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Children’s Sermon

John 6:56-69

To Keep Following Jesus

August 25, 2024

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Year B

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

Good morning!
Can you tell me some tasks you've learned to do that weren't easy to learn? [listen to their responses; make sounds of amazement]
Those sound like very difficult things to do.
Something else that seems difficult to do that everyone here has done, but nobody mentioned, is learning to walk [or talk, eat, tie their shoes, etc]
If walking was so easy, you would have been walking around an hour or so after being born.
But instead, it took 9 months, even 15 to 18 months before you took your first steps.
But you didn’t stop there.
Even though you figured out how to take some steps all by yourself, you fell over a lot. And I mean A LOT
Because walking isn't easy.
But when you fell over, did you give up? Did you stop trying to walk?
No, no you did not. You kept trying. You kept learning until you could do it.

And now, not only can you walk without falling (usually), you can run and skip and even walk backwards! That’s some very impressive learning – all because you didn’t give up!

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

I wanted to talk to you about learning to do something that’s difficult because in today's scripture story, we hear Jesus teaching his disciples what it means to follow him.
After hearing Jesus talk about what it means to follow him, some of the disciples then tell him, "What you are teaching is too difficult."
And then they quit. Can you believe that? They actually stopped being Jesus' disciples.
But not ALL of Jesus’ disciples quit. Some of the other disciples stayed.
The disciples who stayed told Jesus that they were staying because they knew Jesus was the real deal.
They knew that what Jesus was teaching was the best thing to learn.

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

I think today's story is a good reminder to think about why we choose to keep following Jesus.
Just like you didn't give up on learning to walk because you knew walking was worth it, the disciples didn't give up on following Jesus because they knew what he was teaching was worth it.
In later stories, we hear why the disciples were right to not give up on following Jesus.
In those later stories, we hear how those disciples learned how to heal people like Jesus did, teach others like Jesus taught, and even had their own disciples like Jesus did.
Sometimes following Jesus is difficult, but the disciples who kept following Jesus in today’s story remind us that when we keep following Jesus, really good things happen.
And that's the good news for today. Let's pray.

CLOSING Prayer

This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,

Thank you for the disciples...

...who never quit on Jesus...

...and showed us what to expect…

…when we keep following Jesus…

…and learning about you.

Thank you and Amen

Originally posted August 11, 2018

Updated on July 25, 2024

Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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This material is the copyrighted property of rfour.org and Nathanael Vissia. It is also free. Please use, improve and share this material. But you may not sell it or require any personal information for it.

Supplies: No supplies needed, but I suggest choosing a developmental task that families in your congregation haven’t had to struggle with. I use “walking” in the message below, but talking, feeding one’s self, tying one’s shoes, etc., are all possible tasks to use instead of walking.

Related Bread message(s): John 6:24-35, John 6:35, 41-51, and John 6:51-58