Children's Sermons about the Ten Commandments

Ah, the Ten Commandments. God's specific rules for how to live in peace with Him and other people. And you get to teach them! But how do they relate to the daily lives of children? And why does God care so much about these issues, anyway?

In this collection, you'll find:

• Breaking the Rules is No Fun! – God's rules keep us safe and happy
• The One and Only God – God's first rule is to remember that He's the only God
• Idols Don't Measure Up – We can't worship anything less than God
• Taking Your Children's Names in Vain – Show students the holiness of God
• What's so Special about Sunday? – Help kids see the importance of keeping the Sabbath
• "It's for Your Own Good!" – God tells us to honor our parents so that we'll enjoy His blessings
• Don't Ruin Someone Else's Work – God tells us not to murder because He created us
• What's so Important about Marriage? – Marriage shows us how to be faithful to God
• Don't Fill in Someone Else's Hole – Stealing takes more from people than a physical object
• Lies Hurt – Why God doesn't want us to tell lies about someone else
• Envy vs. Thankfulness – We can't be both

I recommend using these children's sermons in conjunction with a Sunday School or Children's Church series on the Ten Commandments. My series is broken into 4 lessons on the Commandments that relate to our relationship with God and 6 lessons on the Commandments that relate more to our relationships with other people . The two will work well with these children's sermons to reinforce kids' learning.

Recommended Extras

These resources will add to your children's sermon series on the Ten Commandments.

Paid Resources

This is an inexpensive, charmingly illustrated book written and illustrated by three Catholic ladies. Speaking about the Ten Commandments, the book relates well to all groups of Christians. It succinctly shows what the Ten Commandments meant in the culture of Israel and what they mean for us today. The only difference Protestants will need to make is changing certain terms, such as "Mass" to "church service" as you read.

I recommend adding the appropriate sections to each of the children's sermons below. As you wrap up explaining what the Commandment for the week means, transition into showing them the book and discussing those pages that cover the topic.

These would make a great take-home gift for your students either on the first week of your children's sermon series or the last week. Encourage kids to pin them on their bedroom wall, hang them around their doorknob, or keep them handy for whatever book they're reading. Stating the Ten Commandments in short phrases, these will help kids remember what you talked about.

Free Resources

The 10 Commandments rules posters in this Ministry-to-Kids lesson would be great to use in your "It's for Your Own Good!" children's sermon on honoring parents, or even in the intro children's sermon called "Breaking the Rules is No Fun!"

Breaking the Rules is No Fun! Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon about the Ten Commandments to teach kids that God's rules help keep us safe and happy.

Scripture: Exodus 20

Needed: two toy cars and anything else you can add to the scene below, such as a toy stop sign or police officer

Children's Sermon: Show the children your two toy cars. Act out a scene in which one car doesn't stop a stop sign and hits the other car.

Ask students, What happened? Why did these two cars crash? (Lead them understand that one didn't stop when it was supposed to.)

Why do you think that car didn't stop? (Maybe they didn't see the stop sign. Maybe they were in a hurry and didn't want to stop. Maybe they thought the way was clear so they didn't have to stop.)

But we saw what happened when the car didn't stop. It caused a crash. Now, if this was real life and those were two real cars, very bad things could have happened. The people in the cars could have been hurt. The least that would happen is that now both people will have to get their cars fixed or maybe even buy new cars.

The person who broke the rules caused all those bad things to happen.

When we break the rules at home, bad things happen. Our parents or the other members of our family get upset and we get in trouble. It didn't make the person in our car happy when they broke the rules and it make us happy when we break the rules.

The rules are there to keep us safe and to keep bad things from happening. That's why God also gives us His rules. God gave us His Top Ten rules called the Ten Commandments. We'll talk more about then another time, but for now, we need to remember that God's rules are there to keep us safe and to keep bad things from happening.

God loves us and He always wants what's best for us. We break the rules that He gives us in the Bible, bad things happen.

