Free Sermon Templates

If you’re a children’s pastor or teacher, this outline is a godsend. Even if you’re not, a children’s sermon outline (called “The Children’s Leader” inside Sermonary) could come in handy in several situations, for example:

1. When you’re preaching to a mixed crowd of adults and kids
2. When you’re trying to explain something in a super-easy-to-understand manner (like a salvation sermon at Easter!)
3. When you want to make your message memorable.
4. When you want to have some extra fun on Sunday morning!
   
   

Developed with children’s church leaders in mind, this format centers around mixing things up and giving kids different reminders of what you’re teaching that day. 

Using this method for crafting a lesson will help you share messages that kids look forward to hearing every Sunday—plus, they’ll have an easier time understanding and remembering what you taught.

Sound good? You can sign up for a free trial of our beautiful drag-and-drop interface that makes crafting children’s lessons and sermons a breeze. Or, you can follow this outline, which is a variation on the one we include in each and every subscription to Sermonary. The results will speak for themselves!

1. Introduction: capture their attention and direct it toward the lesson.
   1. Start with your opening hook or something that will make them sit up, listen, and start thinking about the main idea or the story of your lesson.
   2. Introduce the big idea of your lesson. It should be a one-sentence phrase that kids can remember. Do what you can to make it memorable—for example, create a rhyme.
2. Word of the Day
   1. For this part of the lesson, pick a word in the passage that encapsulates or plays a big part of the entire lesson. Introduce it to the kids, and have them say it with you.
   2. Then, explain the term in a way that kids can understand. If your term is something like “Faith,” make sure you explain it on a level that a kid who hasn’t grown up in church could understand.
   3. Put this word up on the screens, on a whiteboard, or anyplace that the kids can see it and be reminded of it throughout the lesson.
3. Bible Story
   1. Now it’s time to tell a Bible story! Pick one passage for emphasis and tell the story in your own words.
   2. As you go, explain how the story relates to the big idea and word of the day that you introduced earlier.
4. Illustration and application
   1. Start the part of your lesson with an illustration, which can be an object lesson, story, skit, or anything that helps kids interpret and apply the passage to their life.
   2. Then, move on to the application, by giving them specific, age-appropriate ideas for how to apply the story to their life.
5. Reflect: small groups
   1. Divide the kids into small groups and have leaders walk them through a few questions, talking about what they just learned and how they’ll apply it.
   2. While you’re planning the lesson, create questions kids can understand and that will reinforce the story, big idea, and word of the day.
6. Review with a game, which should help reinforce the lesson/story.
   1. Memory games, dramatically re-enacting parts of the Bible story, or creating slight twists on playground games (like duck-duck-goose or Simon Says) are great places to start.
   2. Do you still need some ideas for a game?  Check out these sites for inspiration:
      1. 10 Indoor Games from ChildrensMinistry.com 
      2. Fast and Easy Bible Games from Danielle’s Place
      3. 10 Sunday School and Bible Games for Kids from Icebreaker Ideas