Children’s Sermon

Mark 1:9-15

Who Are You?

By Lois Parker Edstrom

Objects suggested:

An ink pad and paper to make a fingerprint.

Sometimes you are asked to prove who you are so you can enroll in school, check out a library book, get money from a bank, or travel to another country. You may need to show your birth certificate, a library card, or a school card.

On sure way to prove someone’s identity is by looking at a fingerprint. Your fingers have ridges on them that form patterns that are unlike any other. When I press my finger onto this ink pad and then onto paper, we can see a print of the ridges on my finger. The fingerprint may have a pattern of swirls, loops, or arches. There has never been a case where two people have the same fingerprint. Even if your finger is injured it will heal with the same pattern of ridges.

At the time Jesus lived on earth, he was identified in a very powerful way. The Bible tells us that he was baptized by John in the river Jordan. Just as he was coming up out of the water the heavens opened and the Spirit of God came upon him, like a dove.

Then, “a voice came out of the sky, “‘You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'” (1:11). Jesus was identified by God as being His Son.

Our fingerprint may identify who we are, but our faith, our belief in Jesus as the Son of God, identifies us as a Christian. Jesus tells us to “believe in the Good News” (1:15).

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2007 Richard Niell Donovan