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Children’s Sermon

John 12:1-8

Giving Gifts To Jesus

April 6, 2025

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Lectionary Year C

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

Good morning!
Have you ever heard the word, "Messiah"?
Can you tell me what you think that word means?
Those are good guesses - thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Messiah (and the Greek version of the word, "Christ") means "the anointed."
To anoint someone is to put oil, a lotion-like oil, on that person - sometimes on their head and shoulders, sometimes on their hands and feet.
In Jesus' time and place, the Israelites would anoint the person who was going to be the next king.
Since Jesus is sometimes called the Messiah, can you tell me the story of when Jesus was actually anointed?
That's right - it happens in today's scripture story!

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

In today's scripture story, Mary took some perfume-like oil and poured it on Jesus' feet.
She then cleaned his feet with the oil.
It was a very thoughtful gift and was probably her way of saying thank you to Jesus after he had raised Lazarus, her brother, from the dead.
Jesus was thankful for her gift and said it was good for her to do.
Even though we see Jesus give so much to others in terms of healing, teaching, and forgiveness, we see far less of others giving gifts to Jesus.
But that's exactly what we see in today’s story. And what an important gift it was that Jesus received!

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

One of the reasons I like this story is because it reminds us that we - you and me! - can also give gifts to Jesus.
Maybe that's not something you think about too much, but one of the best gifts I think we can give to Jesus is to learn from him based on the things he said and did, like…

…paying attention to God in prayer in the same ways that Jesus did
…spending time together in worship like Jesus did
…by learning and talking about the Bible stories like Jesus did (including the Bible stories we have of Jesus)

As we give Jesus this gift of following him, then we receive a different gift.
When we learn to do the same things as Jesus did, we are also learning to receive the same things Jesus received from God – like God’s love, power, and forgiveness.
And as we learn to receive those gifts from God, we are better able to then share those gifts with others, in the same ways Jesus did.
That’s a lot of giving of gifts, isn’t it!?
And that’s the good news for today.

CLOSING Prayer

Let’s pray. This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,
Dear God,

Thank you for Jesus…

…and help us to do like he did...

…and help us to do like he did…

…so that we can receive your gifts...

…so that we can receive your gifts…

…and then share them with others.

Thank you and Amen

Originally posted March 15, 2013
Updated on March 7, 2025
Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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