Sermon of the Week - March 4. 2011

Sermons 4 Kids
Sermon of the Week
Second Sunday in Lent
March 4, 2012

Sermon of the Week

Title: Playing for Keeps

Theme: What does it profit if a man gains the whole world and loses his soul? 2nd Sunday in Lent

Object: A bag of marbles

Scripture: Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Mark 8:34-36

When I was a child, one of my favorite games was the game of marbles. I don't see children playing marbles any more. Some of you may not even know how to play marbles. Let me explain how we used to play marbles when I was a child.

First, you draw a big ring in the dirt. Then each player puts the same number of his own marbles into the ring. The players then take turns shooting a marble, like this, (demonstrate) trying to knock the other marbles out of the ring. When a shooter knocks a marble out of the ring, he picks it up and puts it in his pocket. If his shooting marble stays inside the ring, he was allowed to keep shooting. If not, the next shooter takes his turn. When all the marbles have been knocked out of the ring, they are counted and the one with the most marbles is the winner.

Before a game of marbles begins, one player will sometimes ask the other players, "Are we playing for fun, or are we playing for keeps?" If you just play for fun, when the game is over, the winner gives the marbles back. But if you play for keeps, the winner gets to keep all of the marbles he has won.

Some people live their life as if it were a game of marbles. They spend their whole life trying to be the one with the most marbles. They think that the one with the biggest house, the fanciest car, and the most money in the bank is the winner. They think they are playing "for keeps," but when they come to the end of their life, do you know how many of their marbles they get to take with them? None of them! They spend their whole life trying to win all of the marbles, but in the end, they are left with nothing!

Jesus said that if we want to be real winners we must be willing to give up everything and follow him. When we follow Jesus, we may not have a lot of the things that some people think are important. We may not live in a big house or drive a fancy car, but we will have something that is much better than that, we will have treasures laid up for us in heaven. When we get to heaven, there will be a mansion waiting for us to move in and we will walk around on streets of gold. Best of all, we will have everlasting life with Jesus. You see, when we give our lives to Jesus, HE "plays for keeps."

Some people will give anything to get more marbles, but Jesus asked "What good will it do them if they gain the whole world, but lose their soul?"

Dear Jesus, help us to realize that the only life that lasts is a life lived for you. Amen.

Coloring Pages and Activities

GROUP ACTIVITIES PAGE

COLORING PAGE

CROSSWORD PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

DECODER PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

MAZE PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

WORSHIP BULLETIN (WORD DOCUMENT) Save this document to your computer and personalize it with your church's name. Print side one then reinsert it into the printer and print side two.

Sermon Links

A PRINT FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS SERMON: "Playing for Keeps"

AN ALTERNATIVE LESSON BASED ON Mark 8:31-38: "The Game of Life"

A SERMON FOR OBSERVANCE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION: "Sunshine Mountain"

Support for Sermons 4 Kids

Sermons4Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported entirely by the voluntary donations of those who use our services and feel that our ministry is worthy of their support. If you find Sermons4Kids helpful, consider making a donation to support this ministry.

To make an online donation using PayPal, click here.

If you wish to send a donation by mail, send your check or money
order to:

Sermons4Kids, Inc.
3273 Falcon Drive
Abilene, TX 79606-3312

Tools to Help Your Children's Ministry

CURRICULUM: A complete curriculum for a year. There is a lesson for each Sunday of the year which includes group activities, song suggestions, a coloring page, and several puzzles. All is on one CD in PDF format! We created this especially for those who may not have Internet access and because many of you asked for it for advanced planning. We hope you will not regard this as a replacement for your Sermon of the Week emails. Sermons4Kids is a work in progress and you will always see our latest efforts in the weekly emails!

· YEAR A CURRICULUM CD

· YEAR B CURRICULUM CD

· YEAR C CURRICULUM CD

· SERMONS IN PRINT: Three years of sermons are available on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. These are sermons only -- there are no coloring pages or other activities. Since these sermons are available on the CD below, there is no need to order both items. You may print the sermons as needed from the CD.

· KID CONNECTION CD ROM: This CD contains three years of sermons, a large collection of coloring pages, more than 300 Bible puzzles, and thirteen PowerPoint presentations featuring the art of Henry Martin plus the eight new presentations by Stacy Hagler. A great resource for enriching your lessons.

There is never a charge for any products or services, but donations are gratefully accepted. Sermons4Kids is supported entirely by your voluntary donations.

Click here to complete an order form. If you have the latest version of Adobe Reader, you can type directly on the form and then print it out for mailing.