Lesson 2 How Does a Friendship Grow? (Being Friends with Jesus)

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1 Lesson Objective: Lesson 2 How Does a Friendship Grow? (Being Friends with Jesus) To understand the amazing truth that God calls each of your students friend. This knowledge should encourage your students to spend time with Him and listen to Him, just as they would with any friend in their life. Prayer as You Prepare: God, we are humbled that the God of the Universe would call us friend. Help us spend time in Your Word and in prayer this week. May we strive to be the friends that You not only want but so greatly deserve. We love You, friend! Amen. In the classroom Begin the Journey: Make a list together as a small group of what makes a good friend. Then, take your list and see how Jesus fulfills all of these qualities and more. Activity Page: BIBLICAL FRIENDSHIP Friendships were just as important in biiblical times as they are today. Because Jesus loved people, He had friends, too! In this handout, use the clues and look up the Bible verses to discover who had BFFs in the Bible. Put the answers into the crossword puzzle. On the other side will be five Quiet Time Check-in review questions for Luke 1:1 25. Did You Know? Consider how we can be friends back to God. What can we do to show Him and others that God is a friend? Object Lesson: CAN-TO-CAN TELEPHONE Relationships grow strong with open communication. But, communication is not just about talking all the time. Communication also involves listening. Try out the can-to-can telephone. Can you speak into one of the cans? Can the person on the other end hear you clearly? If they cannot hear you, maybe you should speak louder or softer, slower or even faster. As you can see, communicating with others is more than just talking. Because two people are involved the conversation is not just about you! When you spend time with Jesus, it is important to talk with Him. But, it is of equal importance to listen to Him. He has very important things to tell us. If we are too busy talking, we may not be able to hear what He has to say. Remember to talk and listen to God every day. He wants us to be friends and it can start with basic open communication. 1

2 Seek the Treasure: You are my friends if you do what I command. ( John 15:14) Uncover the Truth: Reiterate that friends spend time with each other. As always, explain that it is through prayer and reading God s Word that one can get to know God, not only as their Savior, but also as their friend. We can show we value our friendship with God by listening to His commands. How do you know if you are Jesus friend? According to John 15:14 15, we know that we are Jesus friends if we obey His commands. We take time to not only talk to Him, but also equally listen to what He has to say to us and for us. If you truly look within your heart, you will know if you are truly acting like Jesus friend or not. What does being a friend mean to you? Answers will vary. Some key characteristics that will likely be outlines are caring, kind, good listener, just want to be around, honest, loyal, trustworthy and more. It often takes a lot to be a true quality friend. What can the three friends teach us about friendship? Answers will vary. According to Job 2:11 13, the friends sympathized with Job, they comforted him because he was so sad and they sat with him. They simply sat with him. They did not share any advice, wisdom or words with him, but rather they were simply there for him. There is great power in the presence of friends. 2

3 Find the Purpose: Encourage your students to really try and think of someone in particular as they answer the questions in this section. Write down the name of one of your best friends. Answers will vary. Keep a specific person in mind. What are some qualities you like about him or her? Answers will vary. They are presumably all positive qualities in friendship such as loyalty, honesty, love, compassion, communications and more. What are some qualities he or she likes about you? Answers will vary. Similarly, these are all positive qualities you feel you possess and portray to this best friend. Do not be boastful, but also give yourself credit where credit is due. What do you think Jesus means? In John 15:14 15, Jesus means that because we love Him, we will obey Him. We do not have to obey Him because we are His slaves, but rather we should want to obey Him because He loved us so much to give His life. It is not a relationship of threat or bullying, but rather of complete sacrifice and surrender. If you have a friend like Job, who is going through super tough times, what can you do as his/her friend? Answers will vary. You can be like Job s friends and just show up at your friend s home. Sit with them and just be present in their time of need. Pray with and/or for them. Write them a note of encouragement. Invite them to do something fun to get their mind off of things. Bottom line, if you are a good friend, the ideas of how you could help are endless. 3

4 GAME: WHERE EVERYONE KNOWS MY NAME Objective To learn the name of a new friend, especially because Jesus calls all of us friend and He knows us by our name! As we learn other s names, who knows what friendships will begin and grow from there. Materials Beanbag and nametags Instructions A true mark of friendship is first knowing the other person s name. Do you remember the names of all of your students? Form a circle. A leader should start and go around the circle with every person stating his or her first name only. After everyone has introduced himself or herself, go through the following three rounds of the game. ROUND #1 Beanbag. The first student says, My name is, and I have a friend named. The student will call the name of another student a friend. The friend must be someone in the small group that is not standing directly next to them. Have your student toss the beanbag to their friend as they say his or her name. The friend will now say the same thing. Continue until everyone s name has been said. ROUND #2 Switch. Start with the same student from Round #1 and go in the same order. Have the first student say: My name is, and I have a friend named. The student should now go to the friend s spot as they say their name. The friend will then do the same with whomever they call on. Continue until everyone s had a turn. ROUND #3 Backwards. Have everyone take off their nametags. Now, start with the last student and go backwards. This means that the person whose name was called will now say the name of the person who called them. Have the student say, My name is, and I have a friend named. Continue until everyone s name has been said. NOTE: You will probably need to remind your students of each different round as they occur. Discussion 1. How is our friendship with God similar to our friendships with other people? How is it different? 2. Describe your best friend. Is God like that? Is God your best friend? Could God be your best friend? 3. How does friendship look different around the world? Cross-culturally? 4

5 Follow-up: Encourage your students to really focus on doing their quiet time each day. Quiet time is a great way to spend time with our friend, God, every day. Ask your students how they are doing with their friend and if any questions have come up so far as they journey through Luke. 5