Jesus said "I am..." - Lesson 6 - The True Vine

Lesson 6:  The True Vine

Introduction: Get connected activity
Have a student attempt to turn on an electrical device that is not plugged in.  Try plugging it into something besides an electrical outlet (have another student hold the plug, put it under a pillow, attach it to a chair...).  Ask the students why the device won't turn on. (It's not connected to the power source - not plugged in to the right thing)

Have several branches from a plant in some vases.  Some can be freshly cut.  Some a little older.  Others should be wilting.  If possible, also have a potted plant.  Ask the students why the branches are dying. (They aren't connected to the plant)

Discussion:  Read John 15:1-11.  Ask the following questions.

• Who is the vine? (Jesus)
• Who is the vinedresser (the caretaker)? (God the Father)
• Who are the branches? (Jesus' followers)
• What is the fruit? (the good things that they do)
• Why do some branches bear more fruit than others?  (they are connected better to the vine)
• How do Christians prove they are followers of Jesus?  (doing things like He would)
• How are Christians able to do those things?  (by staying connected to Jesus and His Word, the Bible)
• Why did Jesus tell his disciples these things?  (to bring them joy)

Craft: Soda Bottle painting from AlphaMom.com

      Materials:

• soda bottles (enough for one for each student if possible)
• pink paint (or other flower color)
• brown or green paint
• paint brushes
• paper
• markers or crayons

      Instructions:

• Using a paint brush, paint a vine with some branches coming off of it.
• Dip the bottom of the bottle in the flower color paint and stamp it beside the vine to make the flowers.
• Add the Bible verse (John 15:5 - "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing"

Game:  Vine tag (like chain tag)

• Have one person start out as "it".  Define the boundaries for the kids.
• When "it" tags someone, they must hold hands and form a chain/vine.
• They continue to be "it" and chase others.  Only the people on the ends (with a free hand) can tag someone.  
• Anyone tagged joins the vine until everyone is part of the vine.

Game:  Link tag or elbow tag

• Define the boundaries for the kids.  Have everyone grab a partner and link elbows with them.  
• Chose one pair and a partnerless child (if you have an odd-numbered group) to be unlinked.  Assign one to be "it".
• Whoever is "it" chases those who are unlinked.  The unlinked person can join a pair of linked kids and is now safe, but the person on the other end of the link must then become unlinked and can be tagged.
• After you have played for a while and everyone seems tired, discuss how it was better to be linked then unlinked.  Compare that with abiding in Christ.

Songs:  Sing John 15:5 to help the kids remember the Bible verse.

Closing:  Show the kids a dead branch.  Ask them how the branch got to be that way.  (it fell off the tree)  Ask them if they want to be like the branch.  (no)  Ask them how they can avoid being like the branch spiritually.  (spend time with Jesus by praying and reading the Bible)

Unit wrap-up craft: "I am..." Spin Wheel from Crafting The Word of God

Do you have anything to add?  I'd love to hear how you have taught about the True Vine or any ideas for crafts, games, or songs in the comments below.

Here are links to all the lessons in my Jesus Said "I am..." Bible Lessons Unit:

Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life 
Lesson 2 - The Light of the World
Lesson 3 - The Door and the Good Shepherd
Lesson 4 - The Resurrection and the Life
Lesson 5 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Lesson 6 - The True Vine

Jesus Said "I am..." - Lesson 5 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Lesson 5: The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Introduction: Name all the things we have learned that Jesus is (the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life)

Read John 14:1-6.  Ask the following questions:

• What was Jesus describing? (heaven)
• What was Thomas worried about?  (not knowing the way)
• How did Jesus say they would find their way? (through Him)
• Is there any other way? (no)

Activity:  Treasure Map
Create a treasure map for the students to find a hidden snack in your classroom.  Have them follow the map to the treasure (the snack).  In our Bible verse, what is the treasure? (heaven)  What is the map? (Jesus)


Worksheet:  "I am the Way" Maze from sermons4kids.com


Discussion: The Truth

• Who is the truth? (Jesus)
• Is there more than one truth? (no)
• Does Jesus ever lie? (no)
• Is Jesus ever not true to who He is? (no)
• Our world likes to say that everyone's experience is their truth.  Everyone's experience is important, but only Jesus is the truth.
• Can we trust anything besides Jesus?  Is anything else truth?  Can we trust our own feelings?  Read Jeremiah 17:9. (we can't trust anything else)

Craft: "I am the Way" Map Craft from the Come and See blog
Cut up an old map and have the students glue them onto construction paper and write John 14:6 on it.