Closing Prayer: Father God, we thank You for giving us Your rules. Help us to learn them and obey them so that they can help keep us safe and happy. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

The One and Only God Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon about the first of the Ten Commandments to teach children that there is only one true God.

Scripture: Exodus 20:3

Needed: nothing

Children's Sermon: Ask students to point to your pastor or another well-known member of your church. How you know that's _?

What if I said that I'm _? Would you believe me?

No, there's only one _ and you know who it is because you know _.

It's the same way with God. This is the first of God's Top Ten rules. The first of the Ten Commandments says…

(Read Exodus 20:3 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall have no other gods before Me."

Why do you think God says we shouldn't have any other gods?

It's because God is the only God. The devil and the demons might pretend to be gods like I could pretend to be _. Other people might make up stories and gods to believe in. But God is the only real God. That's why He tells us not to have any other gods – because they're not real.

And because we know God, we know that He's the real God. He teaches our spirits and He answers our prayers. He's real. The other gods that people believe in aren't. They're make believe or they're demons pretending to be gods.

So, remember God's first rule, the first Commandment, is to have no other gods.

Closing Prayer: Father God, You are the real God. You are the only one and we know that You're real because we can feel You in our hearts. Help us to always believe in and stay faithful to You. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Idols Don't Measure Up Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon on second of the Ten Commandments to teach kids why we don't worship idols.

Scripture: Exodus 20:4-5

Needed: a picture of Jesus and any object that represents something you use, such as a cooking pan or tool or a piece of firewood

Children's Sermon: Tell students about your object and what it helps you do. Ask, Do you think I should tell my _ object how happy it makes me?

(Pretend to talk to your object, thanking it for what it does. Be silly to show kids how ridiculous it would be to thank your object.)

It's silly to thank my _, isn't it? Maybe I could thank the person that made my _, but I don't need to thank my _.

(Show kids your picture of Jesus.)

Who's in this picture? (Jesus.)

And we should thank Jesus for all the things He does for us, right? (Yes.)

So, do you think I should thank this picture of Jesus?

I can't thank this picture of Jesus because it isn't really Jesus. It's just a picture of Him. It can remind me of Jesus, but it isn't Him.

That's why God gave us the second of His Top Ten rules. The second Commandment says…

(Read Exodus 20:4-5 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them…"

God says we should worship anything that we make. Even if we make a picture of Jesus, we can't worship it because it isn't really Him. We can only worship God. And since we can't God, we can't worship Him by making anything that looks like Him or is supposed to show Him.

We can only worship God in our hearts.

Closing Prayer: Lord, You are an awesome and holy God. You are the only God we can worship. Help us not to worship anything else that isn't You. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Taking Your Children's Names in Vain Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon on the third of the Ten Commandments to show kids how holy God's name is.

Scripture: Exodus 20:7

Needed: nothing

Children's Sermon: Tell your students a funny story about something that went wrong, but insert their names in the places where people sometimes take God's name in vain. You could say something like the following.

I was driving down the road when I heard a big pop. "Oh, (name of a student)!" I yelled in surprise. I pulled over on the side of the road and got of my car. "(Name of another student)!" I shouted angrily when I saw that one of my tired had blown. While I was changing my tire, another car drove by. The person in the car pointed at me and laughed because I was having a bad day. When he was passed, I saw that their bumper stick said they were a follower of (name of a third student), but they sure didn't act like it.

Ask students, What did you think of my story? Did you think it was funny how I used some of your names the wrong way?

Did it remind you of how people sometimes use someone else's name the wrong way?

Sometimes, people say "God" or "Jesus Christ" when they're not really talking about God or Jesus. That's not very respectful. Sometimes, people say they're a follower of Jesus, but they don't like a Christian should. And that's not showing respect to Jesus either.

God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all special. They deserve our respect. We shouldn't use their names the wrong way or say that we follow them if we don't really mean it.

