A story on the theme of Mark 12.38-44 (The Widow’s Offering)

Title: “Giving Out of Poverty”

Theme: We can be generous toward God because of God's "all-in" generosity to us

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Zach tripped and fell. He was in his room and there were so many toys and trucks and balls and books and gloves and shoes on his floor that he could hardly move without stepping on somehting. He wasn’t surprised that he’d tripped. It wasn’t the first time. You would have wondered why he didn’t fall more. It wasn’t that Zach was so messy and never cleaned up his room. It was that he had so many things that he didn’t have enough places to store them and so they spilled out all over his room; from his closet; from his bookshelves; from under his bed. He hadn’t asked for all these things. He had been given them by his parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. It was too much. Some of it he had never played with; never used. It was getting close to Christmas and he wondered what he would do if he got  more stuff. Where would he put it?

Then he got an idea. What if he gave some of it away? To kids who didn’t have anything or didn’t have much. He thought about giving all of it away when he fell, but he thought that the people who gave him the gifts might not like that. He’d have to pick through what he had.

He began to go through his things. First he set out in the hallway everything that he had never played with or even taken out of their boxes. Any kids who got one of these would be getting a brand-new toy. Then he looked for the things that he hardly every used. They looked almost new. He set those aside. While he was doing this he got thinking about how great the kids who got these things would feel and it made him feel so good that pretty soon the give-away group of things was bigger than the I’ll-keep-that group of things. And when he stopped to take a break, he noticed some things in the give-away group that he wasn’t sure he wanted to give away. But he had made up his mind and he didn’t move them back to the I’ll-keep-that group. 

His mom called him to supper and at supper he told his mom and dad what he was doing. They thought a moment and then told him what a good idea it was. They would help him find kids who would like to get what he had to give away. And they told him that they didn’t mind if he gave away even some of the things they had given him. They told him that they would try not to give him so much that it would be a problem for him.

In some ways, it was hard for Zach to give away all those things, because he really liked some of them. But he knew that he had very generous parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and that he would always have some things to play with. In fact, he decided that he would tell his grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins that for this next Christmas, they could give gifts to the group he had picked out to help give his give-away toys to other kids. They could just tell him what they gave and it would be like giving it to him. He would always have enough, but now other kids would have enough, too. I wonder what you have that you might give away to someone else this Christmas?

A story on the theme of Acts 2.1-21

Theme: Once filled by the Holy Spirit, will you be a filler of others with the Good News or an emptier?

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Scotty had two friends, Phillip and Cory. They were best friends and played together all the time. They lived near one another and so played at each other’s houses.  But they were boys and sometimes got rambunctious -- a little to wild. When that happened, sometimes the mom or dad whose house they were at had to make them sit down in separate rooms or corners of the backyard and calm down. Because of that sometimes Scotty was only allowed to have one friend over at a time. 

One day Scotty’s mom asked him if he would like to invite a friend over, but just one because she had lots to do around the house and couldn’t be watching them too closely. He said that he would and that he’d like Phillip to come over. His mom stopped for a moment and asked why the last few times he was only asking for Phillip to come over and not Cory. Scotty thought for a while and as he thought he realized that it was because it was not as much fun any more to just have Cory come over. Cory had gotten kind of selfish. Whenever they were going to play a game, Cory always insisted on going first or of having the best choice of characters in the game. If they played a ball game, he always wanted the best ball or bat. If they had a snack, he always seemed to grab more than his fair share. By the time, Cory left Scotty was feeling a little empty like Cory had drained something out of him and it didn’t feel good.

It was different with Phillip. He was willing to share and take is turn or even let Scotty go first. He didn’t try to hog things or grab what was Scotty’s. When Phillip went home, Scotty felt like he had gotten some gifts and he was sorry to see him go.

When the three of the boys played together, Cory wasn’t such a problem, but when it was just Cory and Scotty, it didn’t feel so good.

Later that day, after Phillip and he and played and Phillip had gone home, Scotty just sat quietly for a little while and wondered what kind of friend he was? What his friends thought of him? Did they think that he took things away from them when they were together or did they like to have him around because when he was with them they always had more than they started with? 

A story on the theme of Luke 10.38-42

Title: “Resting in God” (Prayer)

Theme:  We need to root ourselves in the "one thing" that God desires for us--to focus on "being"...and allow any "doing" flow out of that.  

Will had been sitting quietly thinking for quite a long time. He had been thinking about how fun it had been, earlier in the afternoon, to play with the Lego set that he had gotten last Christmas. It had been more than nine months that he’d had it and he’d learned how to build it and rebuild it and add parts and change parts around. He could make it move other Lego blocks from one place to another and then move itself from one place to another. It was a very complicated set with wires and motors and gears and belts and hinges and tracks and batteries and controls.

He hadn’t always had such nice thoughts. In fact, almost as soon as he had unwrapped the package and discovered that it was just what he had been hoping for and ripped open the box and started to build it...he had gotten mad...really mad...really, really mad...so mad that he broke a part of it. It just wouldn’t go together the way it looked in the picture on the box. 

Now as he sat quietly, he wondered, “What was I thinking? How could I build that complicated kit with wires and motors and gears and belts and hinges and tracks and batteries and controls by just looking at the picture on the box and not even looking at the plans. The plans were very good plans. They showed very clearly, step by step, how to put the kit together; how to snap one block on top of the other. But he hadn’t even seen them inside the box, he was in such a hurry to build the kit.

