You Are a Child Chosen by God!

Have you ever been picked last when teams were being chosen? That moment when the two captains call out names, one by one, and your name does not come. And still does not come. And when it finally comes, you are the only one left.

It hurts. And the worst part is what that moment whispers in our ear: "maybe nobody would even miss me".

Today is the last lesson of the quarter. For three months you have met children in the Bible whom God used: a shepherd boy, a boy king, a brave girl who spoke about God to a general, a boy who gave up his lunch. And the question that has been hanging in the air all quarter long is this: what about me?

The answer is in a sentence God spoke to a young man named Jeremiah, more than two thousand six hundred years ago:

"“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”" (Jeremiah 1:5)

Before being born. Before there was a photo, before there was a name on a birth certificate, before anyone in the world knew about that baby — God already knew him.

I — God saw you before everyone else

Before we go on, do one thing: put your hand on your ear.

Inside there, tucked well out of sight, is the smallest bone in your whole body. It is called the stirrup and it is about two and a half millimeters long — smaller than a grain of rice. Without it vibrating in just the right spot, sound cannot reach your brain. You would not hear music, you would not hear your mother talking to you, you would not hear the Word of God being taught.

A person's body has more than two hundred bones (your quarterly gives the exact number). The biggest is the femur, the big bone in your thigh. And the smallest is that one right there, hidden inside your ear, which no one will ever see.

Now think: if God took such care with a two-millimeter piece that nobody can see, how much care did He take with all of you?

Psalm 139 speaks about this very thing:

"For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb." (Psalm 139:13)

"I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well." (Psalm 139:14)

And there is a verse that sounds as if it had been written for this class:

"My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth." (Psalm 139:15)

Being made in secret means: in the dark, hidden away, where no one could look. God saw every little bone of yours being put together, one by one, when not even your mother knew yet what your little face looked like.

🏛 Fun fact — not even the best machine sees everything. When a mom is pregnant, she gets checkups to see how the baby is doing. Today's machines are amazing: you can see the heart beating and even the shape of the little face. But no machine in the world can see a baby's purpose. No exam says, "this child is going to love singing" or "this child is going to tell lots of people about Jesus." God sees. He does not need any machine.

And God does not only see us when we are babies. He keeps on seeing:

"Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7)

"even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You." (Psalm 139:12)

This means there is no place where God is not present. He is right here in the Sunday School (EBD) classroom, and at the very same time He is in your home, in your bedroom, at your school, in the hospital where someone you love is staying. In the dark He sees just the same as in bright daylight.

Notice how good this is: it is not a security camera watching you to catch you doing something wrong. It is the Father who never loses sight of you for a single second.

II — Jeremiah thought he was too young

Now let us meet the young man who heard that sentence first.

His name was Jeremiah. He lived in a town called Anathoth, in Israel, and one day God spoke to him:

"“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”" (Jeremiah 1:5)

When God says He sanctified — or set apart — Jeremiah here, it means I set you apart for a mission. God had a job for Jeremiah: to be a prophet, that is, the person who brings God's message to the people. And God had already set Jeremiah apart for this before he was born.

Do you know what Jeremiah's answer was? It was not "how cool!" It was fear:

"“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”" (Jeremiah 1:6)

In other words: "Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am too young. You picked the wrong person."

Have you ever thought like that? "I am too small," "I freeze up when it is time to speak," "there are people much better than me." Jeremiah thought that exact thing — and look at what God answered:

"But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.”" (Jeremiah 1:7)

"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 1:8)

God did not say, "wait until you grow up." He did not say, "I will look for someone braver." He said: I am going with you.

God does not choose those who are already strong. He strengthens those whom He calls.

🏛 Fun fact — the prophet who wept. Jeremiah became known as "the weeping prophet." Not because he was weak, but because he loved so deeply a people who did not want to listen. He wrote two books of the Bible: Jeremiah and Lamentations. He was rejected in his own hometown, was arrested, and was even thrown into a cistern, a deep pit used for storing water. And even so, he never let go of God's message.

❤ For the child's heart. Notice that God did not wait for Jeremiah to get good at something before calling him. He called first and equipped afterward. If you think you need to be the smartest, the cutest, or the most outgoing kid in the room for God to use you, you have got it backwards. God starts with whoever says yes.

