Psalm 126

  • If you have the time in the service, you could create a “Rejoice Banner” with the children, while you tell them this psalm.  Get a large piece of butcher paper or whatever works in your congregation, markers, and crayons, and write these words across the top: “The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced” (v. 3).  Enlist the help of some of your high school youth to help the children.  Ask the children to draw or write words about the persons or things they rejoice in or are thankful to God.  To do this well, be prepared for a ten-minute children’s sermon.  Ask the youth to help you hang the banner in the sanctuary or take it to the narthex so the congregation can see it.
  • Another way to teach this psalm is to use a story from your congregation’s history.  Was there a time when your congregation felt restored, and it was like a “dream”?  Was it moving into a new building, renovating a part of the building, or rebuilding the church?  Was there coverage by the local media, and did people say, “The Lord has done great things for them” (v. 2c)?
  • Maybe your congregation helped build a habitat house, and that home helped bring laughter and joy.  Be creative with your present-day telling and remind the children that we have examples of rejoicing from Psalm 126.

Isaiah 43:16-21

  • This is an opportunity to talk with the children about the word “exile,” which they may hear during worship or Sunday school from time to time. When a broader understanding of this word is applied, many people may be in exile today. Children experience “exile” through “being left out,” intentionally or unintentionally, at school, at play, in family life, and in congregational life.
  • Does your congregation support a refugee ministry or help settle refugees in your state, town, or city?  These persons have fled their homelands for many reasons, but they can also help the children understand the word “exile”.  If you have a refugee family in your congregation, talk with them about joining you on the sacred steps and telling a bit of their story as a way of helping the children understand what this portion of Isaiah might mean for Christians today.
  • Another option for this text could be to focus on the broader meaning of “return” or “reconciliation.”  When have the children helped someone be included at school, in their neighborhood, or at home?
  • Because the lives of children are a constant “new thing,” this might be a good place to craft a children’s sermon.  Each week, when they come to the sacred steps, odds are they have experienced something new about God, but they may not have “perceived” it.  Their lives, energy, and questions are a new thing for your congregation each week.  This would be a daring question to start your time on the sacred steps, “What new thing about God did you see or learn this week?”
  • If you have not taken the time to introduce the children to the prophet Isaiah of the Exile (represented by the words found in Isa 40-55), this is an opportunity to do so.  The Book of Isaiah is a favorite of those who practice the Christian faith.  A children’s sermon could be crafted that introduced Isaiah of the Exile as a character in the bible. You could create a short list of important details that will help the children understand a bit about who this prophet was, his/her (some think this prophet may have been a woman) importance in the First Testament, and in the story of Israel.  A creative way to do this is to think about creating a Facebook page, on paper or a PowerPoint slide, for Isaiah and sharing that with the children.  What would be on Isaiah of the Exile’s profile?

Philippians 3:4b-14

  • One way to approach this text could be for the adult or a youth group member to talk with the children about their faith journey or show a faith map.  Paul recounts his journey in faith, and having someone in the present do the same could model for the children a way to talk about their own experiences with God.
  • Another option would be to enter the theology of this text by talking with the children about the goal of being more Christ-like in our living.  Paul is working to help the Philippians struggle with these kinds of questions, and maybe this is a place to begin with the children as well.

John 12:1-8

  • Talk with the children about the stories that all the gospels have in common.  Make a list, or create a word search, for the children to have.  Are these the most important stories?  That may not be the question to ask.  Another question could be, “Do these stories have a characteristic that makes them relevant to all the gospels, no matter the context?”  Do you have a favorite story that is in all the gospels?  You could share that and encourage the children to learn a story that is in all the gospels, like the one for today.  You could highlight the gospel reading for the day as a reference to talking about the stories that all the gospels have in common.
  • If you desire to dip a toe into the perfume of the story with the children, focus on Mary and her recognition of who Jesus is for her.  This moment resembles Peter’s “aha moment” in Mark 8: 27-30.  What do the actions of Mary and Peter tell us about who Jesus was for them?  Can you or someone else in the congregation tell the children who Jesus is for you?  How do the children describe Jesus?  Listen to their responses to recognize that they may see something in Jesus that adults do not.