Children's Ministry: Making Good Decisions

During our month-long sermon series of Mental Health Month in May 2024, our commissioned minister gave a sermon on the power of God to successfully address addiction and recovery in peoples' lives. Responsible for the children's sermon, I discussed the minister's plans for his sermon, then attempted to create an age-appropriate adaptation of the theme, and ultimately decided to center it on making good decisions. I used an empty jar as an analogy for how we get to decide what we put into the jars of our lives. Below if the video and the instructions for the activity.

"Choosing What Fills Our Jar"

Materials Needed:

• A large clear jar

• Apples (representing healthy and important choices)

• Candy (representing treats and fun activities that are good in moderation)

• Sugar (representing poor choices)

• 1 large white diamond paper weight (representing the most valuable aspect of our lives)

• Many smaller colored paper weights (their meaning to be determined by the children)

Message:

1. Introduction (2 minutes)

• Start by explaining that our lives are filled with choices, just like a jar can be filled with different things. Some choices are really good for us, some are okay sometimes, and some are not good for us.
  

1. Activity – The Jar of Life (6 minutes)

• Show the empty jar, explaining that it represents our life.

• Place the large white diamond paper weight in the jar first, explaining that this represents the most important thing in our lives, such as our faith or our love for family.

• Add the apples next, describing them as healthy and important choices like eating well, exercising, and being kind.

• Introduce the candy, mentioning these are things we enjoy that are fine in moderation, like playing games or eating sweets.

• Before adding the sugar, discuss that it represents the poor choices we sometimes make, such as not listening or being unkind. Sprinkle in a little sugar, showing how it takes up space in our jar.

• Finally, bring out the smaller colored paper weights. Ask the children what these might represent in their lives. Suggestions could include hobbies, school subjects, friendships, or dreams. Add these to the jar as the children respond, showing how these too are important parts of our lives.
  

1. Discussion (1 minute)

• Ask the children to reflect on how the jar looks now with all the different items inside. Discuss what might happen if there was too much sugar and how that could affect the room for the other items.

• Encourage them to think about what small colored weights they added and why they think those are important.
  

1. Conclusion (1 minute)

• Summarize the lesson by emphasizing the importance of making space for valuable things in our lives and making good choices.

• Close with a prayer asking for help to make good choices and for the wisdom to fill our lives with apples, diamonds, and colorful weights that represent the good parts of who we are.

This sermon encouraged children to participate actively by deciding what the smaller colored paper weights mean to them, fostering a deeper connection to the lesson on making choices and prioritizing what matters in their lives.

Reflection

As the first children's sermon I've done at First Church, I was really struck by how important it is to engage the kids with an active activity that helps drive home the lesson. Keeping their attention is a challenge, but with an activity that stimulates them to participate and think, it's possible to create a bigger impact. And that requires careful and creative planning, almost as much as it does for an adult sermon!