Children’s Sermon: Idols Don’t Measure Up – Second Commandment

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Purpose: Use this children’s sermon on second of the Ten Commandments to teach kids why we don’t worship idols.

Scripture: Exodus 20:4-5

Needed: a picture of Jesus and any object that represents something you use, such as a cooking pan or tool or a piece of firewood

Children’s Sermon

Tell students about your object and what it helps you do. Ask, Do you think I should tell my _ object how happy it makes me?

(Pretend to talk to your object, thanking it for what it does. Be silly to show kids how ridiculous it would be to thank your object.)

It’s silly to thank my _, isn’t it? Maybe I could thank the person that made my _, but I don’t need to thank my _.

(Show kids your picture of Jesus.)

Who’s in this picture? (Jesus.)

And we should thank Jesus for all the things He does for us, right? (Yes.)

So, do you think I should thank this picture of Jesus?

I can’t thank this picture of Jesus because it isn’t really Jesus. It’s just a picture of Him. It can remind me of Jesus, but it isn’t Him.

That’s why God gave us the second of His Top Ten rules. The second Commandment says…

(Read Exodus 20:4-5 , quoted here in the NIV.)

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them…”

God says we should worship anything that we make. Even if we make a picture of Jesus, we can’t worship it because it isn’t really Him. We can only worship God. And since we can’t God, we can’t worship Him by making anything that looks like Him or is supposed to show Him.

We can only worship God in our hearts.

Closing Prayer

Lord, You are an awesome and holy God. You are the only God we can worship. Help us not to worship anything else that isn’t You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

You can also find this children’s sermon for Kindle or in print in my book, Children’s Sermon about the Ten Commandments.

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