Children’s Sermon
Luke 16:1-13
You Can Count on It
Objects suggested: Clocks
Picture of Big Ben
What would we do without clocks? They help us get to where we need to be on time. Some clocks are reliable and others are not. Unreliable clocks may gain time or lose time and some clocks just stop working all together.
There is a very famous clock that is known for being reliable. You can count on it to be correct. Big Ben is a huge four-faced tower clock at the Palace of Westminster in London. (Show picture) It is 316 feet high, the hands of the clock are 14 feet long, and the numbers on the face of the clock are 2 feet long. (Point out examples in your sanctuary or setting to help the children understand how big this clock is.)
Big Ben is designed to be accurate. Parts of it are protected by a windproof box and the pendulum (the part that swings) is sheltered from snow, ice, and birds that might try to land on it. Pennies are attached to the pendulum to regulate it so that when it strikes the hour it is accurate and reliable.
People can be reliable too. Reliable people are those you can count on to do the right thing. Reliable people do the right thing when no one is watching or checking up on them. They do the right thing even when they are tempted to make a bad choice.
Imagine that you saw some money fall out of a person’s pocket. That person was unaware of what had happened. It would be easy for you to keep the money, but a reliable person can be counted on to return the money to the owner.
Jesus was talking to his disciples and he said, “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much” (16:10). He teaches us that when we make the right decision about little things we can be trusted to make the right decision about bigger things.
Let’s be the kind of person who can be counted on to do the right thing. Let’s always be reliable.
Scripture quotations from the World English Bible
Copyright 2008, Richard Niell Donovan