Beth Edington Hewitt. Captivating Children’s Sermons. BakerBooks. 2005.

This book really captured my attention about educating our children in the worship service setting. First the author presents a compelling reason to add a children’s sermon to your regular worship service: “It is time for the church to jump onto the child-friendly bandwagon, not only because modern society demands it, but because Jesus modeled it. [Page 20]” The sermon let’s children know they are important both to Jesus and in the worship service.

I failed to realize how important these sermons can be for the adults listening to them. First, because of the way a children’s sermon is structured, it is easy for everyone, including adults to remember. They also help an adult reconnect with their childhood by getting the entire congregation involved in educating the children. The third and perhaps most important reason these sermons are important to adults is that they teach Christian parents how to communicate important Biblical truths to their children. The adults also benefit from watching children worship because God makes it clear that we are to come to him as little children. Finally, only one Biblical truth, story, or concept is presented per sermon. Even adults without familiarity with the Bible (new Christians!) will find the sermon easy to understand since all difficult words will be clearly explained to the children! What better way for a new Christian to learn the terminology without embarrassing themselves by having to ask “simple questions”?

Hewitt discusses for types of sermons meant for children. Sermons may be driven by Bible stories, Biblical concepts, the use of props, important events, or by establishing a series of messages on a particular topic. The author outlines how to create each style of sermon. Each of these factors involves a slightly different way of preparing the sermon.

The book concludes with 50 sermons that the author has tested in worship services. They make it easy for a newcomer to giving a sermon to get started since the message itself is outlined and any special props are identified. I feel anyone, from the senior pastor, to the children’s worship director, could take one of these sermons and make an effective presentation to their children’s groups.

Recommendation

This book needs to be available to all workers with children as well as the adult pasturing staff. If your church doesn’t already have a regular children’s sermon as part of the worship service, it may challenge you to add this important feature to your services. My personal response has been to outright ask our church leaders to consider beginning children’s sermons in 2006.

The book should be available at your local Christian bookstore or may be ordered online from amazon.com. Why not ask your church librarian to add this book to your collection this year? Then, let the ministry staff know about the book.

Copyrighted by Diana Pederson, 2005-2009