Love
Have everyone find 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. Have a volunteer read the verses.
Bang two pot lids (or cymbals) together.
Explain to your children that all the world hears is “noise” when we witness to them without love.
Re-read verse 1, which states: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
Act out the story of Paul and the Jailer from Acts 16:23-32.
Two children (Paul and Silas) are spread against the wall (like you would if being arrested). One child is “laying stripes” on their backs. I made a simple homemade whip for this.
He delivers them to the jailer and says keep them locked up tight…make sure they don’t escape or else!
The jailer takes them into the jail and puts their feet in stocks (I made these from cardboard) and checks the chains to be sure they are tight (you could just lay a large, clunky chain by the stocks and have the child kind of rattle it).
He goes off to the side and lays down to go to sleep.
Paul and Silas put their arms around each other and sing, “Amazing Grace” as they sway.
That night there is an earthquake. (Have an adult turn off the lights.)
The jailer gets up and turns on a battery powered lantern. He says, I know that earthquake caused the chains to brake open…The prisoners surely have escaped!
[Put a spotlight on the jailer, if you have one] He picks up his sword and is about to fall on it. (instruct student playing this role to do this really funny; kind of like how a wrestler gets ready to fall down and do that elbow move on them…one, two, three…)
Just as he is about to fall on the sword, Paul yells, “We are still here.”
Lights come on.
The jailer rushes over to the prisoners and falls on his knees and asks, “What must I do to be saved?”
Paul says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” (or have Silas say this, so both boys get to speak)
Doubtless Paul and Silas had been trying to witness to the jailer, but it wasn’t until they showed love by staying (when they could have escaped) that the jailer listened to what they had to say. As a result, he and his whole household were saved.
Have volunteers read the rest of 1 Cor. 13:4-13. These verses tell us what true love should be like.
- Have volunteers come up and write the characteristics of love on a big heart cut out.
- Pass out 3 small construction paper hearts to each person. Have them write John 3:16 on the hearts (if time allows). Tell them they are to do an act of kindness to someone this week such as make their own bed and then leave a heart.
Here are pictures of the whip and stocks that I made for the skit:
I made the whip using a bamboo skewer and pieces of leather cord secured with black electrical tape. I found the blow up sword in my children’s toy box. I think it had been a Kid’s Meal prize. You could made a sword from cardboard or find a foam one at a Dollar Store.
I spray painted the stocks and added a brad on the corner so it would open and close.
