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Object: A copy of a birth certificate.

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! To get started, I have a question for you. Can anyone tell me what you think you would like to be when you are grown up? (Let them respond and ask them about their choices.) It is exciting to think about what we all might become, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) And maybe a little bit scary, too, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) And you know, if you aren’t sure what you want to be yet, that is perfectly fine. One of these days you will say, “I know what I want to do!” so if you aren’t sure right now, don’t worry about it.

Now, let me ask you another question. Who can tell me what this is? (Show the birth certificate.) It is called a birth certificate, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) Who knows what that is? (Let them respond.) It is the document they create when we are born. It shows our name, who are parents are, when we were born, where we were born, how much we weighed when we were born, and some other things. It tells all about us when we were born. It kind of tells us who we are, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) But it doesn’t tell all about us now, does it? (Let them respond.) Our birth certificate tells who we were when we were born, but doesn’t really tell who we are now, does it? (Let them respond.) We have changed a lot since we were born, haven’t we? (Let them respond.) We are changing all the time, aren’t we? (Let them respond.) That’s what our story is about today.

One day, Jesus was talking with some people and he was trying to tell them who he was. He told them that God had sent him to help them. He said he was like bread that God sent from heaven. (Show the bread.) He said he was like bread that God had sent them from heaven to make sure they were never hungry or needed anything again. Jesus was telling them that he was God’s son and that God had sent him to help them. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)

But, some of the people got all upset and started arguing. They said things like, “Did he just say he was God’s Son and came from heaven? That’s crazy. I know he grew up in Nazareth.” And somebody else said, “Yeah, he did. And I know his parents. His father was a carpenter named Joseph, and his mother is a woman named Mary.” Somebody else said, “I heard he was born in Bethlehem.” They all shouted, “Why the heck are you saying you came down from heaven? We know where you are from and who you really are!”

The people were all upset because they thought Jesus was lying to them, weren’t they? (Let them respond.) They didn’t give birth certificates back when Jesus was born. (Show the birth certificate.) But someone would have written a note in the temple documents that told about a baby named Jesus being born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem that day. So when Jesus told them he was God’s Son and that God had sent him to them, the people said they knew who he was and that he sure wasn’t from heaven. They all said they knew who he really was, didn’t they? (Let them respond.)

But they made a mistake, didn’t they? (Let them respond.) They knew Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth, but they didn’t know who he was now, did they? (Let them respond.) They didn’t know how God had helped him grow up to become someone very special who was going to help so many people, did they? (Let them respond.)

And we are just like that, too, aren’t we? (Let them respond.) We might know who we were when we were born, and even know who we are right now. But we don’t know who God is going to help us become.

You know, I don’t think God cares too much about a piece of paper that says who we were when we were born. (Put down the birth certificate.) I think God is more interested in who we are going to be. Right now, we might be big or small, rich or poor. We might live in a nice place or we might not have such a nice place to live. We might be really popular, or really shy. God knows those aren’t the things that tell people who we really are, or who we are going to become, are they? (Let them respond.)

So, I have an idea. Instead of worrying about what we are going to be when we grow up, let’s think about how much God loves each one of us, no matter who we might be now, and just wonder how God is going to help us become someone special who can help take care of the people around us.

Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that God created each one of us, and wants to help us become someone who will help take care of each other and that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.