Now as he sat quietly, he remembered how easy it had been to build the kit after he finally studied the plans; laid out all the parts so he could see them; and started following the plans slowly putting together all the blocks and wires and motors and gears and belts and hinges and tracks and batteries and controls -- step by step

Now as he sat quietly, he thought about other times since last Christmas when he had just sat quietly and thought through what he was going to do before he did it. When he did that, by the time he got around to doing something, he really knew what he was doing and he had discovered that some of the things that he thought he should do were things that he didn’t have to or shouldn’t do.

Now as he sat quietly, he thought that when he stopped early in the morning, right after he woke up, and thought and prayed about what he was going to do that day...his day usually went a lot better. 

A story on the theme of 1 Corinthians 12.27

Theme: As we recognize the God-given diversity within our church, we must affirm, respect and encourage each other as having a pivotal place in building up the church.

Mark was # 3. That is, he was the third son in his family. There were times when he loved being the third son. His two big brothers were very nice to him. They took him places that he wouldn’t have been able to go alone. Because of them, he got to do lots of things that his friends who were his age didn’t get to do. He got to play lots of sports with them in the neighborhood. He was never a very important member of the team, but he was on their team. Best of all, his brothers didn’t let any body give him a hard time or make fun of him because he couldn’t play their games very well.

But then there were times when he didn’t like being the littlest brother. He could never do things as well as his big brothers. He never knew as much as his big brothers. He didn’t even understand the things that they talked about sometimes. They tried to make him feel like he was an important part of their family and an important part of the team of three brothers, but sometimes even that didn’t help. Especially when he got left behind if they ran fast some place or rode their bikes across their neighborhood.

Then one day, their neighbor Mr. Lowe came over. He had locked himself out of his house. All the members of his family were away. He couldn’t find the key they usually hid some place outside for emergencies like this. He didn’t want to break a window or have to pay a locksmith a lot to come and open the door for him. He had walked all around the house and tried every window to see if it was unlocked. They were all locked except one. He got excited when that window started to come open, but then after just a few inches it stopped. It was open, but not far enough for him to squeeze through. 

That was why Mr. Lowe came next door to Mark’s house. He was looking for someone small who could get through the window. All three brothers were in the back yard together. He looked them over. First he looked at brother # 1. He was obviously too big to squeeze through the opening in the window. Then he looked at brother # 2. He looked a long time. He wondered and wondered if he could fit through the opening in the window. Nope! He shook his head. He didn’t think so. Then he looked at brother #3 who, of course, was Mark. He looked just the right size to squeeze through the window. In fact, he might not have to even squeeze.

All of them went next door to Mr. Lowe’s house. They found the window that was open -- just a little bit. And Mr. Lowe lifted Mark up to the window. Mark slipped right in. He didn’t even have to squeeze. He ran through the house to the back door and opened it. When he opened it and stepped through it, he heard cheers -- from Mr. Lowe and his brothers. And then he got a wonderful surprise. Mr. Lowe gave him $5 for his work. 

Mark who thought he was too small to keep up with his brothers, found out that for some things he needed to be small to do the job. That felt really good. He was needed.

A story on the theme of 1 Samuel 17.26-45

Topic/Title: “Know yourself that you may know God”

Theme: Of all the voices around you, telling you what you can and can’t do, God’s is the most important for you to listen to.

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

 Alyssa had a nightlight in her room, but she was afraid of the dark. She lived alone with her mom. One pretty dark night, right after they had come home from shopping, she went to her room, turned on the lights, and picked up a book to read. While she was reading, she heard a crash in the other room like something had broken and then a loud thud. She ran into the kitchen and found her mom on the floor.

It looked like her mom had dropped a jar of lemonade and then had slipped on the spilled lemonade and bumped her head on the counter and knocked herself out. “What should I do?” thought Alyssa. She thought about trying to find her mom’s cell phone, but thought that might be too hard. Then she thought that she should run next door to their neighbors and tell her what happened.

But it was very, very dark outside. Their porch light had burned out and they hadn’t had a new bulb. There were no street lights in their neighborhood. Their neighbors had one light on in their house, but it was dark between her house and theirs. And Alyssa was afraid of the dark!

She thought about her friends making fun of her for being afraid of the dark. About her mom saying when her mom was small she was really afraid of the dark and didn’t get over it until she was grown up. She thought of all the scary cartoons she had seen about people getting hurt in the dark. How could she go next door?

Then she remembered part of a Bible verse that she had heard in Sunday School. It said that God would be with her when she was in the dark and she didn’t need to be afraid. Well, if God knew she didn’t have to be afraid, maybe she could trust him and not be afraid.

She knew she had to act fast. She poked her head out the door. Looked around. Nothing out there to be afraid of. Nothing between her and her neighbors. She ran for it like something scary was chasing her. But she got to her neighbors door....and nothing scary had happened to her -- nothing at all. And she wasn’t afraid. She knocked and they came. She told them what happened. They called the ambulance and went over to see how her mom was doing.

After it was all over, she agreed that if God knew she didn’t have to be afraid of the dark, she probably didn’t have to be afraid.

A story on the theme of 1 John 3.16-24

Theme: Sometimes it hurts to love sacrificially...at least for a while.

