Sermon of the Week - December 30, 2012

Sermons 4 Kids
Sermon of the Week
First Sunday after Christmas
December 30, 2012

Sermon of the Week

Title: Losing Jesus

Theme: Sometimes we get so busy that we lose Jesus.

Object: None needed.

Scripture: When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Luke 1:48-49

A family was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in the mall. Suddenly, in the midst of all the fun and excitement, someone noticed that little three year-old Matthew was gone. Terror immediately gripped his parents. They had heard stories about little children being kidnapped in malls, never to be seen again.

They split up, each member of the family taking an assigned area of the mall to search for the child. As each one completed the search of their assigned area, they returned to the place where they had agreed to meet. No one, it seems, had been able to find the missing child. Then the boy's grandfather appeared, holding little Matthew by the hand.

When they asked the grandfather where he had found the boy, he answered, "He was at the candy counter. You should have seen him -- his eyes came just about as high as the candy. He was standing with his little hands behind his back and moving his head back and forth, surveying all the delicious candy."

Matthew didn't look lost. He didn't even know he was lost -- and he certainly didn't think he was in any danger. After all, he was right where they left him!

When Jesus was a young boy, his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. After the feast was over, as Mary and Joseph were traveling back to their home, they began to look for Jesus, but he was nowhere to be found. When they could not find him, they turned around and went back to Jerusalem to look for him.

Do you know where they found Jesus? He was in the temple. Do you think Jesus was worried or frightened? No way! When his parents found him, he said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

Sometimes you and I lose Jesus. We get so busy in our daily routine that we never give him a thought. Then, one day we wake up and realize that he is gone out of our lives. Do you know what we need to do when that happens? We need to go back to the place we left him. That is where he will be, right there waiting for us!

Dear Jesus, when we have lost your presence in our daily life, help us to remember that you are still there...waiting for us to come back to you. Amen.

(The opening illustration in this sermon is based on a story by Joseph M. Stowell, Moody Monthly, December, 1989, p. 4)

Coloring Pages and Activities

GROUP ACTIVITIES PAGE

COLORING PAGES: (PDF) (HTML)

CROSSWORD PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

DECODER PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

WORSHIP BULLETIN (MS WORD) (PDF) 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

PRINTER-FRIENDLY AND ALTERNATIVE SERMONS

A PRINT-FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS SERMON: "Losing Jesus"

AN ALTERNATE SERMON BASED ON LUKE 2:41-52: "Left Behind"

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