Purpose: Use this children’s sermon about the Tabernacle to teach kids about what Jesus did for us on the cross.
Scripture: Leviticus 1
Needed: a picture of the Tabernacle , a notebook and pencil, Silly Putty ( note: if you make your own Silly Putty, test it beforehand to make sure it works)
Children’s Sermon
(Summarize Leviticus 1 with the following story.)
After God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, God also told them to build the first church. (Show them your picture of the Tabernacle.) It was called the Tabernacle.
(Point out the altar in front of the Tabernacle.) God told the Israelites to make an altar here, where they, would sacrifice animals. That means that people would bring their animals to the priest and the priest would kill and burn up the animal.
Why do you think the people would bring their animals for a sacrifice?
God’s rule is that when someone does something wrong, they’re supposed to die. Every time we do something wrong, we’re supposed to die.
But God doesn’t want us all to die, does He?
God loves us, so He gave Moses and the Israelites a way that they could be saved from dying for their sins. I’m going to show you how this works.
(On your note paper, write, “My Sin.” Show it to the kids. Then, use the Silly Putty to transfer the writing off of the page.)
What happened to my sin?
It’s not on the paper anymore. It’s on this Silly Putty!
When the Israelites brought an animal for sacrifice, they would lay their hand on the head of their animal. They were giving their sin to their animal. Then, instead of killing the person for the wrong thing they had done, the priest would kill the animal. It’s like the animal was the Silly Putty that took the sin off the person.
But do we make animal sacrifices in church today? Do we give our sins to animals and let them die instead of us?
If not, how we can be forgiven for our sins?
Jesus is our sacrifice. Jesus came and took the punishment for all of our sins when He died on the cross. He had never made any mistakes Himself, so He was able to die for all our sins. And because Jesus is also God, He could die for all of our sins at the same time.
Jesus was the Silly Putty that took all of our sins. He died so that we don’t have to.
Closing Prayer
Jesus, thank You for coming and being our sacrifice. You saved us from having to be punished for all the wrong things we do. Help us to believe in and follow You every day. Amen.
You can also find this children’s sermon for Kindle or in print in my book, Children’s Sermons about the Exodus
