Most of today’s texts lead us
to explore how freely we are called to talk with God. Whether you focus on the Lord’s Prayer or
more generally on how freely we are called to share our lives and ideas with
God, children are interested.
> Invite children to join you at the front before the
call to worship. Point out that in today’s
worship we will be thinking together about prayer. Note that every Sunday we do a lot of praying
during worship. Give each child a
copy of the order of worship and either a colored pen or a strip of small
stickers. (Praying hands
stickers are available in many Bible bookstores.) Challenge them to add a sticker beside or draw
a star around every prayer we pray today after they have prayed it with
the whole congregation. Invite them to
show you their work as they leave the sanctuary. Then, follow through with them asking about
their prayer record if they do not thrust it into your hand immediately.
The Texts of
the Day
Hosea 1:2-10
> This is one tough text! The family images offer something to offend everyone. Adults are offended by the marriage
relationship. Children are offended by
the names given the children. “How could
God do that to a kid?” they ask. “It is
not the kid’s fault that the adults have not lived as they should. That is not fair!” To get from there to Hosea’s message about
God’s faithful love, one has to unpack the details of the images and set them
in the context of the whole book. This
is more easily done in adult classrooms than in sanctuaries. Fortunately, the Hosea text next Sunday
features the image of a parent continuing to love a very difficult child. That text may offer a better chance to
explore Hosea’s message of God’s unending love in a way that speaks to
worshippers of all ages. For today, go
with the some of the other texts in worship.
> If you do explore this text with the adults, focus
with the children on the meaning of different names and being named
“after” someone with qualities that are admired. Rather than bringing samples from books about the
meaning of names, be ready to tell why you got your names and hear stories of
why children are named what they are. You may want to tell the story of Isabella Boumfree who was born a slave and whose name was given her by
her master. When she was freed she changed her name to Sojourner Truth to reflect the person
she really was.
Psalm 85
This psalm is clearly linked
to the Hosea rather than the New Testament readings. It is also difficult for children to
follow.
> To introduce the poetry of personification that is so prevalent in
this psalm, read verse 10 (“steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss”).
Laugh a little at the mental picture this produces – or simply refuses
to produce. Then, explain that the
psalmist’s word pictures are talking about invisible things as if they were
people in order to tell us what God does. Do this
at the beginning of the sermon. Then, assign sermon seatwork. Challenge the children
to draw pictures of steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, or peace. Show them a picture you have drawn of your
family and explain how it is a picture of steadfast love. Brainstorm briefly about other pictures –
e.g. a dog for faithfulness, a picture of a family doing something together you
all love to do for peace, even a picture of bringing food for the food drive
for righteousness. As you preach, at
some point make a reference to the assigned task perhaps saying, “now that is a
picture of ….” Invite children to post
their work on a bulletin board nearby or tape it to a rail at the front.
Post the one you drew there as a starter.
Genesis 18:20-32
> This story is a conversation between God and
Abraham. So, have it read by two
readers – God and Abraham. A
narrator sets the scene explaining that Sodom and Gomorrah are two cities whose
people had been so sinful that God was considering destroying them
entirely. The readers then read straight
from the Bible excluding the he said phrases.
Use CEV or TEV for clearer language and choose an Abraham reader who
will give it lots of expression using his voice, his face, even his whole
body.”
> This could lead to a sermon/discussion about being
honest with God in prayer – something children need to hear. Add to Abraham’s story other biblical
stories in which people tell God exactly “how it is” such as
Moses
talking God out of destroying the Israelites,
Various
prophets telling God why they didn’t want to be prophets,
Elijah
telling God how sorry for himself he was feeling,
Jesus
on the cross asking where God was,
Even
Psalm 137:7-9
> Years ago a friend caught her then 10 year old
engaging God in a similar conversation.
From the back yard the mother saw a paper with writing on it taped in
her daughter’s window and went for a closer look. The message was a prayer, “God,
I can’t suck it up much more. Your
friend, Emma”
Psalm 138
One commentator says this is
the happiest psalm in the Bible. In
today’s worship it might be introduced as a happy song for God. If you use the TEV translation, alert
listeners to all the “you”s for God and the “I”s for us. Encourage them to listen for what this
psalmist is saying to and about God.
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> The first verse, “I give you thanks, O LORD, with my
whole heart,” is the summary of this
psalm. Give children a paper with it printed
on the top. Show them how to draw
a scribble with large holes in it and to draw or write in each hole about one
thing for which they thank God. Or, give them the heart shaped scribble here. They
can decorate each hole as they wish. Ask to see their thanks filled hearts as the children leave
the sanctuary or provide a place where they can be displayed.
Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)
The problem for the Colossians was people who were making it more complicated to be
Christian than it had to be. “Real
Christians” followed certain laws and cultivated a sophisticated
spirituality. Colossian Christians were
tying themselves in knots trying to do and be all these things. Paul tells them to relax. He says they need to remember who they are
and whose they are.
For children today the problem is all the things people tell them they “gotta be”
and “gotta do.” They gotta be athletic,
smart, gifted, cute/pretty, popular, and more.
All these are fine things, but they are not the best thing, not the
thing that will make life abundant and “good,” not the thing, that will save
us. Paul tells these children to relax
and remember that God made them and loves them.
They belong to Jesus.
> With this as background, the part of this text that
preaches to kids is verses 6-7. These
verses use two images to direct readers toward a simple disciplined life:
Be rooted
in Christ
Build
yourself in Christ
Both images feature deep
relationships. If you must do a
children’s time, physically act out rooting. Uproot a potted plant to see all the roots and talk about
how they work into the soil looking for food and water. Invite the children to use their fingers as
imaginary roots digging into imaginary soil for food and water. OR snuggle with one child next to you and
remind them of the way they might root around with their parents at home. Then, snuggle close together as a
group. Recall Paul’s instruction to “be
rooted in Christ.” Mention things you do
together as a congregation (worship, fellowship hour, church school, special
events) that keep you rooted together in Christ.
If you are in the middle of a hot summer spell, you
may be able to work with a story a horse owning friend told me. His horse lost
100 pounds in one week when it was nearly 100 degrees F every day. The horse was eating, but the pasture where
he grazed had not been properly cared for.
The grass was not well rooted in good soil so there was no nutrition in it.
> For children, circumcision is simply a Jewish
ritual that welcomes boys into God’s family – just as baptism is a Christian
ritual that welcomes boys and girls into God’s family. There is no need to go into details on what
is involved. Paul’s point is that if you
are baptized you are one of God’s people.
No special feats or disciplines are required beyond that.
The liturgical link for this
text is baptism. So,
> Even
if there is no baptism for today, be sure the baptismal font is filled. At some point invite the children to meet you
there (or walk there to speak to everyone).
Speak about baptism as the one basic thing that shows who we are. Invite children (all worshipers) to dip their
hand into the font saying “I belong to God.
God loves me.” Conclude that
because this is true nothing else much matters.
> Meet the children at the baptismal font. Show them an ordination certificate or some
award or sign that you are special (I’d show them the purple crocheted bookmark
I won in the fifth grade for memorizing more Bible verses than anyone else in
the fifth grade) then dip your hands in the water and tell the children that being
a baptized person is more important to you than the award. Talk about being one of God’s people. Invite the children to dip a hand into the
font. As they do say phrases like, “Remember,
God loves you.” “You belong to God’s
people.”
> Before singing Child of Blessing, Child of Promise point
out the names at the beginning of each verse and insist that each person in the
room is the “child” for whom each verse is sung. Invite worshipers to sing the song for
themselves. Children will hear mainly
the titles. Older worshipers will ponder
and perhaps claim for themselves the messages in the rest of the verses. Actually, an open-hymnal sermon walking
through the whole song exploring the meaning of what it means to be baptized might
speak to all worshipers.
> Give
children paper body outlines to decorate for themselves showing who they
are what they do what they like. Add to
each one the message “God created you and loves you” or simply “God loves you.” It is most effective when the message is
added after the children have done their drawing. If the papers are distributed early in the
service, children could bring them forward during the offertory to show to a
worship leader/s who would write the message in response. If this is not possible, simply print the message
on the page before the service.
Luke 11:1-13
> There are three parts to this text: the Lord’s Prayer,
the parable about persistence, and the teachings about prayer. When they hear the Lord’s Prayer (which
most children are still learning) prayed and discussed by the whole
congregation, children realize that this is an important prayer. It is not just a kid prayer. Teenagers and adults, whom we all assume
already know and understand the prayer, benefit from exploring it in the
congregation because they can unravel some misunderstandings and confusions
without having to admit they have them.
This is the one time the Lord’s Prayer appears in the lectionary, so it
is hard to pass up making it the focus of the day.
> Worship planners could either build the entire worship service around
the Lord’s Prayer or explore the
parables and teachings in the sermon and use the Lord’s Prayer in a special
time for children or feature it in the day’s liturgy. Or, peaking ahead to next week’s Psalm 107
suggestions, it would be possible to explore the Lord’s Prayer this week and
delve into the concerns of God’s response to prayer in the parable and
teachings in this text using Psalm 107 as a case study on next Sunday.
