LEADERS HUB
Year 1, Term 2, Week 4: Ideas for Middle Group
Week 4: Loving Others - As God Loved us
Lesson Objective:
God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us, so he asks us to obey him by loving and serving others.
Bible Passage:
John 13:4-16 (Jesus washes the disciples’ feet)
1 John 4:9-11
Memory Verse:
1 John 4:10-11- God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.
Story Idea: Object Lesson & Watch It!
To Prepare:
Bring along an assortment of cleaning related items or dirty things (eg. cloth and dirty bowl, toilet brush, duster, dust pan and brush, stained t shirt etc.)
To introduce:
- Show the kids the items
- Ask them what their LEAST favourite chore is and why (eg. cleaning the toilet because it's dirty!)
- Explain that we don't like doing some chores because they seem gross
- In Jesus day, they had servants to do all of the yucky chores!
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Have the kids watch the following youtube video:
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Have the kids read 1 John 4:9-11
Quiz Questions:
1. What messy job did Jesus do for His disciples? He washed their dirty feet
2. Why do you think feet were SOOO dirty in Jesus day? They had dirt roads and only sandles on their feet
3. Whose job was it usually to wash people's feet? A Servant
4. Why do you think Simon Peter doesn't want Jesus to wash his feet to start with? Jesus is their teacher and their master - he thinks Jesus is too good to wash his feet
5. Jesus loves and looks after His disciples - what does He say they should do? The same for each other - love and serve each other
6. After reading the verse in 1 John, how did Jesus show us His great love for us? By dying on the cross for our sins
7. How should we respond to God's great love for us? By loving others
8. How can we love others? Be kind, generous and caring, look after them when they're hurt, share Jesus with them
Game Idea: Stuck in the Mud!
- Create a blank open space for the kids to move around in
- Choose one or two to be 'up'
- Those who are up try to tag the rest of the kids
- Kids who are tagged should freeze (be stuck) on the spot and wait to be unstuck
- Players can un-stick other people by bending down and tapping both feet at once
- Those who are up are aiming to get everyone stuck!
- Change who is up from time to time to keep things interesting, or introduce obstacles
When you are 'stuck in the mud' you can't go anywhere - but because somebody comes along and pulls you out of the mud, you can go around and help others out! Because Jesus has loved us so much and helped us get rid of the mud of sin - we are free to go and love others and help them do the same!
Craft Idea: Foot Wash Collage!
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Before the lesson:
- Download and print the bowl outline on brown paper and the feet outline on coloured paper, then cut out each
- Gather blue tissue paper, coloured pencils and glue
Have the kids:
- Tear up and stick blue tissue paper into the water section of the bowl
- Glue their feet into the bowl with a bit of water over them
- Decorate with coloured pencils if they finish quickly
For more interest, have the kids stand in paint and then make foot-prints on their paper feet to stick in their bowl or make foot prints on white paper then cut them out!
Prayer Idea: Dice Prayers
- Before the lesson, download and print the dice prayers sheet
- Have the kids sit in a circle and take turns rolling the dice
- Each child should pray according to what they roll on the dice!
