Passage:
Resources needed:
- Blank paper
- Felt tip pens
- Scissors
Activity Part One:
Draw an outline of yourself on the sheet of paper with a large, blank speech bubble.
Talk:
Have a look at the paper person in front of you. If you were to fill that blank space with the things that you think about yourself what would it say? How would you describe yourself? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What do you like, what do you dislike?
How about if it was what you think other people think about you?
How about what you think God thinks about you?
This morning we’re going to look at what it means for each one of us to be adopted into God’s family. Keep hold of your paper person as you’re going to need them later!
Do you know where the word “adoption” comes from?
It actually comes from Latin and is made up of two words: “To” and “choose”. So to be adopted means to be chosen, to be picked out and grafted into a new family.
Today’s passage tells us that God chose each one of us.
God chose you.
Just pause to think about that for a moment.
He saw all your good parts, all your bad parts and everything in between and he chose you to be part of his family.
You might know someone who has adopted an animal, perhaps a dog or a cat – they go out and choose the pet that they think will be the best fit for them and then they go all out to look after them. They feed them, they clean them, they get up at six in the morning in the dead of winter to take them for a walk. They love them unconditionally, even when the pet empties the kitchen bin or doesnt quite make it to their litter tray on time (If you own a pet you could personalise this part).
But as great as that is it isn’t a patch on what God has done for us. God has adopted (chosen) us to be his children and given us all the rights of natural born children. We can have access to him 24/7, we are his heirs.
In the culture that Paul was writing to being adopted was one of the highest privileges that someone could receive. Once someone was adopted they were viewed as 100% the son or daughter of the person who had adopted them. There was no distinction between them and the natural born children of the parent. That is what it means for God to adopt us. We are 100% his children.
So now that we are adopted into his family we not only have a new heavenly father but suddenly we also have new spiritual brothers and sisters. Hebrews 2:11 says this “Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he isn’t ashamed to call them brothers & sisters.”
Take a moment to have a look around this room. If you are a Christian then these people are your brothers and sisters. Hopefully that isn’t too scary a prospect!
If God has chosen each one of us, brought us into his family, given us all the rights and privileges that come with being his child and has surrounded us with brothers and sisters then what is our response to him?
We can choose to continue to live in the same way that we did before we were adopted or we can choose to allow God to change us into his family likeness. Which will you choose today?
Activity Part Two:
Go back to your paper person, how does what you’ve heard this morning change what you might have written in that speech bubble at the start of the service?
Take a minute to think back through what you’ve heard this morning. What stood out to you? Was there something you understood for the first time or heard from a new perspective? Or something you already knew but have been reminded of. Write that thing down in the speech bubble. If you’d prefer you could simply write a prayer of thanks to God.
Cut your person out (speech bubble attached) and stick it on the wall at the front with the others as a reminder that we are all now part of God’s family.