This includes:
1 Leader Preparation
2 Lesson Guide
1. LEADER PREPARATION
LESSON OVERVIEW
As we wrap up our “Better Together” series, we spend this lesson focusing on the “glue” of a healthy ministry or church—love. If we’re committed to becoming a “body” and a “family” with deep, authentic friendships, we need love. It’s more than just words or a feeling. It is primarily an action, and Jesus commands his followers to love one another. Jesus also tells us that non-Christians will know that we are his followers if we truly love one another through actions.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
1 WHAT: Love ought to be one of the main identifiers of followers of Jesus.
2 WHY: It isn’t easy to love one another, but it’s a powerful demonstration and illustration of God’s incredible love for us.
3 HOW: Students will examine why Jesus commands Christians to love one another, and they’ll consider ways to move beyond words and truly love one another.
PRIMARY SCRIPTURE
John 13:34-35
SECONDARY SCRIPTURES
1 Corinthians 13:1-7 and Ephesians 4:1-6
TEACHING PREP
The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you’ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead your lesson.
Read John 13:34-35.
These verses are part of John’s extended presentation of the Last Supper, which runs through John 13–16. At the beginning of John 13, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet—an act of service and love. After Jesus predicts his betrayal and Judas Iscariot leaves the scene, Jesus continues teaching his remaining disciples, and he immediately focuses on an essential command: Love one another.
He expresses it as a command, and he tells the disciples to love each other just as he has loved them. Jesus constantly and consistently displayed his sacrificial love for his followers and for all people. He gave, he served, he ministered, he healed, and he forgave. Jesus displayed his love through his actions.
Look for ways in this lesson to encourage your students toward the practical expression of love. We talk this week about love being the “glue” that holds us together—it binds, unifies, and strengthens us. We become more effective because of love. We become more like Jesus because of love. We have an impact on our world because of love.
If you do the Getting Things Started activity, you’ll need to gather some building blocks or other items that will separate when a tower is knocked over. (In other words, don’t use something like Legos.) You will NOT be able to use these items again by the end of the activity, so don’t choose anything overly valuable. You’ll also need a fast-acting adhesive like SuperGlue or Krazy Glue.
THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional]
Text Message Questions
We’ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry.
- What’s the glue that holds true friendships together? Let’s talk about it tonight at small group.
- Is love just a feeling? Or is it something more? Find out at small group tonight.
Parent Email
We’ve provided you with an email below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the email to fit your ministry needs.
Dear parents,
Our small groups finished their “Better Together” series this week by focusing on the “glue” of a healthy ministry or church—love. If we’re committed to becoming a “body” and a “family” with deep, authentic friendships, we need love.
Love is more than just words or a feeling. It is primarily an action, and Jesus commands his followers in John 13 to love one another. Jesus also tells us that non-Christians will know that we are his followers if we truly love one another.
Our students saw how love holds us together—it binds, unifies, and strengthens us. We become more effective because of love. We become more like Jesus because of love. We have an impact on our world because of love.
This week, find a few minutes to talk with your teenager about God’s love and how followers of Christ ought to love one another. Here are some questions that can fuel your conversation:
- The Bible says Christians ought to love their enemies. The Bible also says Christians ought to love other Christians. Do you think there’s a difference between the two kinds of love? Why or why not?
- Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” How would you describe or explain the kind of love Jesus has for his followers?
- How can love toward other followers of Christ draw non-Christians closer to Jesus?
I pray that you and your family have a week filled with a deeper love for God, for each other, and for the people you see on a regular basis. God bless!
Better Together
Week 3: A New Command
- 2. LESSON GUIDE
GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional]
Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then jump into the activity below:
Have your students build a tower of building blocks or other items that will separate when the tower is knocked over. (In other words, don’t use something like Legos.) Have them build the tower as tall as possible, and then ask one of your teenagers to lightly tap one side—and watch it slowly tumble into many pieces.
Then repeat this activity—but this time, have students attach the blocks or other items together using a fast-acting adhesive like SuperGlue or Krazy Glue. Once the glue has dried, ask one of the students to light tap one side—and watch it slowly fall as one solid tower.
