CrossKids Devo | Disciples Big Mistake
Activity – How RU Doing
Draw a line on a sheet of paper. Place a 1 on the left end of the line, a 10 on the right, and a 5 in the middle. As kids arrive, ask them to pencil in their initials on the line.
Say: If your day was so awful you wish you'd slept through it, place your initials by the 1. If it was a great day and you wish you could repeat, put your initials by the 10. Place your initials anywhere on the line that shows how you feel today.
Bible Time – Disciples Big Mistake – Luke 18:15-17 The disciples had a full-access pass to the best show in town. They were there when Jesus did miracles. When Jesus taught. When he connected with the crowds. And they decided they'd keep Jesus from being bothered by unimportant people. People like . . . children.
But keeping kids from Jesus was a big mistake. Jesus loves children. He did then--and he does now! Jesus even pointed to kids as an example of what it means to have faith.
During all these sessions you've led, you've not made the mistake Jesus' disciples made. You've let God use you to draw children closer to him. Thanks for being faithful!
Thanks for loving kids as Jesus does!
Say: I'm going to talk about bodyguards. Famous singers who get bothered by fans sometimes have bodyguards to keep the fans away. World leaders like kings and presidents have bodyguards too, and so does anyone who doesn't want to be bothered. When Jesus was on earth, he didn't have bodyguards. He wanted people to come to him--even people who were sick or poor. But then his closest followers, the disciples, decided they'd be his bodyguards. Let's see how that worked out.
Read: Luke 18:15.
Have the kids act out what is happening and join in with the fun.
Continue, reading verse 16 and pausing so kids can act out what you've read. Say: Let's talk about what just happened.
How do you think the Bodyguards felt about what happened?
How do you think Jesus felt about what happened?
Say: Jesus' followers made a big mistake. But Jesus showed his followers that he loved children, and then he said something about children.
Read: verse 17
Say: Jesus says kids can receive the kingdom of God. Lots of Bible teachers think he meant that kids can fully trust God and have a strong faith in him.
What do you think it means to fully trust God and have a strong faith in God?
Say: When we have faith, we believe in something. But believing in something doesn't make it true. When we're little kids we believe things that we don't believe later. For instance, when I was a little child I believed . . .
Share briefly something you once believed that you don't believe now. Warning: Don't reveal anything about Santa Claus! Stick with something like the world being flat or that a monster lived under your bed!
What's something you used to believe that you don't believe now?
(Warn older kids not to talk about Santa!)
After kids share their stories
Say: We change what we believe about some things as we grow older because we learn that some things we believed aren't true. But we never have to change what we believe about Jesus--he's God's Son and the only one who can save us from our sins. Those things are true.
And we don't have to change what we believe about this either: Jesus loves children. He loves you with his whole heart. Jesus wants to be your friend--forever.
Pray