> Lord’s Prayer Words to Watch: It’s not just
the children who are puzzled by some of the phrases in the Lord’s Prayer. So work through them for everyone. Briefly.
Hallowed means holy. So
one translation of the first line is “God, you are holy!”
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is one sentence, but when it is prayed in public there
is often a huge breath gap before “on earth as it is on heaven.” I may have been in my teens before someone
glued those phrases together for me.
Bread is food and
everything else we need for survival, even money which is slangily called
bread.
Forgive
us our debts,
trespasses, transgressions, sins.
The new ecumenical version of the prayer uses sins which makes most sense to children. Debts
are financial IOUs. Trespassing is going on someone’s property uninvited. And, transgressions has fallen out of everyday
speech entirely. So, it worth taking
time to translate the term used in your congregation and to point to the terms
they will hear worshipers use in other churches.
Lead
us not into temptation but deliver us from evil is another phrase that needs explaining as a
whole. For children it means please
don’t let us get into situations that ask us to be braver and stronger than we
are or situations in which we can’t figure out what to do or situations in
which we will be hurt (deliver us from evil).
The last phrase echoes the praise of the first. God you are the biggest most powerful, most
wonderful being and always will be.
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| Laura Fry shared her computer version of this worksheet and is willing for you to use in in worship. Thanks, Laura! |
> Give each worshiper a Lord’s Prayer worksheet
with the phrases of the prayer written in 6 separate sections of the page with
lots of space around them. Encourage
worshipers to write or draw about each phrase as you work through the worship
service. Their notes may be things they
want to remember about the phrase or situations in their own lives that connect
to the phrase or their own versions of that prayer phrase today. Near the end of the service, pray the prayer
with a leader stating each phrase leaving generous time for worshipers to pray
the phrase silently using their notes.
> Base the Prayers of the People/Pastoral Prayer/ Long
Prayer on the Lord’s Prayer. Use two prayer leaders - one to say each prayer
of the Lord’s Prayer, a second to offer prayers for the day related to each
phrase after the first leader prays them.
You may or may not follow each phrase with silence for individual
prayer. Both leaders may be adults. Or, the first might be an older child. This is powerful for both the adults who
cherish the sound of the young voice offering the traditional prayer and for
the children who hear one of their own as a worship leader.
> Or, scatter the phrases of the prayer throughout
the prayers of the day in some not too subtle ways. The easiest is to create responsive prayers
in which the congregation repeats a phrase of the Lord’s Prayer. At the beginning of the service introduce
this as a treasure hunt, give them a copy of the Lord’s Prayer and
challenge them to check off each phrase every time they pray it today. Possible matches are:
Call
to Worship Our Father who art in
heaven…
Confession Forgive
us….
Prayers
of People Thy kingdom come….
..daily bread…
..not into temptation…evil
Benediction Thine is the kingdom…
> Or, give each child a word search puzzle
containing key words (rather than a list of the phrases) from the Lord’s Prayer
at the beginning of the service.
Challenge them to find the words listed below the puzzle in the puzzle
and to draw a star by or circle each word every time they hear it in today’s
worship.
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| This word search was made using http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildWordSearch.asp# |
Songs about prayer:
> The
Jamaican arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer with “hallowed be thy name”
following each phrase of the prayer invites the singing congregation to hear
the prayer phrases in a fresh way AND often becomes an earworm for the rest of
the day or week. Even non-readers can
sing along the repeated “hallowed be Thy name.”
> If
you are exploring larger issues about prayer, sing What A Friend We Have in Jesus. Older children can follow the
concrete language and ideas and appreciate the passion with which it is often
sung by older worshipers.
> The parable and teachings which follow are tricky for adults are even harder
for literal thinking, Santa Claus letter writing children. For one thing, pestering God repeatedly for
what you want looks even more risky to children who have fresh experiences with
how parents respond when pushed too often on a want. (The neighbor in the
parable may give you what you want to get rid of you. But, a parent is more likely to hush you with
threats or punishment.) For another,
the text, taken literally, says that if you ask for it, you will get it. And even the youngest child knows that is not
true. Children and adults together can
separate the prayer requests for a pony, a car for my sixteenth birthday, or an
invitation to that prestigious event from those for Grandpa’s health, the family’s
income, or stability in the marriage at the heart of the family. (Don’t credit the children with all the
former and the grownups with the latter!)
Once you wade into the questions of prayers that do not get the answer
you want, children and adults again have an equally tough time with putting
important things in God’s hands. The
challenge for the preacher is to use examples from all ages rather than just
from adulthood. The problem is the same
all through life.
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