the waves to sway harder around the boat and make the sound a little louder.

Jesus saw the waves attacking the boat and walked on the water to the disciples. But they were scared. They thought He was a ghost. Have Jesus walk toward the disciples like He’s walking on water. Have the disciples act scared. He called out to them not to be afraid, that it was him.

Peter asked Jesus if he could come to Him on the water, and Jesus said, “Come.” Peter stepped out of the boat and walked toward Jesus. Have Peter step out of the boat. Have the other disciples try to stop him. While Peter kept looking at Jesus, he walked on the water. Have Peter jump around and talk about how he’s walking on water.

But then Peter saw the wind and the waves, and he was afraid. Have the waves sway around Peter and make a louder noise. Have Peter sink into the water. Peter sank into the water. But Peter was smarter than some people. He knew what to do when he was in trouble. He called out to Jesus, “Lord, save me.” Have Peter call out.

Jesus reached out to Peter and grabbed him by the hand. He asked Peter why he doubted. Have Jesus act out what you’re saying. Jesus led Peter into the boat. All the disciples saw that Jesus is Lord and worshipped Him. Have the disciples get on their knees and lift their hands to Jesus.

Children, when you have problems, you should keep looking at Jesus to help you with those problems. He will give you the faith you need to go through anything. But if you do mess up, you can call out to Jesus, and He will help you just as He helped Peter when he sank.

Review Questions:

Where was Jesus when the disciples were on the boat going to the other side of the lake? (Jesus stayed behind to pray)

How did the disciples act when they saw Jesus on the water? (they were afraid)

What did Peter do? (he asked Jesus if he could come to Him)

What happened when Peter looked at the waves? (Peter sank and called out to Jesus)

What did Jesus do when Peter called out to Him? (He grabbed Peter by the arm and pulled him up, saved him)

What should you do when you have a problem? (keep looking to Jesus to give you the faith you need, call out to Jesus)

When Peter looked at Jesus, he could walk on water. But when he looked at the waves, he sank. When he cried out to Jesus, Jesus reached out to save Him. When waves or problems come in our lives, we need to keep looking at Jesus instead of the problem. We can do that by praying and reading our Bibles. But if we do mess up, we can call out to Jesus, and He will help us just like He did Peter.

Snack Time:

If you plan to provide a snack, this is an ideal time to serve it.

Materials: goldfish shaped snacks

Have children eat goldfish shaped snacks while you talk to them about how many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen before they followed Jesus. They knew all about storms and how dangerous they are, but they also knew that Jesus has power over the wind and the waves. Tell the children another story about when Jesus calmed the storms (Mark 4:35-41).

Note: Always be aware of children with food allergies and have another option on hand if necessary.

Learning Activity #1: Faith Stronger Than Water

Materials: glass, water, cardboard (old breakfast cereal boxes work best)

Pour water into a glass until it is almost full. Place a piece of cardboard, cut to slightly larger than the top of the glass, shiny side down, over the top. (an old breakfast cereal box is an ideal source of suitable cardboard). Hold cardboard in place, and invert glass. Take away your hand from the cardboard. Explain that gravity is still at work trying to make the water fall on the floor, but that the air – which we cannot see – is stronger than gravity and is keeping the cardboard in place. Try this at home first to make sure it works correctly.

Invite the children to show they know the air is there – which they cannot see- and walk under the glass.

Peter could walk on water because his faith in Jesus was stronger than the water. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, his faith held him up. When he no longer looked at Jesus, but looked at the waves, his faith failed, and he sank. Children, when you walked under the glass of water, you had faith in the air that was holding the cardboard in place and keeping the water from spilling on you. Just as you had faith in the air to hold the cardboard in place, when you have faith in Jesus, He will help you through the waves or problems you face, because your faith in Him is stronger than any troubles you have.

Learning Activity #2: Keep Your Eyes On The Target

Materials: ball, marker board with a circle drawn

Draw a circle the size of the ball on the marker board. Have each child keep his or her eyes on the circle and throw the ball at it. Then have each child focus on something else in the room and throw the ball again trying to hit the circle.

Children, which time was it easier to hit the circle with the ball? (the first time) Why do you think it was easier the first time? (they had their eyes on the target) It’s easier to trust Jesus to help us when we go throw storms in life when we keep our eyes on Him.

Living Sacrifice Childen’s Sermon

Here’s a great children’s sermon you can use for the New Year or as an 8 week series of messages on heroic faith.

