session - fbccov.org · the apostle john, one of jesus’ disciples, wrote this letter. john lived...

FOR THE LEADER

A Letter from John1 John

The apostle John, one of Jesus’ disciples, wrote this letter. John lived in Ephesus where he continued to minister to the churches in the area. This letter was probably written late in John’s life because it is evident in reading the book that there were an abundance of false teachers infiltrating the church. Over time, these false teachers began teaching that either Jesus did not physically live on earth, or Jesus, the man who did live on earth, was not divine. Much of John’s encouragement to the church found in the three letters he wrote concern this false teaching and John’s desire to make sure the believers truly understood the reality of Jesus Christ.

It appears that the members of the Ephesian church were confused by the false teachers. The believers did not know who they should believe and trust. John offered the churches simple tests to help them understand the truth of Christ and know for sure that believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. John redirected the churches to remember the simple truth of the gospel that they knew in the beginning: God had not changed and the sacrifice of Jesus that they believed in at first was still true for them now. Believers knew that God is light and that in Him there was no darkness. To test the veracity of a teacher’s claims, one needed only to identify if the teaching led to the light. Teaching that did not show God as light was false teaching.

John’s second purpose for writing this letter was to identify the love of God that should drive all believers to live like Jesus. God is love! God showed His love to people when He sent Jesus to earth. Jesus showed His love for people when He died on the cross to pay for sins, making it possible for people to be reconciled with God. John helped the people refocus on the love of God. The love of God should lead believers to likewise show love to others. The truth of Jesus’ sacrifice for all people should drive the way believers show others the love of Christ. Because God loves us, we should love others.

Session 10Session 10: A Letter from John

77Session 10: A Letter from John© 2020 LifeWay© 2020 LifeWay

OVERVIEW

GET STARTED TOOLS (10 MINUTES)

¨ Bible Skills: Bibles, preferably in the same translation

BIBLE STUDY TOOLS (35 MINUTES)

¨ Jump In: yardstick, “Text Truth Strips” (Poster Pack), dictionary

¨ Examine the Text: “Scribe’s Tools” (Slides), dry erase board, markers, “The Gospel” (Printables)

¨ Video: Explore the Bible on Location video

¨ Memory Verse: “1 John 4:9” (Poster Pack), dry erase board, markers, eraser

¨ Prayer: Family Cards, “1 John” (Books of the Bible Posters)

SMALL GROUP TOOLS (30 MINUTES)

¨ Move: “John’s Stepping Stones” (Printables), “Text Truth Strips” and “Christ in Context: 1 John” (Poster Pack)

¨ Make: paper, colored markers or pens, other drawing tools.

¨ Explore: Bibles, ideally in the same translation; paper; marker

SESSION FOCUSBIBLE PASSAGE: 1 JohnMEMORY VERSE: 1 John 4:9TEXT TRUTH: God revealed His love for us by sending Jesus to be the propitiation for our sin.CHRIST IN CONTEXT: The Book of 1 John emphasizes that Jesus is both fully God and fully human. He is the Word of life and the source of eternal life. He came to give His life to pay for sin. Jesus is God’s gift of love and light to the world. Through Jesus, believers can have a relationship with God and with other believers.

78 Explore the Bible: Older Kids© 2020 LifeWay© 2020 LifeWay

BIBLE STORY

EXPLORE THE BIBLE AT HOMESee the Printables for additional family resources.

A LETTER FROM JOHN1 John

John was one of Jesus’ disciples. He is called the beloved disciple. John helped tell people about Jesus. He helped start churches and he wrote letters to believers to encourage them in their faith. John wrote one letter to the early church to help them understand sin and God’s love and forgiveness for those who repent of their sin.

“God is light. There is no darkness in him. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus who is the righteous one. Jesus is the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sin.

We know love because Jesus gave His life for us. We should also give our lives for our brothers and sisters. If we have plenty and see someone in need and do not help them, we are not showing God’s love is in us. We should love not only through our words but also through our actions.

We should love each other. Love is from God. God is love. God showed His love to us when He sent His one and only Son into the world so that we could have life through Jesus. Love is this: not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sin.

Because God loved us in this great way, we must love each other. There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives away fear. We love because God loved us first. How do we know who is a child of God? A child of God loves God and obeys His commands.

KEY POINTS • John wrote this letter to the early church to help them understand sin

and forgiveness.• He explained that since Jesus gave His life for us, we should live our lives

for Him.• John also urged the people to love each other as Jesus has loved them.


GET STARTED

BIBLE SKILLS SPOTLIGHT• Learns the Bible teaches people how to live a Christian life by

following Jesus. • Understands the Bible teaches that salvation through Jesus is

God’s gift of forgiveness.

TOOLS:• Bible Skills: Bibles,

preferably in the same translation

GET STARTED (10 MINUTES)

BIBLE SKILLS• Ask the kids which large division (Testament) of the Bible they have been

learning from in the last several weeks (Old Testament). Point out that this week they will shift their attention to the New Testament.

