Children's Conversations at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu

A children's conversation by Pastor Jeff Lilley -------------------------------------------------------- In today's Gospel, Jesus goes into the wilderness and fasts for forty days, so he is very hungry, and Satan tempts him to turn stones into bread. You might have done it, but Jesus doesn't need to prove anything, so he doesn't. We sometimes want God to prove himself with miracles, but the way we really know that Jesus is the Son of God is through the love God and Jesus show us.

A children's conversation by Pastor Jeff Lilley -------------------------------------------------------- Today is the Transfiguration when Jesus went up the mountain and was surrounded by beautiful light. There are many beautiful things here in the Nave that remind us of God. The one thing today that makes me think about God is this broken pew over here. It makes me think about God because Jesus left the mountain to be with the broken world. God loves us even when we are broken.

A children's conversation by Pastor Angela Freeman -------------------------------------------------------- Here I have a beautiful bowl that someone gave me, but you can see it has holes in the side, so I can't use it for anything. Recently I have come to see this bowl as a wonderful example of something that is not perfect but is still very beautiful. In today's Gospel Jesus tells us to be perfect, but this bowl reminds us that even with flaws we can be beautiful. God wants us to try to be perfect, but God also loves us when we are not perfect.

A children's conversation by Pastor Angela Freeman -------------------------------------------------------- Maybe you know the song "This Little Light of Mine," but if you don't, we're going to sing it now. When you walk into a dark room, you turn on a light so you can see. In today's Gospel, Jesus says to the people, "You are the light of the world." This means everyone of you bring light and love to people everywhere.

A children's conversation by Pastor Jeff Lilley -------------------------------------------------------- Today is the Presentation of Our Lord, when Simeon called the baby Jesus a light for the nations. You might say it is bright here and you can see everything, but I have a special light that will let us see things we might not notice. There is a can of chili that reminds us how we feed the hungry every month, over there is a Bible because the light that is one way we learn about the light, and over there is a conch shell we might use to call people together. The new light in Jesus comes to you all in important ways.

A children's conversation by Pastor Angela Freeman -------------------------------------------------------- In today's Gospel, Jesus goes up to people he had never met and told them to follow him. And they did it. They walked along with Jesus and met others. Following Jesus is all about meeting people, sharing God's love, and making relationships.

A children's conversation by Pastor Jeff Lilley -------------------------------------------------------- This morning we heard a story about John the Baptist calling Jesus the Lamb of God, and then some of John's followers went to become disciples. When John baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus as a dove and stayed with Jesus. And when you were baptized, the spirit stayed with you. If you look very carefully, you can see the spirit with God's people, so this week, I want you to ask yourself every day where you saw the Spirit of God at work.

A children's conversation by Pastor Jeff Lilley -------------------------------------------------------- We are in the season of Epiphany, which means to reveal or to show, and today we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. Baptism just means washing with water, and when we are baptized, we are covered with God's grace in the water. And at the same time, God says we are all God's children.

A children's conversation by Pastor Angela Freeman -------------------------------------------------------- Today is the 12th Day of Christmas, so tomorrow is Epiphany, when we remember the coming of the Magi. They followed a star from far away, so they are not here at the creche, they are off over here in the corner. The star guided them to Jesus, so we have a beautiful star over the creche. So during Epiphany, we remember that God is our shining star.

A children's conversation by Pastor Angela Freeman -------------------------------------------------------- Today's symbol is a crib, but there is no baby because Jesus is born on Christmas, and that's still three days away. In our lives, sometimes we are hurt or are sad inside. We know that Jesus is God coming into the world--God with us as the lesson from Isaiah says. Because God came to be with us, God knows the pain we feel. God loves us so much and is always with us when we hurt.