Read Romans 12:1

Sacrifice: to give up, to forfeit, to let go to surrender

To be a living sacrifice is to forfeit or surrender our lives completely to God. We give our lives to Him at the altar and we don’t get back up off the altar when things become difficult or inconvenient or if what He desires for us is not what we desire for ourselves.

Hebrews chapter 11 is a those who have been living sacrifices to God in the past. They are the heroes of the faith. Hebrews 11 talks about Abel’s sacrifice and how Noah obeyed God by building an ark. It talks about Abraham and Issac and Jacob and Moses. It mentions Gideon, David and Samuel as well as many others. Each of these people who lived their lives for God – who became living sacrifices – did so because of their faith in God. They became heroes of the faith. But they are not the only ones with heroic faith. God calls each of us to take that same challenge.

Hebrews 12:1-3 ¹Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

When we focus and Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith and considering the sacrifice that Christ made for us, we can have the heroic faith that each of these people who came before us.

Lets look at 8 characteristics of people with heroic faith.

1. Eternal perspective:

People with heroic faith see beyond this world to eternal realities.

They don’t live for the moment and for this world, they look to the next, knowing that life here is not all the is. Abraham had this kind of faith in Hebrews 11:10. “Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city built by God.” In this world of microwave mentality, people are used to doing whatever benefits them at the moment. They don’t have the eternal perspective that gets them to sacrifice what they want today for a greater vision of tomorrow. This is not what Christ did. We are to look to His as an example. He endured the cross because He was looking forward to the reward. That reward was reconciling us to Him. God wants us to live an abundant rich and full life on Earth but He also wants us to remember that what we gain on Earth could never compare to what is waiting for us in Heaven. When we have an eternal perspective, we will be more concerned with what our Heavenly Father wants for us rather than what this world has to offer us.

Matthew 6:20-21²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2. dependence on God:

Moses showed a dependence on God when he led the children of Israel into the desert. He depended on God show him which direction to go. He depended on God for enough food and water to feed the people. He depended on God to keep their clothes for wearing out for 40 years. And he depended on God to deliver them when the Red Sea was in front of them and the armies of Egypt were behind them. Not everyone who prays depends on God but everyone who depends on God prays and often. If a person is truly dependant on God that person will be in constant communion with God just as Moses was. They will not want to do anything without knowing what God wants them to do. God want us to depend upon Him for everything. If we depend upon God for every day things, for mundane things, for whatever comes our way, then we will depend upon Him when we are under pressure or we are in the dark about what God is doing in our lives. We will start to depend upon Him to part a Red Sea in our lives when we need it.

Proverbs 3:5-6⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall ^£direct your paths.

3. Love of God’s Word:

Those with heroic faith love God’s Word. They love to read it. They love to study it. They love to hear it. They memorize it. But even more, they live by it. We can’t live by faith unless we hunger for the Word of God. Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Without the Word of God, our faith in God will die.

4. Courage:

True courage is not the absence of fear, but boldly doing what God wants even when we are afraid.

True courage comes from the Holy Spirit. It is what changed Peter from a coward who denied knowing Christ to the man who boldly preached the sermon to the crowds of people on the day of Pentecost after receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. True courage is the power that the Holy Spirit gives us to be His witnesses. Courageous Christians act in faith, knowing their calling. They depend on God and His love. They know that they can’t do what is required on their own but they also know that they can do all things when they are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

5. Endurance

Christians with heroic faith don’t give up because things get rough. They persevere. They continue to do what God wants them to do. They never give up. They don’t believe that God changes His mind. They continue on and on until God fulfills the vision He gave them. Abraham persevered when it took so long for Issac to be born. Moses persevered through the desert. Joshua persevered when he and the children of Israel marched around the walls of Jericho seven times. And Daniel persevered when he continued to pray 21 days for an answered from God. Things would have been a lot different if these men would have decided to give up when things got too difficult but their faith in God to come through would not let them give up. I wonder how many times we have given up right before our breakthrough would have come.

6. Obedience

Heroic Faith takes obedience to God seriously. It doesn’t make excuses or think that God understands my weakness in this area. Those with heroic faith are willing to be living sacrifices, to obey God no matter what the cost. That obedience was most evident in Abraham. He was willing to sacrifice Isaac, his son and the fulfillment of God’s promise, for no other reason than because God told him too. Sometimes it seems foolish to obey God. Sometimes what He wants us to do may seem too difficult or cost too much. That’s when we show heroic faith, knowing that God has everything under control and His way is not only the best way, but the only way.

