There are a lot of conflicting messages we are bombarded with daily. How do we know who or what to trust? Jesus reminded His disciples that there would be a lot of hardships to face, and a lot of people who might try to deceive. We know we can rely on the Lord for ultimate truth. If we know someone, we recognize we can trust them. Focusing on the Bible helps us to know God’s heart, and recognize we can trust Him.
Law/Gospel Theme: Everything in this life will in time pass away. Our time on Earth, and Earth itself, are temporal, and we have no way of knowing exactly what is coming or when. It can be easy to be led astray or confused by people who claim to have answers that can’t be known. The good news is that we can rely on Jesus. Despite those who would try to lead us astray, we can trust His words and know that God is faithful to keep His promises.
Optional Materials: Forms of identification, Bible
Bible Passage: Mark 13:1-8
Message Note: As with most messages, the details of how you choose to communicate this are adaptable and should cater to timing as well as to your audience and student needs.
More Teaching Ideas
- Watch the demonstration of this children’s sermon lesson and craft ideas
- Compare another Mark 13:1-8 children’s sermon from rFour.org
Children’s Sermon (Mark 13:1-8) Jesus Word is Reliable and True
Greet children with a few questions.
Hello, children of God! Do you know who I am? You probably recognize me, since you’ve seen me before. You can trust I am who I say I am and I’ll do what I say I’ll do. Now, if you’d never met me before and I needed to prove who I was, I might have to show you a form of identification. I might show you something like this (hold up driver’s license or other form of identification). That will prove that I am (insert name). If I tried to tell you I was Abraham Lincoln, you’d easily know that to be false. If Pastor said that he was the Queen of England, you’d know that was untrue, also, of course! If I said that grass was pink or the sky was green, you would know that was not correct, unless you had some sort of color blindness issues…
Well, these are all easy things to know or verify. However, there are some things in our lives that are not so easy to determine. Sometimes we might be faced with confusion or uncertainty, and not quite know how to handle it. Sometimes there are things that will be quite difficult, and we have to know who to turn to and how to handle challenges.
Jesus warned His disciples about this. He told them that there would be a lot of hardships and challenges that they would face before the world’s end. There would be wars and pain, natural disasters and manmade disasters. Jesus also told His followers that many people would come and claim to be Him, or try to say that they knew when the world would end. Jesus warned that there would be all sorts of people who claimed to be someone else. He didn’t want His disciples to be fooled by this sort of swindler. He wanted them to remember that no one knows for sure when the last day will be, except God.
Now, this might all sound a bit perplexing. After all, it’s not very happy to think about calamity and strife, and consider all of the hardships that we are promised in life. But there is good news, too! We can’t rely on everyone and everything. There unfortunately will be people who try to lead us astray or tell us things that aren’t true, to deceive us. But we know what is true.
How do we know what’s true? What kinds of things can we trust? (Hold up Bible) That’s right! The Bible tells us what is true. The Bible gives us God’s Word and His promises. We know that God is faithful and keeps His promises, no matter what. He gave us Jesus, and we know His words and deeds are true. If anyone else tries to say he’s Jesus, we know that isn’t true because Christ already came, died, and rose again for us!
So unfortunately, life will be hard. That is a promise, as well. Things won’t be easy for us. But we serve a God who has already overcome the world and promises us rest and resurrection someday. We serve a God who is faithful to His promises. We can rely on Him, without any sort of identification card attached. And we can hope in Him! Someday we will escape the hardships of this life and be with Him forever. We don’t know when or how, exactly, but it will be great! On that we can rely! Let’s pray and thank God for being reliable and faithful…
Prayer:
(Have kids repeat each line)
Dear God,
We know we can trust in you
Thank you for being faithful and true
Even when life is hard and uncertain
Thank you for your Word and promises
Help us to seek wisdom and look to you for hope
Thank you for your love
We love you, God!
In Jesus name, Amen!
Bible Verses/story to Reference:
And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. –Mark 13:1-8