Sermon of the Week - October 27, 2013

Sermons 4 Kids
Sermon of the Week
Proper 25 Ordinary 30 Yr. C
October 27, 2013

Sermon of the Week

Title: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Theme: Don't think too highly of yourself. Proper 25 (30) Year C

Object: "Yertle the Turtle" by Dr. Seuss. (Picture links below the sermon.)

Scripture: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 18:14b (NIV)

Have you ever known someone who thought they were much better than everyone else and deserved special treatment? Dr. Seuss wrote a story about a turtle who was like that. Perhaps you have read the story. The title of the story is "Yertle the Turtle."

Yertle was ruler of a little pond on the island of Sala-ma-Sond. All of the turtles at the pond had everything they needed and were quite happy. They were happy, that is, until Yertle decided that his kingdom was too small. "I am ruler of all that I see, but I don't see enough. My throne is too low down" complained Yertle.

So Yertle lifted his hand and gave a command. He ordered nine turtles in the pond to stand on each other's backs so that they could become his new and higher throne. He climbed up onto the backs of the turtles and he had a wonderful view. But Yertle still wasn't satisfied. "Turtles! More turtles!" he called from his lofty throne, Yertle swelled with pride and feelings of importance as turtles from all over the pond came to climb on the stack of turtles which made up Yertle's throne.

At the very bottom of the stack was a plain and ordinary turtle named Mack. He struggled under the weight of all the turtles until finally, he decided that he had taken enough. That plain little turtle named Mack did a very plain little thing. He burped! His burp shook the throne and Yertle fell right into the mud! And now the great Yertle is King of the MUD.

When you think too highly of yourself, you often wind up taking a big fall, don't you?

In our Bible lesson today, Jesus tells a story about a man who thought he was better than everyone else. In the story that Jesus told, two men went to the temple to pray. One of the men was a Pharisee, a religious group that was very strict in obeying the law of Moses. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: "I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. I don't cheat, I don't sin, and I'm certainly not like that tax collector over there! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of all my income."

The tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he bowed his head in sorrow, saying, "Oh God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner."

Now, which of these two prayers do you think was pleasing to God? You are right. The prayer of the tax collector. Jesus said, "The tax collector, not the Pharisee returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted."

When we are tempted to brag about ourselves, we need to remember that other people are not impressed -- and neither is God!

Dear Father, we pray that you would help us to remain humble so that we would not think more highly of ourselves than we ought. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Yertle the Turtle Posters (PDF) (HTML)

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 Pharisee and the Tax Collector"

AN ALTERNATE SERMON BASED ON LUKE 18:9-14: "Headed for a Fall"

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 our Sermons4Kids helpful, won't you please consider making a donation?

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.