Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to give children the assurance of being saved.
Needed: Bibles, slips of paper with theories of who Jesus is written on them, writing and drawing paper, pencils, crayons or colored pencils
Intro Game: The Life of Jesus Relay
Divide students into two or more teams. When you say, “Go!” the first student on each team will perform the first leg of the relay race, traveling to the other side of your play area and back to their team. The second student on each team then does the second leg, and so on until that team completes the last leg. The first team to complete all legs of the race wins.
Leg 1. Crying. Cry like a baby to show Jesus was born as a baby.
Leg 2. Crawl. Crawl like a baby to show that Jesus had to crawl when he was little.
Leg 3. Slow Walk. Walk slowly like a one-year-old to show that Jesus had to learn to walk.
Leg 4. Run. Run like a child, as Jesus did when He was a boy.
Leg 5. Hammer the Ground. Hit the ground like you’re a man hammering nails to show that Jesus learned how to be a carpenter.
Leg 6. Spin. Spin around saying, “You’re healed! You’re healed!” to show that Jesus helped all the people around Him.
Leg 7. Crucifix Run. Run with your arms outstretched to the sides to show that Jesus was crucified on a cross.
Leg 8. Backward Walk. Walk backward with your arms crossed over your chest to show that Jesus died.
Leg 9. Skip. Skip, yelling, “Ta-da!” to show that Jesus came back to life.
Lesson
Ask students, Have any of you ever been afraid by something you heard about God or something in the Bible?
Have any of you ever been afraid of going to Hell?
How do we make sure that we don’t go to Hell? (By believing in Jesus.)
Why do you think God sent Jesus? And why did Jesus agree to come and die on the cross? (To save us. Because He loves us and doesn’t want us to go to Hell. God wants to be in a relationship with us and wants us to be with Him forever.)
Do you think Christians ever need to be afraid of going to Hell? (No, not as long as they remain Christians.)
So, if Christians don’t have to be afraid of going to Hell, how do we know whether we’re really Christians or not? How do we know if we’re really saved?
(Read 1 John 4:7-12.)
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.”
What do these verses say about how to tell if we’re really Christians or not? What does it say we will do if we’re really Christians? (We will love other people because we have God’s love in us.)
(Read 1 John 4:13.)
“This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit.”
What does this verse say about how to tell if we’re really Christians or not? What does it say we will have if we’re really Christians? (The Holy Spirit.)
If we’re Christians, then we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us because the Holy Spirit lives in everyone who believes in Jesus.
Demonstration: Jesus is With Us!
Give each student a balloon. Tell them to blow it up but not tie it.
Ask, What’s inside your balloon? (Air.)
How do you know that? You can’t see it. How do you know it’s there?
You see what the air does, don’t you? You see the balloon filling up, so you know there’s air in the there.
The Holy Spirit is like air. He’s a Spirit, which means He’s invisible, just like air is invisible. But we know that Jesus is still with us through the Holy Spirit, even if we can’t see Him, because we can feel Him living in our hearts. We can feel Him teaching us and helping us to be better. Jesus will always be with us in our hearts through the Holy Spirit if we believe in Him.
Lesson Continues: Read 1 John 4:14-15.
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”
What do these verses say about how to tell if we’re really Christians or not? What does it say we will believe if we’re really Christians? (We will believe that Jesus is God’s Son.)
To be a Christian, you have to believe who Jesus is.
Game: Who is Jesus?
Before class, write or print out on slips of paper a variety of theories about who Jesus is.
Suggestions include:
Jesus was just a good man.
Jesus was just someone who did miracles.
Jesus isn’t real.
Jesus was faking that He could do miracles.
Jesus lied about being God’s Son.
Jesus is the Son of God.
Hide these statements around your classroom. Then, have students look for the statements. The person who finds the correct answer wins.
Briefly discuss why the other answers are wrong and why only one answer is correct.
Lesson continues…
Read 1 John 4:16-21.
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
“We love because He first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
Craft: Lifting Letters
Tell students that you want them to practice loving other people. One way of showing love to others is writing them a letter saying something nice to them.
Give students writing and drawing supplies and ask them to write a letter to one or more people saying something nice to them. If they can’t write, they can draw that person a picture.
Remind students that God wants us to say nice things to other people.
Lesson conclusion…
So, here’s how we can know that we’re really Christians:
1. We believe in Jesus
2. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us because the Holy Spirit lives in everyone who believes in Jesus.
3. We love other people. The Holy Spirit living in us teaches us how to love other people like God loves each of us.
And if we do those three things – If we believe in Jesus and have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and love other people as God loves us – we can know that we really are God’s people. And then, we don’t ever have to be afraid of God or going to Hell when we die because we’ll know that we really are Christians.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we thank You that we don’t have to be afraid of You. You want us to love You instead because You love us. Help us to love you by loving other people and by listening to the Holy Spirit living inside of us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
You can also find this lesson for Kindle or in print in my book, Followers of the Christ.