ASK (a.k.a The On-Ramp)
- Good morning!
- In a little less than a month, Christmas will be here.
- Even if that sounds like that is a long time from now, I have a question for you
about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
- Here it is: On Christmas Eve, when you’re in bed – have you ever been so excited
that you couldn’t fall asleep – to the point that you started to worry that you might
not fall asleep until it is so late that you would then sleep ALL THE WAY through
Christmas Day? [Wait for answers – lots of “Noooo” answers, probably]
- Now, it seems really unlikely that you would ever sleep through all of Christmas
Day, but let’s pretend that you did. What would you miss out on? [Wait for answers]
- That’s right! You wouldn’t be able to open your presents. You wouldn’t get to see
other people open their presents. You wouldn’t get to eat fancy holiday food. And
if friends or family were only visiting on Christmas day, you wouldn’t get to see
them.
- In other words, if you slept through Christmas, you would miss out on a whole lot
of good stuff, wouldn’t you?
- So here’s my advice to you, just in case you need it – don’t sleep all the way through
Christmas!
TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)
- I bring this up because in today’s scripture story, Jesus is warning his disciples
about something that sounds a lot like sleeping through Christmas Day.
- But instead of saying, “Don’t sleep through Christmas,” Jesus is telling them to
stay awake so they don’t miss the gift that Jesus brings.
- And the gift that Jesus brings that Jesus wants the disciples to stay awake for is:
the good news of how we can live God’s better way.
SHARE the Good News (a.k.a. The Destination)
- As a church, the time of the year where we practice “staying awake” to the gift that
Jesus brings is called, “Advent.”
- Advent means to await and prepare for the arrival of something.
- For the next few weeks, then, we will do things that will help us prepare and get
ready to receive the gift of the good news that Jesus brings.
- Because, just like we don’t want to sleep through Christmas, we also don’t want to
sleep through the Good News that Jesus brings and shares with us.
- And that is 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
Thank you for Jesus
…who teaches us…
…who teaches us…
…to stay awake…
…to stay awake…
…to your better way.
…to your better way.
Thank you and Amen.
Originally posted November 24, 2013
Updated on October 27, 2022
Written and edited
by Nathanael Vissia
View more children’s sermons here
This material is the copyrighted property of rfour.org and Nathanael Vissia. It is
also free. Please use, improve and share this material. But do not sell it or require
any personal information for it.