SERIES: JESUS, OUR EXAMPLE LESSON 4 OUR EXAMPLE OF SINCERE LOVE

Transcription

1 Bible Reference: John 6:1-14 SERIES: JESUS, OUR EXAMPLE LESSON 4 OUR EXAMPLE OF SINCERE LOVE Key Verse: John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. OVERVIEW -Introduction Video -Prayer Part -Opening Activity -Bible Story -Key Verse -Small Group Activities ITEMS NEEDED: -Signs that say: Jesus, Philip, Andrew -3 Psalm 23 Posters -A plate with the five dinner rolls and two sardines on it -A cup of Goldfish Crackers for each student -Items for the Paper Bag Fish Craft: blue or grey paint, a paper lunch bag, newspaper or something else to stuff it with, blue construction paper for fins, glue, blue masking tape, scotch tape and wiggle eyes

2 PRAYER PART He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Choose three volunteers to hold the Psalm 23 signs. Ask your students to read Psalm 23 with you. SAY: Today we re going to begin with a Bible drill. When I say Go, I want you to find the book of Psalms 23 as fast as you can. Get your Bibles ready get set Go! Review for any newcomers an easy way to find Psalms. SAY: King David, who wrote this Psalm, had been a shepherd as a young man, and as a shepherd, he understood the importance of leading the sheep to still waters. Not only did the shepherd need to lead his flock to water but to calm waters as well. Fast-moving or rushing water would scare the sheep and they wouldn t drink from it. They had rather go without than face their fears. ASK: What scares you? ASK: What are some things people go without because they re just too scared to try? ASK: How can prayer help you when you re scared? SAY: God doesn t want you to live in fear. Just like shepherd would lead the sheep to still waters, God knows just what you need too. In fact the Bible says that God knows what you need even before you ask. OPTION: If you want, during this series, take a few minutes to ask for prayer requests. You might even want to keep a list in your room to refer back to each week to help your students see how God answers prayer. PRAY SAY: Everybody bow your heads and close your eyes. Now with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, I m going to call out some of today s prayer requests and as I do, I want you to pray silently for them. (Pause Call out some of the prayer requests and then pray or ask a student to pray.)

3 OPENING ACTIVITY (Optional) Follow the Leader Choose a volunteer to be the leader and in your room play Follow the Leader. Change leaders every 30 seconds. You ll want to keep this moving fast. Be sure to tell them that not everyone will get to be the leader. For Variation: Play the game in one big, long line. Then split them into teams and play the game in smaller groups. DISCUSSION SAY: Just like the game, when you follow someone you do what they do and you say what they say. When you follow Jesus, you do what He did and say things that agree with what He said. KEY: To follow Jesus means to be like Jesus. ASK: What are some ways that we can be just like Jesus? (This is a great question to use to briefly review things you ve already talked about in this series Our example of being a servant and our example of self-control.) SAY: God wants you to be just like Jesus. That means that God wants you live in the same way that Jesus lived and Jesus is our perfect example for what to do in any situation. Leader: How should you be? / Students: Just Like Jesus! SAY: Last week we learned that Jesus is our perfect example of serving others. Today we ll learn that Jesus is our perfect example of sharing love. BIBLE LESSON (Based on John 6:1-14) ASK: What are some ways that people show love for each other? ASK: What are some ways that your parents show love for you? ASK: What are some ways that God shows love for you? SAY: In today s story you re going to see how Jesus shared sincere love for others. ASK: What do you think we mean by sincere love? SAY: Sincere love is love that doesn t expect anything in return. It s not fake or selfish. This is the kind of love that Jesus always showed. SAY: For those of you who have a Bible with you today, when I say Go, I want you to find the book of John as fast as you can. Get your Bible ready get set Go! Now turn to chapter 6. Now find verse 1. Review for any newcomers an easy way to find the Gospels. SAY: As I read this story about Jesus from the Bible, I want you to follow along in your Bibles too.

4 Choose a volunteer Give him the Jesus sign Read John 6:1-3. Choose a volunteer Give him the Philip sign Read John 6:4-5. Have the Philip volunteer repeat his words after you. ASK: Why do you think Jesus asked Philip this? What do you think Philip s response was? Read John 6:6-7. SAY: Jesus knew what He was going to do but instead of Philip s mind reaching by faith for what God could do in the situation, he immediately goes to figuring out how much money they would need. He quickly figures that it would take over a halfyear s daily wages to feed such a crowd for each of them to get just a little. Choose a volunteer Give him the Andrew sign Read John 6:8-10. Have the Andrew volunteer repeat his words after you. SAY: Before we finish the story, I want you to know that today we ve brought lunch! Show your students the plate with the five dinner rolls and two sardines on it. SAY: This plate is probably about the same size as the food the boy gave Jesus. Dinner rolls are about the same size as barley loaves in the Bible and most people suspect the two fish were about the size of sardines. Tell your kids that you re going to tear off pieces to give to them and to let you know if they don t want any of the fish. Obviously there s not going to be a lot for your students. Depending on the size of your class, they might only get a pinch of food. After you ve passed out the food... ASK: Did that lunch fill you up? Are you full? Satisfied? SAY: Of course not. It only went a little ways. There wasn t enough to feed everyone, right? But a little in Jesus hands can go a long ways! Read John 6: SAY: Did you hear that? It said they got as much as they wanted. ASK: How many of you are still hungry? Would you like a snack while we finish the story? Pass out the cups of Goldfish, give your volunteers a hand and let them sit down.