In fact, that's number three on God's Top Ten rules. The third Commandment says…

(Read Exodus 20:7 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not misuse the name of theLordyour God, for theLord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name."

God says that He will punish us if we use His name in the wrong way, so let's all remember how special God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are and only use their names respectfully.

Closing Prayer: Lord, You are a holy and awesome God. You are the most special person there could be. Help us to show You respect by always using Your name in the right way. Amen.

What's so Special about Sunday? Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon about the fourth of the Ten Commandments to teach kids why it's important to keep the Sabbath.

Scripture: Exodus 20:8-11

Needed: six objects that are the same and one that is different, such as six plain pencils and one with a colorful pattern

Children's Sermon: Show students your seven objects and ask, Which of these do you think looks the most special?

They're all good _. They all work. What makes this one special? (Lead students to see that it's special because something different happened to it. It got a different design or it has an extra feature added to it, etc.)

It's kind of like the days of the week. They're all good days. Good things happen on all of the days, but one day stands out as being very special to us.

Of course, I'm talking about today. What's so special about today?

Today is the day of the week we come to church!

But who knows why we pick this day to come to church?

God's fourth Top Ten rule, the fourth of the Ten Commandments, says…

(Read Exodus 20:8-11 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"Remember the Sabbathday by keeping it holy.9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,10but the seventh day is a sabbathto theLordyour God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.11For in six days theLordmade the heavens and the earth,the sea, and all that is in them, but He restedon the seventh day.Therefore theLordblessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

We rest on the Sabbath because God rested on the Sabbath. And God knows that it's good for us to take a break and rest. It's also good for us to take at least one day a week to worship and learn about God.

We show how special God is to us by giving Him this day every week.

Closing Prayer: God, thank You for giving us a day to take a break from everything else and to rest and learn about You. Help us to obey Your commandment and always give You this special day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

"It's for Your Own Good!" Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon about the fifth of the Ten Commandments to teach kids that God gave us our parents to help us enjoy His blessings.

Scripture: Exodus 20:12

Needed: a list of rules your parents gave you as a child (it's okay if some of them seem outdated or old-fashioned as it will only add to the amusement of your message without detracting from the meaning)

Children's Sermon: Show your students the list of rules your parents gave you. Read a few of them and then ask, Why do you think my parents gave me those rules? (Lead students to understand the bad things that would have happened to you if you didn't have those rules.)

Did you know that God tells us to obey our parents? It's a big deal to God. In fact, it's one of His Top Ten rules. The fifth of the Ten Commandments says…

(Read Exodus 20:12 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"Honor your father and your mother,so that you may live longin the landtheLordyour God is giving you."

Why does the Commandment tell us to honor our parents? (So that we can live long in the land God is giving us.)

God was talking to the Israelites there, but the same thing applies to us. If we want to have a long life in the place God gave us, we have to obey our parents. They give us the rules to keep us safe and happy.

God gave us our parents so that they can teach us and take care of us. And, when our parents teach us the right things, they're teaching us what God wants us to know.

When we listen to our parents, we're listening to God. But God says that if we don't listen to our parents, we won't get the blessings that He wants to give us. We might get hurt and, if we break God's rules, God will punish us.

So, let's remember to keep God's Commandment and honor our parents so that everything will go well for us.

Closing Prayer: Father God, You gave us our fathers and mothers to teach us the right things and to keep us safe. Help us to listen to You by listening to them. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Don't Ruin Someone Else's Work Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon about the sixth of the Ten Commandments to teach kids why we shouldn't harm other people.

Scripture: Exodus 20:13

Needed: something you made

Children's Sermon: Show students your object and explain how proud you were to make it. Ask, How do you think I would feel if someone destroyed this after I made it? (Lead students to see that you would be hurt if someone ruined it.)

I think God feels the same way. One of His Top Ten, number six in the Ten Commandments, says…

(Read Exodus 20:13 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not murder."

