Children's sermon--July 3, 2005

Children’s Message
Sunday, July 3, 2005

So this spring, there have been two things that I have been working on:
The first is that I have been trying to get my mess of a garden back into shape. Last year we were so busy, we didn’t have time to do anything--we hardly weeded, we didn’t add any new plants, we didn’t prune off the dead flowers at the end of the season, so this year we have paid BIG TIME.


The second has been to do some preparation for a course that I was supposed to take in a few weeks. The classes were going to be all day, every day, for 5 days, and to prepare for it, we were supposed to work through the Bible with this big thick book.

So guess what? This week I got a call telling me that they had to cancel the class. Now I was first off very disappointed, because I really wanted to take this class--I had been planning on it since fall. My second thought, I am a little embarrassed to admit, was, “I wasted all that time doing the work!” I quickly reminded myself that taking time regularly to spend time reading, studying and learning about the Bible is far from a waste of time.

I got to thinking about my other springtime activity--my garden. If I had spent the time on it regularly last year, I wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed now.

I think our faith is a lot like a garden. It is full of beautiful plants and flowers, but like our garden, your faith won’t grow very well on its own. Just like we set time aside to care for the things that grow around us, we need to set time aside for the things that grow within us.

So I hope that is what you will do this week. Read your Bible or a Bible story book. Make up a new prayer or a new grace to say at dinner. As you look around your gardens at home, think about why God may have created each plant.

As for me, even though I don’t have to finish my assignments for my cancelled class, I think I’m going to do it anyway--I’m going to think of it as plant food for my faith.

Let’s pray:
Loving God
Help us to remember
To care for our spirits
Help us to learn and grow
In our faiths this week.
Amen.