Lancaster United Methodist Church - Sermon Resources

"NAMED": Child of God!
"The Identity and Inheritance of God's Children "

Sermon Resources

Title: Living with the Holy Spirit, Life with the Trinity: The Blanket, the Cape, and the Prayer Shawl

Sermon Summary: What does it mean to carry a name that was given to you by God himself? This message takes us deep into one of the most identity-shaping truths in all of Scripture. Drawing from 1 John 3:1, where the apostle declares that we are called children of God and that is what we are, we are invited to sit inside the room where those words were first heard. It was a room of have-nots, of women with no legal standing, of slaves who were counted as property rather than people. Into that room came words that were nothing short of politically explosive, because in the Roman Empire, only Caesar could claim the title of child of God. For ordinary people to take that name on was an act of radical, courageous faith. And yet that is exactly what the text calls us to do. The message draws a powerful parallel between the legal act of adoption in the ancient Roman world and our spiritual identity in Christ. In Roman law, a biological child could be disowned, but an adopted child could never be. That covenant was irrevocable. When we understand that we are adopted into God's family, not as a lesser category but as a permanent and chosen inheritance, it reshapes how we see ourselves entirely. We are not provisional. We are not placeholders. We are named, and that name carries weight.

Key Points:
The declaration "children of God" in 1 John 3:1 was politically and socially subversive in first-century Rome, where only Caesar held the title "son of the divine"
Naming something carries transformative power, as illustrated through examples from science including gravity, black holes, and the Big Bang
Prevenient grace means God's love and claim on us precedes any acknowledgment on our part -- we are already God's children before we know it
Justifying grace is the moment we catch up with what is already true about how God sees us, when the name becomes real and acknowledged
Sanctifying grace continues to nurture, grow, and sustain us after we receive our identity as children of God
In Roman law, adoption was irrevocable -- a biological child could be disowned, but an adopted child could not -- making the adoption language of Scripture a statement of permanent, unbreakable belonging
Being named a child of God carries privileges: protection, inheritance, peace that passes understanding, and authority to speak that name against every diminishing voice
Scripture Reference:
1 John 3:1 -- John declares the lavish love of the Father in calling believers children of God, and affirms that this is not merely a title but a present reality
Stories:
The pastor's personal testimony of being born and abandoned at a Los Angeles hospital, placed as a foster child and given the provisional name "Buddy," and then adopted at age three by Dorothy and Poindexter Washington, receiving the legal name Christian Matthew Washington -- used to illustrate the transition from provisional identity to named, claimed, and inherited belonging
Sir Isaac Newton naming gravity, illustrating how naming a force gives humanity the ability to study, understand, and even overcome it
John Meredith naming "gravitationally completely consumed matter" as a black hole, showing how a name transforms how we perceive and engage with something
Fred Hoyle coining the term "Big Bang" as a mockery, only to have it become the defining and widely embraced name for the theory of the universe's origin, illustrating how names intended to diminish can instead define and elevate
The historical context of Roman Caesars being chosen and adopted rather than biologically descended, used to illuminate the irrevocable nature of adoptive covenant in contrast to biological inheritance

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Discussion Questions

The sermon opens with the affirmation 'I am significant because God says so' -- in what ways do you struggle to believe your significance is determined by God rather than by your circumstances, achievements, or what others say about you?

The preacher describes how the words 'you are children of God' were politically subversive in the first century, challenging the power of Caesar -- in what ways might claiming your identity as a child of God be considered countercultural or even dangerous in the world you live in today?

The concept of Lectio Divina involves reading scripture three times and asking what stands out, what God is saying, and what you should do -- how might adopting this kind of intentional, prayerful approach to scripture change the way you engage with the Bible?

The preacher reflects on being called 'Buddy' as a provisional name before being adopted and given a permanent identity -- what provisional names or labels have you been living under that do not reflect who God says you truly are?

Prevenient grace is described as a grace that goes before us, chasing and surrounding us even before we acknowledge it -- how does the idea that God was already for you before you ever turned toward God change the way you understand your spiritual journey?

The sermon draws a distinction between prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace as three movements in our relationship with God -- which of these three movements do you find yourself most in need of right now, and why?

The preacher points out that in Roman law an adopted child could not be disowned, whereas a biological child could be -- how does understanding your relationship with God as an unbreakable covenant of adoption rather than a conditional biological bond affect your sense of spiritual security?

Names in the sermon carry enormous weight -- from 'gravity' to 'black hole' to 'Big Bang' to 'Christian Matthew Washington' -- how has being named or labeled by others, whether positively or negatively, shaped the way you see yourself and your potential?

