When five-year-old Michael showed up at the courthouse for an adoption hearing with his foster parents, he found a group of surprise visitors waiting–his entire kindergarten class. Michael’s teacher, Mrs. McKee got the idea when she encountered Michael’s foster mom dropping him off at school. The two of them devised a plan, and McKee organized the field trip, bus and all.<\/p>\n\n
In the year or so since Michael has been with the couple, his father said he’s been amazed at how often other children have welcomed Michael into their homes and social circles. The highlight of the day was during a portion of the hearing where the judge, who’d never hosted an entire kindergarten class before, asked all the students to explain why they were there in support. They all gave touching answers like, “I love Michael” and “Michael is my best friend.”<\/p>\n\n
Potential Preaching Angles: When we show up for those in need–a friend, advocate, or supporter–we are modeling the behavior of the early church, who shared everything they had and gave to whoever was in need. More importantly, we are modeling the love of Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[407,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3368,3384,3548,3569,3644,3648,3862,3870,4019,4021,4281,4964,5111,5313],"tax_ctp_topics":[395],"class_list":["post-38403","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-acceptance","tax_ctp_tags-adoption","tax_ctp_tags-caring","tax_ctp_tags-children","tax_ctp_tags-community","tax_ctp_tags-compassion","tax_ctp_tags-encouragement","tax_ctp_tags-enthusiasm","tax_ctp_tags-friend","tax_ctp_tags-friendship","tax_ctp_tags-involvement","tax_ctp_tags-sharing","tax_ctp_tags-support","tax_ctp_tags-young-people"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n