This children’s sermon was given September 27, during our global pandemic, so it was experienced virtually rather than by children in the sanctuary. It uses language from a Godly Play lesson by Jerome Berryman on the church year. I’m posting it here in hopes that it can be helpful to someone.
Good morning girls and boys! I sure enjoyed seeing many of you in Zoom Sunday School. I have a question for you today. Do you have a favorite shape?
I do. I brought something to give you a hint. It’s my laptop computer, but look closely. It’s kind of a trick question.
You might say it’s a rectangle, and you’re right, that’s the shape of my laptop, but the clue is what’s on my cover. What do you see? It’s a tree, but it’s not just any old tree. One part of the tree is in winter. Do you see the bare branches? One part has pink blossoms. It’s the tree in spring. Up here we have the green leaves of summer, and now comes my favorite time for the tree- fall, what we’re beginning now. What looks like an ending (FALL-WINTER) is really a beginning (SPRING) This reminds me of all the seasons, and how we go winter spring summer fall, around and around. What shape is this pattern? You’re right- it’s a circle!
The church loves circles too. If you’ve been in Sunday school at our church very long, you know about this. Do you remember when we’ve talked about the church year? We talk about how time is like a line. Here is the beginning, the newest part, just being born. It gets older. The part that was new is now getting old. I wonder how long time goes. Does it go on forever? Could there ever be an ending? It ended. Look, there’s the ending. The beginning that was so new at the beginning is now old. The ending is the new part now. We have a beginning that is like an ending and an ending that is like a beginning.
I love what the church did with this. They tied the ending that was like a beginning to the beginning that was like an ending. So we will always remember that for every ending, there is a beginning. And for every beginning, there is an ending. And this is how it looks. Remember this? [Show the Godly Play church calendar] It’s our church year calendar. See, here is Christmas, which certainly feels like a beginning, and there is Easter- which feels like an ending at first- but then turns into a beautiful beginning! And there is Pentecost. We walk through this circle of beginnings and endings over and over- throughout our lives, don’t we?
It’s so important to remember who holds this circle in their hands. Who is that? It’s God! God is with us when things end, and when things begin, the whole circle long. That’s why I like circles. I’m glad you’re in my circle too. Let’s have a prayer together.
Dear God, thank you for being with us through all our beginnings and our endings. We love you, God. Amen.