The sermon ends with a call to practice saying your name, 'child of God,' whenever something or someone challenges your identity or worth -- what specific situations in your life this week will require you to speak that name over yourself, and how prepared do you feel to do so?

John writes his letter to a small, marginalized community of mostly illiterate have-nots who had just experienced a church split, and yet he calls them children of God -- what does it mean for the church today to be a community where people who feel like have-nots are reminded of the fullness of their identity in God?

5-Day Bible Reading Plan and Devotional Guide
Named: Living as Children of God

Day 1: You Are Named

Reading: 1 John 3:1-3

Devotional: Before the world assigned you a label, God had already named you. The apostle John writes with urgency and wonder, reminding believers that being called children of God is not a courtesy title but a declared reality. Like a child whose name is called out in a crowded courtroom and sealed by a judge's gavel, your identity has been established by the highest authority in existence. The names others have placed on you — failure, forgotten, less than — carry no legal weight in God's kingdom. Practice this week speaking your true name aloud. You are a child of God.

Reflection: What provisional names have you been carrying that God is calling you to release?

Practical Application: Write down three labels the world has given you. Beside each one, write: "Child of God."

Day 2: Grace That Went Before You

Reading: Romans 8:38-39

Devotional: Long before you knew God's name, God knew yours. Theologians call this prevenient grace — a grace that moves ahead of you, surrounding you before you are even aware of it. Paul declares in Romans 8 that nothing in all creation has the power to separate us from God's love. Not abandonment. Not poverty. Not the circumstances of your birth or the failures of your past. God's love is not reactive. It does not wait for you to get yourself together before it shows up. It was already there, already working, already claiming you as its own.

Reflection: Where in your past can you now see evidence of a grace that was present before you recognized it?

Practical Application: Spend five minutes in silence today, simply receiving the truth that God's love preceded every mistake you have ever made.

Day 3: The Moment the Gavel Falls

Reading: Romans 5:1-2

Devotional: Justifying grace is the moment we catch up with what has always been true. Paul writes in Romans 5 that through faith we have been given access to a standing of peace with God — not a peace we earned, but one we were brought into. Justification is not God changing His mind about you. It is you finally agreeing with what God has said all along. Like an adoption made legal in a courtroom, the declaration does not change your nose or your outfit, but it changes everything about your standing, your inheritance, and your belonging. You are no longer Buddy. You have a name.

Reflection: Have you fully received the reality of your justification, or are you still living as though you are waiting to be chosen?

Practical Application: Read Romans 5:1-2 aloud three times today, replacing "we" and "us" with your own name.

Day 4: Nurtured and Not Abandoned

Reading: John 14:16-18

Devotional: Grace does not drop you at the courthouse door and leave you to figure out the rest alone. Jesus promises in John 14 that the Father would send a Comforter, a presence that would abide — not visit, not check in, but remain. Sanctifying grace is the ongoing work of God in a life already claimed and named. It is the grace that grows you, catches you when you fall, and refuses to let the distance between who you are and who God is calling you to become feel permanent. You are not just named and left. You are named and nurtured, every single day.

Reflection: In what area of your life do you most need to receive the ongoing nurturing presence of God right now?

Practical Application: Identify one habit or practice this week that would help you remain in conscious awareness of God's abiding presence.

Day 5: Heirs Together — Living the Name

Reading: Romans 8:15-17

Devotional: Paul writes in Romans 8 that we have not received a spirit that leads back to fear, but one that causes us to cry out to God as Father — as the one to whom we fully belong. The inheritance of a child of God is not stored away for some distant future. It includes peace that surpasses understanding, authority over fear, and a belonging that no person's neglect or rejection can revoke. In the Roman world John and Paul inhabited, an adopted child could never be disowned. That covenant was irrevocable. You were chosen. You were named. You are covered. Go into this week knowing exactly what to say when the world tries to tell you otherwise.

Reflection: What would change about how you move through your daily life if you truly lived from the security of being an irrevocably chosen child of God?

Practical Application: Each morning this week, before you check your phone or speak to anyone, say aloud: "I am a child of God. That is my name. That is who I am today."
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Small Group Guide
"Named" — Children of God

BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Open your time together by having each person in the group say the following affirmation aloud:
"I am significant because God says so. I am significant, and I was created to do significant things."
Then open in prayer, asking God to open hearts and minds to what He wants to speak to each person in the group this week.