Discussion:  The Life

• How is Jesus "The Life"? (He lives forever and we can live forever too if we believe in Him)
• What kind of life does He give us? (eternal, spiritual)
• What stories have we talked about that go with Jesus being The Life? (Lazarus, Jesus' resurrection)
• If Jesus is life, what does it mean to be separated from Him? (spiritual death)
• How do we have eternal life too? (believe in Jesus - John 11:25)
• When does eternal life begin? (the moment we believe - John 3:16)
• What does it mean that we have eternal life when we are saved?  (We will live forever and never be separated from Jesus)

Game:  The Way, The Truth, and The Life Mixer
Give each child a sticker that says either "The Way", "The Truth", or "The Life".  Have them sit in chairs in a circle with one person in the center.  The person in the center says either "The Way", "The Truth", or "The Life" and the people with that sticker have to find a new seat.  Meanwhile, the person in the center tries to steal a seat.  The person left without a seat is the new person in the center who gets to choose a new group to switch seats.  After a while, you can have the students remove or cover their stickers so the person in the center doesn't know who is in which group.

Song:  Try a song for John 14:6.  Here are a few.

Possible Craft:  One Way Door Knob Hanger
I don't know where I found this printable door knob hanger, but I imagine that it would be easy to duplicate.  My son has had hanging on his door knob for more than six months and still likes it.

I hope you enjoyed another lesson about the times when Jesus said "I am the...".  Did you have any other ideas of activities, songs, crafts, of snacks that you could use to teach John 14:6?

Here are links to all the lessons in my Jesus Said "I am..." Bible Lessons Unit:

Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life 
Lesson 2 - The Light of the World
Lesson 3 - The Door and the Good Shepherd
Lesson 4 - The Resurrection and the Life
Lesson 5 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Lesson 6 - The True Vine

Click here for all of my Bible Lessons Unit:

Jesus said "I am..." - Lesson 4 - The Resurrection and the Life

Lesson: I am the Resurrection and the Life

Introduction: Use the flannelgraph pieces from My Wonder Studio to tell the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

In John 14:19, Jesus said "Because I live, you will also live."
Watch a video about the resurrection of Jesus.

Craft:  Resurrection garden

     Materials:

• Pot or tray for planting
• sticks to make crosses
• string to tie crosses together
• potting soil
• small pot
• rock about the size of the top of the small pot
• mini garden plants: palm-type plant, plant with red leaves or flowers, plant that has thorns (some succulents would work as well)
• optional pebbles for a pathway
• optional boy/girl figurine and bench
• optional grass seed or moss

Have the kids put the soil in their pot and put the small pot sideways and cover the sides so it looks like a tomb in a hillside.  Set the rock near the opening of the tomb.  Make three crosses from sticks and twine and stand them up in the back of the garden.  Then, plant the plants around it.  Discuss the significance of each type of plant: palm plant for the story of palm Sunday, thorns for the crown of thorns, and a red plant for Jesus paying for our sins with his blood.    If desired, add a pebble pathway to the tomb, a figurine looking at the tomb, and/or grass seed or moss to cover the dirt.

Alternative craft: Pop-up Resurrection Scene from amysfreeideas.com.

Song:  Sing a song of John 11:25-26 like one of these

Closing:
Put the following questions on paper in a hat and have a student pick out a question to answer.

1. What is resurrection?
2. How do we get to live forever?
3. When does eternal life begin?
4. Name as many people who were resurrected as possible?
5. Say or sing John 11:25.
6. Who did Jesus raise from the dead in the story?
7. Who were Lazarus' sisters?
8. Why was Jesus able to raise Lazarus from the dead?

