Resources for Christian Education

rfour.org logo
Next (right)


Children’s Sermon

Luke 17:5-10


Recharging Mustard-Sized Faith


October 2, 2022

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Year C


VIEW the scripture


SAVE .pdf of message

ASK    (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

  • Good morning!
  • [ Show  phone ] Can you tell me what this is? (A phone!)
  • And, what gives it power and makes it run? (Electricity! The battery!)
  • That’s right! The battery stores electricity and then “gives” it to the phone to help it run.
  • What do you think – does the battery ever run out of electricity? (Yes! All the time)
  • Does the phone tell you how much electricity is in the battery? (Yes, in the top right corner)
  • But, here’s the thing – if you are NOT looking at the battery level indicator on the phone, can you tell how much energy is in the battery just by looking at how the phone is working? (You’ll probably get all sorts of answers here)
  • For instance, if I turn the flashlight on [turn on phone’s flashlight ], can you tell me how fully-charged the battery is? Do you think it’s fully-charged, 75% charged, 33% charged – how much charge is in the battery, do you think? (Again, you’ll probably get lots of responses here)
  • For those who said the battery is 80% [or whatever the charge meter says] charged, you were the closest!
  • The reason we can’t tell what the charge is on the battery based on the performance of the phone is because the phone needs just a very little bit of electricity to power it.
  • How much energy is in the battery doesn’t affect how well the phone runs, unless there is NO energy.
  • And, if there is no energy, then we have to recharge it, right?


TELL    (a.k.a. The Freeway)

  • I share this idea of how a phone only needs a little electricity to run well because I think it helps us think about what Jesus is teaching his disciples in today’s scripture story.
  • In today’s scripture story, we hear the disciples asking Jesus to increase their faith. They want MORE faith.
  • But Jesus tells them that GREATER or STRONGER faith doesn’t help them do God’s work any better.
  • In fact, Jesus tells the disciples that just a very little-itty-bit of faith – faith the size of a mustard seed – is all that they need in order to do amazing things.
  • Which is why Jesus then tells a story of someone who keeps going and going and going. Someone who works in the field all day and then works in the house without a break.
  • Because just a little bit of faith is all that is needed to keep going and going and going.
  • Now, at first, that might not make too much sense to us because we probably think we need A LOT of faith to do God’s work.
  • But that’s why the phone is a helpful example, I think.
  • It doesn’t need A LOT of energy to do it’s work.
  • Instead, it just needs a power source to keep giving it a little bit of energy to keep working.


SHARE the Good News   (a.k.a. The Destination)

  • So even though Jesus is telling the disciples that they don’t need GREATER  or STRONGER or INCREASED faith, what he does teach them over and over again is that their faith needs to be recharged.
  • In fact, most of what Jesus teaches his disciples is about how to recharge their mustard-sized faith by paying attention to God.
  • And, guess what!? We can recharge our faith in the same ways Jesus taught his disciples to recharge their faith.
  • We can do this by worshiping together, by learning about God in Sunday school and the Bible stories, and by praying and listening to God on our own, with family members, and with church members.
  • Then, as our faith is recharged, we’ll keep living God’s better way and sharing God’s gifts with the people around us.
  • We’ll be able to keep sharing and sharing and sharing.
  • And that is the good news for today – let’s pray.


CLOSING Prayer

  • This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,

Dear God,


Thank you for Jesus…

Thank you for Jesus…


…who taught us to recharge our faith…

…who taught us to recharge our faith…


…so that we can keep sharing

…so that we can keep sharing


…your love and gifts with others…

…your love and gifts with others…


…just like Jesus did!

…just like Jesus did!


Thank you and Amen



Originally posted September 21, 2013
Updated on September 2, 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 you may not sell it or require any personal information for it.

PRINT page without images

Supplies: A smart phone or tablet with a not-fully charged battery.

Related message(s): N/A