A Bird Story

Theme: God gives blessings to share and be satisfied

Scripture: "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." Luke 3:11 (NIV)

It was one hot summer day. A lone bird wanted to experience the time of his life: have a nice, good bath and indulge into a fine dining. Armed with desire and craving, he headed for a beautiful spot. He landed by the blue, calm lake nearby the village. And vala, it was teeming with fish!

He immediately plunged his beak into the water and after a second, a fish was seen. He took it into his mouth and …. “That was luscious,” he commented.He started for a Second…. Third…. Fourth…. Numerous rounds of diving and eating followed, and despite the fact that his tummy was already full, he was not satisfied. He was actually hankering for more.Soon after, many birds of his kind joined in. They also started diving and eating…. Diving and eating…. Diving and eating… Boy, what an appetite!

And when the lone bird saw this, he immediately sidetracked every one of them. He ran after them, one after another, flying to and fro to distract their attention but there were many of them! Some of the birds did the diving; others did the flying while the other group just stood by. The multitude of birds grouped themselves into three! When the lone bird was the gazing birds diving, he began to chase them, so the birds on standby did the diving part. When the lone bird saw it, he was very angry that he trailed after them and again the flying group put into position of diving and still the lone bird pursued them.

By this time, it was getting dark nevertheless the chasing continued. Unfortunately, he cannot convince the birds to fly into other lakes to do their hunt. He realized he cannot continue the chasing, so he immediately withdrew himself from the crowd feeling tired, exhausted and mad.Sometimes, we are like the lone bird. We wanted to have more and yet not satisfied. We began to crave for more until our desires be fulfilled. And if people around us want to have their shares, we become nutty that we drive them away. Not knowing that the lake of blessings is too big for us!

So let us pray to Jesus to please help us to be satisfied with all the things we get. Help us to share with the needy ones, the poor and the less fortunate. Help us to put a smile on each person’s face through giving and sharing.

Source : sermons4kids

Activity For The Day - FIND YOUR WAY OUT

Christ Inside Us

THEME: It is Christ in us that produces good works.

SCRIPTURE: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

One day I had some work to do around the house so I went to the store and bought some work gloves. I don't know why they call them work gloves -- they don't do any work. Look at them...they are flat and lifeless. What do you think it will take to get these gloves to do any work? That's right! I have to put my hands inside the gloves. They won't do a thing until I put my hand inside them.Once I put my hand in the work gloves, they can do all sorts of things. They can hammer nails, rake leaves, and hoe in the garden. They can open doors and lift and carry all kinds of heavy objects. As you know, of course, it isn't the gloves that are doing the work. It is my hands inside the gloves that are doing the work.

You know, that is the same way it is with being a Christian. The apostle Paul explained it this way, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."Sometimes we may start thinking that we do some pretty great things. We may brag about how many people we have told about Jesus or we might tell everybody about how much work we do around the church. We might say, "Look at me. I do this and I do that, I, I, I..." We have it all wrong! "It is not I, but Christ who lives in me."

The next time you start to thinking that you have done something great, remember the work gloves. They can do nothing without a hand inside. You and I can do nothing without Christ inside. So let us ask Jesus to come into our lives and use us to accomplish a great work through us.

Source : sermons4kids

Activity For The Day - CROSSWORD PUZZLES

Shine Like New

THEME: Jesus removes the stain of sin from our lives.

SCRIPTURE: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn. Psalm 37:6

The picture above is a vase that we use as a decoration piece in our home. It is made of a metal called brass. As you can see it is bright, shiny, and very beautiful. That isn't always the case. When brass is exposed to the air, it becomes dirty, dusty, and tarnished. That means that the bright golden color becomes dull and lifeless.

See, here is a beautiful table that has become tarnished and has lost its shine. It is no longer very pretty to look at. When a piece of brass becomes tarnished, we take some cleaner and put it on a clean, soft cloth and then we rub the vase. Soon it will be shining like new.

That same thing can happen in our lives. When Jesus comes into our hearts, his light shines through us and our life is bright and beautiful. But as we live our day to day life, we become exposed to all of the bad things in the world around us and our lives sometimes become tarnished by sin. When that happens, our life no longer shines for Jesus, so we have to ask Jesus to clean us up and make us shine again. The Bible says that when we ask him to, "He will make us shine like the morning sun!" Is your life shining as brightly as it once was, or do you need to ask Jesus to forgive you, polish you up, and make you shine like the morning sun? So let us ask Jesus to pick us up and polish us so that we shine like a new.

Source : sermons4kids

Activity For The Day - CROSSWORD PUZZLES

THE FARMER AND HIS SONS

Portion For Reading Psalms 119:9-11
A RICH old farmer, who felt that he had not many more days to live, called his sons to his bedside. "My sons," he said, "heed what I have to say to you. Do not on any account part with the estate that has belonged to our family for so many generations. Somewhere on it is hidden a rich treasure. I do not know the exact spot, but it is there, and you will surely find it. Spare no energy and leave no spot unturned in your search."

The father died, and no sooner was he in his grave than the sons set to work digging with all their might, turning up every foot of ground with their spades, and going over the whole farm two or three times.

No hidden gold did they find; but at harvest time when they had settled their accounts and had pocketed a rich profit far greater than that of any of their neighbors, they understood that the treasure their father had told them about was the wealth of a bountiful crop, and that in their industry had they found the treasure.

