This week I’m going to do a “Gospel According to Finding Nemo” sermon. I’ve seen it at least a hundred times–oh the blessings of having two little boys–and I think I can draw some great parallels between Marlin and the God who relentlessly pursues us. I’d love to find a way to include the “Sharks Anonymous” scene, which is my favorite, but I’m not sure it will preach. If you have an angle, please share. The connection doesn’t have to be that strong, I’ve twisted and spun many an illustration to make them fit into a sermon.
One of the reasons I’m doing Nemo is because our Children’s worship leaders are taking a well-deserved break for a few Sundays. I figure Nemo will engage the kids and hopefully make things a bit easier on all the parents in the house, one of which will be my wife who has the chore of keeping Caleb corralled while her long-winded husband jabbers on.
I’ve been told that on the Sundays that we don’t have a worship experience for the kids, some families don’t show up because keeping the kids in the assembly the whole time is way too hard. While I’m disappointed that parents make that decision, I understand why they do. Before our kids came along, I would have judged them to be shallow-minded consumer-Christians who only show up for church to “get something out of it,” rather than worship God. But having two boys under forty months of age has taught me to give extra grace to parents with small ones. Since preaching is way easier than keeping a three year old occupied, I’m going to try and do my part by preaching shorter sermons and making a special effort to engage the kids.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons