The Race You Can't Win Alone

Good Morning. How all y’all doing this morning?

Does anyone know what day it is today in the Church? - answers

Today is Pentecost. That is the day we celebrate God the Holy Spirit. Our UMC symbol show the cross and flame. The cross represents Jesus and the flame is for the Holy Spirit. (If your church is not UMC, you can omit this reference.) Pentecost is a day we remember the Holy Spirit coming down from heaven like tongs or pieces of flames on the Apostles. When the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles, God gave them all sorts of gifts that Jesus had to help them show everyone Jesus’ love.

I have a game for us to play this morning. It is a race to see who can get to the back of the church first but, we have some strange rules. I am going to make it just a little harder than just running to the back of the church. The first rule is no one can win unless everyone wins.

(Handing out props)

You (give fogged glasses) can’t see where you are going

You (leg splints) can’t walk

You (ear plugs) can’t hear

You two (rope) have to use each others legs

You (no prop) have to tell everyone how to do it but you can’t talk

You (mitts) can’t use your hands to help

Do y’all think you can make it? (answers)

The bible tells us how we can do it. Let’s read a little and see how.

NRSV 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-22 ONE BODY WITH MANY MEMBERS

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

It is the same for us as Christians; we all have to work together so we can all be winners in Jesus. It takes all of us, event the youngest has a part I making all of us the best we can be. We all need to help each other.

What or who should we pray for today? (Collect answers from children)

Let us pray together, Holy Spirit you make us one. Bless these children and their families along with our whole church. Give them the gifts they need to build your church. Give them the courage to use their gifts for you and each other. We join together as one to ask that you watch over the people we have asked spoken about and those we are thinking about. Heal, protect and guide them in their walk with you. In Jesus name, amen.