With Valentine’s Day upon us, we are reminded of God’s never-ending and unfailing love for us. Secular Valentine’s Day is used to show those who we love romantically how much they mean to us, but this lesson uses it as a way to show God’s children how much He loves us. God’s love far exceeds any other type of love. Conversation Hearts are a popular candy on Valentine’s Day.
Jeremiah 31:33 tells us that God desires for us to be His people and that He wants to be our God. As God’s people He has put His law on our hearts and minds. God’s law has been given to us through the Bible. It is our love letter from God and if God were to write conversation hearts to us they would be filled with the same truths that the Bible holds. Through this lesson children will learn that God loves them with a never-ending and unfailing love. They will create their own box of conversation hearts that hold true examples of God’s love for them through Bible verses.
Lesson Title: Conversations with God (Valentine’s Day Lesson)
Primary Bible Reference: Jeremiah 31:33
Secondary Bible Reference: Romans 8:38-39; John 3:16; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 5:1; Jeremiah 31:3; Psalm 36:5; Psalm 89:2; Romans 8:28
Target Age Group: Elementary School
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 1 Hour
Verse to Remember: “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33
Learning Aim:
- God’s love for us is unfailing and never-ending.
Basic Supply List:
- Bible for each child
- Several boxes of conversation hearts
- An envelope for each child
- Construction Paper
- Scissors
- Writing Utensils
- Red or Pink streamers
- Radio and songs about God’s love
- Blank Valentine’s Cards
Note: In the teaching plan below the words in italics are meant to be read aloud. The regular text is simply directions for the teacher.
> > > > Basic Teaching Plan < < < <
Introduction: Greet the children and open the lesson by asking what Valentine’s Day is, and what it means to them. Accept whatever answers they have then explain that God also loves them and that God’s love for them exceeds any other time type of love.
Biblical Evidence: Display and read Jeremiah 31:33. Say, As Christians, we are God’s people. As His people what does He want for us? Allow responses. Help them understand that God wants to put His law on our hearts and minds. What is God’s law? The Bible. How can we write His law, the Bible, on our hearts? By reading the Bible, learning verses, talking to God.
Hold up a box of Conversation Heart candies and ask if the class knows what they are. Explain that these are messages that you can give to the people that you love on Valentine’s Day. Ask, What do you think that God would write on conversation hearts if He were to write them to us? Allow them to answer. Now say, The Bible is full of promises from God to us. Let’s look at a few of these to see how God loves us.
Break the class up in to several different groups. Each group will be given a Bible verse to look up and then explain/read to the class. There are ten verses so you could have ten groups, or give each group more than one verse to find. Write each of the Bible references on paper construction hearts and then give them to the class. Give the groups 5-10 minutes to find their Bible verses and figure out what they mean. The ten references and explanations are listed below.
- Romans 8:39- Absolutely nothing will ever be able to separate us from God’s love.
- John 3:16- God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us. That is a huge sacrifice to make.
- 1 John 3:1- Our God is an almighty God who is in complete control of the world. Not only does He love us but he wants to lavish His love on us and He wants to make us His children.
- 1 John 3:16- He loves us so much that He was willing to give up His life for us even though He was completely sinless.
- Romans 5:8- He loved us so much that He died for us before we were even His children. He loved us before we were His children as much as He does now.
- Ephesians 5:1-2- Jesus loved us and we are to try to be like Him in the way we love others.
- Jeremiah 31:3- God loves us with an everlasting love.
- Psalm 36:5- God’s love is very big. There is nowhere in the world that it does not reach.
- Psalm 89:2- God’s love will stand firm forever and He will never ever let us down.
- Romans 8:28- God will take care of those who love Him and everything will work out for the good of His purpose.
Allow each group to read their verse out loud and then say what they think it means. Say, The Bible is full of examples of how God loves us. His love will never end and will never fail us. He is our God and His love exceeds any other type of love.
Conversation Heart Craft: Create a box of Bible verse conversation hearts. You can have the class write the 10 verses listed above on paper hearts cut out of construction paper. If you don’t think your class can handle writing the verses, you can type them before hand and then give copies of each verse to each student and they can cut out the paper hearts and glue the verses onto the hearts. Give each child an envelope, which will serve as the conversation heart box. They can keep these as a list of Bible verses that shows God’s love for them.
Bible Drill: Using the Bible verses listed above have a Bible drill. Say the verse reference out loud and the first child to find the verse is the winner.
Crazy Love: Sing and dance to songs that focus on God’s love such as How Deep the Father’s Love For Us by Stuart Townsend and Crazy Love by Hawk Nelson. Discuss how the songs teach us about God’s love and challenge the class to write their own songs about God’s love.
Conversation Heart Tower Contest: Give each child or group of children some candy conversation hearts. Stack the hearts one on top of the other. Whoever builds the tallest tower wins.
Wrapped Up in God’s Love: Divide the students into small groups. Give each group a roll of pink or red streamers. Remind the class that God’s love for them is never ending and will completely encompass them. Their task is to wrap the paper around one child until they are completely covered without breaking the streamer. The group that most completely wraps their friend is the winner.
Conclusion: Close by giving each child a blank Valentine card. Ask them to think of someone that they can give this card to who needs to know about God’s love. Write Bible verses on the card and decorate. Pray for the class and for their friends who will be receiving the Valentines that they just made. Remind them that God loves them and their friends. Encourage them to not allow God’s love to stop with them but to pass it on to everyone around them.