7. Self Control:

Being a living sacrifice involves controlling our flesh. When we have self control, we will not always do what we want. We will not use our words to hurt others. We will not easily lose our tempers. We will decide to die daily to our flesh. The reason Paul told us to make it a daily thing is because our flesh doesn’t go away. It is a constant struggle to control it – to do what God wants and not what would make us feel good for the moment.

8. Love

Many times people think of love as an emotion or feeling. Love that the Bible talks about is not an emotion but a choice. Sometimes we won’t feel like loving and forgiving someone that we believe hurt us. But God doesn’t say that we should love only when we feel like it. We show that we love God by choosing to love others. That means we have to trust God enough to love someone even though that person has hurt us. We need to trust God enough to consider others needs as more important than our own. Again if we look at Christ as our example, we can see that not only was He not selfish when it came to meeting His needs above others, He was willing to sacrifice everything for us. His love is so great that He was willing to humble himself enough to wash Judas’ feet even though he know Judas would betray Him. Remember Christ is God. His name is above every name. But He didn’t pull rank. He gave Himself. He put our needs above His own. He choose to love us when we were unlovable. How can we do any less?

1 John 4:11 – 1 John 4:12 (NKJV) ¹²No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

Take Your Faith Back to School by Pat Holland

A friend of mine, Pat Holland, a children’s ministry evangelist and consultant, wrote a blog post with a Children’s Church lesson and skit that she gave me permission to share.

Take Your Faith Back to School

by Pat Holland

Use this as a devotion or a quick skit that uses 3 actors. (I rewrote it for actors and the teacher to use in class.) Let the actors use their personalities to jazz it up.

Backpack? Check!

Notebooks? Check!

64 Pencils? Really? 64? Reluctantly…Check!

Faith? What is faith doing on my “Back to School Supply List” ?

So just why do I need to take “faith” to school with me?

Three reasons you need to take your faith with you.

1. Faith isn’t a church thing.

2. Faith is trusting God to be with you and help you in every area of your life—home, school and even church.

3. Faith connects us with God’s strength, ability and His plan for your life.

1. To remind you that Jesus is with you and wants to help you in school.

2. To remind you to ask Him for help.

3. To inspire you to do your best.

4. To remind you that this really is going to be a great year.

5. To share with your friends. Ron Hutchcraft always told his kids as they left for school each morning, “Go MAD.” They knew he was saying, “Go Make A Difference.” You can make your school, your class a better place, if you take your faith in Christ with you!

I hope your school year is off to a great start. I pray that you’ll learn lots of new things. I remember what school was like and I remember there are challenges that come with it. So take your faith with you- don’t leave home without it.

—–

Faith Back to School Skit

If you choose to use this devotion as a skit you will need 3 kids or 3 puppets. Child number 1 has the list and is looking inside the backpack, the other 2 have the back pack on their backs ready for school.

Child 2: Would you hurry? I want to see if Zac is at the bus stop!

Child 3: You know Zac is always late!

Child 1: My teacher said, I had to have all my supplies there no later than today, so let me check my list one more time. Backpack? Check! Notebooks? Check! 64 Pencils? Really? 64? (Reluctantly) OK! Faith?

Child 2: What is faith doing on your “Back to School Supply List” ?

Child 1: My mom put it there to remind me that taking my faith to school is just as important as taking all the supplies on my list.

Child 2: Really? Why do you need to take “faith” to school? Isn’t that a church thing?

Child 3: No. Faith is trusting God to be with you and help you in every area of your life—home and school. Church is just a place where we learn about faith.

Child 1: Faith turns on the faucet of God’s strength in my life. He helps me with school. When I take my faith to school, it reminds me to ask Him to help me.

Child 3: Taking my faith to school make me want to do my best.

Child 1: Taking my faith to school reminds me that this really is going to be a great year.

Child 2: And do I need to remind you, we’re going to be late if we don’t run! (All run off the stage.)

Teacher: I hope your school year is off to a great start. I pray that you’ll learn lots of new things. I remember what school was like and I remember there are challenges that come with it. That’s why you need your faith, but there’s one more reason that they didn’t mention. Take your faith to school and share it. Ron Hutchcraft always told his kids as they left for school each morning, “Go MAD.” They knew he was saying, “Go Make A Difference.” You can make your school, your class a better place, if you take your faith in Christ with you! So take your faith with you- don’t leave home without it.