SERMON OVERVIEW
This week's message explored what it means to be named and claimed as children of God, drawn from the same scripture passage Pastor Greg taught the previous week. The preacher used his own story of adoption, the historical context of John's first letter, and the Wesleyan understanding of grace to help us see that our identity as children of God is not something we earn — it is something we are given, something that has always been true, and something we are called to walk in every day.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. Your name matters. Names are not just labels. They carry identity, inheritance, privilege, protection, and belonging. When God names us His children, everything that comes with that name belongs to us.
2. You were claimed before you knew it. Just as a child can belong to a family before the legal process is complete, God's grace was pursuing each of us before we ever acknowledged it. This is what John Wesley called prevenient grace — grace that goes before us.
3. The declaration "you are children of God" was radical. In the first century, calling ordinary people — slaves, women, the poor — children of God was politically dangerous and socially subversive. It meant their identity was rooted in something no empire, no system, and no person could take away.
4. Adoption in the Roman world was irrevocable. Unlike biological children who could be disowned, an adopted child in Roman culture could not be. When Scripture says we are adopted into God's family, it means our place is secure. We cannot be disowned.
5. Grace does not leave us where it finds us. Prevenient grace finds us. Justifying grace names us. Sanctifying grace grows us. God's grace is with us at every stage of the journey.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Use these questions to guide your group conversation. You do not need to cover every question — move at the pace that serves your group best.

Opening — Getting Honest
What is a name or label — positive or negative — that someone gave you at some point in your life that stuck with you? How did that name shape the way you saw yourself?
Have you ever gone through a season where you forgot who you were? What contributed to that, and what helped you find your footing again?
Going Deeper — Into the Text
The preacher described the room where John's letter was first read — mostly people with little social standing, including slaves and women, people who had just experienced a painful church split. How does knowing that context change the way you hear the words "you are children of God"?
In 1 John 3:1, John expresses amazement that God would call us His children and affirms that this is genuinely what we are. Why do you think John felt the need to emphasize it so strongly? Do you think people today struggle to believe it just as much as those first-century listeners did?
The preacher described three dimensions of Wesleyan grace:
Prevenient grace — God pursuing us before we knew Him
Justifying grace — the moment we catch up with what is already true about God's love
Sanctifying grace — the ongoing work of grace that grows and nurtures us
Which of these three feels most real to you right now? Which feels hardest to hold onto?

Getting Personal — Applying It
The preacher said that being adopted gave him not just a name, but "covering and protection, a home, an inheritance, and a connection to something." What does it mean practically for you to live as though you have those things as a child of God?
He also noted that before the gavel came down and he was legally named, he was already a child of that family — the paperwork just had to catch up with the reality. Is there an area of your life where you are still waiting for your circumstances to "catch up" with who God says you are? How might you begin living from that identity now rather than waiting?
The sermon closed with a challenge: when someone or something comes against you this week — doubt, fear, a person's words, your own inner critic — respond by saying your name. "I am a child of God."
What is the most likely situation this week where you will need to remember your name? Be specific if you are comfortable sharing.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Choose one or more of the following to practice individually or as a group this week:
Daily Name Practice: Each morning this week, before you look at your phone or begin your routine, say aloud: "My name is child of God." Notice how it feels on day one compared to day seven.

Lectio Divina Exercise: The preacher described his practice of reading Scripture three times with three different questions:

What is jumping out at me?
What is God saying to me through this?
What am I now supposed to do with this?

Try this practice with 1 John 3:1-3 on your own before the group meets again. Bring what you noticed to share with the group next week.
Write Your Name: Take a piece of paper and write down every negative name or label you have carried — things others have called you, things you have called yourself. Then, over each one, write: "Child of God." Keep it somewhere you will see it.

Extend the Name: Look for one person in your life this week who may not know their name — someone who seems forgotten, overlooked, or defined by what they have been through. Find a way to remind them, through your words or your actions, that they are significant.

CLOSING PRAYER
Close your time together using the prayer from the sermon as a guide, or pray it together as written:
"God, you are a father, a mother, a parent. You are there for us. And you name us your children. I pray that you would take this word and cement it into our hearts and minds. We are children of God, and we can practice that now. Thank you that your name has privileges — privileges of protection and inheritance and power and authority. We are so grateful for your prevenient, your justifying, and your sanctifying grace. In Jesus' matchless name. Amen."

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
Explore what Romans 8:15-17 says about the spirit of adoption and what it means to be a co-heir with Christ.
Read about the Wesleyan understanding of prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace and discuss with your group how these three movements of grace have shown up in your own story.
Consider the historical context of 1 John and how the early church understood identity in contrast to the claims of the Roman Empire.