Children’s Sermon

John 17:20-26

All in One

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John 17:20-26

All in One

By Lois Parker Edstrom

Objects suggested: Items needed to make tea.

Let’s talk about making tea. Sometimes we may have fancy tea parties and we use beautiful teacups, silver serving dishes, tiny spoons, and cover the table with a beautiful cloth. We set out flowers and serve small sandwiches, decorated cakes and cookies. We may even dress up in fancy clothes.

At other times we just want to enjoy a simple cup of tea. Here’s how it’s done: Pour water into a tea kettle and bring it to a boil. (Don’t try this on your own – always have your mom or dad help when making tea.) You may want to put some hot tap water into the teapot to warm it up while you are waiting for the water to boil.

After the teapot is warm, pour that water out, add tea to the pot, and then add the boiling water. Let the tea steep for a couple of minutes.

Pour the tea into a cup. Now you can add honey, sugar, milk, or lemon, and stir. (Demonstrate this part of the lesson if it is appropriate to your setting.)

Think about that tea. Look into the cup. Can you separate the tea from the water, or from the honey, sugar, milk or lemon? No, all these different parts become one thing – good, tasty tea.

Here is something to consider: Jesus said, before he returned to heaven,“… even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us…” (17:21). He speaks to God the Father and this is what I think he means – that God is a part of him and he is a part of God and we, when we accept God’s love, are also included.

We can think about it in the way we think about making tea. God’s love stirs us together so that we become one – we become Christians. Just as we cannot separate the ingredients in a cup of tea, God’s love cannot be separated from us. Just as a cup of tea warms our spirits, so too does God warm and flavor our lives with his love.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2010, Richard Niell Donovan