Category: SSCSJ
The Sacred Steps: Lent 2
- This is an opportunity to talk with the children about how the Psalms have inspired many hymns, secular songs, and works of art. Spend some time with your hymnal and see how many of your congregation’s “favorite” hymns are based on a psalm. You could talk to the children about that list.
- One could have the children help create a prayer based on this psalm. Do a simple word game with the children to create a prayer. Roll out some paper on the floor. Ask the children to draw a picture or write a word that they think of when they hear the following phrases: “One thing I ask of God,”; “The Lord is my light,” and “Teach me your way.” Create your own words or phrases from Psalm 27. Post the banner somewhere in the sanctuary or church building. If you or the preaching minister is a quick thinker, this prayer of words and pictures from the children could be part of the morning’s pastoral prayer.
- Another option would be to talk with the children about your pastoral prayer time. Do you ask the congregation to voice concerns or joys? Do you have a list of names in the bulletin that are a “prayer list”? Your pastoral prayer probably follows the form of this psalm somewhat (i.e., containing both joys & concerns). This week, ask the children to list their prayer concerns and have them repeat v 1 after each child’s prayer request.
- If you have not introduced the children to the Psalms, this might be the week to do so. This is a “mixed-type” psalm that represents many human emotions. During the children’s prayers, they may also express many emotions. Is there anything you can’t say to God in prayer?
- Talk with the children about what a covenant is or what the word “covenant” means. This story is just one example of God’s many covenants with an individual, nation, or even all creation. (Think about the Noah story.) Be ready to give a simple definition for the word covenant, and since it is Lent, invite the children to make a covenant with you and each other to serve at your church in whatever you think is appropriate for them to covenant to do.
- What does it mean when another covenant is made? Is the last covenant forgotten, or does it become non-binding? In children’s speak, you are asking if one promise cancels out another. In the 1st Testament, this is not how it works. God makes and keeps countless covenants at the same time.
- Talk with the children about what it means to be an “example” for someone. Can the children name someone they think is a good example of living like Jesus did? You will want to be ready to provide an example or two of such “persons” to get them started. Since it is the Lenten season, one might ask the elders or other adults in your congregation to be an example for the children on the sacred steps by talking with them or allowing them to shadow them if they have specific responsibilities in the congregation.
- If you are going to take the “goal” path in this text, be careful. One could talk to the children about the goal of being more like Jesus. How does a person do that? I would stay away from questions about eternity and heaven. Keep it simple with the children, but not oversimplified, and have those conversations with your adult peers.
- This is an opportunity to introduce the word “lament” to the children. There will be times in their lives when they will lament for someone, themselves, or something. Sometimes, a lament may be just sharing our feelings, and your congregation is a place where the children can do that. A lament may help us keep from doing what we know is wrong. When would the children have heard the word “lament” in church? How does your congregation lament, and what have you done or left undone based on your lament?
- Has your congregation “lamented” for someone or something in your community and then decided to do something? Maybe you lamented the poverty or hunger in your community and worked to help ease that in your community. Maybe some have felt sorrow for your congregation’s shut-ins and decided to help by visiting them.
- For an older group, one might consider talking with the children about how they live “in the name of the Lord.”
The Sacred Steps: First Sunday in Lent
March 9, 2025
- “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” What does this verse mean to you? You could craft a children’s sermon around your thoughts on that verse. What might it mean to the children?
- Does trusting God mean that bad things will not happen? What happens when your trust in God is broken? Children may have experienced “broken trust” in many different ways: through loss of a pet, moving from one community to another, or losing a parent to death or divorce. Be cautious when talking about “trusting” in God, friends, or family.
- You could bring out the images of God poster and add “bird” to the list: “The Lord will cover you with pinions, under the Lord’s wings you will find shelter.” God provides “shelter”. Can the children think of other images for that word?
- This is an opportunity to talk with the children about the offering ritual (practice) that your congregation observes. Is there an “offertory sentence” or an “invitation to give” followed by the receiving of “tithes and offerings”? Does the “doxology” and/or a prayer follow the receiving of the offering? You could talk with the children about the “why” behind what you do during worship. Take a risk and ask the children to help you understand what the “offering time” means for your congregation and piece together their observational knowledge with your own to teach them about the meaning of the offering during worship in your congregation.
- This is an opportunity to talk with the children about how your congregation’s offering supports the different ministries in which your congregation is involved. What exactly does your congregation do with the monies received or the time volunteers give?
- Does your church have a creed or statement of belief that you could teach to the children? If you are part of a non-creedal tradition, is there a “story/history”, which is important in the congregation’s history, that you could teach the children. The words in Deut 26:5-10a are a way that Israel could briefly recount the “story” of their ancestors. How can the children claim this story as their own?
- If you have not done so, this is an opportunity to talk with the children about who Paul is. Who is he, what do we know about him, and why is he a key character in the Christian story?
- If you have an older group, one way to put the children into the story is to engage them in the following exercise: “What is more important – to believe in Jesus or to live how Jesus lived? If you think it is to believe in Jesus, move to the left side of the steps. If you think it is to live the way Jesus lived, move to the right side of the steps.” Once they are divided, if they move, you could talk about the story from Romans and how the church that Paul was addressing was having this same conversation. How are we similar or different from those people in the story? What did Jesus teach?
- Consider talking with the children about balancing their beliefs with how they practice what Jesus taught. How would you build the phrase “actions speak louder than words” into a children’s sermon?
- This is an opportunity to talk with the children about the humanity of Jesus. Are there common elements of what tempted Jesus and what tempts us today? One could talk with the children about the motivation to do good things or bad things. How do we make choices in difficult situations?
- We see in this story an image of Jesus choosing the unpopular path, rather than the easy way, or answer. What do Jesus’ answers to the temptations tell us about God, and about Jesus’ belief in God, that can help us today?
- If you have an older group, you might choose to talk with the children about being tempted, or motivated, to do something charitable or about doing the right thing, even when it is a hard choice.
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