CHILDREN – 3rd Sunday of Year B

OBJECTS: None

Have you ever made a promise?

A promise has two parts – doesn’t it? The first part is something you say – but the second part is something you do.

If I were to promise that next week I’m going to bake cookies and that after church I’d give you all one, that would be the talking part – but then you’d expect me to actually do it, right? That’s the important part of a promise – keeping it.

There’s a word for this. When we keep a promise, by actually doing what we’ve said, we say that the promise has been “fulfilled.”

This week’s Gospel lesson is about a promise that has been fulfilled.  For hundreds of years – and all throughout their scriptures – the people of Israel have been promised that the kingdom of God is coming. And this week Jesus tells them that the promise has been kept – and that the time they’ve been waiting for has come.

Click Title for Entire Message

SOURCE: Sermon Writer

OBJECT:  Fishing pole, tackle, and various types of bait.

Fishermen are patient people. They cast their line into the water and wait for a fish to swim by and bite the hook. A plain hook does not interest most fish. There must be something on the hook that attracts the fish’s attention.

People who do a lot of fishing have many ideas about what works best to attract the attention of a fish. What they use for bait often depends upon what type of fish they are trying to catch. Sometimes it is the color of the lure on the line that attracts a fish. Sometimes is it actual food that a fish likes to eat such as a worm. Sometimes a “fly” is fashioned out of thread and small feathers to look like a real fly or other type of insect.

If you ask a person who likes to fish what is the best bait to use, most are eager to tell you what works best.

Click Title for Entire Message

OBJECT: Pictures of Wild Geese, Picture of Ducklings

We get and receive calls for many different reasons. When we are faced with an emergency, perhaps someone is very ill or has had an accident, how do we get help? Yes, we call 911, an operator answers our call and sends help.

Maybe a friend arrives at your door and says, “Come out and play.” That is another type of call and, if it is okay with your parents, you follow your friend outside to play.

Even in nature we see this idea of calling. During the autumn season birds migrate from their summer feeding areas and head for a warmer climate to spend the winter. You may have heard the wild geese call to one another as they lift into the sky and follow each other for their journey south in a beautiful V formation.

A mother ducks calls to her babies with a quack, quack, quack. They obey and follow where she leads.

Click Title for Entire Message

SOURCE: Sermon Writer