Children’s Sermon

Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus Needs Our Help

By Dr. Carol J Miller

Did your mom or dad ever tell you to clean your room? (Show of hands––including yours). When you opened the door to clean your room, was it such a mess that you just didn’t know what to do? Did you feel like giving up before you started? [Take 2 or 3 of the children’s comments].

Well, one time, Jesus had so much to do that he almost felt as you do when your room is a real mess. Jesus had been out in the many villages in Israel, telling the people about God’s love for them and healing their diseases. God gave Jesus the power to heal people.

Well, the crowds of people just kept getting bigger and bigger! More and more people were coming to the synagogues [Jewish churches] to hear Jesus talk about God’s love and how God wants us all to care for each other. Some people came because they wanted to learn about God. Can you guess why some other people came? [Be respectful of all answers]. Right––many people came because they were sick––and the Bible says that Jesus healed them all.

Now this is where the messy room comes in. When Jesus looked out at the huge crowds of people, he felt sorry for them. They were poor, and many were sick. Those who were sick thought God was mad at them (God wasn’t mad). There were just too many people who needed help. Jesus hardly knew where to start!

Jesus told his disciples that there weren’t enough disciples to help all these people. They needed more disciples to be friends for others, to help them, to tell them about God’s love, to make them well. Jesus said that he needed more people who loved God to help all of these poor people.

Do you think Jesus still needs more people to help him help people in need? [Accept all answers] I think Jesus needs all of us to help people in need.

How many people here know how to be a good friend? [Show of hands]. Think about someone you have seen maybe at church or at school who seems alone and sad. Jesus needs you to help him by being a friend. People need food––maybe you can be the one to remind your family about the food pantry. Talk with your parents about how you can help Jesus, because that’s our job as Christians––we help Jesus!

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2014, Richard Niell Donovan