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Free Workshop Rotation Model Lessons - Season 2

Children’s Sermon

Mark 10:2-16


God’s Love Brings Us Together


October 6, 2024

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Year B


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ASK   (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

  • Good morning!
  • So on this side of me is where some of you sit
  • And on this other side of me is where the rest of you sit
  • Because I'm [favored]-handed, just for the next few moments, I'm going to favor those of you who are sitting on my [favored] side.
  • I'm going to favor those of you on my favorite side by giving you some Starburst candies  [start handing out candies just to the people on one side of you]
  • [address the ignored group] So, what do you think, is this fair?
  • No, it isn't, is it?
  • Now, just imagine if I kept doing this to all of you - EVERY DAY.
  • Imagine if I kept ignoring you and favoring those who sat on my [favored] side – how might you start to feel about me?
  • You might start to have what we sometimes call "hard feelings” towards me and you might start treating me like I’m treating you – by not favoring me.
  • Not only that, without thinking about it, you might also take your hard feelings and start doing to someone else what I was doing to you!
  • However, I do NOT want any of that to happen! So … here you go [pass out candies to those on the other side of you as well]  – let’s make things fair again.


TELL    (a.k.a. The Freeway)

  • I wanted to create some brief "hard feelings" today so that you might understand a similar idea that was being talked about in today's Bible story.
  • Today’s story begins with Jesus telling the leaders of the Israelites about why Moses, a previous leader of theirs  -- who lived way before Jesus did (1400 years or so before Jesus) -- had made a certain rule.
  • Jesus tells the leaders that Moses had made this certain rule with God's help so that the people wouldn't be full of hard feelings that would then pass through the people until EVERYONE had hard feelings about everyone else.
  • Right after Jesus gets done explaining this, did you hear what happened next?
  • Right after Jesus finished telling the Israelite leaders about how to keep hard feelings from happening…
  • …Jesus saw his disciples creating hard feelings by not letting certain people get close to Jesus!
  • And, those certain people that the disciples were keeping away from Jesus were children.


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

  • Jesus then does what I did just a little bit ago. He tells the disciples to change their actions so that there would be no favored groups.
  • Jesus then gave the children the same attention he had been giving the adults.
  • What Jesus does in today’s story with the children is a good reminder of how we can avoid creating hard feelings in others - by not favoring one group of people over other groups of people.
  • Which is just what Jesus had been telling the Pharisees – that we should not be separating what God has brought together.
  • When we choose to pay attention to and then receive God's love (just like Jesus did), then we will have the same ability that Jesus showed in today’s story – to share that love with all of the people that are around us and not just favor some of the people.
  • And that’s the good news for today. Let’s pray.


CLOSING Prayer

  • This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,

Dear God,


Thank you for Jesus...

Thank you for Jesus...


...who shows us…

...who shows us…


…how to share your love...

…how to share your love...


…with everyone around us.

…with everyone around us.

Help us to do the same.

Help us to do the same.


Thank you and Amen



Originally posted September 20, 2015

Updated on September 7, 2024

Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia



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Supplies: Individually-wrapped candies (like Starburst) or stickers to share with the children.


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