Bible Study – Abide in My Love
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
Easter - the unearned gift of grace. Of course, we cannot “figure it out.” How comforting, then, to have these scriptures, showing first how the disciples struggled to grasp what had happened and then stories of Jesus before the crucifixion, which are written in the light of the Resurrection.
As Easter people we know, as Paul said, that nothing, not even death, shall separate us from the love of God. We are people who expect life out of death. And so, in Eastertide we celebrate the wonder and prepare ourselves to take the awesome message out into the world on Pentecost.
God’s love: God's love for us, enabling us to love God. God's joy in us making joy complete. We are invited into this vast collaboration of love, invited to be part of God’s team, considered friends, no longer servants. God has, so to speak, looked each one of us in the eye and said, "You did not choose me but I chose you." Chosen, by God, to bear the fruit of love.
Opening Prayer: Thank you, God, for showing us love. Thank you for loving us even when our behavior is not what it could be. Thank you for telling us to love everyone, even when you know we will not LIKE everyone. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to John 15:9-17 and read or read the scriptures below.
John 15:9-17
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Reflection Questions: (Answers at the bottom of the page)
Verses 9-11:
• Who is talking here?
• What kind of love does he describe between him and God the Father?
• What kind of love does he describe between Jesus and the friends he is talking to?
Verses 12-14:
• Who are the “friends” Jesus is talking to here?
• What would one of these friends do if he disagreed with one of the others – or even got mad at one of the others?
Verses 15-17:
• What is the difference between being Jesus’ friends and Jesus’ servants? (The answer is in verse 15.)
• How did these people get to be Jesus’ friends? (Verse 16a.)
• What do we think Jesus means when he says that God will give these people “whatever you ask him in my name?”
Getting Closure: Go back over the passage looking for places that could be referring to us as well. For example, do we think Jesus loves us as much as he loved the disciples? (Why? Why not?) Could He want us to really love each other and make up if we have an argument? Do we think we, too, are “chosen?” Are we friends of Jesus?
Click here for the young learner’s lesson.
Videos (Click on url)
John 15:9-17 Bible Lesson for Children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWFfFaFpW8c
Daily Gospel Reading Video – St John 15:9-17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXMsxPHqUb8
Gospel of John Summary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-2e9mMf7E8
Song: Love One Another - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JysQNwalyIQ
Activities:
Beginning: There are different ways people use the word “love.” Children tend to think of “love” as romantic love, kissing, and all that. So they are called to “love” each other is very uncomfortable. Equally confusing is the idea that they should “love” the bully who beats them up. Add to that the fact that our culture tries to convince us we will “love” a new brand of toothpaste. It is possible to “love” the bully at school without feeling guilty that they do not “like” that person, be grateful for the people in your life that you truly love, and delight in your very favorite candy bar and know that it is not “love” at all.
Take a large sheet of paper and make three columns. Label the first one: LOVE as in ‘I like this.’ The second column: LOVE as in ‘because God loves this person’; the third column: LOVE as in ‘I REALLY LOVE.’ Following are three examples: (For instance: First Column: Latte with whipped cream. Second Column: The person at school who puts me down. Third Column: my mother.) Fill in several example for each of the three columns.
Love Card: Take a piece of card stock paper to fold and to write today’s Bible verse inside the card. Write “GOD’S LOVE” on the outside of the card, as well as stickers, glitter, hearts, foam hearts or crosses. Then stand your LOVE card on your dinner table at home.
A Heart Full of Joy - Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/heart-full-of-joy-1
A Heart Full of Joy - Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/heart-full-of-joy-3
Love One Another – Jumble: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/love-one-another-3
A Heart Full of Joy – Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/heart-full-of-joy-2
Prayer: Dear God, help us to abide in your love and thank you for loving us. May we love for one another so that it will show joy and hope to the world. Amen
Answers to Reflection Questions:
Verses 9-11:
• Who is talking here? (Jesus)
• What kind of love does he describe between him and God the Father?
• What kind of love does he describe between Jesus and the friends he is talking to? (In both cases, true love.)
Verses 12-14:
• Who are the “friends” Jesus is talking to here? (The disciples – those who had been with him all this time.)
• What would one of these friends do if he disagreed with one of the others – or even got mad at one of the others? (They would work it out and not stop loving each other.)
Verses 15-17:
• What is the difference between being Jesus’ friends and Jesus’ servants? (The answer is in verse 15.)
• How did these people get to be Jesus’ friends? (Verse 16a.)
• What do we think Jesus means when he says that God will give these people “whatever you ask him in my name?” (They need to be sure that what they are asking for is in sync with what they know God wants.)
