Our Favorite Story

Storyteller, by Alexandra Hodgson

  

Children’s Sermon

22 March 2026

All right, guys. I’ve got a question for you. What are some of your favorite stories?

Stories are how we make sense of our world. Stories make our world. And we, as a Church, are getting ready to tell our most favorite story of all. It’s a story so important, so big, that it takes us eight whole days to tell the whole thing. We call it Holy Week.

Today we set the stage, with Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Now, this isn’t the first time that Jesus has worked a miracle, or even the first time that He rescued someone from death. But this time, we’re told, it happened in front of a giant crowd from all throughout Jerusalem.

And so the next time that Jesus goes to Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover, the entire city is going to go nuts, because they saw what He can do. Half the people think He’s going to save them and set them free, while the other half are afraid that Jesus is going to start a war.

And the scared people, the frightened people, begin a plan to kill Him.

That’s what Holy Week is all about. It’s the story of the last week of Jesus’ mortal life, the story of His death and Resurrection. We start on Palm Sunday, next Sunday, when Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem as the rightful King and Son of David.

On that Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday, He’s going to teach His last public lessons. On Spy Wednesday, a friend of His will betray Him, to try to force Jesus to fight. Then comes Maundy Thursday, when Jesus shares His Last Supper; Good Friday, when Jesus dies; and then the glories of Easter, when Jesus rises again from the tomb with death defeated forever.

We’re going to tell this story all together, with Christians from all over the world. We’re going to tell it with bread and wine, and water and oil, and readings and sermons, and candles and foot-washing, and babies getting baptized.

It’s our favorite story. Our biggest story. And everyone here is a part of it, including each and all of you. So let’s get ready, because two weeks from today, we’ll be wishing each other a very happy Easter.

Sound good? Okay. Let’s pray.