What activities, crafts, snacks, and songs have you used to help teach about Jesus being the Resurrection and the Life?  Share them in the comments below.

Here are links to all the lessons in my Jesus Said "I am..." Bible Lessons Unit:

Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life 
Lesson 2 - The Light of the World
Lesson 3 - The Door and the Good Shepherd
Lesson 4 - The Resurrection and the Life
Lesson 5 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Lesson 6 - The True Vine

Click here for all of my Bible Lessons Unit:

Jesus said "I am..." - Lesson 3 - The Door and the Good Shepherd

Lesson 3: The Door and the Good Shepherd

Introduction:  "Find the lost sheep" Game from sermons4kids.com
Print out the pictures of the sheep from the link above.  Cut them apart and hide them around the room before the class.  Then, have the students find the lost sheep.

Play a video that introduces John 10:1-21, like the following one from The Global Gospel.

Discussion:  Have the students name the four characters of the parable (the shepherd, the sheep, the thieves, and the hireling) and write them on four sections of a chalk or white board.  Help them figure out what each character represents.  Read the passage of John 10:1-21 and have the students name the characteristics of each character from the passage.  Mention how the characteristics fit with the person each character represents.

Snack and Craft:  Talk about how Jesus is both the Good Shepherd and the Door.  The shepherd would sleep at the doorway and be the door that keeps the sheep in and danger out.  Make a sheep pen with foam board and pipe cleaners like the one at Catholic Icing.  Also, make the shepherd.  Instead of making the paper sheep, make marshmallow and pretzel sheep like these from whosthefarris.com.  Then, use the shepherd the shepherd to be the gate of the sheep pen (and of course eat the sheep).

Read them the parable of the Lost Sheep from a children's book or children's story Bible.  Here are some examples:

Activity:  "My sheep know My voice" game

Blindfold a child.  Choose two or three other children to give the child directions to the blindfolded child.  One child is chosen to give the correct directions and the other children should try to lead the blindfolded child astray.  The blindfolded child is told to only listen to the voice of the one child and ignore the other voices.  Then, switch which child is blindfolded and which give the directions.  

Craft:  "I am the Door" craft from Bible Today 4 Kids.  

Print out the sheet of the craft for each child and have the children cut open the door on the dotted red line and glue everything but the door to another piece of paper.  Then, they can open the door and write "Jesus said 'I am the Door' John 10:9".  

If you have extra time, the kids love to take turns hiding and finding the sheep from the introduction.

How have you taught this lesson?   What activities, crafts, snacks, and songs did you use?  Share your experiences in the comments below.

Here are links to all the lessons in my Jesus Said "I am..." Bible Lessons Unit:

Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life 
Lesson 2 - The Light of the World
Lesson 3 - The Door and the Good Shepherd
Lesson 4 - The Resurrection and the Life
Lesson 5 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Lesson 6 - The True Vine

Click here for all of my Bible Lessons Unit:

**  Scripture And... is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Jesus said "I am..." - Lesson 2 - The Light of the World

Lesson 2: The Light of the World

Introduction:  Set up an obstacle course and have the students go through it.  Then, turn out the lights and have the students try the obstacle course in the dark (Remember safety, having them take turns and tell them a word to say to turn on the light if they have a problem).  Ask them if the obstacle course was more difficult without light and why.

Have students read the following passages:

• John 1:1-9
• John 3:19-21
• John 8:12
• John 12:35-36
• John 12:46

List what it means that Jesus is the light of the world:

• Shows the way
• Shows bad things and keeps people from doing bad things (like security lights)
• Overcomes evil (sin)

Craft:  Lighthouse from pbs.org

     Materials: 

• red plastic cup
• smaller clear plastic cup
• battery operated tea light
• white tape
• black tape for windows and door, optional
• plastic plate
• glue
• paint brush
• sand
• sea shells

      Directions:

1. Tape white stripes on the red cup.
2. Over newspaper, paint glue onto the plate and cover with sand.  Dump and shake off any extra sand.  Glue on some seashells.
3. Place the cup on the plate.  Put the tea light on top.  Put the clear cup over the tea light.

