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Four Children's Sermons:

Two that are good,

one that had promise,

...and one that's painful to watch

YouTube is full of children's sermons, some good, most "ok" and quite a few that are awful. Viewing a bunch is a good way to see "what works" and what doesn't. I've delivered some good ones and bad ones over the years. The trick is to try and get better! ...and one way you do that is by learning what works (most of the time) and what doesn't.

This first one features an engaging pastor at a Lutheran Church in Iowa. It is personable, welcoming, acknowledging, humorous, inviting, demonstrable and uses props. Notice how he asks the kids to repeat key things. Notice how the kids group around him so they can see him.

This next one features Pastor Tesch of Trinity Lutheran in Wisconsin delivering a warm and simple children's sermon that invites kids to respond and has a simple but meaningful point. Notice how the kids are grouped around him rather than strung out along the steps.

This third example from a United Methodist Church shows something important and something problematic. Important: Notice how disinterested and wiggly the kids are until the pastor pulls out the salt shaker at about 33 seconds in.Their heads snap to him.

Unfortunately, his Bible verse, “let your speech be seasoned with salt"  meanders and fumbles.  He also missed a key activity that would have made this much better: let the kids taste the SALT and other condiments, and give examples of what "salted speech" would sound like!

His children's sermon also suffers from the problem of kids being strung out across the top steps, instead of grouped like you see in the two previous examples. Notice the posture of the two kids at the ENDS (circled).

One of the biggest problems of sitting kids on the steps is that they are looking out at the congregation rather than the children's sermon leader. It’s too easy to get distracted and feel self conscious.

This last one is painful to watch. I'm sure the pastor is a great guy, but it lacks good content and lacks attention focusing props (in a story full of them). The children's reactions tell you what they think.

Tip: If your prop is something from an adult's life and not the kids (like a cellphone, which is the only prop he used), consider not using it and come up with something better.  The story has three props in it!  —> Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This would have been a perfect opportunity to bring in examples of all three, burn some incense, anoint them with good-smelling myrrh, etc. And maybe talk about how WE - our faith and gifts are the treasures God wants us to give Jesus. (You could make a forth Magi Gift: a box with a mirror that the kids can peer into to see the gift God wants.)

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