The Best Advent Children's Sermon Collection

Advent Children's Sermon Collection

Advent and Jesus’ Return

We don’t know when Jesus will come again, but we’re looking forward to it, just like the people before were looking forward to Him coming the first time.

Scripture: Matthew 24:36

Needed: Calendar or datebook (could be digital), Advent Calendar

Children’s Sermon: Show your regular calendar and ask kids, Why do people use calendars?

One reason people use calendars is so they can look forward to something and know how many days it will be until it's time for something. Have you ever counted down the days until your birthday, or counted down the days until Christmas?

We use calendars to keep track and to know when a special day will be. But speaking of Christmas, there's another kind of calendar that we can use to count down the days until Christmas. It's called an Advent Calendar. (Show children how your particular one works.)

Does anyone know what the word "advent" means?

Advent means "come." Just like we're really excited for Christmas to come, people a long time ago were really excited for Jesus to come and be born. They didn't know exactly when it would be, but they were excited for it.

And that's kind of like how it is for us. We know that Jesus has already come once when He was born as a little baby, but the Bible tells us that Jesus is also going to come again. He won't come as a baby again. He'll come as a man, coming down out of Heaven.

We don't know when Jesus will come again.

(Read Matthew 24:36.)

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

We can't have a calendar to tell us when Jesus will come back, but we are excited for it, just like people were excited for Jesus to come the first time. Jesus loves us so much, and it will be so nice for us to finally get to see Him and be with Him when He comes.

Closing Prayer: Jesus, we thank You for coming the first time at Christmas. You were born as a little baby and, when You grew up, You taught us how to follow God. You died on the cross so that we could all be forgiven for our sins. Jesus, we love you so much for that and are looking forward to the time when You will come again so that we can see You and be with You forever. Amen.

Mary’s Christmas Song

Use this Advent/Christmas children’s sermon to teach kids what we can praise God for.

Scripture: Luke 1:46-55

Needed: Christmas music - hymnals, lyric sheets, or stereo to sing along to

Children’s Sermon: Ask students, What is your favorite Christmas song?

(Listen to the kids' answers and then sing a few of the songs. You might even have one of your musicians assist you by playing the piano or guitar.)

Did you know that Mary, Jesus' mother, wrote a Christmas song? When she heard that she was going to be pregnant with Jesus, she wrote this song.

(Read Luke 1:46-55. Alternatively, you could watch a video of the song.)

“My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for He has been mindful

of the humble state of His servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is His name.

His mercy extends to those who fear Him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as He promised our ancestors.”

Why do you  think Mary wrote that song?

Mary wrote her Christmas song to thank God for all the good things He had done for her. Can you think of some of the good things God has done for you?

God has made us. He gave us life. He gave us our parents and a nice world to live in. He sent Jesus to teach us and to die on the cross for us so that we could be forgiven for our sins. He loves us and listens to us when we pray to Him. Those are all good things God has done for us.

That's why Mary sang her Christmas song, and that's why we sing our Christmas songs. We sing to thank God for all the good things He has done.

Closing Prayer: Father God, we thank You for loving us and for always doing good things for us. This Christmas, we especially thank You for sending Jesus to us. In His name we pray. Amen.

The Advent Wreath

Use this Advent children’s sermon to teach children about the coming resurrection God has promised us.

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Needed: wedding ring, Advent wreath

Children’s Sermon: Ask students, Have any of you ever made a promise to someone?

Has anyone ever made a promise to you?

(Show a wedding ring.) Does anyone know what this is?

It's a wedding ring. Why do you think a man and a woman give each other wedding rings when they get married?

The wedding ring shows that they are promising to love each other forever and ever. Do you see how the wedding ring goes around forever and ever? So, they're promising to love each other forever and ever.

In the church, when it's almost Christmas time, we use something that looks like a big ring. Can anyone think of what it is?

(Show students the Advent wreath.) This is our Advent wreath. It looks like a big wedding ring, and it goes around forever and forever just like a wedding ring because the Advent wreath reminds us that God has made promises to us, just like a man and a woman make promises to each other when they get married.

Can anyone think of some promises God has made to us?

During Advent, the time before Christmas, we remember that God promised in the Bible to send Jesus to die for our sins on the cross and to save us. God fulfilled that promise when Jesus was born, lived His life, and then died on the cross.

During Advent, we also remember that God promised to send Jesus again one day. Jesus will come down from Heaven and bring everyone who believes in Him back to life.

(Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.)

