CRAZY IDEAS ABOUT LOVE - VALENTINE'S DAY

SIX OR SO NECCO CONVERSATION HEARTS - sort through beforehand and use only ones that are okay with this age

Have you ever heard a word and not known what it meant?  It feels a little silly, doesn't it?  How do you figure out what a word means?

Let's imagine that we don't know the meaning of a word we ALL know, and that word is LOVE (write on white board).

And let's pretend that the only clues we have to what the word "love" means come from Necco conversation hearts.  So I'm going to give out a few hearts to some volunteers, who will read to us what's on the heart.  And then we're going to brainstorm together what this new word "love" might mean.

(invite children to read what's on the heart one at a time and after each child reads the message, ask the kids to talk more about what "love" might mean, and write that on the white board - choose some hearts that indicate how you look means you'll be loved, that love is all about romance, etc.).

Okay, thanks everyone.  So let's look at all the ideas we had about "love".  

Now let's look at another way we might understand love by watching this video clip:

(choose scene from film or YouTube that shows self-sacrificing, tender love - the story of the Hoyt father and son is amazing!).

If you didn't know the meaning of the word "love" and all you saw was this video, what would you think "love" meant?

(let kids answer)

We use the word "love" all the time.  We say we "love" a video game or a TV show or LOVE ice cream.  We talk about God loving us and sometimes it sounds like God's love is about as serious as loving ice cream!

God's love has a lot in common with the love of this dad for his son.  What ways can you think of?
(let kids answer).

Now let's look at 1 John 4:10 and 19

You'll never find love like this any where on earth.  It's a one-of-a-kind love.  It's so different from what our Necco conversation hearts tell us love is, right?

Maybe you and I get a little taste of this love when we're snuggled next to our mom or dad, and feel really, really safe.  God's love is even better!

Let's thank God for His undeserved love that cost him BIG time!