Adopted By God

Children’s Sermon

Adopted by God

Ephesians 1:4-6 {NIV}

Props: (1) Pictures of puppies (2) A copy of a Pet Adoption Certificate that you can make or get from an animal shelter.

Hello everybody!

Hey, let me ask you some questions.

Do you like puppies? I have some pictures of puppies for you to look at.

Do any of you have a dog?

Where did you get your dog?

Did you buy it from a pet store?

Was it given to you by a friend? Perhaps you got it as a gift.

I’ll tell you a really great place to get a pet -- from the animal shelter or animal rescue. That is where I got one of the best dogs I’ve ever had. Her name was Ginger and she was a bulldog … like these in this picture.

I had heard that they had some really nice dogs at the animal shelter. Some had strayed away from home and some had been brought there by their owner because they didn’t want them anymore. There were all types and breeds of dogs. There were big dogs, little dogs, pure bred dogs, and plain old mutts, but they all had one thing in common. They were without anyone to care for them and if no one wanted them -- well, their future wasn’t very bright.

I decided that I wanted Ginger the moment I saw her. I just couldn’t help myself when she looked at me with those big, sad eyes. I told the person in charge that I had decided which dog I wanted and was told that I could adopt her.

I think there is something special about adopting a pet, because you know that because of you, that pet now has a future.

Did you know that you and I can be adopted by God? “Adopted” means that God want you to be part of His family and he wants to take care of you. He does that because he loves you.

The Bible says (Ephesians 1:5-6)

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

The Bible tells us that God loves us and wants us to be his own. His plan, from the very beginning, was to adopt us and to make us a part of his family through his Son, Jesus Christ. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are adopted into God’s family.

Without God, we don’t have much of a future, but as his child, our future is bright. We praise him for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us as his adopted children. He gives us everything we need.

Dear Father, thank you for loving us and adopting us into your family. We love you too! Amen.

This children’s sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell

Potsdam (New York) Church of the Nazarene

www.potsdam-naz.org