III — Chosen does not mean picked in a raffle

Here we need to be careful, because that word "chosen" can sometimes be confusing.

Being chosen by God is not winning a raffle while others lose. God did not look at the world and say, "I am going to love these over here and forget those over there." The Bible says the opposite:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

The world. Whoever believes. No one is outside the love of God, and no one is left out of the invitation.

Then what does it mean to be chosen? It means this: God knows you by name, formed you with loving care, truly loves you, and calls you. He calls first — always. And then comes your part: to answer.

Answering means asking God to forgive your sins and believing in Jesus, the Son of God, who died and rose again for you. God does not push anyone into His Kingdom by force. He invites, He helps, He stirs the desire in your heart — but the one who says yes is you.

And after saying yes, there is one more part: living as someone chosen. That shows up in the small things of the week.

• When no one is looking and you tell the truth just the same.
• When the whole group decides to make fun of a classmate and you do not join in.
• When you could cheat on a test and you do not cheat.
• When you play games or chat online and treat people with respect, even when nobody knows who you are.

Remember Psalm 139? Darkness and light are the same to Him (Psalm 139:12). There is no invisible mode before God. And that is not meant to scare you: it is to remind you that the Father who chose you is right there with you, the whole time.

Christ in the Lesson

If today's lesson stopped at "you are special," it would turn into nothing more than a compliment. And a compliment, no matter how nice it is, cannot hold anyone up on a hard day.

Notice something about Jeremiah. He was chosen before he was born. He wept over a people who did not want to listen. He walked into the Temple and told the leaders to their faces that they were ruining the house of God. And he was rejected by the people of his own hometown.

Now think about Jesus. He came into the world with a purpose planned from eternity. He wept over Jerusalem. He walked into the Temple and drove out those who were turning the Father's house into a marketplace. And He was rejected by the leaders of His own people.

Too similar to be a coincidence, isn't it? That is because Jeremiah was like an announcement. Jesus is the fulfillment.

Except there is a huge difference between the two, and that is where the lesson rests: Jeremiah warned about the problem; Jesus solved the problem. Jeremiah could point out the people's sin, but he could not take anyone's sin away. Jesus took it away. On the cross, He paid the price for our wrong. He was buried and rose again on the third day, and He is alive.

That is why the question "am I worth anything?" has its answer at the cross. Look there whenever that doubt hits. The Son of God gave His life for you. That is how much you are worth.

And notice how Jesus treated children, because this ties together the whole quarter:

"But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”" (Mark 10:14)

The adults thought children were getting in the way. Jesus was indignant about that. He called them, hugged them, and blessed them.

During this quarter you saw God using a shepherd boy, a boy king, a girl taken far from home, and, in last week's lesson, a boy with a simple lunch in his hand. None of those children was famous when God called them. Today the story is about you — and the same Jesus who opened His arms to those children has His arms wide open for this class.

Practical Application

• Do not believe the lie. If anyone says that you are a mistake, a burden, or that nobody would miss you, that is not true — not even if that voice comes from inside your own head. God formed you on purpose and with great care (Psalm 139:14).
• Say yes to Jesus. Being chosen is neither automatic nor a raffle. God calls; you answer. Ask forgiveness for your sins and believe in Jesus. If you want to do that today, talk with your teacher or your pastor.
• Act like someone chosen when no one is watching. In the school line, in your class group, in an online game, alone in your room. Before God, there is no invisible mode.
• Treat others as chosen too. God loves each person just the way he or she is: tall, short, talkative, shy, of any skin color, from any family. If God has no throwaway people, you cannot have any either.
• Do not wait to grow up. Jeremiah said he was just a boy (Jeremiah 1:6), and God told him to go anyway. You can already pray, invite a friend to Sunday School, help at home, and share what you have learned.
• If anyone hurts you, scares you, or asks you to keep a secret, tell a trusted adult. Do not try to fix it alone and do not keep it inside. Talk to your dad, your mom, your teacher, or the pastor. The adult handles it; the child tells.

Closing Prayer

Dear God, thank You because You already knew every child in this class before we were born. Thank You for making each one of us in an awesome and wonderful way, down to the tiniest bone in our ear. Forgive us when we believe that we are a mistake or that we are good for nothing. Thank You for Jesus, who died and rose again for us and showed on the cross how much we are worth to You. Help every child here to say yes to Your call and to live as someone chosen, even when no one is looking. In Jesus' name, amen.

