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Children’s Sermon

John 1:29-42

Jesus Is A Teacher We Can Follow

January 15, 2023

2nd Sunday after Epiphany

Lectionary Year A

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ASK (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

Good morning
Have you ever played "Follow the Leader?"
Yeah? Good! We're going to play something like it.
We're going to play "Follow what the Leader says."
The way this game works is that the leader (that'll be me) will say something and then everyone else has to do what the leader just said.
If you aren’t able to do what the leader says, I’ll still let you try the next thing.
Any questions? Ok, here we go.

“Scratch your head” (point at the kids who use their left hand and say, "Oh no you're scratching with the wrong hand! Sorry, you did it wrong”.)
“Now, touch your toes” (point at the kids who don't stand up to touch their toes and say, "Oh no, you're supposed to stand up when you do it, Sorry, you did it wrong!”)
[Pull out a bucket if you have it and say] "Go wash my car."

[Tell them "Just kidding" before the earnest ones actually run off to do it!]

And that concludes our game of “Follow what the leader says.”
Thank you for playing that game. You were all very good sports. But let me ask you this: Did the game seem very fair to you? [NOOOOO!]
What made this game not work as well as the regular game of "Follow the Leader?" [Couldn't tell exactly what the leader meant. And leader tried to get the followers to do things for him/her, like wash their car]

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

Remember how our activity went because we’re going to bring it up in just a moment.
But first, let’s look at what happens in today's scripture story: Mostly what happens in today’s story is that John the Baptist tells the people all sorts of things about Jesus.
John tells the people that Jesus is the Lamb of God.
John tells the people that he baptized Jesus and that Jesus was then baptized by God's Holy Spirit.
John then tells the people that Jesus will baptize others with God's Holy Spirit.
Then, after all that telling, we hear that John sends two of his own disciples to meet Jesus.
But once those two disciples start asking Jesus questions, Jesus' response is to, "Come and see."
So the two disciples stop following John and start following Jesus.

SHARE the Good News (a.k.a. The Destination)

Today's story reminds us that other people can tell us about Jesus, but the best way to learn about Jesus is to follow him and see what he did.
Jesus was not a teacher who simply said what to do – like I did with you a few minutes ago.
Instead, Jesus was a teacher who actually did what he said so that we could then see exactly what he meant.
As we saw a little bit ago with our activity, it is much easier and better for us to learn from someone who does what they say, instead of learning from someone who only talks.
And when we’re learning about God, the more a person, like Jesus, can show us instead of just tell us, the easier it is for us to learn about God.
That’s the Good News for today. Let’s pray.

CLOSING Prayer

This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God…

Thank you for Jesus…

…who tells us AND shows us…

…how to live your better way.

Help us to keep learning from him.

Thank you and Amen.

Originally posted January 12, 2014
Updated on December 18, 2022
Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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Supplies: Optional: A bucket and a sponge

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