Some time we feel that what's the use of reading the Bible, and often we go down and even miss to read bibleclub portion. But let me tell you through this story the bible is like the field which the sons of the richman ploughed, they thought that literally they may prosper by recieving hidden treasures. But infact they recieve the hidden treasure by recieving very high profit on the labour they did, similarly we will recieve eternal life & heavenly blessings by reading and obeying the word of God.

Activity for Today: Crown

Source:Mainlesson.com

THE FARMER AND THE STORK

Portion For Reading Psalms 1:1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

A STORK of a very simple and trusting nature had been asked by a gay party of Cranes to visit a field that had been newly planted. But the party ended dismally with all the birds entangled in the meshes of the Farmer's net.

The Stork begged the Farmer to spare him.

"Please let me go," he pleaded. "I belong to the Stork family who you know are honest and birds of good character. Besides, I did not know the Cranes were going to steal."

"You may be a very good bird," answered the Farmer, "but I caught you with the thieving Cranes and you will have to share the same punishment with them."

You are judged by the company you keep. Sometimes we need to cut of relationship with bad kids in order to be saved by a discipline, because as the stork was not left with out discipline so will be our case. If we do not walk in the cousel of the wicked and but make friendship with good children and then you will be called BLESSED.

Activity for Today: Blessed Is He

Source:Mainlesson.com

Masters Touch

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 1 Tim 2:20-21

Once an auction was going on and all the stuffs kept were auctioned for very high prices. Then came the turn of a violin to be auctioned and it was dusty and out of tune. The auctioneer with an expression of repulsion picked it up and asked the public, how much would they bid for it. There was a deep silence since no one was interested to buy it. Then one person in the crowd feeling pity and out of his mercy bid one dollar and then two more dollars. Which brought up the price of the violin up to three dollars. And the auctioneer began to count going once, going twice and before he could say three an old man got up from the back of the room and walked up to the front. He took the violin in his hand wiped it down clean and tuned it. He then started to play a well known melodious tune and in a moment there was only the sound of the violin to be heard and all the congregation was captured by it. When he was done playing the tune there was a great cloud of applaud, and tears rolled down some cheeks.

Then the auctioneer asked once again who would like to bid for this violin. People pounced to bid for it, one by one the voices rose and finally the bid ended. The cost of the violin came to $ 3300. Yet astonished at this some began to murmuring and questioning that what made a violin so dirty and worth only $3 rise up to the cost of $3300. And slowly from the crowd itself came a whisper it was nothing else but the Master’s Touch.

So today if you find yourself like this violin and you think that you are not good enough or smart. Just ask Jesus Christ our Master to touch you and help you to grow in Him. So that he can make you useful and beautiful just like the violin.

By : Ss

Activity For The Day - Finding Bible Verses

There Is Power in a Touch

Theme: Feeling the power of Jesus in our life

Scripture: When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Mark 5:27-29 (NIV)

As you may know, we have five senses. The five senses are sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Each of these senses is very important to us. This morning we are going to test our sense of touch and discover the power that is ours in the sense of touch. The sense of touch is very important, isn't it? We can often tell what an object is by its size, shape, and texture -- all of which can be learned by using our sense of touch. Today I want to tell you about a woman who experienced the power of Jesus -- just by touching him.

One day Jesus was walking through a large crowd of people. The people were crowding around so that he could hardly move. There was a woman in the crowd who had a very bad sore that had been bleeding for twelve years. She had been to many doctors, but none had been able to help her. She had heard about Jesus and she believed that he could heal her, but there were so many who were people crowded around him that it seemed hopeless.

The woman thought to herself, "If I could just get close enough to touch his robe, I would be healed." So she pushed through the crowd and reached out and touched Jesus' clothes. Her bleeding stopped immediately and her suffering was ended.

The Bible tells us that as soon as the woman touched him, Jesus felt the power go out of him. He turned to the woman and said, "Your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free from your suffering."

Just like the woman in this story no matter what you are going through Won't you reach out to Jesus today? If you will, you too can feel his power in your life today.

Activity For The Day - Alphabet Soup

Source : sermons4kids

The Widows Mite

Theme: It isn't the size of the gift that matters.

Scripture: Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." Mark 12:43-44 (NIV)

Today I want to tell you the story of a little girl named Hattie and how her gift of fifty-seven cents helped to build a great church.

One Sunday morning, the pastor of a church went outside to find a group of children who were unable to get in to go to Sunday School because the building was too crowded. One of those children was a six year-old named Hattie. When the pastor saw her, he lifted her up in his arms, put her up on his shoulder, and carried her into the church where he found a place for her to sit in the Sunday School class.

The next morning as he walked to church, the pastor saw Hattie again and stopped to talk to her. He told her that he hoped that some day the church would be able to build a building that was large enough so that there would be room for all the children who wanted to attend.

Two years later, little Hattie died and the pastor was asked to preach the funeral service. After the service, Hattie's mother handed the pastor a small purse containing fifty-seven cents. She told him that Hattie had been saving her pennies to help the church build a new Sunday School building. The pastor took the fifty-seven cents back to his church and told the people about the little girl who had been saving her pennies to help them build a new Sunday School building. The people were so inspired by Hattie's gift, that they gave faithfully until they built a wonderful new building with plenty of room for all of the children who wanted to attend.

