Purpose: Use this children’s sermon on the call of Abram to teach kids how to follow God in their daily life.
Scripture: Genesis 12:1-9
Needed: nothing
Children’s Sermon
Tell students that you’re going to play a game called Follow the Leader. Instruct them all to line up behind you and do exactly what you do as you lead them around the sanctuary. As you lead them, change up the procession with different hand and foot motions.
Some ideas include hopping, skipping, jumping on one foot, taking two steps forward and one step back, spinning as you walk, walking backwards, throwing your hands up in the air, or rolling your hands and flinging one arm out to the side with each movement.
When you return to the front, ask, Was it difficult to play follow the leader? Did you know everything I was going to do?
There was a man who once played Follow the Leader with God.
(Read Genesis 12:1 , quoted here in the NIV.) “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.'”
God told Abram to leave his home, his family, and his country to go to a place God would show him. God didn’t even tell Abram where he was supposed to go! He just had to follow God.
Do you think it would be hard to follow God like that? Why would it be hard? (Some ideas might be that it would be hard to leave your family or that it’s difficult to follow God because you can’t see Him.)
Did you know that we also play Follow the Leader with God every day? He might not be telling us to leave our families or our homes, but God does lead us in our lives. And we don’t know exactly what He’s leading us toward. We never know exactly what will happen.
One thing we can believe is that if we follow God, He will always lead us to good things in the end. Do you know what God is leading us toward in the very end?
God is leading us toward Heaven. If we follow Him all our lives, He’ll take our spirits to Heaven when we die. Then, we’ll get to live with Him forever and ever.
But we don’t know everything that will happen to us in our lives while God is leading us. We just have to keep trusting that God is a good leader who will lead us to good things, just like he led Abram to a new home and a new country.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we thank You for being so good to us and always leading us the right way. We pray that You’ll always help us to follow You even when things seem hard or scary because we know that You’re leading us to good things. Amen.
You can also find this children’s sermon for Kindle or in print in my book, The People Build a Tower, but God Builds a Family