We Are One

I’m so glad to have all of you here today. Each of you brings something different that adds to our time together. (Name some things that stand out about individual children, and how they add to the group. Invite kids to share about others, as well, making sure one strength of each child is shared.)

We’ll learn from the Bible today that when we’re all united, that’s one way we show God’s love to the world. So let’s do something to help us think about that.

Have children gather in a circle and hold hands. Have them stand and walk in their circle. Invite them to discuss ways the circle can represent believers being united in Jesus.  

We’re all different, but God works through all of us, and when we are all excited and working toward the goal of loving others together as one big circle, others will see God’s love and want to join in. In the Bible, Jesus prayed for His friends that they would be united with Him and with one another. (Invite kids to share what they think that means.) It means we all work together to follow Him and love others. One way we can do that is to pray together like Jesus prayed.

Still holding hands, lead kids in a brief prayer. Allow kids to say prayers, if they want to.

It also means we celebrate Jesus together! We tell others about Him and we worship Him!

Invite kids to brainstorm what they do when they’re really excited about something. Challenge the children to perform some of these actions without letting go of one another’s hands. If time allows, invite them to sing a verse of a worship song they’re all familiar with and celebrate Jesus together while still holding hands.

Being united in Jesus means we also pay attention to everyone in Jesus’ family, like the people to our left and our right. We stop and comfort them when they’re down. We’re helpful and encouraging.

While still holding hands, have kids turn and speak encouraging or comforting words to their left and their right. If time allows, invite children to share some other ways they think people can be united in showing Jesus’ love, and challenge them to perform an action to demonstrate that idea.

Today we’ve practiced being one in Jesus, and we can be one in Jesus in our lives, too. We don’t have to hold hands. If we all love Jesus and love others, this is a way to show God’s love to the world together.

God, help us to be united in Jesus so others can see Your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.