29 MARCH 2020

Lesson Summary for the Teacher

“Love Each Other As I Have Loved You”

Bible Reference:
John 15:12

Story Focus: We can love like Jesus. And then there’s all of us and the children and families we will lead this month. We are left with the question, how will I love others? Will I love like those who were bitter at Zacchaeus? The people who shunned the woman at the well? Those with rocks in hand ready to pass judgement? Or, will I choose to love like Jesus—the way Jesus loves us?

Worship (Sing It)

Story (Tell It)

WHAT YOU NEED: A Bible and a large “1” cutout

(Storyteller enters carrying the Bible and the “1” cutout.)
STORY TELLER: “Hey, everyone! I’m so glad all of you, my friends, are here today. Friends are awesome! Did you
know that Jesus taught us how to be a good friend? (Pause.) He did! If you’re ready for a true story from the Bible
about how to be a good friend, on the count of three, yell, ‘Tell me a story!’ One, two, three!”
CHILDREN: “Tell me a story!”
STORY TELLER: “One night, Jesus was having dinner with his friends, the disciples.

“He said the greatest thing you can do (hold up the “1” cutout)—the number one most important thing—is to . . .
eat your vegetables! (Laugh.) Just kidding! Jesus said the number one most important thing He wants all of us to do
is to: Love each other as I have loved you (John 15:12 NIV). He wants us to love others like He loves us! And that is a
LOT of love because Jesus loves everyone!

“Do you remember the story about the woman Jesus met when he was thirsty? She didn’t think Jesus would take a drink of water from her because she was from a different town. But did Jesus love her? (Pause.) Yes!
“Jesus loves everyone—even people from different towns. That means we should love everyone even if they are different—no matter where they live or what food they like to eat or what toys they like to play with.
(Hold up the “1” cutout.)
“The number one thing we can do is to love everyone, even people who are different, like Jesus!

“Remember when Jesus met Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus had done some pretty bad things, but Jesus told him to come down from that tree. Jesus loved Zacchaeus and wanted to be his friend. So does that mean we should still love our little brother even when he breaks our toy? Yes!
(Hold up the “1” cutout.)
“The number one thing we can do is to love everyone, even toy-breaking younger brothers!
“Remember the woman who was so sad? She had no friends. No one wanted to play with her. No one wanted to
share a snack . . . except for who? (Pause.)

“Yes! Jesus! Jesus loved the woman and was her friend! We should love everyone like Jesus and be a good friend to everyone.
“You could find someone playing alone at school and invite them to play with you. We want to love like Jesus. (Hold up the “1” cutout.) That’s the number one thing!
“Jesus loved the woman at the well, he loved Zacchaeus when he climbed up in that tree, and he loved the woman everyone ignored. He loved all of them. Jesus loves everyone! And because Jesus loves me and because Jesus loves you, the number one thing we can do is love others, too! Who does Jesus love?”
CHILDREN AND STORY TELLER: “Jesus loves everyone.”
STORY TELLER: “Leaders, who does Jesus love?”
LEADERS: “Jesus loves everyone.”
STORY TELLER: “Okay, everyone all together! Who does Jesus love?”
CHILDREN AND STORY TELLER: “Jesus loves everyone!”
STORY TELLER: “That’s right. Let’s pray and thank God for sending Jesus to be our friend forever!”

Story (Practice It)

Memory Verse

“Love each other as I have loved you.” JOHN 15:12, NIV

Bottom Line

Jesus loves everyone.

Group (Link It)

PEOPLE
WHAT YOU NEED: Paper cut-outs (circle 5cm diameter), craft sticks, markers, glue stick, and Play-Doh® containers with Play-Doh in it

WHAT YOU DO: Guide the children to draw faces on the paper with the markers. Glue the faces on the craft sticks and help the children push the bottoms of the sticks into the Play-Doh containers so that the sticks look like people standing up. Encourage the children to place as many people in the
containers as possible.

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Today we are going to talk about how Jesus loves EVERYONE!”
“We are going to make a lot of people to show that Jesus loves EVERYONE! Use the markers to draw faces on the tops of these sticks. (Point.) Let’s see how many people we can make together.” (Do activity.)
After the activity: “WOW! Look at all of the people! Jesus loves everyone! I cannot wait to hear all about how Jesus loves us and wants us to love everyone, too!”