Children’s Sermon

Matthew 9:9-13

Matching Needs with Help

As I was getting ready for church today I put on my shoes – and I tied them all by myself! Nobody had to help me – because I’ve known how to tie shoes since I was little.

Do you need help tying your shoes? (Raise your hand if you can tie them all by yourself.)

You might not need help tying your shoes anymore, but you used to. We all have things we need help with – even as grown-ups. But usually help isn’t something we need for very long.

The trick is to get just the right help at just the right time. After that, we often don’t need it anymore.

In today’s Gospel story Jesus has confused some people. They’ve noticed that even though Jesus tells them that it’s important to follow God’s rules, he seems to spend a lot of his time with people who don’t follow those rules at all!

Do you see why that might confuse them? What do you think Jesus tells them?

He explains that those are the people who need his help. He doesn’t need to spend his time teaching God’s rules to people who already know them. That would be like someone helping me to tie my shoes! He’s taking his help right to where it’s needed most.

This is one of Jesus’ very important lessons. He wants us to find people who need us – and he wants us to give them the help they need.

After church today, why don’t you talk with your family and see if you can think of someone who might need your help this week? Will you do that? Good.

Let’s pray.

Dear God,

We all need help – both from you and from one another. Help us to share our gifts with those who need us the most.

Amen.