Our associate pastor was out of town this weekend so Kim asked me if I would be willing to fill in. I hadn't really taken a "pastor" role at Pilgrimage since Con Ed II ended back in April, so it was SO nice to be behind the pulpit again. It just feels right.
Kim's sermon was about hospitality, so I tried to bring that into my children's sermon. Children's sermons actually terrify me (people think I'm nuts for thinking this, but children are so intuitive, gearing a sermon directly towards them - with the adults watching - is difficult) so I came prepared with props.
I compared the hospitality shown in churches to "goodie bags" that they give and receive at birthday parties. To show them how happy we were to have them at church and to all be back together for Sunday School now that the summer is coming to a close, I gave them each a goodie bag of hospitality (ie, M&Ms). We talked briefly about different ways they can be hospitable in church. Then - instead of me just closing in prayer - I had the kids repeat a really simple prayer after me, line by line.
We prayed this prayer:
Dear God, Thank You for welcoming us into Your house. You make us feel so special. Help us to welcome others. Amen.
I know there is a very real possibility that my first call will be as an associate, working a lot with youth and children so I'm grateful for every opportunity given to me to gain more skills to strengthen my ministry.
But - more than that - I'm grateful for every opportunity to sit with a group of children and listen to their small voices reach up to heaven in prayer.
I experience the presence of God through moments like that.
Posts