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Josh looked up to Michael. He had to because Michael was a head taller than him. But that wasn’t the only reason. Josh looked up to Michael because he liked him so much and wanted to be like him. Michael was strong and fast at games. He could remember lots and figure things out. He was kind to all the little kids and did things with Josh and his friends, even when he didn’t have to. He was a class ahead of Josh in kids’ classes at church. But the biggest reason that Josh liked Michael was that he got Michael’s hand-me-downs. That meant that when Michael out grew his clothes, Michael’s mom handed them to Josh’s mom and because Josh was shorter than Michael the clothes kind of got handed down.

They were the coolest clothes that Josh had. Josh’s mom just bought Josh regular clothes. Whoever bought Michael’s clothes bought cool clothes. Usually Josh’s favorite shirt or sweatshirt or jacket was one he had gotten from Michael. He couldn’t wait to empty the bag of Michael’s clothes when his mom brought it home. When his mom brought home clothes from the store, Josh never put them on until he had to, but with Michael’s clothes, he usually tried them on as they came out of the bag. One of his all time favorites was a 49ers jacket.

Sometimes the clothes were too big and Josh would have to wait a while before he could grow into them, but lots of times he could start wearing them right away. It was really fun when he wore something to church and Michael recognized it and told him how cool he looked in it.

When Josh outgrew his clothes, there was no one he knew to give them to. All the kids a few years younger at church were girls -- who certainly didn’t want his old clothes -- except for maybe that 49ers jacket. So when Josh outgrew his clothes, his mom put them in a bag and they went with the mission teams to Mexico when the group went to work at the orphanage.

That was okay with Josh. He didn’t feel bad. He had usually forgotten about those clothes that he wasn’t wearing anymore. That was until a new family came to church. They had a boy named Adam who was about as much younger than Josh as Josh was to Michael. Josh’s mom told Josh that they might give some of the clothes he had outgrown to Adam as hand-me-downs. Josh said that sounded okay. He didn’t care much about them because he was more interested in the next bag of hand-me-downs that he was about to get from Michael.

But that all changed when he came to church one Sunday and saw Adam wearing that old favorite 49ers jacket. Suddenly he was very sorry that his mom had given his old clothes to Adam and sulked the whole time he was at church and even on the way home. He wasn’t mean to Adam, but he wasn’t nice to him either. On the way home, his dad asked him why he was moping and Josh said that he didn’t want to say. He was just going to mope. His mom and dad finally got it out of him that he was mad at them because they had given away his old clothes. His mom asked if he hadn’t noticed how proud Adam was to be wearing that 49ers jacket and how he even saw Michael go over to Adam and tell him that it used to be his and he thought it looked pretty cool on Adam. That made Josh even madder. Now he was not only going to lose his clothes, but he was going to have to share his friend. This was turning out to be a pretty bad deal.

Well, Josh got used to seeing Adam in the Michael-to-Josh-to-Adam hand-me-down clothes, but he wasn’t really happy about it. I wonder how you would feel? Then one day he came into his room and found his mom going through his dresser drawers and picking out clothes and putting them in a bag. He knew immediately where that bag was going --- to Adam -- and he got pretty upset. He yelled at his mom and he threw down the car he had in his hand and stomped around in his room. He was particularly upset when he saw a pair of pants that had been his favorites. They weren’t even pants that he had gotten from Michael. When he told his mom that she couldn’t give those away, she said that he never wore them any more because they didn’t fit him. They were too small. He said that, “No! They were not too small.” So his mom ask him to put them on. He did. Or he tried to. Hmmm, they were a little tight, but he slowly squeezed into them. He felt something like a quarter in one of the pockets and he put his hand in that pocket to see if it was a quarter, but he couldn’t get his hand down to the bottom of the pocket to feel if it was. He looked at the bottoms of the pants and they ended about where his socks started. Maybe they were a little tight, but they were still his favorites and he wanted to keep them. Then his mom accidentally, I think, dropped a sock on the floor near Josh. She asked Josh if he would do her a favor and pick up the sock. When he bent over to pick up the sock --- rrrriiippp --- his pants split in back so wide that you could read the label on his underpants. At first he got kind of angry and then he started to smile like he did whenever any of his friends at school ripped their pants and then he started to laugh and then he couldn’t stop and he laughed so hard he fell on the floor and ripped them even more which made him laugh so hard he couldn’t catch him breath. And about that time, he changed his mind (and his heart) and thought that he’d like to have Adam look forward to getting his hand-me-downs as much as he looked forward to getting Michael’s hand-me-downs. 

The next Sunday when he got into the car to go to church, he saw a shopping bag of clothes. And on top of the bag was that pair of favorite pants of his that his mom had sewn back up. He hoped that Adam would like those pants as much as he had, except for the ripping part and he hoped that he’d have the chance to tell Adam how cool he looked in them. And he hoped that Adam might look up to him like he looked up to Michael. He didn’t feel hurt any more.

A story on the theme of Exodus 18:13-26

Theme: Life in God’s family is better when everyone works together.

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Andy’s church was going to hold a big Easter egg hunt at the park next door to their church. His Sunday School class had been raising money for books for a school in a village in Africa. In fact, one Sunday they had even been able to use a computer to meet some of the children in Africa. Those kids were really nice. That was really fun and it made Andy and his friends want to get even more money for the books. When he heard about the Easter egg hunt and remembered what it had been like the year before, he got an idea. He wondered if he could sell lemonade. He wouldn’t charge much, but with all the things going on at the Easter egg hunt, kids would get thirsty and might not just want water from the drinking fountain. They could ask their parents for money and buy lemonade.

