Use this children’s Sunday School lesson on John 1 to teach children about who Jesus is.
Needed: Bibles
Lesson
Ask students, Is Jesus alive right now?
Jesus is alive right now. He is alive in Heaven. Jesus went to Heaven after God brought Him back to life from dying on the cross.
How old do you think Jesus is?
Did you know that Jesus has always been alive? Always. Even before He was born on earth.
Where do you think Jesus was before He was born? (In Heaven.)
Jesus was alive in Heaven before He was born and when He died, He came back to life and went back to His home in Heaven.
Do you know who Jesus is? He’s God. He’s God in a human body. God has three parts: God the Father, God the Son (who is Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God in a human body.
(Read John 1:1-3.)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
These verses are telling us that Jesus, the Word, was with God from the very beginning. Jesus was always alive with God in Heaven. It’s also telling us that the Word, Jesus, was God. Jesus is a part of God.
(Read John 1:14.)
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
This verse tells us that the part of God that was the Word, or Jesus, became a human person and lived on earth with us for a little while.
(Read John 1:9.)
“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.”
This verse tells us that the true light was coming into the world. Who do you think the light is? (The light is Jesus.)
How many of you like to be in the dark?
Sometimes, the dark is nice to sleep in, but the dark can also make trouble for us sometimes because you can’t see in the dark. If you try to move and walk around in the dark, you might bump into things or trip over things.
If we’re in the dark, what does turning on a light help us to do?
The light helps us to see. We can find our way better if there’s a light on. And if there’s a light on, it helps us not to be scared.
That’s the way it is with Jesus. Jesus is our light that helps us find our way to Heaven. He’s also our light because we know He is always with us, and if we know that if Jesus is always with us, then we don’t have to be afraid of anything.
Game: Jesus Our Light
Play a game of Red Light, Green Light with the change of turning the light on and off. Students run from one side of the room to the other when the lights are on. But when you turn the lights off, they have to stumble around and pretend to be afraid. If they keep running when the light is off, they‘re out. The winner is the first one who makes it to the other side of the room.
Remind students that Jesus is our light who helps us find our way and gives us courage not to be afraid.
Lesson continues…
Now, who remembers what John the Baptist’s job was? What was John supposed to do? (John was supposed to be a preacher. He was supposed to tell people about God and Jesus.)
Do you think that’s a pretty important job – to tell people about God and Jesus? (That is a very important job.)
Did you know that God has given us all that job? God wants us all to tell people about God and Jesus so that everyone can believe in Jesus and go to Heaven when they die.
Game: Disciple Tag
Choose one student to be It. When they tag someone, that person links hands with them and joins their team. They continue adding people to their team, linking hands with each one until all but one student is part of their chain. That remaining student becomes It for the next round.
Play two or three rounds and then, explain that when we tell people about Jesus, we want them to believe in Jesus too. If they do, they become a Christian and join our team. Then, they help us tell more people about Jesus.
Lesson continues…
(Read John 1:26-27.)
“’I baptize with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’”
John is talking here about Jesus, and he says that he, John, is not worthy to untie Jesus’ shoe for Him. John, who had such an important job as being a preacher and telling people about God and Jesus, said he wasn’t worthy to untie Jesus’ shoe. What do you think about that?
Do you think you’re good enough to untie Jesus’ shoe for Him?
As important as we are as human beings, God and Jesus are much more important than we are. We aren’t worthy to serve God, to even untie His shoe for Him, because compared to God, we are nothing. But God made us and He loves us, and He wants us to do our best to serve Him. We only have to remember how great He is so that we don’t think we’re too great.
Game: Shoe Swap
Students and leader sit in a circle and take their shoes off, leaving them in front of their chair. The leader then calls out a description for more than one pair of shoes. Whoever is sitting in a chair with a pair of shoes matching that description has to get up and move to another chair.
Anytime someone sits in the chair with the leader’s shoes in front of them, they have to say, “I’m not worthy!” and then, call out the next description.
Description ideas include: colors, laces, open-toed, tennis shoes, dress shoes, Velcro, etc.
Explain that we’re not worthy to serve Jesus, but He still lets us serve Him because He loves us.
Closing Prayer
Jesus, help us always to remember how great You are. You are God in a human body. You were always alive, even before You came to earth. Help us to serve You the best way that we can. Amen.
You can also find this lesson for Kindle or in print in my book, Jesus Starts His Work.