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.