Each Sunday in our worship service we take an offering. Do you think Jesus is interested in how much money we put in the offering plate? You see, Jesus is more interested in what is in the heart of the giver than he is in the size of their gift. I am sure that Jesus would say that Hattie gave more than anyone to build this great church. She gave all that she had. Everything we have is a gift from God. And we should give back to God always with a cheerful heart.

Note: The story of Hattie Wiatt is a true story. It is taken from on a sermon by Russell H. Conwell delivered December 1, 1912.

Activity For The Day - The Widow's Mite

Source : sermons4kids

Turn To The Source

Theme: God will supply all our needs if we will look to Him.

Scripture: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17 Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwells in the heavens. Psalm 123:1

One night I decided I wanted to check on the scores of some of the football games in our area. I got out my little portable radio and turned it on. I tuned it to a station that I know gives high school football scores. This isn't a very powerful radio and when I turned it on, the signal was very weak and there was a lot of static and interference. I discovered that if I turned the radio around until it was facing the direction of the radio station, the signal was much stronger and I could hear it much better.

The Bible teaches us that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." If our Heavenly Father is the source of all that we need, we will be better able to receive His gifts if we will keep our hearts turned toward Him. The Bible tells us to lift our eyes to Him who lives in the heavens. He is the one who supplies all of our needs.

So let us ask God to help us keep our hearts always tuned to him because he is the source of all our blessings.

Activity For The Day - Turn To The Source

Source : sermons4kids

A Heart Check

Theme: God knows your heart

Scripture: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 (KJV)

I am sure that all of you have seen one of these. It's called a stethoscope. Who uses a stethoscope? That's right, a doctor. And what does the doctor do with it? Right again! The doctor listens to what is going on inside of our bodies. A person might look very healthy on the outside and yet have something wrong on the inside.

Many doctors want to see their patients once a year for a checkup . Do you ever go to the doctor for a checkup? If so, you know the routine. They check to see how tall you are and how much you weigh. They look in your eyes, ears, nose, and throat. Then, the doctor takes the stethoscope, which feels as if it has been kept in the refrigerator, and listens to see if your heart beat is strong and steady. Any unusual sound may tell the doctor that something is wrong with your heart. If the doctor finds something wrong, you might need some medicine to make it well. Sometimes a doctor finds something wrong and has to operate to fix it. There have even been some cases when a person needed a whole new heart. Isn't it wonderful that God has given us doctors who can fix our heart when something goes wrong?

Our Bible story today is about a man named David. David had heart trouble. Oh, it wasn't the kind of heart trouble you could hear with a stethoscope, but David knew he had heart trouble. He knew that he had sinned and done wicked and evil things in God's sight. So, what did David do about his heart problem? He went to the One that he knew could fix it -- he went to God. David prayed to God and said, "O God, I have sinned against you and I have done evil things in your sight. Create in me a clean heart, and give me a right spirit."

Sometimes you and I have heart problems too. We might have some things in our heart that shouldn't be there. Things like bitterness, anger, jealousy, selfishness, pride, and greed. When we come to church, everything may look great on the outside, but God may look inside and see that our heart isn't right. When we know that we have a heart problem, we need to do what David did. We need to pray to God and say, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Do you have some things in your heart that shouldn't be there? I do! Let's ask God to fix it!

Activity For The Day - A Heart Check

Source : sermons4kids

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

Portion For Reading Gal 6:9-10

A LION lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

A kindness is never wasted. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all
all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Activity For Today: Love Your Enemies

Source:2000-2007 Lisa Ripperton

He Sees Our Every Step

THEME: God sees everything we do.

SCRIPTURE: His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. Job 34:21

How many of you have a pair of binoculars? Binoculars are really amazing. You can look at something that is very far away and it brings it right up to you. A lot of people take binoculars to ballgames so that they can see the action better. Some people take binoculars when they go hunting to help them find the animals they are hunting. I have a friend who likes to watch birds. She can look through a pair of binoculars and she can watch birds from a great distance and watch what they are doing. The birds don’t even know that she is watching.

This reminds me that we are all being watched. Other people are watching us to see what we are doing, but more important to remember is that the Bible tells us that God is watching us. It says “His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step.” That means that He sees us when we are fighting with our brother or sister. He sees us when we don’t act the way we should act in school. He sees us when we talk back to our parents. He sees every thing we do.

Since God is watching us and sees everything we do, we should be very careful and make sure that we are doing things that will please Him.

Source : sermons4kids

Activity For The Day - He Sees Our Every Steps

THE BUNDLE OF STICKS

Portion For Reading Psalms 133:1

" How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!"

A CERTAIN Father had a family of Sons, who were forever quarreling among themselves. No words he could say did the least good, so he cast about in his mind for some very striking example that should make them see that discord would lead them to misfortune.

One day when the quarreling had been much more violent than usual and each of the Sons was moping in a surly manner, he asked one of them to bring him a bundle of sticks. Then handing the bundle to each of his Sons in turn he told them to try to break it. But although each one tried his best, none was able to do so.

[21] The Father then untied the bundle and gave the sticks to his Sons to break one by one. This they did very easily.

"My Sons," said the Father, "do you not see how certain it is that if you agree with each other and help each other, it will be impossible for your enemies to injure you? But if you are divided among yourselves, you will be no stronger than a single stick in that bundle."

