The ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ Childrens Lesson on John 14:1-14 is part of the ‘Who am I?’ teaching series.
Main Idea: JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE
Suggested Schedule: (90 mins)
- Welcome (5 mins)
- Game (5mins)
- Review Big Verse (5 mins)
- Set the Scene: Bible story/skit and review questions (10-15 mins)
- Object Lesson 1 talk (5mins)
- Game (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 2 talk (5 mins)
- Game (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 3 game and talk (10 mins)
- Game (5 mins)
- Sense How You Feel activity (10 – 25 mins)
- Seek God Prayer (5 mins)
Supplies:
SONG and BIBLE STORY VIDEO IDEAS available via our dedicated Pinterest Board.
GAME IDEAS:
2 TRUTHS AND A LIE – mins
Description: Guessing Game
Supplies: No supplies needed
Details: (regular) Get your leaders to come up with 2 truths and a lie about themselves. The children must vote to decide which is the lie.
TRUE OR FALSE QUIZ – MINS
Description: PowerPoint Game
Supplies: PowerPoint game
Details: (Keynote/PowerPoint) Can the children answer these true or false questions about the Bible?
STOP & GO – 5 mins
Description: Upfront Game
Supplies: 3 x Laminated A4 sheets with a coloured traffic light bulb – one Red, one Amber, One Green.
Details: (regular) Leader holds up one of the sheets, and the children either (Green) Run around, (Amber) Walk around or (Red) stop still. Leader can change the cards quickly, and it can be an elimination game if wanted (i.e. last person to stop when it’s Red is out – they can help the leader identify the next person who is last to respond and gets eliminated).
BIG VERSE: Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
(regular/widescreen/social media image) Download the Bible cards here.
SET THE SCENE: 10-15 MINS
Description:
Supplies: a Bible
Details: Read or act out John 14: 1-14 Then ask a few of the review questions below:
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
1. Where is there a place being prepared? (v2)
2. Why was Thomas worried? (v5)
3. What did Jesus say was the way for people to come to God? (v6)
4. What did Jesus mean when he said “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”? (v10)
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) JESUS IS THE TRUTH – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 1
Supplies: No supplies needed – just a willing leader.
Details:
Say: You know, truth doesn’t change depending on what we believe. I could believe that [leader’s name] is a monkey, I could tell everyone that [leader’s name]is a monkey, but does that mean the truth is that [leader’s name] is a monkey? (NO!) … But what about if my mum told me [leader’s name] was a monkey? Does that mean that he is? Nope! That’s because it’s not true!
We can depend on things that are true and know that they won’t let us down because they can be proven and are not fake or lies. Just like the wise man built his house on the rock, Jesus wants us to build our lives on the truth. Jesus says He is the truth! That means He is what life is all about! He is the truth about life! He is not going to change or leave us and He never will! He will always be truth and will always be there for us to trust in, rely on and build our lives upon.
2) I CAN PUT MY FAITH IN THE TRUTH – 10 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: Diet Coke and cheap coke in regular cups so they cannot be told apart [Just make sure you know which one is which!].
Details:
Say: Do you know that sometimes it is difficult to tell what is fake/lies and what is genuine or truth?! I need a volunteer. Who would like to taste our coke? I have two different types of coke here, one is a cheap coke and the other is the real Coca Cola- the expensive stuff. Who would like to try it for themselves? Can you taste the difference? [Encourage the children to try the cokes and taste them to see which is real].
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what is real and true. There are lots of lies in the world and people tell lies all the time. But it’s important that we don’t build our lives on lies and things that aren’t true. To do that is like building your life on sand – and when time get tough and the storms come along, you will struggle because your life is not in Jesus.
Lots of people might tell you that Jesus isn’t truth but a lie, they may say there are lots of religions and Jesus is just one of them… So how do we tell if something is real and true or not? Well, with the coke we had to taste it, look at its colour and judge for ourselves. That’s the same with other things too, we need to think about it, try it and find out for ourselves. It’s the same with Jesus, we will only realise He is the real deal and that He is true if we try putting our faith in Him and get to know Him for ourselves! That way, when storms come in our life and we pray and ask Jesus for help, we will see if our house stands strong or if everything falls around us.
3) I CAN BE CHANGED BY THE TRUTH – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 3
Supplies: Magnifying glass, Detective outfit if possible, Bible
Details:
Say: Sometimes we need to be a bit like detectives and uncover lies or false things we’ve been believing. These could be things that you’ve always believed about yourself or lies that people have told you.
For example, our teacher could tell us that we were stupid and then we could choose to believe them. We might not do very well at school because we believe that we just couldn’t do the work.
Yet the Bible tells us that “We have the mind of Christ”.
1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “Who has known the mind of the Lord as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
When we know that and take it to heart everything changes. Like a detective we can see the truth! We can’t be stupid because WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST!!
I wonder what lies you have believed about yourself that aren’t true?
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES:
SCRIPTURE HUNT – 10 MINS
Description:
Supplies: I am the Way the Truth and the Life! Jesus answered, Without me, no one can go to the father. John 14: 6.
Details: (regular) Hide the verse somewhere in the room and make up some clues for the children to find it. e.g – Under a leaders chair, in the craft box, by the window, near the door.
When the children find the verse read it out together.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- How does Jesus show us the truth?
- Are there any truths that you find hard to believe?
- Why might that be?
SENSE HOW YOU FEEL – 10 MINS EACH OR IN TANDEM/ROTATION
Encourage the children to think about the questions above as they do one of the activities:
Description: Craft.
Supplies: Lemon juice, paper, water
Details: Create some invisible ink by mixing a few drops of water with some lemon juice. Dip the cotton bud in the lemon juice and write on the white paper “I am the way, the truth and the life”.
Description: Moulding activity.
Supplies: Playdough or clay.
Details: Mould the tomb and the scene of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus.
Description: Building activity.
Supplies: Lego or construction toys.
Details: Build a “one way” road sign.
Description: Sensory activity.
Supplies: Magnifying glass, lots of different objects
Details: Place the objects on the table and using the magnifying glass take a look at all the details of the objects. Is there anything that you might have missed?
Description: Activity Booklets.
Supplies: 5-7s and 8-11s booklets (included in download), markers.
Details: Fill in or color the 5-7s (PDF) and 8-11s (PDF) booklets.
SEEK GOD: 10 MINS
Description: Quiet reflective prayer
Supplies: Piece of paper, two columns – one saying truth and the other saying lie, pens, cross, sign “I am the way, truth and life”
Details: Put on the Cross or at the front of the teaching area the “I am the Way, Truth and Life” sign.
Play some quiet music and invite the Holy Spirit to come and fill the children. Ask the children to write in the lie column anything that they believe about themselves that might not be true. Then ask them to write in truth column what Jesus says about them.
Here are some scenarios which might come up:
I am not very special – BUT God says I am a child of God John 15:15)
I haven’t got any talents – BUT God says He has made to do good things (Ephesians 3:12)
God can’t forgive me – BUT God says I have been forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
At the end ask the children to pray for each other in small groups.
ZOOM FRIENDLY LESSON:
SCRIPTURE CODE BREAKER (regular)
WHICH WAY (Keynote/PowerPoint)
