Children’s Sermon

John 3:1-17

The Beauty Inside

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John 3:1-17

The Beauty Inside

By Lois Parker Edstrom

OBJECT SUGGESTED:

An apple cut in half, horizontally.

Years ago one of the first pioneer women to travel across the United States in a covered wagon was given an apple when she got to the end of her journey. This apple was very precious to her because she had not eaten fruit in a long, long time. She ate the apple and then she saved the seeds so she could plant them, hoping one day to have an apple tree which would give her apples.

Have you ever taken time to notice what an apple looks like on the inside? Let’s cut this apple in half and take a look. See how the seeds are arranged around the core, almost like the petals of a flower? See how the seeds rest in clear little pods? This beautiful, hidden part of the apple causes the apple to grow and also can be planted to grow more apple trees.

The beautiful design inside an apple is like the Holy Spirit in our lives, to help us grow in God’s love and cause others to grow in God’s love as well.

Jesus, when he was speaking to the Pharisees said, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (3:6). Jesus was teaching them that we all have bodies we can see and we also have a spirit which is the part of us that is hidden inside.

When we accept God’s love, that love becomes God’s Spirit within us. Even though it is not something we can see, God’s Spirit causes our lives to have a beautiful design. We can feel God’s love growing within us. Just as the seeds in an apple cause other trees to grow, God’s Spirit in us causes other people to grow and become nourished by God’s love.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible