First Thoughts: The gospel of John stands apart from the other gospels in part because of the amount of instruction it contains. Obviously it's very important to the gospel writer that we understand this message. Therefore, it behooves us to spend a bit of time looking at what John means by some of the phrases he uses. For example, when John uses the "kingdom of God" he isn't referring to a future reality, but something that is coming alive right here and now. In the same way, "eternal life" isn't talking about life after death but about the experience of living right now -- of finding ourselves held so powerfully in faith and love and the experience of joy that we know death is powerless against us. It is with this in mind that I've framed this children's lesson. I think it's important for us to focus our own attention on the kingdom of God that is happening in our lives right now, the way that God is already outfitting our "dwelling places" in God's own "house." Part of what we will do together is imagine all the things we'd like to have in our room in God's house. In preparation for the lesson, you can try this exercise yourself. What are the things you want most? The things that give you joy, help you feel safe, make you feel loved? Now consider how God is already providing those things to you or is in the process of giving them to you. Can you see God's kingdom manifesting in your life right now? You might spend a few moments in prayer asking God to give you "kingdom" eyes, so you are aware of the many blessings you have now, as well as those that are on the way.
Teaching On Your Own: (holds out blueprint) Hey everybody! Know what I have here? It's a blueprint of my perfect house. Want to know what makes it so special? Well, it has a great big swimming pool right in the middle. See? And in the backyard there's a soccer field and a basketball court. Then in my bedroom I have three sets of bunk beds so I can have lots of friends over. Oh! And there's a pizza oven in my kitchen, which will always be full of pepperoni pizza! Would you have those things in your dream house? Yep, one day I'm going to be very happy. What do you think? Now that I think about it, I'm pretty happy already. I mean, I live just a few blocks from the park where they have soccer and basketball. And across town there's a swimming pool and a pretty great pizza place. Oh! And for my birthday I had a great sleepover with my friends. We had to sleep in the floor with sleeping bags but it was still fun. I guess I already have my dream house! It was fun to make the drawing, though. Thinking about the things we love helps us to realize what things are important to us. That helps us to be grateful for the things we already have and also to bring into our lives even more things we love. Like in my bunk beds... I have room for six good friends and at my sleepover I only had five. That means I can start looking for another friend!
In our scripture passage today Jesus tells us that in God's house there is room for us. Since God made the earth, everything we see is part of God's house. That's what God wants to do for us, make a space for us -- right here, right now -- to be happy and kind and loved. That means we're living in God's house right now. Isn't that awesome?
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has the blueprint, studying it carefully)
Leader 1: Wow! That is a really big piece of paper. What is it?
Leader 2: It's a blueprint of my perfect house!
Leader 1: Let me see. What makes it so special?
Leader 2: It has a great big swimming pool right in the middle. See? And in the back yard there's a soccer field and a basketball court.
Leader 1: Wow....
Leader 2: Then in my bedroom I have three sets of bunk beds so I can have lots of friends over. Oh! And there's a pizza oven in my kitchen, which will always be full of pepperoni pizza! Yep, one day I'm going to be very happy.
Leader 1: But you don't really have to wait to be happy, do you? I mean, you live just a few blocks from the park where they have soccer and basketball. And across town there's a swimming pool and a pretty great pizza place.
Leader 2: Hey, yeah. And for my birthday I had a great sleepover with my friends. We had to sleep in the floor with sleeping bags but it was still fun. I guess I already have my dream house!
Leader 1: It is really great that you made that drawing. Thinking about the things we love helps us to realize what things are important to us. That helps us to be grateful for the things we already have and also to bring into our lives even more things we love.
Leader 2: Like my bunk beds... I have room for six good friends and at my sleepover I only had five. That means I can start looking for another friend!
Leader 1: Absolutely. In our scripture passage today Jesus tells us that in God's house there is room for us. Since God made the earth, everything we see is part of God's house. That's what God wants to do for us, make a space for us -- right here, right now -- to be happy and kind and loved.
Leader 2: So you're saying that I'm living in God's house right now. That's awesome.
Leader 1: You said it!
Closing Prayer: Loving God, thank you for making room for us in your house and for providing us all the things that make us happy. Help us to appreciate what you've given us and extend that gratitude out into the world so that your love can flow through us to everyone we meet. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, take some time to talk more about your perfect home. Encourage the children to dream about what is most important to them. You might offer them different categories like "Things That Help Me Feel Safe," "Things That Are Fun," "People I Want There," and so on. Next talk about how having these things makes them feel: happy, excited, safe, loved. Ask the children if they had such a wonderful place to live would they keep it to themselves or let others know about it? Although it seems that the right answer is sharing it, affirm both responses. The best lives have balance in them -- where we have some time with others and some time on our own. Encourage the children to imagine what it would be like in their perfect house when they were alone and when they with friends. What are the blessings of both experiences? Now challenge the children to see how some of the blessings of their perfect home are already in their lives -- just as happened in the children's moment.
Use the template attached (pdf) to encourage the children to categorize their blessings into "Already Have" and "On The Way." They can either draw pictures or write words, whichever matches their developmental level. Close with a prayer in which you go around the room taking turns thanking God for what you already have. Then in the next round, thank God for the blessings that are on the way.