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

We’ll also get our new bodies so that we’ll never die but live with Jesus forever. That’s what God promised us.

And we know that God will keep that promise because God is perfect and keeps all of His promises.

Closing Prayer: Father God, we thank You for sending Jesus to save us, and we thank You for promising to send Jesus back to earth one day so that we can come back to life just like He did. We know that You will keep Your promise because You are a good and perfect God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Advent and the Signs of Jesus’ Return

Use this Advent children’s sermon to teach kids about the second coming of Christ.

Scripture: Matthew 24:27-31

Needed: nothing

Children’s Sermon: Ask kids, What holiday is coming up? (Christmas)

How do you know? How can you tell Christmas is coming?

It's on the calendar, people are decorating for Christmas, Christmas music is playing on the radio, people are buying Christmas presents, etc.

Those are all ways we know Christmas is coming. How do you think people knew when Jesus was going to come on that first Christmas?

Did they have it marked on the calendar when the Messiah was going to come?

God had told people in the Bible, through the prophets, that He was going to send a Messiah to them, but they didn't know exactly when it would happen. It was a surprise to almost everyone.

But Jesus said that we can know when He is going to come again.

(Read Matthew 24:27-31.)

“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

“Immediately after the distress of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

We can't know ahead of time exactly when Jesus is going to come back, but it will be very obvious when He does. Jesus said that He would come down out of the sky and the sun and the moon wouldn't shine, and the stars would fall out of the sky so that everyone would know He's coming back.

Some people will be very sad when they see Him coming back because they didn't believe in Him.

But we will be very happy because we do believe in Him. Jesus said that He will send the angels flying out all over the earth to pick us up and carry us up into the sky to meet Jesus when He comes down. Can you imagine that?

So, just like people look forward to Christmas, and just like people were looking forward to the time when Jesus came the first time as a little baby, we can look forward to the time when Jesus will come back.

Closing Prayer: Jesus, we are so happy that You came to earth as a little baby at Christmas. You came to be our Messiah and die for our sins. And Jesus, we are looking forward to the time when You will come back to earth so that we can see You and be with You forever. Amen.

Being Ready for Jesus’ Return

Use this Advent children’s sermon to teach kids how they can be ready for Jesus’ second coming.

Scripture: Matthew 24:36 and 42

Needed: An analog or digital clock

Children’s Sermon: Show students your clock, set to a certain time. Ask, Can anyone tell me what time my clock says?

Do any of you ever use clocks? What for?

Do you ever use a clock to know what time you have to leave for school or for church?

Let's pretend that you're getting ready for church in the morning. What time do you have to leave your house to get here in time?

Okay. So when the clock says _, you know you have to be ready. What are the things you have to do to get ready?

That's a lot of stuff you have to do by _ to be ready to leave.

There's also something else that we need to get ready for. It's Jesus' return. Did you know that Jesus is going to come back to earth one day? And we need to be ready for Him when He comes.

The problem (unplug your clock or turn it around) is that we don't know what time He'll be here. We don't even know what day or year He's coming back.

(Read Matthew 24:36 and 42. You could also read the entirety of Matthew 24:36-44.)

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father… Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”

Jesus says that He will come at a time when we don't expect Him. It will be a surprise. But we're supposed to be ready for Him whenever He comes. How can we ready for Jesus to come back if we don't know when He's coming?

We can be ready for Jesus by doing the things Jesus wants us to do. If we believe in Him and do the right things, then, when Jesus comes back, He'll see that we are doing what He asked us to do and He will be happy with us.

So, we don't have to know when Jesus will come back to be ready for Him. All we have to do to be ready is to keep believing in Him and doing the right things that He asked us to do.

Closing Prayer: Jesus, we are looking forward to the time when You will come back again so that we can see You and be with You. We pray that You will help us to do the right things that You want us to do so that we will be ready for You whenever You come. Amen.

Advent Recommended Extras

The Advent Storybook – an illustrated storybook with 25 stories; choose four each year to explain why the people were waiting for a Savior

The Hope of Advent – a free lesson that teaches kids what it means to wait by placing a wrapped gift in front of them and making them practice patience

Teaching through the Nativity – a free lesson to serve as an introduction to your Nativity

Christmas Lights – a free children’s sermon that shows kids how Jesus is the light of the world

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All of these children's sermons are included in my book, Holy Days: Children's Sermons for the Holidays.

Kindle $4.99, Print $7.99

Find more short devotionals on my Free Children's Sermons page!