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Jesus Loves You

Teacher's Guide - this is the final lesson in the series of Easter lessons. It would also be a great resource to use around Valentine's Day.  Use the Easter Bible Lesson Plan for further ideas to supplement this.

Introduction:

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13 is just one of the many verses that talk about God's love for us.  This lesson will discuss Jesus' love for us, but also ask the question do we love Jesus?   Jesus has showed us how much He loved us through His birth, death and resurrection and we need to examine our feelings after the huge sacrifice He made for us.  I've said this before, but it's worth mentioning again.  When instructing young children, repetition is a positive thing.  Everything is so new at this age that it is helpful to repeat important messages multiple times.  This will sum up the Easter lessons, and tie them all together.

The message:  

Preschool thru Grade 1: Jesus loves you know matter what.
  
Grades 2 and 3: Jesus loves you unconditionally.

The message of Jesus dying on the cross to save us, and then raising from the dead is, like Christmas, very important, maybe even more so.  The message is a life changing one, and gives us forgiveness and hope for a future with God.  This would be a great time to talk to the children about knowing Christ personally, and asking Him to live inside them.  Remember there is no 'special' prayer that has to be said but some important acknowledgments: God loves us, we are sinners and need forgiveness from God, and He needs to become central in our life.  Sometimes diagrams work to illustrate the point to older children.  There are booklets with more detail at any local Christian store, online, or just ask your pastor.  Remember this is the most important decision - and prayer goes a long way!

Make sure you repeat the message many times during the lesson.  Send the Jesus Loves You Take Home Sheet  home with the children to encourage parents to reiterate the message during the week.  It includes a poster at the bottom that the children can color and hang on their wall or refrigerator. 

Preview of the lesson:

Some people like to do craft time first and story time second and some like to switch it around.  I like the first option, myself.

Always consider offering the Mini Book,  Coloring Page or you could look at the Easter Printables for children who aren't interested in participating in the group activity (or if you get done the group activities very quickly and need something to fill in the spare time).  Everyone has a need for "alone time" once in awhile.  Also, sending home the mini book or coloring pages with the Take Home sheet provides parents with much needed help in reinforcing the lessons.  You can make a nice little booklet each week with the take home sheet on top -- I promise that most parents will appreciate the effort!