What is Your Greatest Treasure?

Short Talk (SHT163) What is your greatest treasure? © Jane Hulme 2019 Aim of Short talk: Use of Short talk: Main themes: Biblical references: Lectionary: Props: To teach people that their greatest treasure is Jesus and that He can be found when we look for 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. Treasure, Money, Jesus Luke 12:32-40 Year C – 8th Sunday after Trinity You need the following: • A “treasure chest” (a simple cardboard box covered with foil works) filled with either gold chocolate coins1 or with “Werther’s Original2” sweets. Hide this somewhere in the church building. • A “map” that you have created showing the layout of your church building and marked with an X where you have hidden the treasure chest. SHORT TALK: “What is your greatest treasure?” .................................................................................................................. Over the years all sorts of different people have looked for treasure....they still do! • They may be pirates looking for hordes of gold that are hidden on remote islands. • They may be deep sea divers looking for gold, and silver and emeralds on ships that have sunk. • They may be people with metal detectors looking for old and valuable coins that are sunk in the earth, left by people who lived long ago. These hunters set their hearts on finding treasure, • and once they have found it, they set their hearts on keeping it! Would any of you like to be a treasure hunter today? (Receive a few willing volunteers) • In this building there is a chest of treasure to be found; it is full of gold. 1 You can purchase gold chocolate coins from Amazon at www.amazon.co.uk and by putting “gold chocolate coins” in the search bar. 2 You can purchase bags of “Werther’s Original” sweets from most supermarkets. © Jane Hulme 2019 2 Here is a map (produce your map) • You can see that there is an X mark on it. • That mark shows where the treasure can be found. • See if you can find it. (Send off your treasure seekers to find the treasure) You’ve found the treasure chest. Well done. • Let’s see what’s inside it. (Open the treasure chest and pull out some of the “gold” sweets/coins) • I told you that there was gold in this here building! These treasure hunters set their hearts on finding treasure, • and now that they have found it, they will probably set their hearts on keeping it! • You can keep it.....but I hope that you will share it!! • Let’s leave it at the front of church until the end of the service and you can decide what to do with it then. (Send volunteers back to their seats) Now most of us here will not be travelling across oceans to seek gold and silver and jewels, • but that doesn’t mean we aren’t seeking treasure. • The most common treasure that we can set our hearts on getting is money. • Once we have got some money, we tend to set our hearts on keeping it so that nobody can take it off us. Jesus said something very interesting to His followers about the treasure of money and holding onto it. He said: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” (Luke 12:33) • I wonder why Jesus said that. • I wonder why Jesus would tell people to get rid of some of their treasure. I think He said that because He knew that there is a much greater treasure to be had; • a treasure that is much more valuable and precious than gold or silver, • a treasure that can never be taken away from us, • a treasure that will last not only while we live on this earth but will last for all eternity. This treasure is the treasure of knowing Jesus and living life with Him each day. • But, like treasure hunters that go after gold, we need to set our hearts on finding Jesus, • and once we have found Him, we need to set our hearts on keeping Him as our greatest treasure. • One of the ways that we can do this is by regularly letting go of some of our lesser treasures; giving some of our money to the poor and needy, so that money is no longer the greatest treasure in our hearts. So today as we think about treasure, let me ask you a couple of questions to think about: • What is your greatest treasure? • What do you put most of your energy into looking for – is it Jesus or is it something else? © Jane Hulme 2019 3