Family
Children's sermon
Object:
a family photo
"But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith." (vv. 25-26)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we're going to talk about families. How many of you have had a family photo like this one taken? (allow answers) What did your parents do with your family photo? (allow answers) Lots of families hang their portraits on the wall or put them in frames to display in the living room or somewhere else in the house, so they can show off the people they love.
How do you become part of a family? (allow answers) Sometimes you are adopted into a family. But even if you are adopted, you still have a biological family -- the family that you were born into. People sometimes make a big deal out of finding their biological parents. They want to know who their birth parents are, they want to learn about the family that they were born a part of.
For those of us who aren't adopted, we already know our biological family. What makes us a part of our biological family? (allow answers) People say they are related to their biological family "by blood." Do you know what that means? (allow answers) Blood relatives are people who we are related to genetically. Have you ever heard of genetics? (allow answers) Genetics is the study of how parents and children are related. How many of you have been told that you look like one of your parents or blood relatives? (allow answers) Genetics is the study of why we look like our relatives -- why we might have the same eyes as our father or the same nose as our mother or the same frizzy hair as our grandpa did when he was young. When two people have a baby, the baby is half of each of them. So in some ways, the baby looks like one parent, while in other ways, the baby looks like the other parent. Can you think of ways that you look like one of your parents? Do you have the same color of eyes or hair? Or maybe the same shape of nose or the same color of skin? (allow answers)
It is important for us to belong to a family, whether they are our biological family or an adoptive family. But there is one family that we belong to that isn't determined by genetics or by adoption papers. That is God's family. In order to be part of an earthly family, you have to be related by blood or legally adopted; but in God's family, you don't have to do any of that. God's family is one created through faith. When we believe in God, we are a part of his family. We may not look like our brothers and sisters in faith, and we may not have legal adoption papers signed by God on record with a lawyer, but we are certainly members of God's family nonetheless. And it's all through a very simple thing: faith. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we're going to talk about families. How many of you have had a family photo like this one taken? (allow answers) What did your parents do with your family photo? (allow answers) Lots of families hang their portraits on the wall or put them in frames to display in the living room or somewhere else in the house, so they can show off the people they love.
How do you become part of a family? (allow answers) Sometimes you are adopted into a family. But even if you are adopted, you still have a biological family -- the family that you were born into. People sometimes make a big deal out of finding their biological parents. They want to know who their birth parents are, they want to learn about the family that they were born a part of.
For those of us who aren't adopted, we already know our biological family. What makes us a part of our biological family? (allow answers) People say they are related to their biological family "by blood." Do you know what that means? (allow answers) Blood relatives are people who we are related to genetically. Have you ever heard of genetics? (allow answers) Genetics is the study of how parents and children are related. How many of you have been told that you look like one of your parents or blood relatives? (allow answers) Genetics is the study of why we look like our relatives -- why we might have the same eyes as our father or the same nose as our mother or the same frizzy hair as our grandpa did when he was young. When two people have a baby, the baby is half of each of them. So in some ways, the baby looks like one parent, while in other ways, the baby looks like the other parent. Can you think of ways that you look like one of your parents? Do you have the same color of eyes or hair? Or maybe the same shape of nose or the same color of skin? (allow answers)
It is important for us to belong to a family, whether they are our biological family or an adoptive family. But there is one family that we belong to that isn't determined by genetics or by adoption papers. That is God's family. In order to be part of an earthly family, you have to be related by blood or legally adopted; but in God's family, you don't have to do any of that. God's family is one created through faith. When we believe in God, we are a part of his family. We may not look like our brothers and sisters in faith, and we may not have legal adoption papers signed by God on record with a lawyer, but we are certainly members of God's family nonetheless. And it's all through a very simple thing: faith. Amen.
