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Children’s Sermon

John 18:33-37

Jesus Is The Better King

November 24, 2024

Twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Year B

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

Good morning!
To get started today, I have some questions to ask you … about kings
First – can you tell me what a king does? (Is a ruler over a people / country. Person who is in charge of a country)
Good! And how do you think a king becomes a king? (it gets passed along from the parents/within the family OR someone with an army takes over and becomes king)
So….does our country have a king? (the answer to this depends on what country you live in. For us Americans, the answer, of course, is “No”)
Well, if our country DID have a king, would that mean everyone in the country would then have the same king? (yep)
Even if lots of us didn’t want to have that king? (yep)
And could that king make us do things we wouldn’t want to do – like always have to eat vegetables for dinner? (possibly)
So, even if they couldn’t make us eat vegetables for EVERY dinner, kings sound like they are pretty powerful, don’t you think?

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

It just so happens, that in today’s scripture story, Jesus and Pilate are having a talk about Jesus being a king.
But Pilate is confused.
Pilate thinks Jesus is a king just like we talked about – that Jesus is trying to become the king of Israel.

But Jesus tells him, “I’m not that kind of king.”

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

So let’s talk about what kind of king Jesus actually is.
First, Jesus is the kind of king that invites people to follow him, unlike a regular king who is king over people whether they like it or not.
Each of us get to choose if we want him to be our king.
And, Jesus is not a king who tells people to do things for him.
Instead, Jesus is the kind of king who gives – he shares God’s love, forgiveness, and healing with others.
And, he teaches others to learn how to receive God’s love, forgiveness, and healing so that they can then share just like Jesus did.
In other words, Jesus wants us to do the same things he does.
And, you know what? It sounds like Jesus makes for a pretty good king, doesn’t he?
And that is the very good news for today. Let’s pray.

CLOSING Prayer

This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,
Dear God,

Thank you for Jesus…

…who is the best king ever…

…because he shows us…

…how to receive your gifts…

…and then share those gifts with others.

Thank you and Amen

Originally posted November 8, 2015

Updated on October 26, 2024

Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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