Preface for Pastors and Parents
This Sunday is Advent 2 of Lectionary Year B, so I bring you a children’s sermon on Mark 1:1-8. I have long thought that it’s a cool text—at least ever since I started taking Mark’s Gospel more seriously.
That was a change for me, sparked by a great theatrical performance. I’d previously thought Mark was the abbreviated, somewhat clumsy, and kind of disorganized Gospel. Then the tour of a British actor’s one-man show reached Princeton’s McCarter Theatre. He had memorized the whole book of Mark in the good old KJV, and his performance was to simply recite it.
His oral presentation was so vivid and fresh I felt like I was hearing Mark’s Gospel for the first time—which, in a way, I was. Hearing the whole thing at once meant I heard it as a piece of literature, noticing themes and phrases that echoed from end to end.
Anyway, suddenly I had “ears to hear”—as Jesus himself said three times in Mark. It helped me to tune in to the kind of thing I focus on on this children’s sermon on Mark 1:1-8.
(It you want a children’s sermon that focuses more on what John the Baptist says, you could adapt this one on Matthew 3:1-12, or this one on Luke 3:1-6.)
A Children’s Sermon on Mark 1:1-8
Good morning kids! I’m so glad to see you here in worship today. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.
Today is the second Sunday of Advent. Advent is the four weeks we spend getting ready for Jesus to come to us.
At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus was born—and that is such amazing good news that we need four whole weeks to get ready.
How Do You Tell the Story?
Our story this morning comes from the Gospel of Mark. In fact it is the very beginning of the Gospel of Mark.
In the Bible there are four books that tell the story of Jesus. One is by Matthew. Another is by Mark. The third is by Luke. And the last one is by John.
Each of those four books is called a “Gospel.” The word “Gospel” means “Good News.” Each book about Jesus’ life tells us the Good News about Jesus coming to us.
But here’s the funny thing. Each of the four Gospels tells the story of Jesus’ life a bit differently.
Maybe that’s not too surprising. Each person knows Jesus a little bit differently from anybody else. So each writer tells the story of Jesus differently. Each writer wants to make sure we see the things that writer thought most important.
John: Before the World Was Made
John starts his story way, way back in time. He starts before God even created the world!
“In the beginning,” says John, “there was the Word…. and the Word was God… and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”
John wants us to know that Jesus is God, and he came to live with us and help us know God. That’s Good News.
Matthew: The First Chosen Family
Matthew starts the story much later. Matthew starts when God first chose one family from all the world to be his very own.
God chose Abraham and Sarah, and all their family after them. God loved them, and helped them and drew them close, for centuries. Jesus was born into that beloved family. And that’s Good news too.
Luke: The Birth of Jesus
Luke starts his story much later still, centuries later. Luke starts Just before Jesus was born.
Luke tells us how God sent the Angel Gabriel to tell the good News. First Gabriel came to say John the Baptist would be born to lead people to Jesus. Then Gabriel came to Mary to say Jesus would be born as Mary’s son and God’s son. And that’s very good news. That’s Christmas.
Mark’s Starting Point
Mark started the story in still another way. When Mark wanted to tell the Good News of Jesus, he didn’t talk about creation, or God’s first chosen family, or even about Christmas.
Mark says “Here’s the beginning of the Good News about Jesus!”
And then he starts telling what happened when Jesus was all grown up.
John the Baptist
In fact, before Mark tells about anything Jesus did or said, Mark tells about John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin.
John the Baptist went outside the city, down by the Jordan River and told the people Jesus was coming.
“Get ready!” he would say. “My cousin Jesus is coming! He’s the Messiah the prophets wrote about!”
“How should we get ready?” the people asked.
“Learn to think in new ways!” John said. “Learn to think about everything the way God thinks!”
“That sounds hard,” they said, “How can we get started?”
John said, “You can do two things to start off. First, admit that you’ve thought in wrong ways and done wrong things. Second, let me wash you in the river to show God is helping you start a whole new life!”
Good News
So that was Mark’s way of starting the story of Jesus. For Mark, the Good News starts when we begin to make our lives ready for Jesus. We admit we’ve done wrong things. We learn to think new ways. And God helps us begin to live as people who belong to Jesus.
Wondering
I wonder where you would start if you told the story of Jesus?
I wonder what it felt like to hear John say we need to learn to think and live in new ways.
I wonder what you and I might do to get ready for Jesus to come?
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You are, of course, free to use this children’s sermon, or adapt it as you find most useful. But, if you use it, please do one (or more!) of the following.
- You can let me know that you are using it, either in the comments below, or using the contact form above.
- You can put a little notice in your church bulletin that your children’s sermon is adapted from one published on GaryNealHansen.com.
- You can support my work over on Patreon. (Just $1 per month brings my children’s sermons straight to your inbox about two minutes after they go live. And every little bit keeps me going…)
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