Sermon
Hungry? Make a Snack!
Theme
Be doers of the Word, not hearers only
Object
Jar of Nutella or peanut butter or frosting, Box of graham crackers, Butter knife, Paper plate, Paper napkins, Hand sanitizer
Scripture
James 1:22 (NIV) “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Activities + Resources
Before church, make as many Graham Cracker sandwiches as you will have children. Put them in individual snack bags to distribute to the children at the end of the message.
First a question for the parents out there: Do any of these children have nut, chocolate or wheat allergies? (Note any who do.)
Raise your hand if you get hungry in the middle of the afternoon. Yes, I see most of you do. I do, too. I like to make myself a snack in the middle of the afternoon, and today I am going to teach you how to make a really delicious snack. First clean your hands (use hand sanitizer). Take a graham cracker here, break it in half, and you see how it makes two squares. Then break one of those squares in half. Now take a spread – you can use Nutella like I’m doing, or you can use peanut butter or frosting. Spread it on one piece of graham cracker, then put the other piece on top. Now you have a delicious graham cracker sandwich. It’s really good if you have a glass of milk to go with it.
Now, think about this. Say you come home from school, and you think to yourself, “I’m really hungry. That lady at church showed me how to make a really good snack.” Then you go sit on the couch and watch TV.
Will your hunger be satisfied? (Take responses) No? Why not? That’s right because you didn’t eat anything! Just knowing how to make a good snack will not satisfy your hunger. You actually have to make the snack and eat it!
That’s kind of like the things you learn at church. At church you learn how to pray, how to read scripture and how to help other people. But just knowing how to do those things will not satisfy your hunger to be closer God and to you friends and family. You actually have to do those things -to pray and read scripture and help other people to satisfy that hunger! God sent a special Helper to help you do those things – The Holy Spirit is the part of God that is in you and helping you do the things God wants you to.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, Thank-you for giving us your Word and your church to teach us and about you. Thank-you for sending us the Holy Spirit to help us put your Word into practice in our lives. Amen.
Hand out the pre-made snacks to the children as they leave.
