the Sacred Steps this week

Psalm 138

Has someone sent you a thank you note recently? Have you sent a note? Bring note cards for the children to draw on, or write, the things or people for whom they wish to give thanks to God. Ask them to drop those in the offering plate.
Create a “thanks banner” that the children can draw on or write on that you will hang in a Sunday school room or in the sanctuary. Ask them to write names, or draw pictures of, people or things for which they would like to give thanks to God.

Isaiah 6:1-8; (9-13)

This is an opportunity to introduce the children to their scared space. Why is your sacred space adorned the way it is? Are there significant works of art, stained glass, or other items that are important to your community of faith? What is your sacred space suppose to tell the children when they arrive there?
You might compare and contrast the prophet from last week, Jeremiah, with Isaiah. What do the prophets share in common? How are they different? This might help us understand the prophetic writings today.
This is an opportunity to talk with the children about the prophetic writings in the First Testament, and why we continue to read the prophets today. Be ready to offer a simple definition for the word “prophet” for the children. You might choose to create a list of the major and minor prophets in the First Testament and use it with the children each time you talk with them about one of the prophets.
Preparation Note: Susan Ackerman offers good insight and caution of the Christian use of Isaiah in her commentary in the New Interpreters Study Bible. A review of her introduction and excursus comments would be helpful to your preparation for a children’s sermon based on any passage from Isaiah. [ Susan Ackerman, “Excursus: Anti-Semitic Interpretations of Isaiah”, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Abingdon Press, 2003. p. 959. See also her “Introduction to Isaiah”, p. 955.]

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

If you have not introduced the children to Paul, this is a good opportunity to do so. You may have already covered some of the Pauline texts, but helping the children understand Saul/Paul’s story will help them as they grow in their own understandings of Jesus.
Maybe this is the Sunday that you introduce the children to the journeys of Paul. He was a traveling evangelist (preacher). One could talk about that and show the children what scholars believe were his journeys. Do you have maps of the ancient near east in your congregation?

Luke 5:1-11

What does it take to get your attention? This is an opportunity to talk to the children about how Jesus gets our attention with what he teaches or how we experience him. In telling this story to the children, one could talk about how Jesus meets the disciples in their everyday lives or work and invites them to follow him. How might the children experience Jesus today?
This is an opportunity to talk with the children about how the gospels have some similar stories about Jesus. Compare Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. Talk with the children about how we all see or hear things differently. One way to illustrate this idea would be to have a picture for the children to look at, or if you have an interesting stained glass window to look at, and then have the children talk about the things they see. Some will see similar items in the window or picture, but some may see things that others do not. This is similar to how the gospel writers told stories about Jesus.

I’ll be preaching this week thinking about the story from Luke. My sermon title is, “Fish Stories.”