With the Covid19 Virus impacting our lives, you may want to adapt this message to the situation at hand.
MESSAGE: (As you begin the message display an exaggerated sneeze into a handkerchief. Have someone in audience pre-selected to call out "God bless you" right after your sneeze.)
Many people say "God bless you" or "gesundheit" when someone sneezes like I just did. No one says anything when you cough, or blow your nose, or burp. So why do sneezes get special attention?
The practice of blessing someone who sneezes goes way back in time. Some people say that ancient people held the folk belief that a person's soul could be thrown from their body when they sneezed or that sneezing was the body's way to force out an evil spirit. There were even some people in the past who may have thought that the heart stops beating during a sneeze and so the phrase "God bless you" kept the heart still beating.
During the Black Plague of 590 AD Pope Gregory I of the Catholic Church ordered unceasing prayer for divine intercession due to the thousands of people dying. Part of his command was that anyone who sneezed should immediately e blessed with, "God bless you," since sneezing was one of the first signs that a person was falling ill with the plague. As a result it became a custom to say "God bless you" anytime someone sneezed.
So what does the word "blessing" really mean? Well a blessing is something that is a favor or gift bestowed on you by God. A blessing is meant to make you happy and you know what, I always like things that make me happy. A blessing is also meant to be shared.
Our Bible verse today is from Genesis 12:2: "I will bless you. . .and you will be a blessing."
God is asking us to share our blessings with other people. When you care about helping other people and do things to make them happy we are double blessed. The more you bless other people and the more you help them, the more God blesses your life. Think of all the ways you could be a blessing to your family, at school, or here at church.
So now I want all of you to take a tissue and cover you nose just to be safe and do just what I do. (After each child has a tissue cover your nose and pretend to sneeze) "Ahh...ahh...ahh...choooooo!" And the congregation said, "GOD BLESS YOU!" You kids can go now, but please keep your own tissue.
Many people say "God bless you" or "gesundheit" when someone sneezes like I just did. No one says anything when you cough, or blow your nose, or burp. So why do sneezes get special attention?
The practice of blessing someone who sneezes goes way back in time. Some people say that ancient people held the folk belief that a person's soul could be thrown from their body when they sneezed or that sneezing was the body's way to force out an evil spirit. There were even some people in the past who may have thought that the heart stops beating during a sneeze and so the phrase "God bless you" kept the heart still beating.
During the Black Plague of 590 AD Pope Gregory I of the Catholic Church ordered unceasing prayer for divine intercession due to the thousands of people dying. Part of his command was that anyone who sneezed should immediately e blessed with, "God bless you," since sneezing was one of the first signs that a person was falling ill with the plague. As a result it became a custom to say "God bless you" anytime someone sneezed.
So what does the word "blessing" really mean? Well a blessing is something that is a favor or gift bestowed on you by God. A blessing is meant to make you happy and you know what, I always like things that make me happy. A blessing is also meant to be shared.
Our Bible verse today is from Genesis 12:2: "I will bless you. . .and you will be a blessing."
God is asking us to share our blessings with other people. When you care about helping other people and do things to make them happy we are double blessed. The more you bless other people and the more you help them, the more God blesses your life. Think of all the ways you could be a blessing to your family, at school, or here at church.
So now I want all of you to take a tissue and cover you nose just to be safe and do just what I do. (After each child has a tissue cover your nose and pretend to sneeze) "Ahh...ahh...ahh...choooooo!" And the congregation said, "GOD BLESS YOU!" You kids can go now, but please keep your own tissue.