Andy began to plan for a lemonade stand. He didn’t want to just come up with an idea and make his parents do it for him. He realized pretty quickly that he couldn’t do it alone, so he started  to think about a friend who could help him. Andy thought that he was pretty good as selling things, but if he didn’t make very good lemonade, he wouldn’t sell much. Who could make really good lemonade? He knew that one of his classmates, Barbara, could. So he called her and told her about his idea and ask if she’d like to join him. She said, “Yes.” right away. 

But what if they sold all their lemonade and kids were still thirsty? Who could run back to church and make more. Barbara’s friend in the class, Sasha, probably could. By this time he and Barbara were realizing that the project was bigger than they first thought. They got wondering who would want warm lemonade on a hot day? Someone would need to be sure there was enough ice...and cups to put the ice in...and an ice chest to get the ice out of. And what about tables and chairs. That would take a couple strong guys to carry over and back from church, maybe Pat and Frederick? The lemonade stand would be prettier if it had a table cloth and some flowers. They thought they’d heard Sally talking about flowers in her garden at home. Suddenly they realized that some people liked extra sugar in their lemonade or a slice of real lemon. Who would get that? They were going to need the whole class to help.

Finally they made a list of all the names of the kids in the class. Next to most of them they had written something that that kid would do or bring. Finally there was only one name left -- Phillip. When they thought about Phillip, they thought about the fact he was the smallest kid in the class so he probably wouldn’t be good at carrying heavy things. He had once made some of the worst kool-aid that anyone had every tasted. Better keep him away from the lemonade making. What could he do? They really wanted everyone to have a part. Oh. Yes. They thought of it, both, at once. They needed a sign so that people didn’t think this was a little group drinking lemonade. People needed to know the lemonade was for sale. And why did they think about a sign when they thought about Phillip? ----- Because he was a wonderful artist and could probably make the best sign of anyone in the class. So they weren’t just giving Phillip something to do so he’d have something to do. They were giving him something to do because they needed it done and he was certainly the one to do it. What a great team they would make -- selling lemonade that would raise money for those books they wanted to buy for the kids they had met on the computer.

I wonder what I could do or you could do if you were a part of their team?

A story on the theme of John 17.11-19

Theme: "Focus on the Father and the truth of His Word, and you will know a life that is filled with unity, joy, and purpose"

It seems to me that Jesus is praying that the Father would keep the disciples from veering off course in their spiritual lives even though He knows the journey ahead will be dangerous and difficult.  He prays they will be "protected" and as a benefit of this protection they will enjoy Unity, Joy, and Purpose.

Elly loved her big sister, Janey. Janey was older than Elly and she knew how to do all kinds of things that Elly didn’t yet know how to do. On the day that was going to be picture day at school, Janey helped Elly get dressed. Elly had already dressed herself (I mean that she picked out her own clothes like she did most days), but when Janey saw the clothes that Elly had picked out she knew that after the picture was taken, Elly would look at it and wonder why she had worn those clothes That had happened to Janey once so Janey helped Elly find some clothes that would look really good in the picture. 

Another day, Elly was in such a rush for school, she forgot her lunch. When she opened her backpack at lunch time, there was no lunch. Right away she started looking for Janey.  Janey was very kind and let Elly come over and sit with her and her friends and share Janey’s lunch.

Elly and Janey and a bunch of their friends walked home from school together most days. Elly had never really memorized her way home. She didn’t have to because Janey was always there. Elly didn’t know that their mom had asked Janey to always keep an eye on Elly on the walk home from school.

One day they were walking home and Janey was at the front of the bunch of kids and Elly was towards the back. Elly sometimes kind of wandered home because she was always looking around -- up at the trees, down at the ground, off to the side, and down the streets they crossed. That day, looking down, she saw a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. She knew you shouldn’t pick it up or the momma bird wouldn’t want the chick any more. So she tipped toed towards it very slowly and very quietly. She didn’t want to scare it and as she walked she was trying figure out how she’d put it back in its nest. By the time she had gotten close to it, she had decided what she thought would work. She had a piece of cardboard in her backpack. If she curled  it a little to make a kind of shovel. Maybe she could pick it up with the cardboard and lift it back up to its nest. 

She turned back to ask a friend to help and discovered that there was no one around. It was quiet. Her sister and her friends were gone. Then she got scared and felt like that little chick. What would she do? How would she get home? She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen this part of the neighborhood before. Where was her sister?

Her sister, Janey, was looking for her. She had discovered that Elly wasn’t in the group. She had disappeared. Where had she gone? Janey could hear in her head, her mother asking her to watch out for Elly and protect her and she hadn’t done it. She had let Elly get lost.

She did what made the most sense. She headed back the way they’d come. She called out Elly’s name and ran as fast as she could. Can you imagine how happy Janey was when she heard Elly’s voice calling out from not too far away? Can you imagine how happy Elly was when she saw Janey running toward her? Can you imagine how proud their mom was when they got home and told her the story about how Janey watched out for Elly and found her when she got lost?