In unity is strength.

Activity for Today: Exodus People

Source:mainlesson.com

Three Wishes

Theme: A sorry son and a forgiving father.
Scripture: "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:22-24 (NIV)

I am sure that most of you have read the book or seen the movie "Aladdin." As you know, in the story Aladdin found a brass lamp. There was some writing on the lamp, but the lamp was so dirty that Aladdin could not read it. When he rubbed the lantern to clean the dust and dirt off of it, a genie came out of the lamp and told Aladdin that he would grant him three wishes.

Well, we have a similar story today, but it doesn't have a magic lantern or a genie. It is a story that Jesus told about a young man who had three wishes.

1. He wanted a lot of money.

2. He wanted to travel and see the world.

3. He wanted to be his own boss.

The young man got his wishes, but they were not granted to him by a genie. The young man went to his father and asked him to give him the inheritance that would be his when his father died. Even though the father was sad that his son wanted to leave, he gave him his share of the family fortune and the young man left home and traveled all around the world. He visited all of the places he had always wanted to visit and did whatever he wanted to do. He was happy that no one was telling him what to do. Since the young man had a lot of money, if he saw something he wanted, he bought it, and since he had a lot of money, he also had many friends.

This sounds like very happy story, doesn't it? Well, that isn't the end of the story. After a while, the young man ran out of money. When he ran out of money, his friends ran out on him. He was so desperate that he went to work for a man who sent him to feed his pigs. The young man was so hungry that he would gladly have eaten the food he was feeding to the pigs. As he looked at the filthy pig pen, he thought about the mess he had made of his life. He thought about his father and the home he had left behind.

"Even a servant in my father's house lives better than this," the young man said to himself. "I will return to my father and tell him that I am sorry for the way I have behaved and ask him to give me a job as one of his servants."

Do you think the father was willing to take him back? Yes, but not as a servant. He welcomed him back home as a son. He called his servants together and told them, "Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was lost, but now is found."

Well, the story had a happy ending after all, didn't it? This story that Jesus told is really a story about you and me and the way we sometimes behave.

Sometimes you and I make bad choices -- just like the young man in our story. We sometimes wish for things that are not good for us. We sometimes don't want to listen to God and obey what the Bible tells us we should do. When we act that way, we really make a mess of our life, Well, I have good news for you! Just like the father in our story, God, our Heavenly Father, is always willing to take us back if we will admit that we were wrong and return to Him.

Dear Father, we sometimes make bad choices. Thank you for being a loving Father who will always take us back when we come home to you. Amen.

Activity For Today: Prodigal Son

Source: Sermons4kids

How Much Are We Worth?

THEME: God's love.

SCRIPTURE: This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:10 (NLT)
In my hand, I have 3 dollars: one Sacajawea gold dollar, one Susan B. Anthony dollar, and a Washington paper dollar. Which one is worth the most? Why? What makes one more special than another?

But aren’t they all worth $1.00? Yes, they are all worth the same. They each look different, but all have the same value when we try to spend them. People are just like that in God’s sight. We all come in different sizes, heights, weight, have different hair & eye color, some are smarter, some are prettier, etc. But when it all comes down, we all have the same value to God.

He gave His precious Son Jesus for our sins so that we could be close to God. He sent Jesus to die for our sins. To me, that makes me feel very valuable to God--worth more than anything money could ever buy.

Dear Father, we are thankful that though we are all different, you love us all the same. Amen.

Activity for Today: Old Testament Books
Source:Submitted by Chris Dickens/ sermons4kids.com

Don't Bury Your Talent

Portion for Reading Matt 25:29

Today, our Bible story is a familiar story that Jesus told. It is called the Parable of the Talents. In the Parable of the Talents, a very wealthy man was going to go on a trip. He called his three servants together and told them that he would be gone for a long time and that he was leaving them in charge of all of his wealth. He divided up his wealth and gave it to the three servants.
To the first servant, he gave five talents. Now, that might not sound like much to you, but in Jesus' day, that was a lot of money. To the second servant, he gave two talents. To the third servant, he gave one talent.

The first servant took the five talents his master had given him and put it to work and earned five more talents. The second also invested his two talents wisely and earned two more talents. The third servant took his one talent and buried it in the ground for safe keeping.

When the master returned, he was very pleased when the first two servants told him that they had doubled his money. "Well done," he said. "Because you had been faithful with what I have given you, I will give you much more."

"How about you?" he asked the third servant. "What did you do with the money that I left with you?"

The third servant said to the master, "I knew that you were a hard man and I was afraid, so I went out and hid your treasure in the ground so that it would be safe. See, here it is."

The master was angry. "You are a wicked and lazy servant. You could have at least put my money in the bank where it would earn more." He then took the one talent from the lazy servant and gave it to the one who had ten talents.

In this Parable of the Talents, God is the Master and you and I are his servants. The talents that the master gave to his servants in this story was a form of money. But God has given us talents too, hasn't he? God created each of us with special gifts and he expects us to use those gifts for the purpose for which he gave them to us.

Sometimes you and I may look at the talents that God has given to others and think that God hasn't given us very much talent. We might even be tempted to hide our talent. But when we use our God-given talent to be all that God intended for us to be... boy, can we fly!

Dear Father, help us to use the talents that you have given us to be what you intended for us to be.