• Suggest that they open their Bibles to the middle. Then direct them to divide the back half of the pages in half. Note that they will probably be near Matthew and the beginning of the New Testament.

• Guide the group to locate 1 John in their Bibles. Ensure that they recognize that this is not the same as John’s Gospel.

• Ask which group of books contains John’s Gospel (the Gospels) and which contains 1 John (General Letters).

• Allow someone to discover how many chapters are in 1 John (5).• Explain that one of John’s big themes in this letter was love. Point

out that love can mean a lot of things for different people in different situations. Note that this was true in John’s time as well, which probably explains why he spent so much time explaining exactly what he meant by love.

• Form four teams, assigning them each to take on one of 1 John’s chapters, 1 John 2 through 5.

• Ask the teams to read closely and discover how many times the word “love” appears in their assigned chapter.


BIBLE STUDY

TOOLS:• Jump In: yardstick, “Text

Truth Strips” (Poster Pack), dictionary

• Examine the Text: “Scribe’s Tools” (Slides), dry erase board, markers, “The Gospel” (Printables)

• Video: Explore the Bible on Location video

• Memory Verse: “1 John 4:9” (Poster Pack), dry erase board, markers, eraser

• Prayer: Family Cards, “1 John” (Books of the Bible Posters)

BIBLE STUDY (35 MINUTES)

JUMP IN • Challenge a volunteer to balance the yardstick in the palm of their hand.

Say: “Keep it perfectly upright and don’t move your hand.”• As the volunteer attempts this, point out every movement of the hand

or deviation of the yardstick from vertical, remarking in a clearly joking manner, “I said to keep your hand still!” or “I saw the yardstick move!”

• Allow one or two others to try the same thing.• Agree that no one can perform this skill perfectly, keeping the yardstick

upright and the hand still.• Explain that while this yardstick trick is fun, it is not essential to know.

John’s letter, which we call 1 John, deals with something equally difficult but far more important.

• Display the “Text Truth Strip,” asking the kids to read it with you: “God revealed His love for us by sending Jesus to be the propitiation for our sin.”

• Encourage someone to look up propitiate in the dictionary, reading the definition. (Possible Definition: Propitiate-Describes how Jesus satisfied—turned away—God’s wrath by allowing Himself to be sacrificed to pay for our sin.)

• Point out that propitiate and propitiation are big, unfamiliar words but that they are extremely important to our lives and for understanding the message of 1 John.

EXAMINE THE TEXT• Divide the dry erase board in two halves. Write If in large letters in the

middle of the left side of the dry erase board. Number from 6 to 10 down the left edge of the board. Write Then in large letters in the middle of the right side of the dry erase board. Number 6 to 10 down the left edge of the right side of the board.

• Direct the kids to locate 1 John 1 in their Bibles.• Display the “Scribe’s Tools” image as you point out that this book was

originally a letter from John to an unknown group of Christians. Note that writing letters was more difficult in John’s time, but in a day before phones and email it was the only way to communicate at a distance.

• Form five groups, assigning each to a single verse, 1 John 1:6-10.• Ask the groups to read their verse and discover the If statement there.• Guide the groups to paraphrase the If portion of their verse in the left

column of the board and add the Then portion (if this, then that) in the right column.

• Discuss the groups’ findings, paying attention to what John has to say here about sin, confession, and cleansing. Note that the imagery of light and darkness in these verses does not mean they forgot to light candles. Allow the group to suggest what light and darkness might indicate. (light—God; dark—sin)


BIBLE STUDY

• Ask: “Do these verses contain any other things like light and darkness that are symbols rather than literal things?” Discuss any suggestions they have.

• Guide the group to 1 John 4:10-11 as a pair of volunteers read the verses.• Ask the kids if any of the words or ideas here are unclear. Explain what it

means that Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for our sins (or propitiation). • Tell the Bible story in your own words. A Bible story page is available to

use as a guide.• As time allows, review “The Gospel” page.

PLAY THE VIDEO• Play the Session 10 video.• Ask: “What location did Joel visit today? Who did he meet there? Where

did Isaac go on his trip? Why did he go? How can we tell other people about the love of Jesus?”

MEMORY VERSE ¨ Write who, what, where, when, why, and how on sticky notes.

• Display the “1 John 4:9” poster on a wall, inviting the group to read it aloud together.

• Place the pre-written sticky notes around the poster.• Ask for volunteers to place a sticky note at a particular point in the verse

and ask a corresponding question. For example, place the who note on “only Son” and ask “Who did God send into the world?”

• Continue this until all six notes have been used. (When might be difficult, but point out that most of the verbs are in past tense; thus, it has already been done.)

• Read the verse together once again.

PRAYER• Balance the yardstick as you close the session.• Look again at the “Text Truth Strip” and ask: “What does propitiation

mean?” • Emphasize that God knows we cannot keep from sinning, so He sent

Jesus to provide a way to keep our sin from destroying our relationship with God.

