Church can become something that children look forward to rather than dread.
Presenting a sermon for children is an opportunity to bring your religion alive for the class. The limited attention span of children requires that your message be presented in a way that is interesting, engaging, and that relates to their personal lives and experiences. The younger your students are, the more advantageous it becomes to incorporate the use of printouts, songs, children's Bibles with pictures, crafts, and time for questions and answers.
The Nature of God
God is the foundation of religion, and so it is important to impart to children exactly who God is according to your religion. This is a sermon that helps your students understand who they are worshiping and why. In your sermon, liken God to earthly parents in terms of their love for their children and their desire to see them happy. This helps children begin to grasp the relationship that humans have with their heavenly father.
Prayer
Sermons on prayer teach children that they can go to God to request blessings for loved ones as well as with any concerns or worries that they may have. To help kids think of prayer in a modern context, liken praying to having a cell phone with God on speed dial. No matter where they are, God is only a "phone call" away, and they can talk to Him honestly and openly with no need for fancy language or big words.
Current Holiday Themes
If the date of your sermon falls around the time of a major holiday, make your message about that holiday. Christmas allows you to teach on the birth of Christ, angels, and God's love. Easter presents an opportunity to speak on the Resurrection message, the topic of new life, and fresh beginnings. For children, Easter is a chance to teach about the new creations or people that we are because of our relationship with Jesus and how much He loved us in order to go to the cross for us. For holidays like Mother's Day and Father's Day, focus your sermon around biblical topics of respecting and honoring parents.
Popular Bible Figures
Several popular Bible stories hold both entertainment value as well as the opportunity to extract teachable lessons. The story of Noah thrills as an adventure tale while teaching about obedience, perserverance, and believing the promises of God. The story of Moses is a platform to teach on faith, courage, and representing God to the world. Pick a character that your class is likely to be interested in, and compose a sermon that explores what can be learned from that person's life.
Parables
The New Testament is full of parables that Jesus used to teach His disciples lessons about life. Most of these parables are found in the books of Matthew through Luke. Using parables, you can obtain sermon material on issues such as giving to God, the wise use of blessings that we have been given, faith, the consequences of sin, miracles, stewardship, hope, wisdom, and joy. Because of the metaphors and stories Christ used to teach these lessons, students are more likely to relate to the material and understand how it applies to everyday life rather than viewing these lessons as merely obscure teachings.
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