Leif the Lucky
Children’s Sermon: A Boy Named Leif
22 September 2024
Good morning! How are we all doing? Good to be back at school?
Today I want to tell you the story of a boy named Leif. Do you know anybody named Leif?
Leif came from a pretty tough family. His father Erik got kicked out of Norway for fighting. Now, back then, Norway was full of Vikings. Do you know how tough you have to be to get kicked out of Norway for fighting?
Anyway, he took his family to Iceland. But guess what? He got kicked out of Iceland for fighting as well! Sheesh! Now they had to move to Greenland! Anyway, Erik had a daughter named Freydis and a son named Leif, and Leif heard tales of a great king in Norway, King Olav Tryggvason. So one day Leif sailed off to meet the king.
He brought him a polar bear. Can you imagine that? The king had never had a polar bear before. He was so impressed by Leif that he gave him a mission: he baptized Leif as a Christian, and asked him to take the Good News of Jesus Christ back to Greenland.
So Leif set out for home, and on his way, guess what he saw? He saw a sinking ship, and he rescued the crew. And they told him that they had seen a great and wild land to the west. So Leif went home, built the first church in Greenland (which his mother loved but his father wasn’t happy about) and then Leif set off to find this wild land to the west.
Do you know what that place was that he found? It was America! Leif was the first person from the Old World, from Europe, to set food in the New World, the Americas. And guess what he did. Did he start fighting people? Did he conquer? Nope.
He set up a shop and he traded peaceably with the people who already lived there. He was a good guy. His father and his sister were not so nice, but that isn’t his fault. You can’t choose your family.
I like the story of Leif the Lucky because he spread the Good News of Jesus by worshipping God, helping people in their need, exploring all the world, and being a good neighbor. That’s why there’s a statue of him over in Vining.
He lived a thousand years ago, and we still remember him today. I think that’s pretty cool.
Let’s pray.
Good morning! How are we all doing? Good to be back at school?
Today I want to tell you the story of a boy named Leif. Do you know anybody named Leif?
Leif came from a pretty tough family. His father Erik got kicked out of Norway for fighting. Now, back then, Norway was full of Vikings. Do you know how tough you have to be to get kicked out of Norway for fighting?
Anyway, he took his family to Iceland. But guess what? He got kicked out of Iceland for fighting as well! Sheesh! Now they had to move to Greenland! Anyway, Erik had a daughter named Freydis and a son named Leif, and Leif heard tales of a great king in Norway, King Olav Tryggvason. So one day Leif sailed off to meet the king.
He brought him a polar bear. Can you imagine that? The king had never had a polar bear before. He was so impressed by Leif that he gave him a mission: he baptized Leif as a Christian, and asked him to take the Good News of Jesus Christ back to Greenland.
So Leif set out for home, and on his way, guess what he saw? He saw a sinking ship, and he rescued the crew. And they told him that they had seen a great and wild land to the west. So Leif went home, built the first church in Greenland (which his mother loved but his father wasn’t happy about) and then Leif set off to find this wild land to the west.
Do you know what that place was that he found? It was America! Leif was the first person from the Old World, from Europe, to set food in the New World, the Americas. And guess what he did. Did he start fighting people? Did he conquer? Nope.
He set up a shop and he traded peaceably with the people who already lived there. He was a good guy. His father and his sister were not so nice, but that isn’t his fault. You can’t choose your family.
I like the story of Leif the Lucky because he spread the Good News of Jesus by worshipping God, helping people in their need, exploring all the world, and being a good neighbor. That’s why there’s a statue of him over in Vining.
He lived a thousand years ago, and we still remember him today. I think that’s pretty cool.
Let’s pray.
Children’s Sermon: Not Easy Being a Kid
6 October 2024
Good morning! How are we doing? Excited for the picnic?
It isn’t easy being a kid, is it? There’s so much we don’ t know yet, so much we can’t do yet. We have our parents and our friends to help take care of us. But we aren’t yet what we will be, are we? We aren’t yet grown.
Jesus lived in a time when it was even harder to be a kid than it is today. You had to grow up pretty fast. And until you did, must folks just wanted you to get out of the way. Children had no rights, no protections outside of your family.
You didn’t get much of a childhood. You had to act like a little adult.
