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Choose from the following children's sermons:

• Does God Forget? Mark 2 and Isaiah 43
  by F. Schaefer  (see below)
   
• Water in the Desert based on Isaiah 43
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer (please scroll down)

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Does God Forget?
a children's sermon based on Forgiveness (Mark 2 and Isaiah 43)
by F. Schaefer

Greetings, my little friends; today I'd like to start us off by talking about forgetfulness.  Do any of you ever forget things?  Do you sometimes forget to make your bed?  What about homework?   Do you forget brushing your teeth?

Do your parents forget things, too, sometimes?  What do they forget?

Forgetting is very human.  Of course, pastors forget things too.   Just last week I forgot the time for a church meeting and I was late for it (or other example).

Do you think that God forgets things?  (shake your head imperceptibly to encourage a NO answer).  Well, I think you are absolutely right.  God is perfect.  God never does anything wrong and he doesn't make mistakes.  So God does not forget anything.

But in our bible lesson this morning it says that God does forget.   Let me read it to you:  "I am forgiving all your sins, and I will not remember your sins any more."

Now, do you think that this means God is forgetful, that God forgets things? (shake your head imperceptibly to encourage a NO answer).  No, you're right.   When it says here that God does not remember, it doesn't say that God cannot remember.  What it means is that God decides not to remember.  God says: "I choose to forget all the bad things my people have done.  I will not remember them."  And that's different from being forgetful.

Why do you think God chooses to forget our sins?  That's right, because he loves us so much.  He loves us so much that he doesn't even want to remember what we did wrong in the past.  And all we have to do is to say sorry to God for our sins and God will not just forgive us, but he will also choose to forget out sins.

In fact, in our other bible lesson, when the ill man was lowered through the hole in the roof by his friends, Jesus looked at him and before the man even said anything, Jesus said to him: your sins are forgiven.  And then he even healed this man and he as able to walk again.

Now that's how great and wonderful God is.  That's how much God loves us.  Let us say thank you to Jesus for his great love: "Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for loving us so much that you forgive all our wrong-doings and you even choose to forget them.  Thank you, Lord, we will try our best to please you and to follow in your footsteps. Amen."

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Water in the Desert
based on Isaiah 43
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Props:  a plastic container filled with fresh top soil from your
            backyard, a glass of water.

Good morning, my little friends.  Today, I brought a few exciting things I would like to share with you.  First, I would like to read to you from the writings of the prophet Isaiah.  It is a promise that God gives us. Listen to this:

(Read the following extract from Isa 43): "For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert! The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and ostriches, too, for giving them water in the wilderness. Yes, I will make springs in the desert, so that my chosen people can be refreshed."

Have you ever been in a desert?  Or have you seen one in a movie or in a picture?   What does a desert look like?  That's right, it's dry and hot, not many things grow there.  And when you get stuck in a desert, what you will need the most is water.  That's the one thing that is very hard to find in a desert: water.    Without water you can only last a couple of days in a desert.

But here is the thing: did you know that if we could somehow bring a lot of water into the desert that it will actually turn into a paradise of plants and flowers?    And that's exactly what God promises to do.  God says that he will make rivers in the desert for the people of Israel.  Isn't that wonderful?

Just like the people of Israel we are God's people too. And God promises to turn the desert into a place where we can survive.  God is promising to turn all the deserts in our lives into good places--when we are poor and hungry, he will give us food; when we are sick, he will make us better and stronger again; when we are lonely, he will be by our side; when we are in trouble, he will help us get through it.

I would like to do a little experiment with you.  I got some soil from my backyard and put it into this container.  Do you see any life in this soil--any grasses or plants?  You're right, it's just dry dirt.  I also brought a glass of water and I would like to see whether it's true that water will cause dry soil (like the one found in deserts) to produce plant life.  Now, I promise that I didn't put any seeds into the dirt. But in every soil there are a multitude of seeds from trees, plants, and grasses.  And all they need is water to start growing. (Pour water into container with soil)  Do you think those hidden seeds will come to life with the help of the water?  Let's see what happens over the next two or three weeks as I keep watering the soil in my office.  I'll show you soon.

What do you think, should we give thanks to God for water? And for turning our deserts into places we can live? O.K. let's bow our heads and pray:

"Dear God, we thank you for giving us water.  Thank you for refreshing us when we are tired, when we are sick, when we are worn out.  Thank you for promising to turn our deserts into places we can live in.  Please help us to be always thankful for everything you bless us with.  Amen. "