Children’s Sermon

Luke 4:14-21

Making Things Happen

By Lois Parker Edstrom

Objects suggested: Medium-sized frying pan and/or an object that weighs approximately four pounds.

Picture of Clydesdale (1)
Picture of Clydesdale (2)

Horses are large, powerful animals. Clydesdale horses are especially large and powerful. Their hoofs can be as large as a frying pan. (Show pictures of Clydesdale horses and/or a frying pan.) If you’ve ever had a chance to see a Clydesdale horse or a team of these horses you know they are very beautiful.

When a baby Clydesdale horse is born it weighs one hundred and eighty pounds, as much as a grown man. The first few weeks of its life it gains over four pounds a day. (Show an example of something that weighs four pounds and let the children experience the weight.)

Clydesdale horses are used to pull heavy loads such as logs and large wagons. They also pull heavy equipment used to plough fields. Now, for work such as this, horses have mostly been replaced by powerful tractors.

There are many ways to be powerful in this world. To be powerful means that you have the strength and energy to make things happen. You may be strong in your body and you may be smart – strong in your mind.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was filled with “the power of the Spirit” (4:14). He made things happen because he was filled with God’s Spirit of Love. He taught others about God, he performed miracles and healed those who were sick. When we study his life we find that he was truly filled with power that came from God.

This is what we call spiritual power – knowing the joy and peace of love that comes from God. Jesus offers the power of God’s love to each one of us. Use the power of God’s love to make things happen.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2010, Richard Niell Donovan