Sermon of the Week - August 4, 2013

Sermons 4 Kids
Sermon of the Week
Proper 13 Ordinary 18 Yr. C
August 4, 2013

Sermon of the Week

Title: The Biggest Slice of the Pie

Theme: Jesus warns against selfishness and greed. Proper 13 (18) Yr. C

Object: Two pieces of pie. One large and one small.

Scripture: Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15 (NIV)

Yum, yum! Look what I have. Two slices of pie. If I were to let you choose one of these slices of pie to eat, which one would you choose? I think I would probably choose the large slice, wouldn't you? That reminds me of a story about a brother and sister named Jessica and Will.

One day Jessica and Will came in from school and wanted a snack. Their mother had baked a pie earlier in the week and there was just enough left for each of them to have a slice. "Let's have a piece of pie," suggested Will. "I'll get the pie while you get us a glass of milk." When Will sliced the pie, it turned out like these two slices. One slice was much larger than the other one. Jessica poured each of them a glass of milk and sat down at the table. Will brought the pie and placed the small slice in front of Jessica and kept the large slice for himself.

"Look what you have done!" cried Jessica. "You gave me the small slice of pie and kept the big slice for yourself."

"Well, how would you have done it?" Will asked.

"If I were serving the pie," said Jessica, "I would have given you the large slice and kept the smaller slice for myself."

"Well, what are you complaining about? That's exactly what I did!" Will and Jessica both laughed and began eating their pie.

We might laugh at that story, but selfishness and greed is a very serious subject. Every day we see people who not only want the biggest slice of the pie for themselves, they want it all! Jesus told a story about a man who was like that.

The man in Jesus' story was very rich. He had a large, fertile farm which produced very good crops. "What should I do?" the man said to himself. "I have had such a large harvest that I don't have room in my barns to store all of it."

What do you think the man did? He could have shared some of what he had with those who didn't have very much. Do you think that is what the man did? No, instead he said, "I know what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I will say to myself, 'You have plenty of everything. Enjoy it. Eat, drink, and be merry.'"

God said to the rich man, "You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything?"

God is good and he has given most of us more than we need. The question is, what will we do with what God has given to us? Will we share it with those who don't have as much, or will we greedily keep it for ourselves? Remember the warning that Jesus gave to the listeners of his story. "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed."

Father, you have blessed most of us with more than we need. Help us to be generous and to share with those who may not have as much. Amen.

Coloring Pages and Activities

GROUP ACTIVITIES PAGE

COLORING PAGE

CROSSWORD PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

DECODER PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

FILL IN THE BLANKS (PDF) (HTML)

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

WORD SHAPE PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

WORSHIP BULLETIN (DOC) (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: "The Biggest Slice of the Pie"

AN ALTERNATE SERMON BASED ON LUKE 12:13-21: "A Fool and His Money"

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 the button below.

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.