Children's Sermon: Faith

Opening:

Good-morning Kids! I am so happy that you are here to worship Jesus today. Today we are talking about Faith.

Faith is trust in God, and the person and work of christ to provide forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life.

Faith is an important word. You’ll hear me talk a lot about faith and grace and repentance. It’s one of those really important words. So we are going to make sure you understand what Faith means.

Well, a good place to start is with the Bible. Let’s look at Hebrews 11:1.

Reading of Hebrews 11:1

“1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Explanation 1.

There are some big words in that verse, but that’s okay. You’re smart, I’m sure that you will be able to understand. It starts by saying that faith is the assurance of things hoped for. That word assurance is where we get the word “sure;” As in “I am sure that this will happen. Faith makes you sure of something. Of what? Of things hoped for.

Illustration 1.

Every Sunday after service I give you something. What is it? Candy! That’s right, I give you candy. So what is going to happen after service today? I will give you candy! You know that I will give you candy because I have said I will and you have faith that I will do it. You are sure of it. You have good reason to be sure of it because I have given you candy every week.

Explanation 2.

Faith is also the conviction of things not seen. There is another big word, conviction. Conviction is something you believe deep down inside. You know it is true.

Illustration 2.

Let me ask you another question. Where is the candy at that I give you? It’s in my pulpit. Right! You don’t have to see it to know it’s there. That’s where I grab it from every week. You have a deep heavy belief that the candy is there and you’re right!

Argumentation:

The author of the book of Hebrews isn’t talking about candy. He is talking about something better than candy. He is talking about having faith in God. God has promised us salvation. We can have faith in that. Faith is our assurance of what God has promised. Faith is the conviction that what God has said is true.

Transition:

And listen to Hebrews 11:6.

Reading of Hebrews 11:6

“6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Explanation:

This one makes a lot of sense. You can’t please God without faith because you can’t draw near to him unless you believe He exists. Faith gives us the knowledge of God. And this isn’t a blind faith. We have good reason to trust God. God has been faithful! But faith is how we come to know God. So I think faith is pretty important.

Transition:

So if faith is so important, how do we get it? Is it like lifting weights so we get really big arms? No, of course not. How do we get faith? Well, God didn’t leave us wondering. He has told us. Let’s read Ephesians 2:8.

Reading of Ephesians 2:8

“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

Explanation:

This is really important. We have already talked about depravity. That means we are completely sinful. We don’t deserve salvation. So God gives us grace. He saves us. This is something we don’t deserve. But it is through faith. Faith is like the doorway we walk through into salvation. We trust what Jesus did on the cross for us. We have faith in Him. But where does this faith come from? That last phrase tells us.

It is the gift of God. Faith is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. So who gives us faith? God does. So we don’t just try harder to have faith. We ask God to give us faith and we trust that He will do it.

Closing:

Remember:

Faith is trust in God, and the person and work of christ to provide forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life.

Let’s pray and ask God to give us faith to trust Him.

Prayer: