Children’s Sermon
Ignoring the Offer
Prop used: Play money -- $1000.00 bills.
I have a gift for all of you today. It is a $1,000.00 bill! Now, just so you know, its play money but it is always fun to receive a gift.
Let me give you each one.
Did you like receiving a gift from me today? I like giving them to you too.
Did you know that if I offer you a gift that it means you do not have to take it? It would have been possible for you to refuse my generous gift of … play money.
There are many ways you could have done this. You could very politely say “no thank you” and refused to take it from me. You could have stood up and ran back to your seat or even out of the building too. Either of these would have been what we call “refusals.” It would have been a very clear and strong way to let me know you did not want my gift.
But there are other ways you can choose to not take my gift too. You could have just sat there and ignored me when I offered it to you. You could have just chose not to hear me.
Did you know the Lord Jesus has given us a very generous offer? It is not make-believe or fake or play, like the money I gave you either. It is real and very very valuable! Jesus offers to forgive you for your sins and give you a home in heaven. A real home in a real heaven!
However, you don’t have to accept His offer either. Many people don’t they refuse to admit that He is the Lord. How did they do this? Some just say “No.” Some run away. But some just ignore Him… they choose to just not listen.
But the Bible says that pretending you don’t hear Him will not work. Someday he will make it clear that he made an offer and we chose to deliberately not obey.
In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a story about some people that pretended not to hear Him. They refused to obey him by ignoring. "They also will answer, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ "He will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
I think the people in this story knew what God was asking. They called him “Lord” which means “Master.” But they chose to ignore Him and by doing so they showed he was not their master.
We need to be very careful. What we say and do shows what it important to us. It shows whether or not we are serving the LORD. I trust you will receive his gifts and instruction with gladness instead of ignoring his offer.