• Grab the yardstick with your free hand and hold it steady. Say: “Jesus did what we could not possibly do ourselves.”

• Distribute the Family Cards.• Point out the “1 John” poster, and ask volunteers to share the heart of

what John had to say in this letter.• Offer a prayer asking God to help everyone assembled repent of their sins

and receive the forgiveness available through Jesus.• Dismiss to Small Groups.


SMALL GROUP

STEPPING STONESTools: “John’s Stepping Stones” (Printables), “Text Truth Strips” and “Christ in Context: 1 John” (Poster Pack)

¨ Tape the “stones” (words of the Text Truth) on the floor in a sort of cloud with words a few inches apart. Be

careful not to put the words in easy order, but try not to place adjacent words too far apart.

• Remind the group of the Text Truth, showing them the “Text Truth Strip.” Allow them to read the Text Truth

together.• Direct a volunteer to step from word to word on the “Stepping Stones” to build the Text Truth.

• Help by noting that the sentence begins with “God.”

• As each participant finishes, ask a question regarding this truth and what it means for us. (Examples: What is

propitiation? When did God send Jesus? How did this reveal God’s love?)

• Emphasize that because Jesus did all the work, we do not have to jump around (indicating the stepping

stones) trying to earn God’s favor with our actions.

• Display the “Christ in Context: 1 John” poster.

• Wrap things up, explaining that the Book of 1 John presents Jesus as both fully God and fully human. He is

the Word of life and the source of eternal life. He came to give His life to pay for sin. Jesus is God’s gift of love

and light to the world. Through Jesus, believers can have a relationship with God and with other believers.

TOOLS:• Explorer Guides: Bibles,

Explorer Guides, pens

SMALL GROUP (30 MINUTES)

EXPLORER GUIDES• Distribute today’s Explorer Guides and lead girls and boys to find today’s

pages.• Help kids find the correct word for each statement in “What Did John

Say?” (Answers: False, orange-darkness; True; False, words-actions; True; False, love-sin)

• Select a volunteer to read aloud “An Inky History.”• Guide kids to choose a friend and talk about the situations in “Showing

Love.”• Read to boys and girls “What’s With All the Blood?!”• Review today’s object, “Scribe’s Reeds and Inks.”

TECH CONNECT (OPTIONAL)• Prior to Small Group, download the LifeWay Kids app. Use the activity

labeled “Explorer Plus” in the Explore the Bible: Kids section of the app.

ACTIVITIES• Select one or more of the activities to complete as time allows.

MOVE


SMALL GROUP

WHAT KIND OF LOVETools: paper, colored markers or pens, other drawing tools

¨ Prepare a “Love” image as an example.

• Ask the group to name things that they love:

people, movies, houses, dogs, sports teams,

songs, and so forth. Note that we mean a lot

of different things when we say “love” during

a given week.• Remind the kids that the word love appears

twenty-six times in 1 John (CSB, ESV, KJV; 27 in NIV).

• Ask them to read through 1 John 4:7-18, keeping count and noting the mentions of love there. Ask them which of the objects they

mentioned loving previously comes closest to

the sort of love John talks about here.• Look closely at the Scripture passage and ask

the group to complete this sentence, “Love is _____,” in as many different ways as these

verses in 1 John support.• Direct the kids to write LOVE in large outline

letters on their paper. Challenge them to take

one of the things this passage teaches about

love and to use creative lettering, colors, and

so on to present it.• Review the Text Truth: God revealed His love

for us by sending Jesus to be the propitiation

for our sin.

YOU TALKING TO ME?Tools: Bibles, ideally in the same translation; paper; marker

¨ Label three sheets of paper as children, young men, and fathers.

• Ask the group to consider what they know about 1 John and to consider who John’s intended audience might have originally been.

• Ask: “Do you think they were Christians or non-Christians?” Agree that he seems to be talking to people who are already Christians.

• Ask: “Why do you think John wrote this letter? We don’t have to guess because John tells us.” Guide kids to locate 1 John 2.

• Create three teams, giving one of the three labeled sheets of paper to each of them.

• Ask the teams to read carefully 1 John 2:12-14. As they read, instruct them to identify the reasons John wrote his letter that are said to their assigned group.

• Direct the teams to write statements paraphrasing each of John’s “because” clauses. Note that the paraphrase does not have to be greatly different from the original. (Example: 1 John 2:12, Because of Jesus’ name your sins were forgiven.)

• Read the passage aloud pausing after each “I am writing/have written” line to allow the appropriate group to share.

• For example, the “children” team would insert their paraphrases in verse 12 and at the beginning of verse 14.

• Conclude by reviewing the Text Truth: God revealed His love for us by sending Jesus to be the propitiation for our sin.

SMALL GROUP

EXPLORE

MAKE


session - fbccov.org · the apostle john, one of jesus’ disciples, wrote this letter. john lived...

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