A story on the theme of John 17.1-5

Sermon Series Theme:  "Teach-Pray-Live"

Sermon Title: “Praying God’s Glory”

Theme: Jesus models a conversational style of prayer that leads us to exchange our self-centered glory for the glory of God in all things.

Change the names/genders as works best for you.

Ricky had been walking on a steep trail, high up in the hills. Even though they were high in the hills, they were hiking in the fog and looking forward to breaking into the sun near the top. He had been walking with his dad, but his dad wanted to sit down and catch his breath. Ricky didn’t want to stop. He was full of energy. He wanted to race up the hills. His dad knew there was just one trail. Ricky couldn’t get lost, so he let him run ahead. 

Ricky had just come up out of the fog and was walking along the trail that goes along to ridge. He was so proud of himself. He thought about what he’d say to his dad when his dad, ...finally..., reach the top. He might rub it in a little that his dad had to stop and rest and when Ricky just charged on. He was just about done with making up his little speech in his head, when he looked up. Wow! What a view he saw. He could look to his right down on the Bay and to left out to the ocean. The water was the most beautiful he had ever seen it look. The city glowed in the sun. The towers of the bridges that poked through some small patches of fog were beautiful, too. Inside himself, he seemed to get bigger and bigger and bigger until he had to shout. 

And what came out was a shout to God! “God, you are so great. You’ve made the world so beautiful. Just looking out on it from up high makes me feel special and makes me realize how wonderful you are. That “glory” that I’ve heard in church, just seems to fit you.”

In a split second, he forgot about kidding his dad and bragging about himself and all the grown up things he could do. Instead, all he could think about was how great God was. And he kind of surprise himself. He was discovering that it was really easy to pray, to talk to God, in a beautiful place like this. It was almost as if he was seeing the world the way God sees the world and it was wonderful. As he listened to himself, he realized he wasn’t talking to God like he talked to God in church. He was talking to God the way he talked to his brother or his friends ...or his dad, just like God was right there next to him.

He stopped to take a deep breath. He got a little embarrassed thinking about how he had planned to brag about himself to his dad. He was glad that he had gotten to the top ahead of his dad so he had time to really think -- not about how great he was, but about how great God was. He wondered how he could tell his dad what had just happened to him. Well, he was about to get a chance because just then he heard his dad and turned to see him slowly coming out of the fog...

A story on the theme of John 3.1-17

Theme: In the midst of the “fresh start” we are invited into during Lent, we need to understand what it means to be “born again...” and “born of the Spirit.”

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Ricky had really hurt his brother when he found out that his little brother had wrecked his Lego village. He ran to find him. When his brother, Sam, ran away, Ricky chased him and when he caught him he gave him a big shove. Sam went flying off his feet and hit his head against a counter. Sam wailed and Ricky ran off feeling pretty good --- for a while.

But when Ricky saw Sam a little later and the big bump on Samʼs forehead. He winced. He didnʼt feel so good about hurting Sam, but he was too proud to let Sam know. He had gotten punished by his mom and dad and had to go to his room and lay down on his bed for a long time. He couldnʼt play with any of his toys or read any of his books. All he could do was think about what he had done. He tried not to, but he couldnʼt stop thinking about how he had hurt Sam who was not only his brother, but one of his best friends. He got sorrier and sorrier about what he had done.

He talked with God about it. He had not only hurt Sam, but he knew that he has also hurt God who wanted to love him so he could be loving to other people. He told God how sorry he was and how he wanted to start over.

As he thought and prayed, he realized that he would have to go and apologize to Sam and his parents, just like he had apologized to God. Then heʼd get a fresh start with all of them.

It was like when he had invited Jesus into his heart. He had started by telling Jesus how sorry he was that he wasnʼt very loving or kind and he wanted to be forgiven and with a fresh start and Jesus living in his heart and head, he could be the kind of considerate, loving boy that he wanted to be.

Prayer: Thanks, God, for forgiving me when I hurt other people and you. Thanks, for giving me a fresh start. Amen.

 A story on the theme of Mark 5.21-43 

Theme: We learn about God’s advocacy for us from Jesus’ encounter with Jairus

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Maria was getting in trouble with her teacher -- all the time. When her room was doing math problems in class, Maria was always the last one to finish. The whole class had to wait for her to catch up. However, Maria being last wasn’t the real problem. It was that she was always talking to Ray, the boy who sat next to her. Her teacher couldn’t help but notice. Her teacher thought if she stopped talking to Ray, she would get her work done on time.

She was upset that her teacher was upset with her. She said that she wasn’t talking with Ray, but that Ray was talking with her. He always started the talking. At first her teacher thought this was just an excuse. Ray got his work done, but Maria didn’t. 

Then her teacher heard Maria’s explanation. Maria said that she didn’t think Ray could read the numbers in the math problems on the board and so he kept interrupting her to ask what the numbers were. Ray was very fast at math and after Maria told him what the problem was, he was so quick that he was already asking about the next problem before Maria could work on the last problem.

Maria couldn’t help helping Ray because she had been reading stories from her Bible about how Jesus helped people who couldn’t help themselves and she thought that her helping Ray was just like Jesus helping helping people who couldn’t help themselves and she wanted to act like Jesus.

Of course, Maria couldn’t get her work done. She couldn’t start until Ray had already finished. When her teacher found this out, she thanked Maria for helping Ray and she had a talk with Ray.

About a week later, Ray came to class with glasses on. It turned out that that he couldn’t see the numbers on the board because he needed glasses. And for a while, Maria was his glasses.