Why do you think God doesn't want us to murder anyone?

God made everyone. He doesn't want us to murder anyone because that would be destroying something God made. And I think it even applies to hitting other people.

How do you think I would feel if someone didn't totally destroy my _, but damaged it a little bit?

I would still be upset, wouldn't I? So, God is upset when we just hurt someone else. He doesn't want us to harm another person in any way because He made them.

When we look at other people, let's remember that God made them and wants to keep them safe. Even if we get mad at them, God still made them and doesn't want us to hurt them.

Closing Prayer: Lord, You are the great Creator. You made every person. Help us not to hurt anyone, even when they make us angry. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

What's so Important about Marriage? Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon about the seventh of the Ten Commandments to teach kids that marriage teaches us to be faithful to God.

Scripture: Exodus 20:14

Needed: something that represents marriage, such as a wedding picture, a veil, a wedding ring, etc., and something that represents our faith, such as a cross or a picture of Jesus

Children's Sermon: Show students your first object and talk about how it represents marriage. Ask, Did you know that when two people get married, they're supposed to stay married forever? One of the promises people usually make when they get married is to stay married "'til death do us part," until one of them dies.

And one of God's Top Ten rules, number seven in the Ten Commandments, says…

(Read Exodus 20:14 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not commit adultery."

That's a big word that basically means, "You can only be married to one person at a time, and that marriage is supposed to last until one of you dies."

Why do you think God takes marriage so seriously? (Listen and affirm all reasonable answers.)

Did you know that God invented marriage? And I think one of the reasons He takes marriage so seriously is that it teaches us how to follow Him. If we can love and be faithful to our spouse all the years that we're married to them, then we can learn to love and be faithful to God.

Marriage is practice for loving God. We're only supposed to have one husband or wife, just like there's only God. We're supposed to stay married to our husband or wife until we die, just like we're supposed to serve God our life until we die.

Marriage shows us what it's like to follow God.

Closing Prayer: Father God, thank You for inventing marriage. Thank You for giving us husband or wives someday that will help us practice being faithful to You. Help us to stay faithful to our husband or wife and to You for our whole life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Don't Fill in Someone's Hole Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon about the eighth of the Ten Commandments to teach children how much damage stealing does.

Scripture: Exodus 20:15

Needed: picture of a POW digging a hole

Children's Sermon: Show students your picture of a POW (prisoner of war) digging a hole. Say, did you know that one thing people used to do to punish prisoners they captured in war was to make them dig holes? Does that sound fun? Digging a hole all day?

That would be hard work. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that when the prisoner was finished digging the hole, they filled it back in!

How do you think it made the prisoner feel to work all day digging a hole just to have someone fill the hole back in?

It would make them feel like they wasted their time, wouldn't it? They worked all day and then, didn't even have anything to show for it.

I think that's why God says in number eight of the Ten Commandments…

(Read Exodus 20:15 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not steal."

When we steal something from someone, we're not only taking what they have, but we're making all their efforts to get what they have seem useless. Maybe an adult went to work to get the money to buy what they have. If we steal from them, it's like their time working was useless.

Maybe another kid was really good and did their chores and saved up their allowance. If we steal from them, it's like their time doing their chores and saving their money was useless.

If someone gives somebody a gift, and then we steal that thing from them, the gift doesn't do that person any good.

If we steal from people, it makes them feel bad about what they lost and about the time they wasted to get it. That's why God tells us not to steal. It's not only about what we take from someone. It's also about we make them feel.

Closing Prayer: Father, help us to remember that stealing makes other people feel bad about what we take from them and about the time lost or the gift lost to get that item. Help us to follow Your Commandment not to steal from anyone. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Lies Hurt Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon on the ninth of the Ten Commandments to show kids how much damage lying can do.