Discussion:  Read Matthew 15:14-16.  Ask the kids how we can be a light like Jesus.

Craft:  Light switch cover

Decorate a light switch cover/plate with sharpie markers.  Have them write "You are the Light of the World" and decorate it however they want.  I would recommend spraying on a layer of clear acrylic paint to keep the marker from rubbing off.  They can take it home and their parents can replace their previous light switch plate with this one to remind them to be a light just like Jesus.

Song:  This Little Light of Mine

If you have extra time, the kids love taking more turns on the obstacle course.

How have you taught your students that Jesus is the light of the world?  What activities, songs, and crafts have you used?

Here are links to all the lessons in my Jesus Said "I am..." Bible Lessons Unit:

Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life 
Lesson 2 - The Light of the World
Lesson 3 - The Door and the Good Shepherd
Lesson 4 - The Resurrection and the Life
Lesson 5 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Lesson 6 - The True Vine

Click here for all of my Bible Lessons Unit:

Jesus Said "I am..." - Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life

If you have followed my themed Children's Bible lessons, then you will enjoy the next theme.  There are seven passages in the Bible where Jesus said "I am the..."

John 6: 35, 48   I am the bread of life 

John 8: 12; 9:5   I am the light of the world 

John 10:9   I am the door/gate 

John 10:11   I am the good shepherd 

John 11:25   I am the resurrection and the life 

John 14:6   I am the way, the truth, and the life 

John 15:1   I am the true vine

I thought they would make a great themed unit for the kids, so I broke it into six lessons (combining the door/gate and good shepherd from John 10 into one lesson) and started having fun finding ideas on Pinterest.  Don't you just love Pinterest?  Of course, things needed to be altered and tweaked, but I love all the fun activities and crafts that we did.

Lesson 1: The Bread of Life

Introduction:  

I used the following video from Kids on the Move as an introduction:

Then, I asked the kids what the people probably were thinking after that miracle.

Next, I showed this video from Crossroads Kids Club, about how following this miracle they crossed the sea and Jesus and Peter walked on water.

Then we did a "Readers Theater" style skit that I created for the passage that follows where Jesus said "I am the bread of life."

After we talked about how Jesus is the bread of life, we made these cute necklaces out of bread.

I had seen something similar sold on Etsy, but stamped on clay.  Then I saw that you can make clay out of bread and glue at Kid World Citizen and Can't Stop Making Things.  Here is what I did:

1. Have the kids remove the crust from a piece of white bread.  Then, they should shred it into tiny pieces.  The smaller the pieces are the smoother the dough will be.  If you have young or impatient kids, you can make bread crumbs by putting crustless white bread into a food processor.
2. Add 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon of glue and a drop of dishwashing liquid to the crumbs and have the kids knead it until it is smooth clay.  The dishwashing liquid keeps the clay from 
3. Roll the dough flat with a rolling pin and cut out a bread shape.  
4. Use a stylus, stick or pencil to press the words into the dough.  I liked the look of stamping, but couldn't find any letter stamps that were small enough to fit.  If you want the words darker you can use a sharp tipped marker.  Press a hole in the top for a string if you are making a necklace (or you can glue a magnet to the back instead).
5. Allow the dough to dry for one or two days on a cooling rack or flipping them halfway.
6. Coat it with clear nail polish to keep it from molding, making sure to cover the edges.  The picture about was taken when the necklaces were about 7 months old.

While the kids are working on their necklaces, ask them what it means to them that Jesus is the bread of life (He gives them eternal life, He died so they can live, He quenches our spiritual hunger and thirst,...)

What activities, songs, and crafts have you used for teaching that Jesus is the bread of life?  Share them in the comments below.

Here are links to all the lessons in my Jesus Said "I am..." Bible Lessons Unit:

Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life 

Lesson 2 - The Light of the World

Lesson 3 - The Door and the Good Shepherd

Lesson 4 - The Resurrection and the Life

Lesson 5 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Lesson 6 - The True Vine

Click here for all of my Bible Lessons Unit: