Psalm 130:5-6, NIRV

⁵With all my heart I wait for the Lord to help me.
I put my hope in his word.
⁶I wait for the Lord to help me.
I want his help more than night watchmen want the morning to come.
I’ll say it again.
I want his help more than night watchmen want the morning to come.

HANDOUT:

Lenten Coin Calendar. (You can also have extra copies available for children who need them, as well as directing them to download the calendar here.)

Message:

How do you feel today? I wonder after spending a week praying and thanking God for your health and praying for others who are sick, how do you feel? (Allow children to respond.) Today, we begin by praying to thank God for our health. We also pray for those who are sick.

How do you feel after spending a few weeks collecting coins and filling your jar to help those in our community who really need to feel God’s love in their lives? How did you and your family feel praying each week for others? Would someone like to share how they are feeling right now? (Allow children to respond.)

Today, I wonder if you have planted a seed in the ground yet this spring. Maybe someone in your home other than you is the gardener? (Allow the children to share their gardening stories.) If you have planted any seed, you know that an important part of planting is waiting patiently for the seed to grow. You put a small, dry seedling into the soil, water it, and then you wait. And wait. And wait some more. You continue to water it, and you keep waiting. It seems like such a long time where you cannot see anything happening. Each day, you water and wait, but you don’t see anything sprouting. Until one day, you see what you have been waiting for: a tiny green plant peeking out through the soil.

People who believe in God wait for God’s promises. They wait for a day when sick people will be healed. They wait for a day when hungry people are fed. They wait for a day when enemies stop fighting and become friends. They wait for a day when the complaining stops. Sometimes it is very difficult to wait for these things. But while we wait, we do what we can to make this world a better place—a place where we know that God is working. even if we cannot see it.

Sometimes it’s hard waiting on God’s time, but God’s timing is always perfect. While we wait, we can help God’s mercy and love take root by being active and planting and caring for those seeds that are mentioned. I wonder what we can do to help the seeds while we are waiting. Do you have a suggestion? (Allow children to provide ideas.) Those are all excellent ideas. We could water the soil. We could make sure the seeds are in proper sunlight.

We began this Lenten Coin collection way back in February, when the ground was perhaps too cold to plant a seed. But we have been planting coins in our jars for a while, as we await the coming of Holy Week and Easter morning. We still have some waiting to do, and we still have some coins to collect. This week, you will be looking for items around the house that remind you that you have a house to live in. Shelter provides safety for us. Houses or apartments keep us warm when it’s cold outside, dry when it’s wet, and even cool when it’s very hot during the summer months. Have you ever wondered about people who have no home to live in? Has the collection of coins throughout Lent helped you to remember and pray for others? Would anyone like to share a story of what you have learned by collecting coins with your family? (Select a child to respond who you know might offer a powerful word.) Today, let us pray, thanking God for shelter. Pray for those who have no place to sleep at night.

We also pray for waiting. We all have been waiting for Holy Week to arrive, and now it’s almost here. Do you know what that means? That means we are getting close to Easter! During the time that leads us to the foot of the cross, I invite you and your family to seek items around your house that remind you of Jesus. I wonder how many crosses and Bibles you have in your home. I wonder how many stories of Jesus that you tell in your home. I wonder how many prayers you say within your family. I have a feeling there might be a lot of coins added to the jar before we get to Easter Sunday.

Prayer:

Faithful and loving God, help us to trust in you while we wait, giving thanks to you for Jesus and for the many ways we can gather and worship you. Help us to show others what we hope for by the way we love and care for them. We pray for those who will receive the coins collected that they would see your presence through them.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.