Children’s Story for September 5th, 2004

By Miriam Rempel, Home Street Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, MB

Bible passages

Luke 14: 25-33
Philemon 1-21

Themes

Luke – Think about the cost of being a disciple before you commit to it.
Philemon – Paul asks Philemon to welcome Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, not as his slave. (One of the costs of following Christ?)

Telling the story

Greet the children
Tell them that you want to talk about the cost of discipleship
Ask what a disciple is
Ask them to think about what is meant by the cost of discipleship
Ask “How many of you watched part of the Olympics this summer?”
Ask “Do you think you could ever do what they did?”

Story: Giving up to Succeed

The Olympic athletes had to give up lots of things to become good in their sports.

They had to practice every day, even when they would rather have gone out to play with their friends. They could not eat junk food because they needed to keep their bodies healthy. They had to get up early in the morning to train for their sport. Some even had to go to a different type of school so that they would have enough time to practice and train. The athletes had to work hard to get to the Olympics. Probably, the athletes thought about what they would have to give up if they wanted to become good enough to go to the Olympics. Other athletes worked just as hard but were not good enough to make the team. Some were even injured during their training and then they had to work even harder to achieve their goal of going to the Olympics. Having to give up all of these things is the cost of becoming a good athlete.

In the Scripture read from Luke today, Jesus tells people to think about the cost of being his disciple before they become one. What do you think are some of the things that Jesus’ disciples have to give up? (Should not hurt feelings, need to do what is right, not what is popular, etc.)

I want you to remember that although being a Disciple costs something, the reward for being one is great and worth the things you need to give up.

Listen for other costs and rewards of being a disciple in today’s worship and talk about them with your family and friends after the service.