Purpose: Use this children’s sermon about God talking to Moses from out of the burning bush to show them that God forgives us for our mistakes.
Scripture: Exodus 2:11-4:17
Needed: something that was broken that you fixed or a pet or a picture of a pet that made a mistake but you forgave
Children’s Sermon
If your object is an item, describe what it is and how it broke. Ask students what you should do with it. Then, show them your object and explain that instead of throwing it away, you fixed it. You made it so that you could use it again.
If your object is a pet, describe what your pet did that was wrong. Ask students what you should do with a pet that does such a thing. Then, show them your pet or a picture of your pet and explain that instead of getting rid of your pet, you forgave it.
This reminds me of another time in the life of Moses.
(Summarize Exodus 2:11-4:17 with the following story.)
We talked about how God saved baby Moses, and that instead of drowning in the river, the princess of Egypt took baby Moses to be her own son.
When Moses grew up, he felt bad that his fellow Israelites were slaves. One day, he saw an Egyptian slave master beating an Israelite slave. It made Moses so angry that he killed the Egyptian slave master.
Do you think Moses should have killed the Egyptian slave master?
Moses made a mistake. He let his anger get out of control and he did something he shouldn’t have done. When Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, heard about it, he was going to have Moses arrested and put to death as a punishment.
So, Moses ran away to another country. While he was there, he got married and had two sons. He was working as a shepherd when he saw something strange. There was a bush on fire.
What do you think would happen to a bush that caught on fire?
A bush that catches on fire is supposed to burn up until there’s nothing left but ashes. The strange thing is that this bush wasn’t burning up. It was on fire, but the fire wasn’t hurting it.
So, Moses walked up to the bush to look at it. Then, from out of the bush, God talked to Moses. God told Moses that He wanted him to go back to Egypt and free the Israelite slaves.
Why do you think God would choose Moses for such an important job when Moses was the one who made such a big mistake when he lost his temper and killed the Egyptian slave master?
God chose Moses because He had forgiven Moses for the mistake he made.
God forgives all of us for the mistakes we make too. And God still wants to use us. Just like I (fixed my _ so I could still use it / forgave my pet when it _.)
God can forgive all of our mistakes and still use us to do great things for Him.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we thank You for forgiving us when we make mistakes. We know that You love us no matter what we do. Help us to remember that You still have big plans for us no matter what mistakes we made in the past. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
You can also find this children’s sermon for Kindle or in print in my book, Children’s Sermons about the Exodus