ASK:
- Which part of this activity was more fun, and why?
- We sometimes like to see things fall apart and go to pieces, but what are some examples of things we don’t like to see broken or busted or shattered?
- The only difference between the tower that fell apart and the tower that stayed together was the glue. How might this be similar to what we experience in churches—sometimes we manage to stay strong and unified, but other times we fall apart into many difference pieces?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Today we’re wrapping up this “Better Together” series, and we’re going to focus on the “glue” of a healthy church—love. That’s right: I want you to think of “love” as being the SuperGlue of our church! When we are bonded and held together by love, we stay strong and unified—we don’t fall apart and become broken, busted, or shattered.
If you came up with an opening activity, movie clip, or game that worked well with your group, and you’d like to share it with other youth workers, please email us at ideas@simplyyouthministry.com.
TEACHING POINTS
The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen here are (1) Love one another, (2) Use Jesus as the example, and (3) Point people toward Jesus.
Remember: All throughout these lessons, it’s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points—keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience.
Read John 13:34-35 together as a group. Consider allowing one or more of the teenagers to read the text.
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Let’s spend a few minutes looking at three important ideas from these verses in the Bible.
1. Love one another
ASK:
- How do you define the word “love”? How can you recognize true, authentic love?
- The Bible says Christians ought to love their enemies. The Bible also says Christians ought to love other Christians. Do you think there’s a difference between the two kinds of love? Why or why not?
- Why do you think Jesus cares so much about us loving each other that he labeled it as a “command,” not just a “suggestion” or “cool idea”?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: The Bible tells us in 1 John 4 that “God is love.” Love isn’t just an idea that God supports. It’s at the very core of who God is! If we’re striving to love one another, then we’re striving to build God-honoring character in our lives.
2. Use Jesus as the example
ASK:
- Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” How would you describe or explain the kind of love Jesus has for his followers?
- What’s the power of sacrificial love like Jesus has for us?
- Do we deserve Jesus’ love? If yes, how did we manage to earn that love? If not, why does Jesus still love us so powerfully anyway?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: We can’t earn Jesus’ love, but he offers it to us as a free gift. Jesus allowed himself to be crucified to pay the price for our sins—this was sacrificial, selfless love. We can display this same kind of love for others by making sacrifices and caring about other people’s needs in real-world ways.
3. Point people toward Jesus
ASK:
- What are some of the ways Christians try to point people toward Jesus? How effective do you think these methods or approaches are?
- How can love toward other followers of Christ draw non-Christians closer to Jesus?
- If love proves to the world that we are followers of Jesus, then what message are we sending if we aren’t displaying love for one another?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Sometimes we try to demonstrate that we are followers of Jesus through the T-shirts we wear or the music we listen to or the books we read. While there’s nothing wrong with any of those things, Jesus says the best way to point people to him is to let the world see our love for one another.
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional]
ASK:
- Read Ephesians 4:1-6. How many examples of “love in action” can you find in these verses?
- Look at verse 2. What’s the power of “making allowance for each other’s faults”? How can this build solid friendships and greater unity?
- Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. How would you summarize the description of love in this passage? [NOTE: One big idea is that love isn’t just a feeling; it’s demonstrated through our actions and the way we interact with people.]
- Give us some examples of how you’ve recently seen these descriptions of love demonstrated in our small group, your family, or our church.
- As you read through these verses, which of these things do you do well? Which areas are opportunities for God to help you grow?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: I need a volunteer to read this passage from 1 Corinthians 13 again. But every time you see the word “love” or “it,” replace that word with “Jesus” or “he.” This will help us remember how powerfully Jesus loves you and me. [NOTE: If this is too confusing for your students, simply take the lead and read these verses with the substituted words.]
APPLICATION
Ask students to find a partner for these questions.
ASK:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how well are you following Jesus’ command to love other Christians? How can you continue growing in this area?
- When might your non-Christian friends see you demonstrate your love for other followers of Jesus? What are some settings when these different groups of friends might interact?
SUMMARY
End your small group lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time.
FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE]
Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below.
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 13:34).