Scripture: Exodus 20:16

Needed: a damaged item or something knocked down in your sanctuary, a volunteer to go along with your "story"

Children's Sermon: The best idea would be to knock something over in your sanctuary before kids arrive. Don't mess with anything holy, of course, but maybe a decoration or an unused chair on the platform, etc. If you can't think of anything that turn over without causing damage, bring a damaged item from somewhere in the church. Tell the pastor or another member of the church that you're going to blame them for it and ask them to play along.

Start your children's sermon by pointing out the overturned object or the damaged item. Say that you saw the pastor or another well-known member of the congregation knock it over or damage it.

Ask, Wasn't it horrible for _ to do that? Let's all boo _ for what they did. (Encourage the congregation to join in the fun by booing the person.)

Now, I have to tell you something. _ didn't really do it. I did it. And then, I told a lie about _ doing it.

How do you think it made _ feel when everyone booed them even though they didn't do it?

It probably made them feel bad. And if I hadn't told the truth, everyone would think that they did something wrong and maybe wouldn't like them as much.

That's why God gave us the ninth of His Top Ten rules. Number nine in the Ten Commandments says…

(Read Exodus 20:16 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."

That means that we shouldn't tell lies about other people. Lying about someone makes them feel bad and makes other people think the wrong thing.

If I had (knocked over or damaged the item), what should I have done instead of lying and blaming it on _?

I should have told the truth and fixed the problem. Then, everything would have been okay.

So, God's Commandment is not to lie about other people.

Closing Prayer: Father, we thank You that You care about everyone and that You don't want anyone to feel bad or have people think the wrong thing about them. Help us not to lie about other people, but to always tell the truth. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Envy vs. Thankfulness Hurt Children's Sermon

Purpose: Use this children's sermon on the last of the Ten Commandments to teach kids to be thankful for what they have instead of envious of what others have.

Scripture: Exodus 20:17

Needed: a box of small cookies and a box of large cookies

Children's Sermon: Show your box of small cookies and ask, Who wants a cookie? (Give one to anyone who wants one.)

Those are good cookies, aren't they? Who likes their cookie? Who's happy that I gave them a cookie?

(Now, show your box of large cookies and eat one in front of them. Then, put the box down without offering them one.)

Do you still like the cookie I gave you?

Do you think it was mean of me to eat that big cookie in front of you without offering you one?

I am going to give you one when I'm finished, but first, let's talk about another one of God's Top Ten rules. Number ten in the Ten Commandments says…

(Read Exodus 20:17 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not covetyour neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

That means that you shouldn't want what someone else has. If someone else has a nice house or cool toys or better clothes or bigger cookies, we shouldn't want what they have.

Why do you think God doesn't want us to want what other people have?

God wants us to be thankful for what we have. If we don't have the nicest house, we can still be thankful for the house that we do have. If we don't have the best toys or the newest clothes, we can still be thankful for the toys and clothes we do have. If we don't get the biggest cookie, we can still be happy with and thankful for the cookie that we did get.

God's tenth Commandment is to be thankful for what we have and to not want what other people have.

Closing Prayer: Lord, You've given us everything we have. Help us to be thankful for everything You give us and not always wanting what other people have. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

But since it's also nice share, I'm going to give you one of my cookies as you leave. (Pass out cookies as kids go back to their seats or to Children's Church.)

You've hopefully found these children's sermons to be of use to you in your ministry. I do offer a print version for Patreon partners when they support my ministry for as little as $1 per month. You'll receive Word documents of everything here on Blessed Steps and on my Bible Helps website.

They're also available in the Kindle Store or on Amazon. Just search "Children's Sermons about the Ten Commandments by Rev. Steve Wilson."

Besides the Sunday School lessons about the Ten Commandments I mentioned earlier, you might also want to look at my Sunday School lesson on Jacob and Esau for a lesson about stealing and lying and my Sunday School lesson on Joseph for an illustration of what it means to be envious.

May you enjoy your teaching and your preparation as God's Spirit works through you to teach His children! - Steve