The following is a story I'll be using tomorrow. I refer to the story at the end of the sermon, so it's also a part of the sermon.
The Tripod
Materials: Tripod and Camera
Preparation: Have one of the children be prepared read Mark 12:29-30.
Boys and girls [or Children], what is this?
Show collapsed tripod. (Italic text indicate demonstration actions.)
Yes, it's a tripod. What is it used for?
Extend legs and demonstrate mounting a camera onto the tripod. Look through viewfinder.
It's used by photographers to hold a camera and keep it steady so that when a picture is taken, the picture comes out clear and sharp.
For the tripod to remain steady, it needs to be balanced. All the legs need to be the same length. Otherwise it might tip over and allow the camera to fall onto the ground.
Remove Camera from Tripod! Then demonstrate what happens when the legs are unbalanced.
There's another important thing we need to remember when using a tripod. What happens if we forget to tighten the legs?
Extend the legs, then tighten some but leave some of the sections loose.
That's right. If the all the leg sections aren't tightened properly, we still end up with an unstable tripod. The tripod is of no use to us that way.
Jesus was once asked by one of the religious leaders what the most important commandment was. Jesus' answer is our scripture reading today. It is Mark 12:29-30.
Ask the prepared child to read the text.
Jesus said that the most important thing we can do is to love God with all of our heart and soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.
What does it mean to love God with all our heart and soul? I think it means we're to enjoy being with Him, to choose to trust Him with everything, not just a few things, that happens in our lives. I think it also means we are to learn what God is like by letting Him live in us and change us to be like Him. I think we do this by talking to God through prayer. I think it means being passionate about Him, and being completely honest about ourselves with Him.
What does it mean to love God with all our mind? I think it means that we get to know what God is like by studying what people have written about Him in the Bible. I think it also means that we're to think about the things God wants us to think about, not just when we feel like it, but all the time.
What does it mean to love God with all our strength? I think it means that we're to do the things God wants us to do, and to not do things that would make God sad. I think it also means that when God asks us to do something, even if it isn't something we want to do, we're to do completely, not just halfheartedly, what God asks.
Our heart and soul, mind, and strength -- these are like the legs of a tripod. Imagine that each of us has a tripod inside of us. We can focus too much on one of the legs, and when that happens our view of God and our walk with God become unstable:
Maybe we spend all our time in prayer, but forget to study the Bible and do things for God. Or maybe we spend all our time studying about God, but forget to talk to Him about what we're learning. Or maybe we get so focused on doing just the right things and avoiding the bad, that we forget to learn what the Bible says about good and bad. Or because we forget to let God live in us, we begin to resent doing good things and start to wish we can do the bad things that begin to look like more fun.
Extend legs of tripod, lock them, then mount camera. Look through the camera viewfinder.
If we want to have a good, clear and steady view of God so that we can have a steady walk with Him, we need to make sure that our tripod legs are balanced and locked tight. We need to talk with God and learn to trust Him. We need to learn in the Bible what He is like. And we need to do what God asks of us. We need all of them in just the right balance.
Leave tripod and camera standing for sermon.
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