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Choose from the following Children's Sermons:

• Holy Week in an Eggshell, Holy Week
  by Ponderin' Pastor in IL  (see below)
   

• Palms and Ashes, Palm Sunday
  by Chuck in DC  (see below)
   

• Following Jesus Every Day, Palm Sunday 
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer  (see below)
   

• Jesus and the Mule, Mark 11:1-11, Palm Sunday 
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer  (see below)

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Holy Week in an Eggshell
Holy Week
Ponderin' Pastor in IL

The Firelight curriculum through Augsburg Fortress has a great idea for children called "Holy Week in an Eggshell":

Fill plastic eggs with the items listed below and number them in order. Then tell the story as you pull the items out in order of the numbers to help tell the story of Holy Week.

Be sure you have enough filled plastic eggs to send one home with each child so they can tell the story to someone else this week.

1. A piece snipped from a palm branch for Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. 2. A round oyster cracker for the bread shared on Maundy Thursday's Last Supper. 3. A nickel or penny wrapped in silver foil for Judas' betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 4. A masonry nail for Good Friday crucifixion. 5. Two small pieces of wood glued together (matchsticks with the ends snipped off) to symbolize the cross. 6. A clove to symbolize the spices used to prepare Jesus' body for burial. 7. A smooth, round stone to symbolize the gravestone that was rolled away. 8. A small piece of white silky fabric to symbolize the shroud left in the tomb. 9. A butterfly sticker or wrapped chocolate Easter egg as symbols of resurrection bringing new life.
 

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Palms and Ashes
based on Palm Sunday
by Chuck in DC

I am planning to bring in a fresh palm branch and a left-over one from last year. I will then tell the story of how the people praised the Lord with "Hosannas" and waving palm branches (I demonstrate waving with the fresh palm branch).

Then I'll show them last year's dried-up palm branch and ask them how it looks different from the fresh one. I'll ask them if anyone knows what we do with the old palm branches, and then proceed to tell them that we burn them and use the ashes to put on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday. (I may even burn a little piece in a container for emphasis).

Then I tell them that we do that because just as the people cried "Hosanna" and waved palms in one week, and cried "crucify" a week later, we praise God on Sundays but often forget about God during the week, and we do sinful things. So the ashes of the palms reminds us that we need God's forgiveness over and over again.

 

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Following Jesus Every Day
a children's sermon for Palm Sunday 
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Props: a fresh palm branch and a left-over branch from last year (if you don't have a leftover one, you may want to make one: take a fresh one and put it in an oven until it is brownish and dried up).

Good morning boys and girls.  And what a great morning it is. Palm Sunday is surely a great feast and a celebration in the church of Christ.. You know, on that first Palm Sunday people welcomed and praised Jesus just as we are this morning.  Only that they actually saw Jesus riding in on a donkey. We kind of have to imagine that. 

Wouldn't it be something if Jesus would ride in on a donkey right down the center isle of our sanctuary?  That'd be great!  We could wave our palm branches at Jesus, and shout: "Hosanna!" which is Hebrew for "Praise the Lord!" and we could put our coats out for Jesus, like the people did on that first Palm Sunday.

Today I brought two things with me (show both palm branches).  What are they?    That's right, I have two palm branches.  Are they exactly alike?   No?   What's the difference?  You're right, one is a fresh palm branch and the other one is old and dried up.  That's because this one (wave the fresh palm branch) is a fresh one and this one (wave the old palm branch) is one that we used a year ago.

And do you know why I brought a fresh palm branch and an old one?  Because we want to remember that the people cried "Hosanna" and waved palms on Palm Sunday and . . . only one week later, the same people turned away from Jesus and they pretended that they didn't know him when he was hung on a cross to die.

And we want to remember that we, too, turn away from Jesus at times.  You know, it is easy to follow Jesus on Sundays when we go to Sunday school and church, but what about during the week?  During the week we often forget Jesus, and sometimes we do things that are not Christian-like.

So the fresh palm branch can remind us that we should praise Jesus and the old palm branch can remind us that we should not be like the people who turned away from Jesus.   We need to follow Jesus not only on Sundays but  . . . all the time. And to do that we need God's help.  Let's pray that God will help us follow Jesus all the time.

Prayer: "Dear God, we thank you for Palm Sunday.  We thank you for giving us Jesus, who loves us so much.  Help us to follow Jesus every day of our lives, and not just on Sundays.  Thank you, Lord.  Amen.

 

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Jesus and the Mule
a children's sermon based on Mark 11:1-11
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

props:  palm branches; a youth volunteer to be the donkey

Get one of the congregation's youth to act the part of a stubborn donkey. Ask the kids for a volunteer to act the part of Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem (the youth is supposed to carry the kid volunteer on all fours on his/her back).  you may also ask for a kid volunteer to play the part of the young colt.  Hand out palm branches to the other children to wave at "Jesus" as he rides in.

Retell the story of the triumphant entry in your own words and invite the kids to act out this story.

Instruct the youth to act like a stubborn donkey (act like this is a spontaneous idea on the part of the youth--you may want to repeat in a somewhat raised, articulate voice: "And Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey...")

Following the played out drama, praise the children and thank them and the youth volunteer.  Conclude the children's time by emphasizing how important it was for the donkeys to be cooperative.  Normally, donkeys that have never been ridden may buckle.  But not Jesus' donkeys.  These must have been special donkeys that helped and obeyed the Lord Jesus.