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Sermons 4 Kids
Sermon of the Week
14th Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 17 (22) September 2, 2012
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Title: Skin Deep or from the Heart?
Theme: True Christianity is a matter of the heart. Proper 17 (22) Yr.B 14th Sunday after Pentecost
Object: An apple
Scripture: He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.'" Mark 7:6 (NIV)
Isn't this a beautiful apple? The skin is so red and shiny. Just look how smooth it is. It has a beautiful shape and I don't see any spots that look like the bugs or worms have eaten into it. Yes, this is a really good apple.
Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "You can't tell if an apple is good by looking at the outside. You have to look on the inside to know if it is a good apple. Well, perhaps you are right. Let me tell you a story.
One day, while walking through an orchard, a man stopped under an apple tree. It was loaded with big beautiful apples just waiting to be eaten. The man picked what he thought looked like the best apple on the tree. He couldn't wait to eat it. He took out his pocket knife and cut it open for a taste. To his surprise, the apple was rotten to the core.
Unfortunately it is sometimes the same with people. Some people go to church every Sunday. They carry their Bibles, they bring their offering, they sing every hymn, they listen to every word the preacher says, but it doesn't change anything in their heart. They look good on the outside, but their goodness is only skin deep. Their worship is for appearance only and not from the heart.
This isn't anything new. Jesus faced the same problem in his day. One day some religious leaders complained to Jesus that they had seen some of his disciples eating without first washing their hands. Religious laws and traditions were very strict about washing your hands before eating. The religious leaders asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples follow our customs? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony."
Jesus answered, "You are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. The prophet Isaiah must have been talking about you when he said, 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship has no meaning because they have replaced God's laws with their own traditions.'"
Those religious leaders were very concerned about clean hands, but Jesus was more concerned about a clean heart. We should be too!
Dear Father, help us to be as concerned about being clean on the inside as we are about being clean on the outside. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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| 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. |
| AN ANONYMOUSE.ORG LINKS PAGE |
For several weeks, some of our subscribers have been denied access to the Sermons4Kids web site. A special links page has been set up so that those who are being blocked from our site will be able to access our activities. If you are one of those affected, the link below allows access the special links page. This link uses a proxy service which my research has indicated is safe when used to access our site.
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| Sermon Links | |
A PRINT FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS SERMON: "Skin Deep or from the Heart?"
AN ALTERNATE SERMON BASED ON MARK 7:1-8: "Clean or Unclean?"
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