Soli Deo Gloria — Scripture governs; everything else, on its knees.

Teacher's Guide

Essence of the class

God knew, formed, and loved each child before birth — and His call, which is fulfilled in Christ, awaits each child's yes.

Map of the class

Time	Stage
0–4 min	Welcome, prayer, and the hook of the quarter
4–11 min	Memory in action (Jeremiah 1:5) and the Panel of the Chosen
11–18 min	Point 1 — God saw you before everyone else
18–25 min	Point 2 — Jeremiah thought he was too young
25–31 min	Point 3 — Chosen does not mean picked in a raffle (and Christ)
31–37 min	Class activity: the sentence box
37–40 min	Wrap-up + challenge of the week + prayer

Start like this

Arrive early and leave the Panel covered with a cloth or a piece of poster board — the class will see there is a surprise there, and that alone holds their attention. Greet each child by name.

Quickly revisit last Sunday's challenge: who gave something real to someone? Listen to two or three stories, thank God for them, and pray together with those who could not do it — without pressure and without comparing those who did it with those who did not.

Then ask everyone to put a hand on their own ear and ask: "Do you know what the smallest bone in the human body is? It is hidden right inside there." Let three or four take a guess. Usually they say "the pinky bone" or "the nose bone." Do not correct anyone and do not give the answer yet.

Then say: "Today we are going to discover that bone, and we are going to discover something much bigger: that God already knew you before you were born. This is the last lesson of the quarter, and it is about you."

Point 1 — God saw you before everyone else

• In the quarterly: the topic that speaks of Psalm 139, God's omnipresence, and the human body — the 207 bones, the femur as the largest and the stirrup as the smallest, and the explanation that not even pregnancy exams see everything, yet God sees (figure 13.1).
• What to teach: God is everywhere at the same time, and nothing is hidden from Him. It was He who put together each child's body in there, in the dark, detail by detail — including a bone two and a half millimeters long inside the ear, which no one will ever see and without which we would hear nothing. Use the size of the stirrup to reach the heart: if God took such care with that tiny piece, He did not make that child's life by accident. State clearly that God, here, is the Father who never loses sight of the child — not a camera waiting for the child to mess up.
• Anchor verse (BSB): "My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth." (Psalm 139:15)
• Key question: "God is here in our classroom right now. Where else is He at this very same minute?"
• Likely answers (+ going deeper): "at my house," "in heaven," "at school," "at the hospital." Go deeper: "All of them at the same time. And if He is everywhere, that means not a single day of your life has gone by without Him being right there with you — not even the days when you thought you were alone."
• If no one speaks: start yourself — "God is here, and He is over at my house, and He is at each one of your houses right now" — and then point to one child at a time, asking each one to name a different place. That turns into a game all by itself.

Point 2 — Jeremiah thought he was too young

• In the quarterly: the topic about Jeremiah, the prophet whom God called and chose from his mother's womb and who wrote two books of the Bible.
• What to teach: God spoke to Jeremiah and said that He already knew him before forming him in the womb and had set him apart to be a prophet. Explain being sanctified (set apart) in simple words: set apart for a mission. Jeremiah was frightened and answered that he did not know how to speak and that he was only a boy. God did not switch to someone else or tell him to wait until he grew up: He told him that he would go, that he would speak, and that God Himself was with him (Jeremiah 1:7-8). The core point is this: God does not choose those who are already strong; He strengthens those whom He calls. Avoid the idea that Jeremiah was naturally brave — he was afraid, and he went anyway.
• Anchor verse (BSB): "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 1:8)
• Key question: "Jeremiah told God: 'I am only a boy.' What is your 'I am only...'?"
• Likely answers (+ going deeper): "I am small," "I am shy," "I cannot read very well," "I freeze up." Go deeper: "That is the exact thing Jeremiah said. And God answered: go anyway, because I am going with you."
• If no one speaks: share yours first, with something simple and true ("mine is: I get scared speaking in front of a lot of people"). Then ask again, without forcing anyone to answer.

Point 3 — Chosen does not mean picked in a raffle (and Christ)

• In the quarterly: the topic stating that God already had a Perfect Plan of Salvation before each person's birth, that we need only ask for forgiveness and accept Jesus, and that God loves each person just the way he or she is — tall, short, talkative, shy (figures 13.2 and 13.3).
• What to teach: be careful here, because it is easy for a child to think God picked some in a raffle and left others out. Make it clear: God loved the whole world and calls everyone; being chosen means being known, loved, and called by God — and each person needs to answer, asking for forgiveness and believing in Jesus. God helps, but He does not force anyone. Then close on Christ, not on a compliment: Jeremiah announced, Jesus fulfilled. Jeremiah pointed out the people's sin; Jesus took away sin on the cross, was buried, and rose again on the third day. The answer to "am I worth anything?" is at the cross. End with Jesus calling the children close — that is the closing of the entire quarter.
• Anchor verse (BSB): "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
• Key question: "If God has called you, what is still missing for you to truly be a child of God?"
• Likely answers (+ going deeper): "being good," "going to church," "praying." Go deeper with warmth: "All of that is good, but it is not what saves. What is missing is for you to say yes: asking Jesus for forgiveness and believing in Him. He already did the hardest part on the cross."
• If no one speaks: read John 3:16 slowly and ask the class to repeat out loud just one word from the verse: whoever. Then ask: "Who does that include?" They will answer in chorus.

Class activity

• Goal: to separate, with their own hands, what God says about the child from what is a lie — and leave the room with the truth in writing.
• Materials: a decorated shoebox, strips of paper with sentences written by the teacher (some true, others false), a sheet of blank paper per child, colored pencils, glue, and a trash can (or paper bag) in the middle of the circle. Everything is provided by the class — nothing is requested from the families.
• Step by step: each child receives a sheet of paper, writes the title of the lesson at the top, and draws a self-portrait in the middle (for anyone who cannot write alone yet, the teacher writes it). Then, one at a time, each child pulls a strip from the box and the teacher reads it aloud. The whole class decides together: is this sentence the truth or a lie? If it is a lie, the strip goes into the trash can, and everyone says together: "that is not true." If it is true, the child glues the strip onto his or her sheet, next to the drawing. True sentences: GOD KNEW ME BEFORE I WAS BORN · GOD MADE ME IN A WONDERFUL WAY · GOD IS WITH ME EVEN WHEN I AM AFRAID · JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN FOR ME · GOD WANTS TO USE ME TODAY, JUST THE SIZE I AM. False sentences: I WILL ONLY SERVE GOD WHEN I GROW UP · GOD ONLY LOVES PEOPLE WHO NEVER MESS UP · IF NO ONE IS WATCHING, IT DOES NOT MATTER · I AM A MISTAKE. Important: the whole class judges the sentence together, never the child alone, and no one is corrected in front of the others. At the end, everyone reads the true sentences on the sheet aloud and takes the sheet home.
• Wrap-up (back to the text): "Everything that went into the trash went there because it is not what God says. And everything glued to your sheet, God really said. Look at your drawing: God knew that person right there before you were born, formed you with great care, and called you by name — before He formed you in the womb, He knew you (Jeremiah 1:5)."

If they ask you this

• Question: "Did God choose some people and not choose others?" Short answer: No. God loved the whole world and calls everyone (John 3:16). Being chosen means being known, loved, and called by Him. Each person answers that call — and God does not force anyone.
• Question: "I am adopted and I do not have a photo from when I was a baby. Did God see me too?" Short answer: Yes, He did, from the very first second. God's love for you does not depend on a photo, on family history, or on who was around. He was there, and He remembers every detail about you.
• Question: "If God already knows everything that is going to happen, do I still need to choose anything?" Short answer: Yes, you do. God knows everything, but He does not decide in your place. He calls, helps, and puts the desire in your heart — and you answer yes or no. Saying yes to Jesus is your choice.
• Question: "God chose me, so nothing bad is going to happen to me?" Short answer: That is not what it means. Jeremiah was chosen and still wept a lot, was rejected, and went through hard things. The promise is not a life without hardship; it is never going through it alone, because God says He is with us to deliver us (Jeremiah 1:8).
• Question: "How do I find out what God chose me for?" Short answer: Start at the beginning: become a child of God through Jesus. After that, do well whatever is right in front of you today — obeying, helping, telling others about Jesus, using what you already know how to do. God will show you the rest along the way. You do not need to know everything right now.

