Here is a sermon that I wrote for our Family Friday Night at the Grove City Vineyard. I thought the evening went GREAT! The participation during the message and response for prayer afterward was beyond anything I could have imagined!

Target age: Kindergarden – 5th grade.
Bible Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:7.
Thesis: Jesus is the treasure. You are the one holding the treasure. We are to give this treasure to other people.

The Greatest Treasure
Introduction (2 minutes)
Tonight we’re going to talk about the true treasure of Christmas. But, before I do, I need a volunteer who wants to help me. How many of you have helped out in the kitchen? OK, now which of you has used a mixer before? [Pick a volunteer] What’s your name? JANE is going to help me make the icing for the Christmas cookies. [Take plastic wrap off bowl] Inside of this clay bowl we have some yummy icing! [Take lid off the cookie jar] And, inside of this cookie jar we have broccoli. Just kidding, we have cookies!

I’m going to put in a few drops of food coloring, like this. [put in the food coloring] OK JANE, go ahead and mix in the food coloring with the icing. [let her mix it for 30 seconds] Great job JANE! You can go back to your seat now. Everybody, give Jane a round of applause!

Usefulness – Icing and Cookie Jar (2 minutes)
I want to bring your attention to something we don’t usually think about when we’re working in the kitchen, and that is: How useful this clay bowl is. If we didn’t have a bowl, we wouldn’t have been able to mix in the food coloring using this mixer. [try to put the beaters into the icing container] This clay bowl was very important in making the icing.

We can say the same thing about this clay cookie jar. Where do we keep cookie jars? We keep cookie jars on the counter because it makes the cookies really accessible to people who are short. [Illustrate the following by getting a chair, climbing on top of the table, and pretend you are looking for cookies in a cabinet] If your parents kept the cookies way high up on a shelf, you’d have to go over to the dining room table to find a chair, bring it over to the counter, climb up onto the counter, open up the cupboard, find the box of cookies, and then finally open the box of cookies so you can eat one. Now what do you think would have happen if your parents found you standing on the kitchen counter trying to find a cookie? They would probably be really scared that you’ll fall down! So, some genius invented the cookie jar so all you have to do reach over the counter and lift off the lid. This clay cookie jar is a really practical way of holding cookies.

Significance (2 minutes)
There’s one other thing that we usually don’t think about when we look at the cookie jar and the bowl. I want a show of hands, how many people like to eat COOKIES? OK, put your hands down. How many of you like to eat COOKIE JARS? You like to eat cookie jars??? That’s silly, we don’t eat cookie jars! OK, another show of hands, how many people like to eat ICING? OK, put your hands down. How many of you like to eat CLAY BOWLS that hold icing?

Even though the clay bowl is very important because it lets us mix the icing with the food coloring, we’re actually interested in enjoying what’s inside of the bowl. The same thing is true for the cookie jars. Even though cookie jars are essential to bring the cookies closer to us, we’re more interested in enjoying the treasure that’s inside of the cookie jar.

Lesson (3 minutes)
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul talks about a jar and a treasure very much like the one we’ve been talking about here. Let me read 2 Corinthians 4:7.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

First, I want to look at the “jars of clay”. What Paul is saying here is that we are like a clay jar, very much like this cookie jar here. We’re fragile like a cookie jar. We also have the capacity to hold a treasure, and make that treasure accessible to the people around us.

Second, I want to look at the “treasure”. In the Bible verse just before this one, Paul talks about how this glorious light from God has been shown into our hearts. That light is the very glory and presence of God. The treasure inside of us is Jesus. Jesus is our treasure.

Finally, I want us to think about the “all-surpassing power”. Paul said that the treasure inside of us is powerful. Not just powerful, but a REALLY BIG power! Do you want to see what God’s all-surpassing power looks like? [Dump 2 boxes of cookies into the cookie jar.] What just happened here? It overflowed! Did you know that there is no limit to God’s power and love? There aren’t enough cookies in the entire world to illustrate God’s power! This is what happens when God shines his light on us and fills us with his power. The people around us begin to notice the love of God in a really powerful way.

Response (1 minute)
How many of you would like to be this cookie jar? How many of you want to have your life so filled with God’s love and power that you begin to overflow into the people around you?

If that’s something that you want, come forward in a little cluster right here so I can pray for you.