Preparation:  In a bag — a broken teddy bear or other soft toy and a photo of a child

I have something in my bag.
What is it?  [A teddy bear]
What’s wrong with it?  [It’s broken. It’s torn.]

What’s this?  [A picture of a child.]
Let’s give this child a name. What shall we call them?
They (or he or she, if the child has been designated a girl or boy) are part of a big family: Mama, Papa, Sister, Brother, and Baby. Anyone of them could have broken and torn the teddy bear, but who do you think tore it? This little child/girl/boy [name chosen by the group] tore it.
• What do you think will happen?
• What should the child [use name given] do?

Some people would never tell that they tore it, that they broke it. They would only tell if others discovered they had broken it.

What do you think Jesus wants us to do?

Jesus teaches that we should tell, admit, confess when we have done something wrong. We are responsible. When we tell people we have broken something, or done something wrong, what do we usually say?  [Sorry]
That is the first step in making things right.
Then we fix or mend whatever we have broken and mend our broken relationships.

Pray with me. Jesus, you know we all make mistakes. We all do things that we should not do. We all sin. You teach us that when we make mistakes, the next right thing to do is tell others that we have done something wrong and say sorry. Then we can work to fix what we have broken. Thank you for being our teacher. Amen.

Originally prepared for Romans 6:1-11, Pentecost 4 (Proper 7), Year A

Photo: Grandpa’s love, Guatemala