Sermon
Who Is the Greatest?
Theme
The greatest has a humble and sincere heart.
Object
A child
Scripture
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:3-5
(Say to children) Today I need one volunteer to help me out with the lesson. (After selecting a volunteer, explain that you will pull him/her into the circle later in the lesson but he/she should remain outside the circle until you get him/her. The volunteer does not need to say anything.)
Our lesson is titled who is the greatest. Take a minute to think about who is the greatest person. Who do you think is the greatest? Let see, what do you think makes a person great? Is it the most powerful person? How about someone with a lot of money? Or how about people who are really talented like famous athletes, or actresses or singers?
One day the disciples were having an argument about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. They were feeling very proud of themselves at the time and were sure that it one of them would be the greatest. So they asked Jesus who would be the greatest? But instead of picking one of those disciples he did this…
(Go get the child volunteer and bring him/her in front of the group and stand beside the volunteer.) He brought a child like this before them and put his arm around the child. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:3-5
That is pretty awesome that Jesus feels that way about you children. He was representing children as his equal when he talked about whoever welcomes a little child welcomes me. (Thank the volunteer and they may join the others.) Sometime as adults we get mixed up and think we should try to be powerful, make a lot of money, or be in a position that others will think we are important. But Jesus tells us that the greatest are those who are humble and have sincere hearts like children.
Lets pray: Dear Lord, Thank you for these children. Help us all to remember to be humble and have a sincere heart. Amen.