Activity For Today: Parable Of The Talent

Source:Sermons4kids.com

The Fighting Cocks And The Eagle

Memory Verse: Prov 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

ONCE there were two Cocks living in the same farmyard who could not bear the sight of each other. At last one day they flew up to fight it out, beak and claw. They fought until one of them was beaten and crawled off to a corner to hide.

The Cock that had won the battle, flew to the top of the henhouse, and, proudly flapping his wings, crowed with all his might to tell the world about his victory. But an Eagle, circling overhead, heard the boasting chanticleer and, swooping down, carried him off to his nest.

His rival saw the deed, and coming out of his corner, took his place as master of the farmyard.

Pride goes before a fall.

Prov 16: 5,19
*The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go
unpunished

*Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

*Pride goeth before destruction, and anhaughty spirit before a fall.Better it is to be of an humble spirit withthe lowly, than to divide the spoilwith the proud."

*"...God resisteth the proud, but giveth graceunto the humble."

*"The Lord will destroy the house of theproud: but he will establish the borderof the widow."

"When pride cometh, then cometh shame:but with the lowly is wisdom."

*"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil:pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,and the froward mouth, do I hate."

*"An high look, and a proud heart, and theplowing of the wicked, is sin."

*"Though the Lord be high, yet hath herespect unto the lowly:but the proud he knoweth afar off."
*Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Activity for Today: Crossword Puzzle NT People
Source:mainlesson.com

Hope for the Hopeless

Theme: When you have nowhere to turn -- turn to Jesus.

Scripture: A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Mark 1:40-42

Do you know what this is? It is a bottle of medicine called calamine lotion. Calamine is a medicine that is sometimes used to help stop itching. Have you have ever had the chicken pox? When you have chicken pox, it starts out like a cold -- you feel lousy, have a runny nose, and run a fever. Then, all of a sudden, itchy red bumps start to break out all over your body. The itching drives you crazy, but you can't scratch, because that just makes it worse. It is a very uncomfortable feeling, but it isn't hopeless. Rubbing on some calamine lotion may help to ease the itching. In a few days, the sores go away, the itching stops, and life is back to normal again.

During the time when Jesus lived upon the earth, leprosy was very wide-spread and was a dreaded disease. When someone had leprosy, they were covered with sores all over their bodies. Unlike chicken pox, these sores didn't just go away. When someone had leprosy, it was hopeless, because there was no cure. To make matters worse, other people considered them to be unclean and were not allowed to touch them. Many people believed that people who had leprosy got the disease because of some terrible sin they had committed.

One day a man with leprosy came to Jesus. The man knelt down before Jesus and said, "If you will, you can make me clean." Jesus looked at the man and he felt love and compassion for him. He reached out his hand and touched the man and said, "I am willing, be clean." Immediately, the leprosy left the man and he was cured.

Sometimes, we may find ourselves in a situation where we are uncomfortable, like when we had the chicken pox. But there may come a time in our lives when we find ourselves in a situation that is truly hopeless. When that happens, where can we turn? How do we find hope in a hopeless situation? We can turn to Jesus. When the situation is hopeless, Jesus is our only hope. Dear Jesus, you came to bring hope to the hopeless. When we find ourselves in a hopeless situation, we put our hope and trust in you. Amen.

Activity For The Day - Hope For The Hopeless

Source : sermons4kids

Five Smooth Stones

Scripture: Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:40 (NIV)

I'm sure you probably know the Bible story of how a boy named David fought and killed a giant named Goliath. Now, Goliath was a mighty warrior who was more than nine feet tall! He was protected from head to toe by a suit of armor made of bronze and with a sword and spear.

David, on the other hand, was a young shepherd boy. He had no armor for protection. David's weapon was a sling and five smooth stones which he picked up from a nearby stream. And yet, David was able to defeat a giant that all of the soldiers of the Israelite army were afraid to face. You and I may never face a giant such as Goliath, but we face giants of another kind in our daily life. We face giants such as fear, insecurity, loneliness, and failure. How can we overcome those giants that want to defeat us? These five stones can help us to remember the story of how David defeated the giant he faced and how we can defeat the giants which we face.

• The first stone represents COURAGE - David was not afraid to face the enemy. "Don't worry about a thing," David told Saul. "I'll go fight this Philistine!" (1 Samuel 17:32 NLT) It also takes courage to fight the giants you will face in your life.

• The second stone represents CONFIDENCE - As a shepherd, David often had to protect the sheep from wild animals. This gave him the confidence he needed to face the giant. "The LORD who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!" (1 Samuel 17:37 NLT) Like David, you can have confidence that God will help you overcome the problems you face each day.

• The third stone represents PREPARATION - David didn't go to face the giant unprepared. He went down to the stream and picked out five smooth stones and put them in his shepherd's bag. Then, armed with his shepherd's staff and sling, he started out to fight Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:40 NLT) It is important for you to do everything possible to be certain you are prepared to face the challenges which you will meet in your daily life.

• The fourth stone represents TRUST - David did not trust in his own ability to slay the giant. When Goliath shouted at David, cursed him, and was ready to kill him, David said, "You come to me with a sword and spear, but I come to you in the name of the LORD God Almighty." (1 Samuel 17:45 NLT) When you face problems, put your trust in God, not in your own ability.