For more informative blog posts written by Pat Holland and information about her ministry, Let Us Teach Kids, click this link.

Independence Day Lesson For Children’s Church

The fourth of July is in two weeks. These next two Sundays would be a great time to teach children that the United States was founded on Christian principles.

Some Facts about our Founding Fathers:

Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Twenty-four of them held seminary or Bible school degrees.

In 1777. Continental Congress voted to spend $300,000 to purchase bibles which were to be distributed throughout the 13 colonies! And in 1782, the United
States Congress declared, “The Congress of the United States recommends and
approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.”

On March 6, 1789, President John Adams called for a national day of fasting and
prayer for the country could “call to mind our numerous offenses against the
most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past
transgression, and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit, we may be disposed
and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience. . .”

Patrick Henry read the Bible for hours every day. During his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, he quoted Matthew and Jeremiah.

In his first general order to his own troops, General George Washington said he called on: ‘Every officer and man…to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.’

Verses about a Nation’s Responsibility Toward God:

Psalm 33:12 ICB Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord. Happy are the people He chose for His very own.

Proverbs 11:14 ICB Without leadership a nation will be defeated. But when many people give advice, it will be safe.

Proverbs 14:34 ICB Doing what is right makes a nation great. But sin will bring disgrace to any people.

Pledge To the United States Flag:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Pledge to the Christian Flag:

I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands. One Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who
believe.

Pledge to the Bible:

I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.

A Christian’s Responsibilities to our Nation:

Obey God first. Acts 5:29 NRSV But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”

Obey Our Leaders and the Law. Romans 13:1 ICB All of you must obey the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule. And no one rules now without that power from God.

Pray For Our Leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1 ICB You should pray for kings and for all who have authority. Pray for the leaders so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives—lives full of worship and respect for God.

Ready to Serve Christ Children’s Church Object Lessons and Sermon

Today, I’m posting three object lessons and the sermon for the lesson, Ready to Serve Christ. This will conclude the lesson. I hope you find it useful in your children’s ministry.

Focus Point: God wants us to be Ready to Live For Christ, Expecting God to move and Determined to share the Gospel.

Goal: Children will learn to look for opportunities to serve God with boldness.

Focus Verse: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

Object Lesson #1: Police are always ready

Items Needed: A police badge or hat and a walkie talkie.

This is a police badge or hat. Police officers train to always be ready. They learn to fire a gun and to drive a car fast. They also learn how to act in every situation that comes up. They are always ready to act. If a robbery happens, they know exactly what to do. If a man is speeding, they are ready to react if the man turns out to be a car thief who pulls a gun on them. They don’t have to think about what to do. They know what to do because they have been trained for every situation. We should always be ready to do the right thing – to do what God wants. If we train to be Christians by learning the Word of God, praying praising and going to church, we will know what God wants us to do and we will be ready to do it.

Police officers also carry radios like this one. They always are listening to the radio so that they are ready to move if a crime happens. We should always be listening to the Holy Spirit. He will warn us when we are doing something that will get us in trouble. If we are always ready to listen to him, he will help us to avoid temptation.

Object Lesson #2: Fire Fighters Expect to Move

Items Needed: Fire fighters hat or badge.

Fire fighter are always expecting a fire. Whether they are sleeping, eating or watching TV, they are always listening for the alarm so that they can move quickly. We can always expect God to move in our lives. We can expect His Spirit to move in church services. We can expect Him to help us. We can expect Him to answer our prayer. Just as a fire fighter is always expect a fire. We can always expect the fire of God to move in our lives.

Object Lesson #3: Doctors and Nurses are Determined

Items Needed: Doctor’s bag, stethoscope or white coat.

Have any of you ever seen a TV show about an emergency room. If you have, you know that when a patient is in a crisis, doctors and nurses are determined to save the patient’s life. They will do whatever it takes to save the patient. They will work for hours on their feet without taking a break to save the patient. We need to have that determination to share Jesus with our friends who are not saved. We need to be willing to do whatever it takes to help others know about Jesus and to lead them to Christ. It’s not easy. Sometimes people make fun of Christians. Sometimes they don’t want to listen. But we should have the same determination that doctors have when they want to save a patient.

Sermon: Code Red

Christians are ready, expecting and determined.

Are you ready to do what God wants in you’re life?
Are you expecting God to move when you pray?
Are you determined to do whatever it takes to live the Christian life and to share Jesus with others

Lead the children in a prayer of dedication.