Children’s Sermon on John 3:22-36 – Camping with Jesus

Use this children’s sermon about spending time with Jesus to show students how to grow close to Him.

Scripture: John 3:22-36

 

Needed: Something that represents camping – a tent, sleeping bag, backpack, lantern, firepit poles, etc.

 

Children’s Sermon: Ask, How many of you have ever been camping?

 

What do you like about camping?

 

Did you know Jesus and His disciples went camping? (Read John 3:22, quoted here in the NIV.)

 

“Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.”

 

It says Jesus and His disciples went out into the countryside. They went camping. And what did He do with them while they were out there?

 

He spent time with them and baptized!

 

Jesus wanted to go camping with His disciples so that He could spend time with them. Sometimes, it’s good to get away and go camping with people so that you can spend time with them and talk and get to know each other better. Can you imagine all the things Jesus and His disciples talked about when they went camping? I bet Jesus’ disciples learned a lot from spending that time with Him.

 

And we can learn a lot from spending time with Jesus too. We might not go camping in the country, but we can go off by ourselves once in a while and spend time with Him praying and reading our Bibles.

 

But there’s another way to spend time with Jesus too. While Jesus and His disciples were camping, it says they also baptized people. They were helping other people believe in Jesus. Part of spending time with Jesus is working with Him. When we help other people or help do things at church, that’s spending time with Jesus!

 

Let’s think this week of how we can spend time with Jesus – whether it’s going off by yourself to pray to Him and read about Him, or doing something with Him to help someone else.

 

Closing Prayer: Jesus, we thank You that You want to spend time with us, just like You wanted to spend time with Your first disciples. We’re Your disciples too now, so we ask that You help us to want spend time with You. Help us to love You more and want to be with You. Show us ways we can help other people get to know You better as we spend time with You helping others. Amen.