Sermon

Relying on God

Theme

Trust in the Lord

Object

A penny and a 100 Grand candy bar for each child

Scripture

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . . and he shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3: 5 – 6 “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” Luke 21:1-4

I have something for each of you: a penny. (pass out pennies to the children) Now take a look at your penny. Do you see the picture of someone on there? Do you know who he is? Right! It’s Abraham Lincoln. Who was he? Do you know which president he was? Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president, and he was such a great president that they put this picture on all our pennies. He was president at a very difficult time in our nation’s history, but he didn’t lead the nation alone. He had help. Here is what he said in a speech one time: “Without the assistance of the Divine Being [God], I cannot succeed. With it, I cannot fail.” So Abraham Lincoln relied on God to guide him and give him strength as he led the nation. We’re talking about pennies this morning because pennies are the lowest denomination of coin we use in America. In Jesus’ time, the smallest coin was called a mite. One day Jess watched as people made their offerings, just like our users collected the offering a few minutes ago. Jesus saw the rich and not so rich people make their offerings. Do you know what’s really important for us to remember? It’s important we give our best gifts to God; We give our best gifts to God when God takes 1st place in our lives. This means we offer to God through our talents (what we know how to do, like bake or cook for memorial services or volunteer at the school to help children read), our time (how much time are we willing to joyfully sacrifice?) And how much of our treasure (from the money we have and how we choose to spend it). I’m going to give you each a candy bar now. It’s called a 100 Grand. It’s not really 100 thousand dollars (a grand is short for a thousand dollars). I want you to think about what you would do if you had that much money?

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we’re thankful that you guide our paths. Please help us to be careful with the gifts you entrust to us and to use them wisely.

If time permits, sing this refrain: Refrain: Little is much when God is in it! Labor not for wealth or fame; There’s a crown, and you can win it, If you go in Jesus’ name. http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Little_Is_Much_When_God_Is_in_It/