 A story on the theme of Luke 10.25-37

Topic: Growing into an Emotionally Healthy Adult

Theme: Spiritual maturity has less to do with knowing or even keeping “the rules” and more to do with learning to love others in healthy ways.

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Justin was walking home from school one day with his friend, Lucas. Justin was just a second grader and he loved the fact that Lucas, who was a fifth grader, would walk with him. He thought it might be because they both went to the same church and were in the same class together. There was just one class for all the grade schools kids and Justin and Lucas had become friends.

Justin really looked up to Lucas because he was older and bigger and in Sunday School class he knew all the Bible stories and could memorize Bible verses really easily.

Justin had just looked up the block and saw a few kids stopped in a small group. He knew right away what they were doing. They had Kenny a little kid from the third grade and they were punching him. They did that lots of the time and sometimes they threw his books around or even stole money from him. Justin couldn’t figure out why they did it. He liked Kenny, even if Kenny wasn’t so good at games or in small groups in class.

When Justin saw what the kids were doing, he looked over at Lucas, wondering if Lucas would try and stop the kids from bullying Kenny. Lucas didn’t say anything. He just shook his head and crossed the street to the other side. Justin couldn’t believe it. If Lucas had just yelled at the kids they would have stopped. He was much bigger and stronger and they respected him. But he didn’t do anything to stop them.

Justin wasn’t sure what to do. He knew what those kids were doing to Kenny was wrong. He knew that he could probably stop them, but he might get beat up himself. Or worse, they might jump him at school the next day. But he couldn’t help himself. It was wrong what they were doing to Kenny. So he took off running and yelling. He called for Lucas to come with him. He at least wanted the kids to think that there were two of them, but Lucas just kept going across the street. What was wrong with Lucas, Justin wondered?

Even if Lucas hadn’t come with him, he saw his plan was working. One of the kids in the group had heard him and ran off. The others started to scatter and by the time he reached Kenny, they were all gone. 

Kenny had a big red spot on his forehead and his shirt was torn and his books were on the ground. Justin started picking up his books and backpack. Kenny rubbed the spot and tucked his shirt back in. “Thanks, Justin,” Kenny said, “If you hadn’t come along I would really be hurting. You saved me from getting beat up worse.” Justin just sort of nodded and kept helping Kenny.

When he looked around to see if the kids were coming back, he saw Lucas down the street. Lucas wasn’t looking at them. He was just looking the other way and walking. “I wonder what happened to Lucas. I thought he would know better.” thought Justin.

A story on the theme of Luke 2.8-20

Theme: Jesus comes to us as we are -- ordinary, even messy people and asks us to let him value us and use us.

“Hurry! Hurry! Maria! cried her Aunt Eva, “Come help us! We’re ready to give Grandma her birthday present.”

Maria was at her aunt and uncle’s house with all her cousins and aunts and uncles. They were there to celebrate her grandma’s birthday. Maria thought she remembered that it was number 75 for her grandma. That was 70 more years than Maria who was just 5 years old.

Her aunt had told her when Maria and her mom and dad arrived that sometime after dinner and before dessert -- which was going to be a cake with lots and lots of candles on it...well, before dessert all the grandchildren were going to bring in Grandma’s present which was a beautiful new dress that her Aunt Eva had made. 

Now the time had come, but Maria wasn’t ready. Maria wanted to be all cleaned up and wanted to change from her play clothes back into her party dress. she was afraid that her grandma wouldn’t like it if she was dirty.  She and her cousins had put on their old clothes to play in the back yard while the adults were finishing the dinner dishes. They had gotten pretty sweaty and dirty and now there wasn’t time to change. They only had time to wash their hands under the hose that Uncle Abel was holding outside in the back yard and to dry them with the towel.

Maria felt so bad and so embarrassed to be so dirty for her grandma, but Aunt Eva needed her -- right then -- so she put down her head so her grandma wouldn’t look her in the eye and took hold of part of the dress and marched into the living room with her other cousins holding their part of the dress while all her aunts and uncles sang happy birthday to her grandma.

Her grandma was so surprised. She was so happy she just glowed. She took her dress and held it up and then grabbed each of her grandchildren and gave them a big hug and a kiss.  “Yuck,” thought Maria, “We’re all so dirty and smelly, but Grandma is so happy that nobody seems to notice.” And Maria felt happy, too -- and very proud that she could help make her grandma happy.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter at all that we’re messy -- when we’re picked to do something so special.

A story on the theme of Luke 1.39-46

Title: “The Unsuspecting Mother: Mary’s Story”

Theme: The supportive role Elizabeth played in mentoring her during those significant first three months of pregnancy is a model for older Christians in the church.

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Maria loved her Aunt Liz very much. You see, Maria had lost her mother when she was very little and she didn’t remember much about her, although she liked to look at the pictures of her mother holding her as a baby. Maria had grown up with her dad and brother and sister. Her Aunt Liz lived just down the street and Aunt Liz had been like her mother. 