5 ASK: Why do you think Jesus fed all these people? (By the way, there was 5,000 men that doesn t count the women and children.) SAY: The Bible tells us why but not in the story that we just read. ASK: So how do you think we know? ASK: How many times does the Bible share the story of Jesus? (Four times once in each Gospel.) SAY: Jesus only died once but the story of it is told in each of the Gospels In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each of these men told the same story but sometimes one writer would add details about one part, another about a different part. SAY: Jesus feeding the five-thousand men is one of few miracles that is found in all four Gospels Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6. Other stories are found in some but not all the Gospels and others, such as Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, are only found in one Gospel. ASK: Which Gospel do you think tells how Jesus felt about the crowd? SAY: Mark 6:34 tells us that when Jesus saw the crowd He felt compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. ASK: What do you think He meant by sheep without a shepherd? ASK: What does a shepherd do for his sheep? What did Jesus do for these people? SAY: The Bible says the Jesus taught the people (fed them spiritually) and later in the day, He fed them using the boy s food. Jesus truly cared about and loved people. He helped them and we can do the same. Leader: How should you be? / Students: Just Like Jesus!

6 KEY VERSE ASK: Last week I asked you what makes a person great Who remembers what Jesus said about this? ASK: What are some things you can learn from today s story? (Take a few answers.) SAY: From today s story not only can you learn that nothing is impossible for God, and that Jesus showed sincere love for the people, but something else too ASK: Where did the food Jesus used for this miracle come from? SAY: We don t know how Andrew knew that the boy had this food maybe the boy had overheard them talking and had offered it but there s a big lesson here I want you to know: The boy didn t have a lot to give but he gave what he had. REPEAT this after me: The boy didn t have a lot to give / but he gave what he had. ASK: Why is there an important lesson for us in this? SAY: Sometimes we might feel like our gifts or talents or what we have to give to God is so small that it wouldn t even matter. So we don t even try. You might see a situation and feel like you should say something or encourage someone or do some good deed but then you think, No, what good can it do? Sometimes we re scared to step out and help or to try something new. If you ever feel this way, just remember the boy and his meal because God can do a lot with very little. SAY: I m going to say our key verse for today and I want you to repeat it after me: REPEAT this after me: Jesus said, / Greater love / has no one than this, / that someone / lay down his life / for his friends. / John 15:13 ASK: What does this verse make you think of? SAY: Showing love for others is no small thing. Jesus showed His care for the people by taking care of them but He showed His ultimate love for us by laying down His life to make a way for us to be forgiven, to know God and to spend forever with Him in heaven. SAY: Last week we saw Jesus wash the disciples feet. Following this, they ate the Last Supper and sang a hymn as they left. They headed toward the Garden of Gethsemane, a place where Jesus often went to pray. On the way Jesus taught them many important things because He knew that in just a short while He would be arrested and crucified. This is one of the things He taught His disciples along the way. REPEAT this after me again: Jesus said, / Greater love / has no one than this, / that someone / lay down his life / for his friends. / John 15:13 SAY: In the same way that Jesus showed love and care. We can too. Control Tool: Leader: How should you be? / Students: Just Like Jesus!

7 Dismiss to Small Groups SAY: Right now it is time for our small groups, so I m going to dismiss you one row at a time. Dismiss rows of chairs to the tables in the rooms. Give them specific directions where to go.

8 SMALL GROUP OPTION #1 Craft From last week: Some students may need to finish their aprons from last Sunday. If so, review that the apron is to remind them of how Jesus served others and how they can serve others too. Jesus served others because He loved them. We should be the same. If they are finished with their aprons, use the craft below to reinforce today s lesson: Today students will make fish as a reminder of how Jesus fed the multitudes and of his sincere love for us and for them. Follow the instructions below to make the fish: INSTRUCTIONS Stuffed Paper Bag Fish * -Stuff the paper lunch bag. -Pinch toward the top of the bag and use masking tape to create the tail. The stuffed bag is the body; the left-over top forms the tail. -Use blue or gray paint for the body and tail. There s no need to paint the bottom. -While your craft dries, cut out fins in whatever shape you desire from blue construction paper. -While your craft dries, you can also discuss with your students one sentence to put on the side of the fish that will remind them about today s lesson. -Tape or glue the fins to your fish. -Add wiggles eyes of any size and a mouth. -Write your one sentence reminder of today s lesson on the side. OPTION #2 Activity From last week: Take time to review with your class the ways you discovered to serve others last week and the project you adopted. Explain what your class is doing and why. Also, if your students brought items, collect these, pray for the people who will receive them and write any cards or letters that would be appropriate to send with the items to express to others the love of Christ. OPTION #3 Small Group Discussion (NOTE: Each week in this series, we will be giving discussion questions from Psalm 23. Use these as a springboard for deeper discussions and pull in questions from each individual lesson also.) PSALM 23 part 4 Even though I walk through the valley What are some valleys, or rough times in your life, that you or your family have gone through? How did God help in these times? Was it hard to trust Him? Was it hard to keep your eyes fixed on Him? Was it hard not to worry? of the shadow of death, This isn t death It s just the shadow of death but it looks and feels like it. As the sun would set the shepherd would lead the sheep to a sheepfold because with the darkness comes the greatest dangers. What is your greatest fear? When you re afraid, what do you do? What could you do? How can God help you with fear? How can God s Word help? Are you afraid of death why or why not? Prayer Take prayer requests and pray with your students.

9 EXTRA TIME -Play more Follow the Leader and re-emphasize what it means to be like Jesus. -Play a review game using the previous lessons in this series. *Original source for this craft and image is