• The fifth stone represents VICTORY - "It is God's battle, not ours," David said. That is why David was able to win the victory over the giant with only a stone and sling. (1 Samuel 17:50 NLT) When you turn your battles over to God, you will have the victory over the giants in your life.

So, the next time you are facing a giant in your life, remember the story of David and Goliath --and five smooth stones.

Activity For The Day - Five Smooth Stones

Source : Sermons4kids

Be a Swan, Not a Duck

Theme: Being in the world but not of the world

Scripture: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:19 (NIV)

How many of you know the story of The Ugly Duckling? In the story, a mother duck sat on a nest of eggs waiting for her babies to hatch. Time after time she heard the sound, "Craaaak!" When she looked, there was a baby duck hatched from one of the eggs. One by one the eggs hatched until only one was left. She sat down on the egg to wait... and wait... and wait. Finally she heard the sound again. ‘Craaaack!’ And there it was -- another baby. Somehow, he didn’t look like the other baby ducks. In fact, she thought he was rather ugly. But he hatched from her nest so she thought he must be her baby and so she took him to the pond to play with the other ducklings.

When the other ducklings in the pond saw the ugly duckling, they all laughed at him, made fun of him, and told him he was ugly. The little duckling was so sad he left the pond, but everyone he met treated him the same way, even the farm animals.

The little ugly duckling kept walking and finally came to another pond. In it were beautiful swans. The little ugly duckling wished he could be like the beautiful swans. By now it was winter and he was cold and lonely. It got so cold that the ugly duckling's feet became frozen in the pond. An old farmer saw him and felt sorry for him. He finally got him unstuck, but the duckling thought he would make fun of him too, so he went off to hide. He didn’t know there was a better future waiting for him.

When spring came, the ugly duckling went back to the pond. What did he see? The beautiful swans were swimming in the pond! The ugly duckling thought to himself, “I sure wish I was beautiful like those swans and not just an ugly duckling.” He looked in the water and saw his reflection. Guess what? He was not an ugly duckling anymore! During the winter he had grown into a beautiful swan. The other swans saw him and invited him to join them. They all flew over to the duck pond. The other ducks saw that the ugly duckling had turned into a beautiful swan while they had remained ducks.

You and I are like the "ugly duckling" in this story. If we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are like beautiful swans. We don’t fit into this world any more than the ugly duckling belonged in the duck pond. Those who won’t accept Christ as their Savior will be like the ducks. They will make fun of us, call us names, and not let us hang out with them; stuff like that. They won’t like us because we don’t look like them or act like them. But do you know what? That doesn’t matter because a better future awaits us in Heaven while the ducks will just be ducks in a pond.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Son Christ Jesus and for choosing us as your swans. We long for a better future with you in Heaven. Help us to not be like ducks while we wait. Amen.

Activity For Today: Find Out The 28 Animals

Source : sermons4kids Submitted by Laquita Ward

A Different Kind of Freedom

Theme:
We are called to be free, but not free to do whatever we want.
Scripture:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13

Good Morning! Have any of you ever gotten a dog from an animal shelter or dog pound? How about a cat? Why did you want a pet? Was it for companionship; to give you comfort when you are sad; maybe to protect you and your house from robbers?

I love dogs and all of my dogs, for at least the last 25 years, have been rescued animals.If you’ve ever gotten a pet from a pound or shelter, sometimes you have to pay like $5.00 or maybe more and when you get them home, you know how they act at first! Once they are freed from their cages and brought home, they go nuts! They jump up on you, get on the furniture, potty in the floor, dig holes in the flower beds, bark and howl all night, etc. Cats usually scratch the furniture, climb the curtains, get on the counter and try to eat the fish in the fishbowl! They are so happy to be free from their former lives they think they can do whatever they want. They have to learn that that is wrong. They have to learn they have a different kind of freedom now. Apart from us, they can’t do that. We have to teach them the right way to behave because they can’t learn on their own.

Christians are kind of like that. You see, we were once bound by guilt and sin and it was sort of like being in a cage. Jesus purchased our freedom from sin by his death on the cross. But just because we have freedom in Christ doesn’t mean we can just go out and do whatever we want. Did you know there are a lot of Christians today who think they can? (I don’t mean climb the curtains or bark and howl all night!) We have to learn the right way to behave. The Bible teaches us in Gal. 5:13 says, ‘You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love.’ In other words, we have a different kind of freedom now and we are to live like Jesus lived.

Just as we paid the price for, and freed, our pets to serve us, we are to live to serve God. He will teach us because we can’t learn on our own. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for paying the price and freeing us from guilt and sin. Teach us how to live like you want us to. Amen.

Activity For Today: Genesis

Submitted by Laquita Ward

THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE

Portion for Reading Psalms 37:16

A TOWN MOUSE once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch the Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots, and acorns, with a dash of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly, nibbling a little of this and a little of that, and by her manner making it very plain that she ate the simple food only to be polite.

After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather the Town Mouse talked about her life in the city while the Country Mouse listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the hedgerow and slept in quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep the Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had described for her. So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, She gladly said yes.

When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they found on the table in the dining room the leavings of a very fine banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses, indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat mew loudly and scratch at the door. I n great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the table, followed by the House Dog.

The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick up her carpet bag and umbrella. "You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it." Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.

