Young children excel at making friends. Take a toddler to a playground and he will declare every other child he meets there his friend. Children come home from elementary school and tell us stories about their best friends, who are often people we have never met. Children easily draw one another in, showing kindness and welcome to all they meet. Their affinity for friendship serves as a great foundation for talking about Jesus’ call for his disciples to “love one another as he loved them.” In this week’s lesson, your children will connect their understanding of friendship to Jesus’ expression of friendship to his disciples in John 15.
Begin the time with your children by asking them to think about what it means to be a friend. How does someone become your friend? What do you look for in a friend? Then encourage them to think about how they show the love of friendship to someone. You may decide to share some of your own reflections on the topic.
Prepare to read aloud John 15:9-17. Tell your children that the story they will hear today is a continuation of what they read last week. Jesus is explaining to his disciples what it means to have a close relationship with him. He told them that he is like a grapevine and they are like bunches of grapes. The grapevine feeds and supports grapes so that they can grow. Jesus does the same for us. He is always there for us, helping us be strong and well. In today’s reading, Jesus will talk about what it means to be his friend. Encourage your children to listen for what the story says about friendship.
Read aloud John 15:9-17. When you have finished reading, ask your children to share what Jesus said about friends. Note that Jesus tells his disciples that he chose them as his friends. Because they are his friends, he has told them everything important that he knows. He has shared all that his Father, the Creator, has taught him.
Next, focus in on verse 12. Reread it for your children. (“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”) Ask your children to think back to other stories they have read about Jesus. How has Jesus shown his love for his disciples or other people he met? If your children have difficulty coming up with examples, you can prompt them by saying, “Remember when Jesus …” — and fill in a few details of a story to jog their memories. Alternately, you can share a few Bible stories that are important to you.
Finally, help your children connect the idea of Jesus’ friendship with his followers to their own expressions of friendship through this hands-on art activity. Gather some materials: several sheets of blank paper, crayons or markers, scissors and glue. Cut one sheet of paper into 2- or 3-inch-wide strips. Then cut each strip into squares. Each square should be about 2-3 inches. Hand several squares to each child Ask them to use markers or crayons to write or draw examples of Jesus showing friendship in the Bible. Encourage them to use the stories that you discussed in the previous part of the lesson. When they have filled several squares, have them glue these in the shape of a cross on one of the blank sheets of paper. Explain that we often think of the cross as a reminder of Jesus’ love for us. By using their pictures of Jesus’ acts of friendship to make a cross, we are reminding ourselves that Jesus loves us as his friends.
Next, take another sheet of blank paper and cut several heart shapes out of it. The hearts should be large enough for a child to write or draw on. Hand the hearts to your children. Ask them to use the markers or crayons to write or draw ways they show love to their friends. When they are done, have them glue these hearts on the piece of paper where they previously made the cross. The hearts should surround the cross. Explain that placing the hearts near the cross reminds us when we show love to our friends, we are doing what Jesus called his disciples to do: to love one another as he loves us. Hang this piece of art somewhere in your home where it can serve as a reminder of our call to friendship with Jesus and with one another.
JOELLE BRUMMIT-YALE is the director of children’s and youth ministries at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When not at the church, she can usually be found at home with her son and husband caring for their many animals and developing their family homestead.
