Redeeming a Dog

Monday:	Redeeming a Dog
Bible Passages:	[Needed]
Objective:	God has paid to adopt us and bring us into his family.

Introduction: The Dog Pound

When dogs don't have a home, they get taken to the dog pound and locked up. The Humane Society keeps the dogs at the pound for a little while, hoping that someone will come and take them home. They feed them a little bit, but they don't play with them, and they don't hug them, and they don't give them treats, and they don't have time to be friends with every doggy that's there. They don't love them. It's not a very nice place for a doggy to live.

When Zeke was little, he ended up at the dog pound. He was sad, and he was afraid, and just a little bit hungry. He didn't like it at the pound. But somebody came and wanted to take Zeke home.

Story: Redemption

Did you know that to bring a dog home from the pound, you have to pay money? It costs a lot of money, more than fifty dollars. But somebody came and loved Zeke enough to pay the price. They willingly paid the money, so that Zeke could go home with them.

But Zeke had to choose to go. He had to let them put the leash on him, and he had to go with them. He was scared, but he didn't want to stay at the pound either.

Application: God has redeemed us.

Just like somebody paid to redeem Zeke from the dog pound, somebody paid to redeem us, too. Jesus paid the price so that we could some day go home with him. Just like Zeke had to choose to go on the leash and leave the pound, we have to choose to follow Jesus so that we can go with him.

Invitation: Salvation

Invite any children who want to be adopted by God to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.