Proverbs 16:8

Better is a little with righteousness (uprightness in every area and relation and right standing with God) than great revenues with injustice

Psalms 37:16

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;

Source: Milo Winter

Activity For The Day - Find Me Among The Jumble

The Five-Finger Prayer

Theme: Prayer

Scripture: We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Colossians 1: 3

Do you ever have trouble thinking of something to say when you are talking to a friend? I do. I have a friend that I walk with every day and sometimes we go for a long time without either of us saying anything. We just can't think of anything to say.

Sometimes that same thing happens when I am praying. I start to pray and then I just can't think of anything to say. Does that ever happen to you? Well, today, I want to show you something that will help you when that happens. It is called the "Five Finger Prayer."

First, I want you to put your hands together in front of you as if you are praying. Keep your eyes open so that you can see your hands. You will notice that the closest finger to you is the thumb. Since it is the closest to you, the thumb reminds you to pray for those that are closest to you. Pray for your parents and your brothers or sisters.

The next finger is called your index finger. It is used for pointing. Let this finger remind you to pray for those that point you in the right direction. Pray for your teachers at school, your Sunday School teacher, and your pastor.

The next finger is the tallest finger. This finger reminds us to pray for our leaders. Pray for the president and other leaders in our government and those who are leaders in our town.

The fourth finger is the called the ring finger. Did you know that this is the weakest of all the fingers? Just ask any one who plays the piano and they will tell you that is true. Let this finger remind you to pray for those who are sick.

The next finger is the smallest finger. The Bible says, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought." Let the little finger remind you to pray for yourself.

So the next time you are talking to God, and you can't think of anything to say, let the "Five Finger Prayer" help you.

Source : sermons4kids

Activity For The Day - THE PRAYER OF FAITH

Just Do it

THEME: Don't talk about prayer -- just do it!

SCRIPTURE: "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10

What do you think of when you see this symbol? Right! You think of Nike. As you know, Nike is one of the world's leading manufacturers of sport's equipment. At one time, they were just known as a running shoe company, but now they make sports equipment for just about every sport you can imagine. Probably just about everyone in the world would recognize this Nike symbol.

Whenever we think of Nike, we also think of their slogan, "Just Do It!" What does that mean? Well, since Nike is in the business of making sports equipment, it means that when it comes to sports, don't talk about it -- just do it! Don't just talk about running, go out and run. Don't just talk about basketball, go out and play the game. Don't just talk about...well, I think you get the idea.

One day Jesus was with his disciples and they asked him to teach them how to pray. Jesus didn't say, "Well, first you get down on your knees, like this; then you fold your hands like this; then you close your eyes; and then you start to pray. After giving them an sample prayer, he said to them, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." In other words, Jesus told his disciples that the most important rule of prayer is -- "Just Do It!"

When we come to church, we talk a lot about prayer, don't we? When someone is sick, we say, "We need to pray for the sick." When someone is having financial problems, we say, "We need to pray for the poor." When there is war in the world, we say, "We need to pray for peace." We talk a lot about prayer, but what we really need is to "Just Do It!" In fact, I think we should stop talking about it right now -- and "Just Do It!"

Source : sermon4kids

Activity For The Day - JUST DO IT

THE TWO GOATS

Portion For Reading Rom 12:10
TWO GOATS, frisking gayly on the rocky steeps of a mountain valley, chanced to meet, one on each side of a deep chasm through which poured a mighty mountain torrent. The trunk of a fallen tree formed the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not even two squirrels could have passed each other in safety. The narrow path would have made the bravest tremble. Not so our Goats. Their pride would not permit either to stand aside for the other.

One set her foot on the log. The other did likewise. In the middle they met horn to horn. Neither would give way, and so they both fell, to be swept away by the roaring torrent below.

It is better to yield than to come to misfortune through stubbornness.

Rom 12
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Activity for Today: Who Said That?

By Milo Winter

The First Aid Kit

Theme: Jesus heals our hurts. The Bible is our "First Aid Kit"

Scripture: Psalm 119:50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

A first aid kit is a very important thing to have around. We should all have a first aid kit in our home, in our work place, and in our car. We have several of them around the church so that they will be handy if someone gets hurt.

What are some of the things you might expect to find in a first aid kit? Usually, there are some cotton balls to use to clean a wound. There should be a spray or ointment to kill germs so the wound won’t get infected. There may be another spray or ointment that is good for burns. And, of course, there should be bandages to put on the injury to keep it clean. When someone is hurt, it is important to have a first aid kit and to know how to use the things that are in it.

The Bible is a lot like a first aid kit. It has the answer to all of the hurts that we have in our life. If we get into a scrape, the Bible has the answer. If someone makes a cutting remark and it really hurts us, the Bible has the answer. If we have a burning question and just don’t know what to do, the Bible has the answer. Everyone is or have gone through a painful time in their lives. And when you are hurting, it is important to have God’s first aid kit and to know how to use it. The Bible says, “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.” Knowing how to use God’s first aid kit will save your life!

Source : sermons4kids

Activity For The Day - God Is Watching Over You and Me.

How Do You Look?

Theme: Man looks on outward appearances, God looks at the inside.

Scripture: Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 1 Peter 3: 3-4 Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16: 7

Some of you have probably seen one of these before. It is an x-ray. Many times when we go to the doctor, he cannot tell if we have something wrong just by looking at us. We may look just fine on the outside, but there might be something wrong on the inside. To see what is on the inside, the doctor takes an x-ray. By looking at the x-ray, the doctor can see what's on the inside and helps us to get well. You can't always tell by looking at the outside.