But that’s not how Jesus treated children. He didn’t want them to get out of the way. He didn’t want them to act like adults. Adults have their own problems.
Jesus said to let the children come to Him, so that He could bless them. He said that we should learn from children, because it’s only as children that we can really know the love of God. It’s only as children that we can enter the Kingdom of God.
Because a kid can offer nothing but her love. Kids can’t really do very much for adults, just like adults can’t really do very much for God. But we come trusting that our Father loves us, that He wants what’s best for us, wants us to grow and be good.
I mean, that’s what I want for my kids. And God is a much better Father than I am.
So please remember that Jesus loves you. Not because you can do stuff for Him. Not because you’re big or strong or important. But because we are His children, the children of God. And we always will be, even as adults.
And He will always love us, even when we grow up, even when we screw up. And adults need kids to remind us of that, to remind us that the most important thing is to know that we are loved. I know that’s why I need my kids.
Let’s pray.
Children’s Sermon: Give a Fig
13 October 2024
Good morning! How are we doing? Ready for fall break?
We just read a little bit from the Bible about a guy named Amos. Now, Amos was a shepherd and a grower of figs. Have you ever had a fig? What about a Fig Newton? Yeah, not half bad.
Anyway, Amos was happy with his sheep and his figs. He didn’t really want to be a prophet. He just wanted to mind his own business. He said that in an evil time, the smart thing would be to stay silent. But he just had to say something.
See, in his day there were folks who had a lot, and other folks who didn’t have much of anything. Kind of like our day, to be honest. And Amos wanted people to be fair. He wanted the people who had a lot to share, so that the people who had nothing could get what they needed.
All good things come from God, Amos tells us. And what does God do with good things? He gives them away—gives them to us—so that we can learn to be like Him, in giving people what they need, in loving our neighbor the same way that God loves us all.
God loves people who don’t have much of anything; He wants them to have what they need. And God loves people who have a whole lot of everything; He wants them to learn to give, to love, so that they too can be free.
We know it’s hard to be poor, but in a weird way it can be hard to be rich too. We get stuck in our stuff. We get afraid to lose it, afraid to lose anything. You know, one of the reasons why adults teach kids to share, is because it gets harder as we get older, harder to share what we have.
We need kids to remind us that God loves all of us the way that we all love our kids. And just like we wouldn’t want you to be hungry or lonely, so God doesn’t want any of His children to lack the things they need, the things that He gives away for us all.
It’s not that we have to be good, in order for God to love us. God already loves us. He always has and He always will. God wants us to love one another, so that all of His children are free.
Make sense? Okay. Let’s pray.
Good morning! How are we doing? Ready for fall break?
We just read a little bit from the Bible about a guy named Amos. Now, Amos was a shepherd and a grower of figs. Have you ever had a fig? What about a Fig Newton? Yeah, not half bad.
Anyway, Amos was happy with his sheep and his figs. He didn’t really want to be a prophet. He just wanted to mind his own business. He said that in an evil time, the smart thing would be to stay silent. But he just had to say something.
See, in his day there were folks who had a lot, and other folks who didn’t have much of anything. Kind of like our day, to be honest. And Amos wanted people to be fair. He wanted the people who had a lot to share, so that the people who had nothing could get what they needed.
All good things come from God, Amos tells us. And what does God do with good things? He gives them away—gives them to us—so that we can learn to be like Him, in giving people what they need, in loving our neighbor the same way that God loves us all.
God loves people who don’t have much of anything; He wants them to have what they need. And God loves people who have a whole lot of everything; He wants them to learn to give, to love, so that they too can be free.
We know it’s hard to be poor, but in a weird way it can be hard to be rich too. We get stuck in our stuff. We get afraid to lose it, afraid to lose anything. You know, one of the reasons why adults teach kids to share, is because it gets harder as we get older, harder to share what we have.
We need kids to remind us that God loves all of us the way that we all love our kids. And just like we wouldn’t want you to be hungry or lonely, so God doesn’t want any of His children to lack the things they need, the things that He gives away for us all.
It’s not that we have to be good, in order for God to love us. God already loves us. He always has and He always will. God wants us to love one another, so that all of His children are free.
Make sense? Okay. Let’s pray.
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