rev dr simon mainwaring blessings in a bagstorage.cloversites.com...blessing of wheels and...

Blessings in a Bag

Have you ever lost something that you really want to find again?

When I was five my mommy lost me. One moment I was playing in the house, the next I was gone. She called out my name. No answer. She looked all over the house and the back yard. No sign of me. Then, she got really worried, and so she called the

neighbors. They started looking for me. Up and down the street. Over to the farm fields across the road. To the end of the lane with the big farm house and the other end of the lane with the big cars on the busy road.

Blessings in a Bag Children’s SermonBlessing of Wheels and Backpacks, September 15, 2013

Rev Dr Simon Mainwaring

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By now, my mommy was pretty worried, so she called the police. It’s scary to lose someone. You can get very upset. Finally, Mr Green from next door found me, crouched down by our garden pond talking to a frog, whose name was Charlie, by the way. The police went home. The neighbors went in to finish their dinner, and my mom gave me the biggest hug in the world, not knowing whether to kiss me or to send me to bed with no dinner. She decided that dinner would be a good idea, and there was much happiness, I seem to remember, in our home that night because one who was lost had been found.

Have you ever been lost? (LISTEN)

How did it feel? (LISTEN)

How did you get found again? (LISTEN)



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Now let’s talk about your bags.

How many of you brought a bag with you today to be blessed? (LISTEN)

When we bless our backpacks, and our scooters, and our car keys, and all of those other things, we are saying that every time we use them to get around and to keep our things together we can remember that God is with us, at school, at home, at work.

I have a bag with me today too and got it blessed along with yours. There are all sorts of things inside of it that remind me of God’s love, not just for me, but for other people who might feel like they are a bit lost. Like kids who feel homesick at school sometimes, or who don’t have anyone to play with, or grown ups who feel sad or lonely. This is my blessing bag.



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First of all, can anyone tell me what it says on the front of my bag? (LISTEN)

That’s right, blessings can be recycled when we use them to be blessings for others, so this is my blessing recycling bag. Let’s see what’s inside.



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Oops, I’m not sure what this is doing in here...

Let’s try again...

#1 UmbrellaSometimes people need a friend to give them some shelter. This helps me share God’s blessing of love.



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#2 GogglesSometimes people need help seeing what is in front of them. These help me share God’s hope with others.

#3 PlungerI wonder if you have ever felt just stuck, like you are clogged up? I used to feel that way in Math class. This helps me help others to get out of feeling stuck and helps me share God’s blessing of grace.



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#4 BallThis is an easy one to use. I can use it almost any time I like. It reminds me to have fun and to invite others to have fun too. It helps me share God’s blessing of joy.

#5 JesusThis last one is one that I know is always with me, even when I don’t have my bag. It has some Spanish words on it that mean: ‘the new creation’. It reminds me and helps me to share with others the truth that God is continually making new things that have gotten old, or hard, or lonely, and so setting us free to live for him. This helps me share God’s blessing of Himself.



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Your turn!

Now that you have seen inside my bag, I think you might be ready to share God’s blessing with the people you will meet and know this year.

Let’s pray for God to help us to recycle his blessings.

Amen.



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rev dr simon mainwaring blessings in a bagstorage.cloversites.com...blessing of wheels and...

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