This Children’s sermon was given July 26, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. I’m sharing it here in case it’s useful to someone.
Good morning, girls and boys. I hope you are doing well today! Look what I brought today–a treasure box from Sunday school, like last week. I wonder what parable might be inside this box. Shall we open it and see?
Let’s see what we have. We have a man, a merchant, with a table in his house. Oh look what else he has in his house, bags of money, a chair, a chest, a candle, his bed.
And we have another man who is selling things and his little table.
We have a gold box with—what are these? There are pearls inside!
One of them goes to the selling man. This one goes in this shop over here. And this one goes in this shop over here. Is there anything else in the box? No? it’s time to tell the story.
There was once someone who said such wonderful things and did such amazing things that people followed him. And as they followed him, they heard him talking about a kingdom, but it wasn’t like any kingdom they’d ever been in. It wasn’t like any kingdom they’d ever heard of! They couldn’t help it. They had to ask him what God’s kingdom was like. One time when they asked him, he said, “The kingdom of heaven is like when. A person who buys and sells fine pearls, a merchant, goes to search for the great pearl.
When he finds the great pearl (at seller’s table) he went and tried to buy it.
He exchanged his bags of money. His chair and vase and candle, everything but his bed. Even his bed and the very house he lived in.
He exchanged everything for the great pearl.
I wonder if he’s happy with it. I wonder why the seller was willing to give up something so precious.
I wonder if the seller has a name?
I wonder if the merchant has a name.
I wonder what the pearl could really be?
I wonder what could be so precious that a person would exchange everything he has for it?
I wonder if you’ve ever come close to the great pearl. And where this whole place could really be?
I hope you’ll think hard about this and see if you can figure out what Jesus was talking about, comparing God’s kingdom to the search and the finding of the Great Pearl. Why not talk to your family about it and tell them what you think. It’s a fun puzzle to figure out together, and such an important one.
Let’s pray: Dear God, thank you for these treasures Jesus gave to us- his parables, the little stories he told about big, big things. Help us think about this one today and figure out what you are saying to us through it. We love you God. Amen.