Wrap-up + challenge of the week

• Wrap-up: "Keep two things from today. First: there is a bone two and a half millimeters long inside your ear that God made with great care, and no one will ever see it. If He took such care with that, He did not make you by accident. Second: God told Jeremiah that before forming him, He already knew him — and He said that to a boy who was afraid. He calls you just the size you are today. And if you want to know how much you are worth, look at the cross: Jesus died and rose again for you. Now it is your turn to answer yes."
• Challenge: this week, tell one person — a classmate, a neighbor, a cousin, someone in your home — the story of one of the children from the Bible you learned about this quarter, just the way you remember it. At the end, say this sentence to that person: "God already knew me before I was born, and He knows you too." Then write on your sheet the person's name and the name of the child from the Bible you told them about. On Sunday, come back with the story.

Teacher's kit

• Before: read all of Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 139 and set aside figures 13.1 to 13.3. Put together the Panel, write out the sentence strips, and prepare the box. Choose two or three songs about God's love and about being His creation. Also set aside the list of the quarter's lessons to review with the class.
• Bring: a Bible, the poster board with the title and the verse, the cloth to cover the Panel, the box with the sentence strips, sheets of blank paper, colored pencils, markers, glue, blunt-tip scissors, and a small trash can.
• About the Panel — read this before asking the families for anything: the quarterly suggests putting together the Panel with pregnancy photos of the mothers and ultrasound pictures of the students. Do not ask for those photos. Not every child has them: there are families who kept nothing, adopted children, children raised by grandparents or aunts and uncles, children who lost their mother, children whose birth story is painful. A child who arrives without a photo on a day like that learns the wrong thing about his or her own life — and Sunday School does not put anyone to shame. Put the Panel together using only general images (from magazines or printed out), the title of the lesson, and the verse, and write the name of each student in the class in large letters around it. That way no one needs to bring anything from home, no one is left out, and the Panel speaks of what matters: God knew each one by name before birth. If you want sound, a baby's heartbeat found on the internet works equally well for everyone.
• Memory in action: the quarterly gives Jeremiah 1:5 in simpler words, and that is the version the children will memorize. Also read the verse in your Bible — "“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”" (Jeremiah 1:5) — and explain that being sanctified (set apart) means "I set you apart for a mission." Then do the exercise from the quarterly: you point to a child, the child stands up, and the whole class recites the verse saying that child's name first. Do this with everyone, skipping no one, and keep the same tone of voice for every name. If someone does not want to stand up, let the child stay seated and do it the same way — the name is spoken just the same.
• Activity in the quarterly: set aside a little time for the activity page — coloring the letters of their name and their age, completing the sentence about their birth, and drawing their self-portrait in the mirror with three traits God gave them. Go over it together, out loud. On the part about traits, praise each child's traits without comparing one child with another and help anyone who gets stuck by offering two or three options ("are you funny? careful with your work? a good listener?").
• Care with the topic of birth: this is a theme that touches on family history at home. If a child shares something heavy (a loss, an absence, a fight at home), welcome the child warmly right then without asking for details in front of the class — "thank you for trusting me, let's talk after class" — and bring it to the pastor or leadership on the same day. Never ignore it and never expose the child.
• Pray beforehand: ask God that no child leave the room thinking he or she is an accident, and that each one leave knowing that God knew them before they were born, that Jesus died and rose again for them, and that He is waiting for their yes.

Homework

Your mission for the week

Tell one person — a classmate at school, a neighbor, a cousin, someone in your home — the story of one of the children from the Bible you learned about this quarter. It can be just the way you remember it, in your own words. At the end, say this sentence to that person: "God already knew me before I was born, and He knows you too." Then write on your sheet the person's name and the name of the child from the Bible you told them about.

Why

God said to Jeremiah: "“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”" (Jeremiah 1:5) — and Jeremiah was set apart to speak God's message, even though he thought he was too young. God answered: "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 1:8). You do not need to be grown up or know everything to share what you know. You just have to open your mouth once.

How to know you did it

Look at your sheet: does it have the name of a person and the name of a child from the Bible written on it? If you can tell whom you told and what you told, you did it.

On Sunday, come back with the story

Bring your sheet and share: whom you told, which story you chose, and what the person answered. Next week's class starts with those who did it. Do not stay out.