Friendship, Love - Who's In, Who's Out?

Below is the one I did last night about friendship, love, cliques, and excluding kids. It worked really well.
Mary McC

WHO’S IN, WHO’S OUT?

Preparation:

Wear a cross (the bigger the better) and hold a Bible (the bigger the better)

Roll of masking tape

Talk:

I think that most of us would say “yes” if someone asked us – are you a Christian. What are some ways people know that? (ask kids to respond - below are some suggested answers)

· Wear a cross and hold a Bible

· Go to church/AWANA

· Talk to people about Jesus

Please get out your Bibles and turn to the Gospel of John ch. 13:35

Jesus says people will know you are Christians by what?

(Loving one another)

Did Jesus say – all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for some people? Or if you love kids your own age? (ask children to read John 13:35 together out loud)

Maybe you find it hard to love some kinds of people. Sometimes Jesus calls us to do things that seem impossible to us! But everything Jesus calls us to do, he helps us to do. (can you repeat that with me? - have kids say it with you)

I think that all of us sometimes are good at loving others, and sometimes not so good. Let me give you an example.

(Use masking tape to create a 6' line in front of you on the floor or carpet).

Let’s imagine that this line represents who I let in – people I “love”. First, you have to notice that I’m the only one on this side right now! I guess I have a way to go to love.

The easiest thing is to let people into my part of the line who are nice to me. So let’s think of someone who has been really nice to me – I’m going to add (name an adult who is there and is a friend) to this part of my life. (name), can you join me on this side of the line? (give this person a hug when they join you)

Then maybe you feel it’s a lot easier to like kids who are the same gender – so if you’re a boy, it’s easier to like other boys than to like girls. Since I’m a girl, I’m going to invite a girl up here – (invite a clubber by name to join you) up here. Oh, looks like I already have something going on here. What do you notice about all of us? (We are all girls) – thank them and ask them to return to their seats.

Okay, so maybe there is another type of person I let in to my side. I help with the blue team sometimes at Gametime, and what if I wanted the Blue team win in gametime every week? Imagine if someone joined my team and I made a face or rolled my eyes when they came on my line? What if I told them to go to another team because I thought they would slow the team down and we could lose gametime? If I want to win really badly, I might be tempted to want only fast people on my side!

What if I only wanted smart people on my side, or funny people? Or people who are cool or popular?

We know Jesus says the world will know we are his because we love one another. we know that from John 13:35, right? Now let’s look at John 15:17 just a little further on. Jesus says what? (have someone read it). He says this is a commandment – an order to us - he commands us to love one another!

If we are followers of Jesus, we want to do what he says, so let’s start loving others right here at T&T! I want you not to say anything, but look at the person on your left. Is there room on your side of the line for this person? Now look at the person on your right. Now in front of you, now in back of you. God is commanding you to love all of these people! Maybe you think - I already do that!

Okay, one way you can see if we need to do a little better at loving is to look at who you sit with each week at T&T. Is it always the same friends? What does that say about who you welcome and love?

Jesus said – John 13:35 – let’s let the world know that at T&T, we are Christians not only because we may wear a cross, or learn lots of Bible verses, but also because of the love we had for one another! And if it’s hard to love some people, remember – everything Jesus calls us to do, he helps us to do! Let’s stop now and pray about this together (have prayer begin with confession that we haven’t loved one another, and asking God’s help to do it here at T&T)

I want to show a short funny video to helps us see ways we can do better loving one another! – Show “For the Birds” – a Pixar short on the Disney DVD – Pixar Short Films Volume 1. (Video is 3-4 minutes long)

After showing video – talk through what the small birds did to the larger bird, how they ganged up together against him, and how they needed the big bird at the end, maybe you and your kids will see some other things to talk about – dont' labor this part - the DVD already shows the problem well and winsomly!

Finish by saying – Jesus said people will know we belong to Jesus not because we wear a big cross, or carry a Bible or even if we know lots and lots of Bible verses. He says it’s the love we have for one another that will show we belong to Jesus, so let’s be people who love!