She loved to go down to her Aunt Liz’s house. They talked and cooked and did crafts and gardened and lots of other things. She could talk to her Aunt Liz about anything.  She loved to cuddle up with her and read books. But sometimes when Aunt Liz was working in the kitchen, Maria would sit by herself and read a book and listen. What would she listen to? She’d listen to her Aunt Liz sing. Aunt Liz had a pretty voice and knew lots and lots of songs. Some of them were songs they sang in church, but there were lots of other songs. Some of them were from what Aunt Liz called “musicals”. Those were plays where the actors not only spoke, but also sang songs. Maria asked her Aunt Liz where she had learned them. Aunt Liz said that she had learned them from watching and listening to many musicals, but she had also been in some musicals.

That was why when Maria heard that her school was going to have a musical, she wondered if she could be part of it. She heard that to be part of it, you had to go to a special room and sing a song for the teacher. A couple of days after she heard about the musical she went down the block to her Aunt Liz’s house and told her about the musical, but she said that she knew that she probably couldn’t be in it because it was too scary to sing alone for the teacher. 

Aunt Liz, right away, pulled her close to her and gave her a big hug and reminded her that when Aunt Liz was singing in the kitchen Maria sometimes sang along with the songs she knew. She said that Maria could carry a tune, that meant singing the right notes, and that she had a very nice voice. Maybe they should practice a song -- a song from one of the musicals that Aunt Liz knew. 

For the next week, Maria went to Aunt Liz’s house every day after school and practiced a song -- a song from the musical that was going to be performed at her school. It turned out that Aunt Liz new lots of songs from that musical.

The day that Maria needed to try out for the musical, that is, sing the song for the teacher, she came to Aunt Liz’s house before school and practiced the song. It really helped because when she sang the song in the afternoon, it was easy. She could remember all of it and she as she sang, she just thought of how she and Aunt Liz had sung it together. She left the room wondering if she would be chosen for the musical, but even if she didn’t, it had been wonderful being encouraged by her wonderful Aunt Liz.

A story on the theme of Luke 1.1-56

Theme:  God has a plan and uses ordinary people to accomplish it.

· This sermon is about God.

· This sermon is about God who has a plan.

· This sermon is about God who has a plan by using his people.

·This sermon is about God who has a plan by using his people in loving, yet troubling ways. 

· This sermon is about God who has a plan by using his people in loving, yet troubling ways and accomplishes it.

(Alternate beginning: The kingdom of heaven is like a little girl whose grandma asked her to do something that she was sure she couldn’t do...)

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Jamie couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Her grandma had told her that Jamie would be baking the special Christmas bread for Christmas. The big braided loaves. But she was only 8 years old. How could she bake everyone’s favorite bread? It’s the first thing that got eaten up at Christmas. If she didn’t bake it right, everyone would be disappointed. But her grandma insisted. Jamie was really nervous.

Her grandma saw that Jamie was nervous, but she said, “Don’t worry. I have a plan. I’ll teach you how and I’ll be around while you’re doing it. I won’t leave you alone. I just have so many other things to cook and bake, I need some help and it’s about time I taught you to bake.

They started backing before Thanksgiving -- practice baking that is. Jamie learned how to measure the flour and break the eggs and mix everything together.  She learned how to knead the dough and let it rise - twice! She learned how to make long ropes of dough and them braid them, like she braided her hair. She learned how long to bake the loaves. They practiced a lot. They had to throw away some of the bread. They enjoyed keeping their secret from the others. They ate lots of delicious Christmas bread, even before Christmas.

Then the big day came. Jamie woke up nervous. She knew that she was going to be doing it all alone and she wasn’t sure she’d get it all right, but she knew her grandma would be close by, cooking and baking other things.

She measured and mixed and kneaded and braided and now that it was the real thing, they sprinkled on some sugar and pressed some cherries into the top of the loaves and then put them in to bake. While the oven baked the bread, she waited, wondering how it would come out. Wondering how her grandma could trust her to do something so important.

It turned out to be beautiful and delicious and everyone said how good it was and were amazed when they found out that Jamie had baked it for this Christmas. How proud she was to have been able to do something that she couldn’t imagine she could have done alone.

God is like Jamie’s grandma.  Sometimes he asks us to do things that we don’t think we can do. Make something for someone. Help something with something important. Be a friend to someone who doesn’t have any friends. We may not believe we can do it, but he does and he’ll help us and never leave us alone. I wonder if God is wanting you to do something like this?

Prayer:  Thanks, God, for trusting us to do your work where we live and helping us do it.  Amen.

A story on the theme of Matthew 26.31-44

Topic: Enlarge Your Soul Through Grief and Loss 

Theme: God encourages us to embrace our human limitations by grieving well through the losses we face.

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Katie was very, very sad. All she could think of was her grandma. Her grandma was her best friend, ever. She couldnʼt remember any time without her grandma from her earliest memories. Her grandma had always been there. But her grandma had not only always been there, her grandma had loved her in a very special way. She loved her mom and dad -- and her sisters and brother, and her grandpas, but she loved her grandma in a very special way, too.

Grandma taught her wonderful songs that just the two of them knew. She remembered that grandma had a special song she sang when Katie was going to sleep and she slept best of all when her grandma sang her to sleep.

Her grandma read to her her favorite books. Her grandma knew English and Spanish and could read in either language. Listening to her read, Katie began to learn Spanish.

Her grandma told her stories about when her grandma had been a little girl and her grandma had her own grandma. Katie asked for those stories again and again.

She taught Katie how to cook and they made their favorite cookies together and once they made tic-tac-toe sandwiches. (Youʼll have to ask Katie what those are.)

