Creation Children’s Message: We Are Children of God

Through this children’s message, kids explore the significance of names and discover that they are children of God.

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4-25

You’ll need:

• Bible
• marker
• name tags (2 per child)

Easy prep:

Beforehand, write “Child of God” on each name tag.

Teacher tip:

If you have a book of names and their meanings, bring it to the message time. Look up the meanings of several children’s names.

Understanding the Meanings of Names

Say: I was walking into the blossom today, and I saw the marshmallow talking to one of the golf shoes. The marshmallow wanted a scoreboard for the hand cream so they could learn about the chicken hawks. Anyway, after I saw them I walked in here to the snorkel and saw all of you bluebottles sitting here, so I thought I’d deliver a bluebottle cranberry. And that’s why I’m here.

Look at the children’s confused expressions, then ask:

• What’s wrong? Didn’t you understand me? Why not?

Say: Things we talk about all have names, don’t they? We know what things are called, and it helps us talk to each other about the world around us. Open your Bible to Genesis 2. Did you ever wonder how things got their names? We know how all the animals got their names. The Bible tells us that God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would name them. Adam got to give a name to every living creature!

All of you have names, as well. Your parents gave you your names. Sometimes parents name their children after other people in the family, after songs, after people in movies, or because they want a name that means something very special. One family had six kids and then had another little girl. They named her Amanda, which means “much loved,” because she had so many brothers and sisters to love her.

You Are a Child of God

Ask the children if they know how they got their names.

Ask:

• Do any of you know the meaning of your name?

Allow kids to respond. If you brought a name book, read some meanings from it.

Say: It’s fun to know names and meanings. It helps us look at ourselves in a new way! I think Adam must have looked at creation in a new way once he named everything. The neat thing is, no matter what your name is, no matter what it means, we all have another special name, and that’s “Child of God.” God made creation, and God made you. You are a child of God.

Give each child a name tag to wear. As you do, pray: Dear God, thanks for all the names of your creation. Thanks especially for naming [name of child] “Child of God.” Continue thanking God for each child as you place a name tag on each one. In Jesus’ name, amen. Once every child is wearing a name tag, give each one a second name tag. Give this second name tag away so someone else knows he or she is also named “Child of God.”

This message comes from The Humongous Book of Children’s Messages. In this resource, you can choose from more than 170 messages to best fit your children’s sermon, a devotion, or to complement a Sunday school lesson. Looking for more ideas? Check out these posts!