A New Commandment

Get Ready: Gather props for roles that kids will be able to identify, such as an artist, a firefighter, a fisherman, a musician, and a teacher. If you don’t have a partition, hang a bed sheet that you can walk behind to switch roles.

Do This:

SAY: I’ve prepared a fun game for us to play today. It’s a guessing game. Here’s how we play. I’ll put on a costume and pretend to have a specific role or job, and then you’ll have to guess who I am. Ready?

Choose a role and then perform actions the person might perform if they were in that role. Take props from behind the partition to add to your persona until the kids guess who you are.

Once the kids have guessed correctly, ask them how they knew who you were.

Let kids take turns repeating the same process with new roles, while the other children guess who they are. Allow them to use the props for other roles they think of, as well.

This game makes me think of our Bible passage for today. Jesus was teaching His friends, the disciples. He was getting ready to go to heaven and He wanted them to be ready, too. He told them, “You can’t go where I’m going. But when I leave, I want you to love others as I have loved you. Then they’ll know you’re My disciples.”

Like in our game, you knew I was a [remind children of a role you played] because I [remind children of the actions you did and what you looked like].

Jesus says when we love others like He loved others, they’ll know we’re His friends. Would you like people to know you’re Jesus’ friend? We’ll think more about that today.

PRAY: God, we want others to know we’re Jesus’ friends. Help us to love others like Jesus loved. In Jesus’ name, amen.