But she didnʼt have her grandma any more. Her grandma had gotten sick and had to go to the hospital and then came home, but she was very weak and couldnʼt get out of bed. Then her grandma died. Katie was just a little girl and she wasnʼt quite sure what that meant and what had happened. But she knew that she no longer had her grandma to tell her stories or go for walks or play with dolls or sing her to sleep.

She cried a lot after her grandma died and she kept turning around thinking that her grandma would be right there, but she wasnʼt any more. All she had left of her grandma was her memories. She was mad for a while from missing her grandma, although she didnʼt really know who she was mad at. She just wanted her grandma back.

But she finally stopped crying a lot and began remembering more and more of the wonderful times that she had had with her grandma. She sang the songs to herself that grandma taught her so she would remember them. She said the poems that theyʼd said together. Sometimes she asked her mom to help her bake cookies that sheʼd baked with her grandma. She imagined cuddling with her grandma and reading books.

It was hard not to have her special friend, grandma, but she knew her grandma had loved her so much that it made her feel very special and loved. And she knew thatʼs what her grandma would want her to remember.

A story on the theme of Matthew 6.5-15

Theme:  Prayer is our key connection with God, but in private, not in public.

Change the names and parental genders as works best for your context.

Benny liked to say his nighttime prayers with his mom or dad or both. He’d lay down in his bed and close his eyes and start with a short prayer that he had learned, but then he or his mom or his dad might add things. Sometimes, he told God how great God was for the whole world that God had created or for how much he loved Benny and his family. Sometimes he thanked God for things that God had given him that day, like his favorite french fries for supper or the chance to play after school with his friend, Eric, who had come over to his house. Sometimes he told God that he was sorry for something he had done to hurt someone else that day -- like his big sister who he had hit because she wouldn’t share her candy bar and he asked God to forgive him. He usually asked God to help or heal or feed someone in his family or someone he’d heard about in the world who was sick or needed food or a place to live. And, of course, if he was going to be doing something hard at school the next day like taking a test or trying out for the soccer team, he asked God to be with him and help him do his best. He’d end his prayer with a soft ‘Amen’ and then his mom or dad would give him a hug and kiss and ask God to bless him while he slept. 

But he didn’t stop praying and go right to sleep when his parents left and closed the door behind them. Some nights he just liked to stay very, very quiet and listen, in case God wanted to say something to him. Now he didn’t hear God’s voice like your voice or mine, but sometimes God seemed to put an idea into his head, it was almost always a kind idea about helping someone or a reminder about how someone had helped him. Sometimes when he was very, very still, he just liked to imagine that he was cuddling up to God, just like he cuddled up to his mom or dad when they finished reading him a book and sat quietly together enjoying one another’s company.

He knew that one of the ways he could hear from God was by reading his Bible, but he always felt like praying and just being very, very quiet was another way that he could feel and hear God say how much God loved him. I wonder what he might hear from God tonight?

A story on the theme of Matthew 5.43-48

Theme:  Learning to love ALL - pushes us toward the perfection God desires for us

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Betsy’s head jerked back and she cried, “Ouch!”  This time it wasn’t because her long braid had gotten caught in her desk chair and when she leaned forward, it pulled her head back. It was because someone had yanked on her braid. As she was turning around to see who it was she was saying to herself, “I’m sure it was that mean Janey.” Sure enough Janey had done it, but then she had moved far enough away that if Betsy reached out to hit her, her teacher would certainly see her and scold her.

Why was Janey’s being so mean to her, Betsy wondered. She couldn’t think of any reason. Yesterday, Janey had hidden in a doorway and when Betsy was coming through she stuck out her leg and tripped Betsy and Betsy had dropped all her books and papers and sprawled out on the floor and made everyone around laugh at her clumsiness. She hardly wanted to remember what Janey had done to her the day before and the day before that.

It got so that every day all she could think of was how angry she was at Janey and how she was going to try to get back at her. She got scolded by her teacher for not paying attention. Her other friends didn’t want to be with her. She was no fun. And it wasn’t her fault!

That day when she got home from school, she told her mom what was happening. Her mom asked her if she knew what forgiveness was. Yes, Betsy said that they’d been learning about it in Sunday School. It was when you said that you would let go of all your anger at someone who had hurt you. Sometimes you even did it even if they didn’t apologize. It was something that Jesus did a lot when people tried to hurt him. For some reason it helped you be happier after you had done it and not let your anger ruin your life, even if the people hurting you tried to ruin your life.

That night, as Betsy was lying in bed before she went to sleep, she had a long talk with Jesus about how she wanted to forgive Janey, both so that she wouldn’t do something to really hurt Janey, but also because she didn’t want the teacher to scold her or her friends to avoid her because she was always thinking about how she could get back at Janey. But she would need Jesus help. She felt like he promised to help her and that felt good because she knew Jesus knew what it was like to forgive people who were hurting you -- who were your enemies. And she wanted to be like Jesus.

This is where I’m inclined to end the story, but I’ve created another ending that shows some more resolution.

Janey didn’t stop doing mean things to Betsy the next day, but Betsy didn’t get so angry and she didn’t let those mean things ruin her time with her friends. In fact, they started to protect her from Janey. Eventually Janey stopped being mean to Betsy and sometimes was even nice to her.

Prayer:  Thanks, God, for forgiving me when I hurt you and for helping me forgive other people who hurt me.  Amen.