Children’s Sermon
Matthew 3:1-12
One More Powerful
OBJECTS SUGGESTED:
A small balsa wood glider such as those found in variety stores and grocery stores or a simple paper airplane that would demonstrate the idea of gliding.
See pictures of hot air balloons
Can you imagine a time when there were no airplanes? One hundred years ago most people had never seen anything fly other than a bird or an insect, but people have always dreamed of flying.
There were those who tied feathers to their arms or built artificial wings or wore large capes and tried to fly, but none of those things worked. (Don’t try this yourself!)
Later, people flew hot air balloons and after that there were larger balloons that had engines and propellers and these were called airships.
Next came gliders, but these did not have engines, were hard to control, and not designed for passengers. (Demonstrate a glider.)
It wasn’t until two men, Orville and Wilbur Wright became interested in flight that the idea of people flying in the air began to seem possible. These two men read every book they could find on flying and they also began to experiment with gliders.
The first plane they built (1903) was a biplane (two wings on each side) and Orville Wright could lie on the lower wing and control the plane. This small plane had a gasoline engine and it only flew a short distance (120 feet). Orville Wright became the first person to fly an airplane.
Now we have large jet airplanes that carry many passengers and planes that fly faster than the speed of sound. Without all the work and preparation that went on before we would not have the airplanes that we see flying in our skies today. Those small gliders prepared the way for larger and more powerful planes to be built.
In the Bible John the Baptist talks about preparing for the arrival of Jesus. John the Baptist came to tell the people about Jesus and he also baptized them with water. His work and purpose was to prepare the people to receive Jesus who was to come with the power of God.
John told the people, “I indeed baptize you in water…., but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit….”
Jesus gives us the Spirit of Love, His Spirit which lives within us. Let’s prepare the way for God’s love to be in our lives. It is powerful beyond anything we can imagine.
Scripture quotations from the World English Bible
Copyright 2007, Richard Niell Donovan