Children’s Sermon

Mark 1:1-8

Messenger of Good News

By Lois Parker Edstrom

Object suggested: Examples of mail: letters, bills, cards, etc.

Picture of a white homing pigeon

Let’s talk about messengers. Can you think of examples of people who deliver messages? Perhaps the best known messenger is the person who brings your mail. What would we do without postal workers? They accomplish the important work of sorting mail and delivering it to our homes. They help us keep in touch with each other and bring us news of what’s going on in the world.

This might come as a surprise, but a certain type of bird, called a homing pigeon, can also be a messenger. A message is written on a very light piece of paper, rolled into a small tube and attached to the pigeon’s leg. These pigeons have a way of knowing how to return to their home, even when they are hundreds of miles away. Some think they use the sun to help them find their way. Over the years homing pigeons have been used to deliver many important messages.

The Bible teaches us about a very important message. It is the message of God’s love. We read, “Behold, I send my messenger…, who will prepare your way before you. (1:2).

John the Baptist was the messenger sent to tell people about Jesus. John said, “After me comes he who is mightier than I…” (1:7). He was a messenger who brought the “good news” of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

We also can be messengers of “good news” by accepting God’s love and sharing it with others.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2008 Richard Niell Donovan