The Bible tells us that man looks at outward appearance, but God looks on the inside. You can't always tell what a person is really like by looking at the outside. Some people may be beautiful on the outside, but they may be very mean, selfish, and hateful on the inside. Some people may not be very beautiful to look at, but on the inside they are loving, gentle, and kind.

We spend a lot of time making sure we look good on the outside, but what are we doing to make sure we look good on the inside? (Read 1 Peter 3: 3-4) When we look at people, we need to remember that we can only see what's on the outside, but God can see what's on the inside - and it's what's inside that counts.

So let us pray Lord, help us to be more concerned with our own inner beauty than with our outward appearance and help us not to judge other people by what we see on the outside.

Activity For Today : Blessings & Woes

Source : sermons4kids

Who Is the Minister in Your Church?

Theme: Every Christian is needed to do their part in the ministry of the Church.

Scripture: There are different kinds of gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve but the same Lord to serve. And there are different ways that God works through people but the same God. God works in all of us in everything we do. Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (NCV)

Today, we have a special treat. We’re going to listen to some music played by an orchestra. Who knows what an orchestra is?Well, an orchestra is a big band. There can be as many as 70 people playing over 20 different instruments! Let’s listen (play about a minute of the music).What kind of instruments did you hear? (Show them pictures of the instruments from the book)(Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Harp, etc.)(Brass: Trumpet, Trombone, French horn, Tuba, etc.)(Wind: Piccolo, Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, etc.)(Percussion: Timpani, snare drum, triangles, cymbals, etc.)(Keyboard: Piano, xylophone, Glockenspiel, etc)So there are many people playing many different instruments.Do you think they have to work together?Do you think they need to know their part and do their part well?Do you think it took a lot of practice alone and together to make such beautiful music?The Church is like an orchestra, too. In the Church we have many people. And God has given every Christian special abilities to serve others. Like an orchestra we have to do our part and work together with others to get the work done that God has for us.So it’s important for you to know that a part of becoming more like Jesus is that we serve others alongside of other Christians.Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to know that my part in the Church is very important. Show me ways that I can serve others. Amen.

Source : sermons4kids Submitted by Rev. Michael Brinkley

Activity For The Day - CROSS WORD PUZZLE

The Potter and Clay

"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. JEREMIAH 18:6

Hey do you know who a potter is? He or she is a person who uses clay to make pots. And before the potter makes a pot, the potter plans and makes each pot in a unique way. Even though the pots are made with different colors of clay, but when we look at them they all might seem the same to us. But when ask the potter if there is any difference between the pots? The potter would tell us the differences and the purpose they are made for.

Just like a potter makes some pots for noble use and some for common use, in the same way God has made us for common and for noble purpose. And just like the potter used different colored clay in the same way God has made us also all in different colors. Every person you see around you is a beautiful but unique creation of God. As each of our finger prints and eyes are unique, in the same way each one us has our own identity and personality.

God has made us all for a purpose and he has given us all unique features and talents. We should always pray to God to show us the purpose that he needs accomplished through us. And how to use our unique talents he has given us.

By SS

Activity For The Day - Cross Word Puzzle

Beach Exploration

Keep Trusting in Jesus
Theme: We must continue to trust and obey our Savior and Lord

Scripture: For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Hebrews 3:14 NLT

How many of you like to go to the beach?Well, this weekend my family went down to the beach. And whenever David went into the water he had to wear this.What’s this? That’s right, it’s a life vest.What is a life vest used for?Do you think you are safe when you wear one of these?This life vest is no good to David unless he puts it on.If David goes into the ocean water without this life vest on he’s most likely going to drown, because he can’t swim.Can you swim?All it takes is one wave or for that water to pull him under and David would be gone. That’s very scary.But you know what? Jesus is like a life vest. He’s there to protect us and rescue us from trouble.But like a life vest we have to trust Jesus. Just like we have to put on and keep on our life vest to keep us safe, we have to put our trust in Jesus and keep it there so we can be safe.Remember whatever Jesus says in the Bible believe it’s the truth. And always remember you can trust in Jesus.He always loves you and He always wants what is best for you.

Source : sermons4kids Submitted by Rev. Michael Brinkley

Activity For The Day - THE MAZE

The Trash Collector

Scripture: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (NIV)

What do you do with garbage at your house? Put it on the curb for the trash collector to pickup.

What happens if you don’t put the trash out. Smelly, dirty, yuk.

Do you ever worry about what they are going to do with your trash? No. They just take it away. Sometimes they bury it, but now they recycle it. They give it new life by turning it into something useful.

We have trash inside us that we call “Sin”. It is the bad things that we say and do. And just like the garbage in our homes we have to put Sin out on the curb for the trash collector.

John said that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Jesus is our trash collector. He wants us to put all the bad things in our lives out for him to pick up and take away. We don’t have to worry about them anymore once we give them to Him. So today search your heart and lives, if you have done any bad stuff like not obeying your parents, getting angry, being mean to someone ask sorry to Jesus and give your mistake to Him. Let him take it away, clean us and help us to be good person.

Source : Article from sermons4kids Submitted by Bryan Clements

Activity For The Day - CROSSWORD