Overcoming the Impossible

Short Talk (SHT171) Overcoming the Impossible © Jane Hulme 2019 Aim of Short talk: Use of Short talk: Main themes: Biblical references: Lectionary: Props: Before the service: To teach people that they can overcome the seemingly impossible challenge of following Jesus with even a small amount of faith in Him. This is a short All Age talk picking out one issue from the Lectionary Gospel reading of the Sunday main service. The talk stands alone and assumes that the Gospel Bible reading may not yet have been read to the congregation. It could be used for example, for the whole congregation before the children go out to their age specific groups, leaving the adults with a full sermon later. Discipleship, Forgiveness, Faith Luke 17:1-10 (I have included verses 1-4 in order to give verses 5-6 context) Year C – 16th Sunday after Trinity You need a large tray which is piled up with plates, mugs etc. Place the tray on a table in front of the congregation. You will need to choose a small child (C) and their parent (P) SHORT TALK: “Overcoming the Impossible” before the service and brief them appropriately. .................................................................................................................. As you can see in front of me, I have a large tray of dishes that needs to be carried back to the kitchen. (If you don’t have a kitchen that is easily accessible, mention another room eg. vestry etc) • C, (name of child) please could you come and do that for me? (C comes forward and attempts to pick up the tray but can’t) • Are you finding what I have asked you to do impossible? (C says “yes”) Of course, it is impossible for C to pick up a heavy tray of crockery and carry it to the kitchen. • So C, do you know someone who could come and help you move this tray to the kitchen? (C says “yes, my mum/dad”) • OK mum/dad.....please could you come and help C do this impossible task. (P comes forward and together P & C carry the tray to the kitchen) Thank you very much. I asked C to do something impossible didn’t I? • But because C had faith in their mum/dad, the impossible was made possible; • the heavy tray of crockery was moved. 2 © Jane Hulme 2019 You could say that C’s faith was powerful! • Faith is a powerful thing if placed in the right person. One day, when Jesus was teaching His disciples, He told them that they were going to have to learn to do something that is normally impossible for ordinary people to do in their own strength. • Jesus told them that they were going to have to learn to forgive other people when they hurt them, • even if they had to forgive them seven times in one day! Now normally when someone really really hurts us, what do we want to do? (Receive responses) For most people when they have been really hurt by someone else, they want to get their own back don’t they? • They want to hurt the other person. They may do that by fighting them or using angry and hateful words, • or they may do that by ending the friendship they once had and not talking to them again, • or they may do that by doing their best to spoil the other person’s reputation. But Jesus said to the disciples, and He says to us, that we need to forgive the other person. • That is a pretty impossible thing for most of us to do isn’t it? • The disciples realised that and said to Jesus: “Increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5) In other words, they realised that what Jesus was asking them to do, they couldn’t do in their own strength. • They needed God’s help. Jesus then said to them: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.” (Luke 17:6) Jesus told His disciples, and He tells us, that even with a tiny amount of faith that is placed in Him, we can do what is otherwise impossible; • be that forgiving someone who has hurt us, • or obeying Him in some other way. Faith in Jesus is powerful. • So today, let us ask Jesus to increase our faith in Him so that we can do the things that sometimes seem impossible, like forgiving other people when they hurt us. © Jane Hulme 2019 3