Just for fun

See if you can answer these questions while you participate in the online service:

• How many Bible references are in today’s service?
• What are some of the different pictures shown in today’s service?
• Does the preacher make any sound effects? If so, can you make the same sound?
• What is something new you learned today?

Before today’s sermon

Share about someone you know that looks very different from you. (Maybe they are male, you are female; maybe they are tall, you are short; maybe they have dark skin, you have light skin; maybe they have curly hair, you have straight hair.) You may also want to share some things you have in common with that person. (We go to the same school, we both love soccer, etc)

After today’s sermon

Show the following pictures and ask your kids which picture is the best picture of the church.  

Talk about how even though we gather in a church building, the building by itself without people cannot share the good news of Jesus. The church is people, like you and me, not a place. When we pray that we will “be the church,” this means we want to be more like Jesus, treat others the way he would, and share God’s love with others.

Discuss today’s sermon 

What are some ways we can make others feel valuable, especially others who may come from a different culture or background?

Have you ever felt left out because you were different from someone else? How did you feel?  How can we use this feeling to motivate ourselves to be loving and inclusive of others?

Reread the story of Matthew, the tax collector, and Jesus in a children’s Bible or Matthew 9:9-13 in the New International Reader’s Version. Why was Jesus willing to eat with Matthew, someone who was hated by many people? 

Does the person you described earlier know or need to know that Jesus loves them? Yes! We all need Jesus no matter what we look like on the outside and God wants us to show His love to EVERYONE even if they are different from us.

Later this week 

Use a globe, a map, or Google Earth and pick a random country. Look up (or share, if you already know) a few facts about the people of that country. Even though you may not know anyone from that country, pray for those people. Pray for the missionaries in that country who are sharing the good news of Jesus right now.