CHILDREN – 1st Sunday of Lent B

OBJECTS: None

Have you ever made a promise? (Give children a chance to respond.) Did you keep your promise? (Again, give the children the opportunity to respond to your question. Did you know that God made a promise? (Let children respond.)

Yes, God did make a promise. Listen:

God made his promise long ago. People who lived on the earth were very wicked. They did bad things and they hurt other people. Instead of worshipping God, many people worshipped rocks and pieces of carved wood that they called idols. Most of the people on earth refused to do good things or help others.

God decided to destroy everything that was on the earth – all of the animals and people. But God knew that Noah was a good man. He told Noah to build a big boat and gather animals from the earth and take them inside the big boat.

It took a long time, but Noah did what God told him to do. Noah built the big boat and he collected animals. And when Noah and his family were inside, and so were the animals. God shut the door of the big boat and it began to rain. It rained and rained and rained. The boat rocked and rocked on the water. Soon, no tree tops could be seen, and before very long, no mountain tops could be soon. The only people left alive were Noah, his wife, his three sons and his son’s wives. They were inside the big boat with all the animals that Noah had collected. And then the rain stopped.

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SOURCE: Sermon Writer

OBJECT:  Photos of rainbows

Isn’t it exciting to see a rainbow? Those lovely colors that arc across the sky are formed by sunlight shining through water. It could be raindrops or mist or dew. Rainbows sometimes form near waterfalls, or perhaps you’ve seen a rainbow when you are watering the garden and sunlight shines through the water coming out of the hose.

Anytime, anywhere, a rainbow is a lovely gift from God. We learn more about rainbows in the Bible. You probably know this familiar Bible story, how long, long ago there was a great flood and God instructed a man named Noah to build an ark. The story continues as Noah, his family, birds, and animals of every kind went into the ark so they would be safe from the flood.

Later, “God spoke to Noah…” (9:8) and said, “I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant (promise) between me and the earth”(9:13). God tells Noah that a rainbow is a sign that the earth will never again be flooded like it was in that great flood.

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OBJECT: None

Can you think of a time that you had to share – or maybe take turns – at something that you really didn’t want to?

It’s hard, isn’t it? Especially when you’re right in the middle of something special – it’s tempting to be selfish and keep those things for ourselves.

Or did you ever see something you wanted so bad that you thought about taking it – even though it didn’t belong to you? That can be tempting too.

In this week’s Gospel, Jesus is tempted.

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SOURCE: Sermon Writer