Look at This! Children’s Message on Pointing to Christ
Lesson Objective: How can you know what or who something or someone is? Sometimes it’s nice to have someone else’s words and descriptions, but it’s nice to see things ourselves, too. This message uses a hidden object described and then revealed to explain how Jesus came to fulfill prophecy. Explain to students that Jesus called His disciples, and us, to follow Him and reveal that good news to others!
Don’t miss the full 16-page printable Sunday School Lesson on Jesus the Lamb of God. You can also preview the Bible Crafts from John 1:29-42 and John Testifies to Jesus Bible lesson for children.
Law/Gospel Theme: Jesus is the Lamb of God, our Savior! This is something we know now, but when Christ first appeared on the scene, not everyone was sure about who He was. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, explaining that previous prophecies all pointed to Him. We are called to tell others about Him, too. What a wonderful and privileged task! We can point the way to Jesus, and thank God for who He is and all He has done for us. Jesus is God’s promise fulfilled!
Optional Materials: Some sort of obscure object; bag to hide object
Children’s Sermon Passage: John 1:29-42
Message: Note: As with most messages, the details of how you choose to communicate this are adaptable and should cater to timing as well as to your audience and student needs.
Greet children, with a random item hidden in the bag…
Hello, children of God!
I have something in this bag…what do you think it might be? You don’t know? Maybe you can guess. Why don’t I give you some clues? I’ll describe what I have here, and you can try to identify what it might be. Take a moment to describe the object. This works especially well if the object is a little on the obscure side, or if your descriptions sound somewhat odd without knowing what’s in the bag. Well, any ideas?? I suppose it might make more sense if I pull it out and show you what’s in here. Take the object out of the bag to display what it is. See? Perfectly clear, right? My explanations probably make a lot more sense when you can actually see what this is.
When we can point to things and explain descriptions, it becomes easier to understand what they are. Did you know that in the Bible, this happened with Jesus? Remember, for years prophets had spoken words about Him and explained what He would do and what He would be like. But people didn’t completely understand. They didn’t realize who this Messiah truly would be. Even when Jesus came to Earth and began His ministry, people didn’t always realize who He was. But one man knew. John the Baptist had prepared the way for Jesus. He had come to get everyone ready for Him, and He baptized the Lord.
One day, John was standing with his followers, and saw Jesus. He pointed to Him and told his friends that it was the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. John wanted others to know that this was the one they had been waiting for. Jesus was the lamb of God, the savior. Prophets had spoken about Him and people had awaited His coming, but they didn’t know just quite what it was supposed to look like. They had clues and glimpses, but John wanted to point out that THIS was the guy! Here was the One they had waited for. John wanted to let everyone know that Jesus was who they should put their hope and trust in. He wanted them to look not to Him, but to Christ.
That should be our job, too. We can do more than offer clues and small glimpses at who Jesus is. We can let other people know all that He has done, and how important and amazing He is! We can tell those who need hope that He is our hope, the light of the world. Jesus calls us, all of us, to be His disciples and to share His love with others. He is the most important person we could know. We should be so excited about what He has done that we can’t help but share with everyone around us!
Prayer:
(Have kids repeat each line)
Dear God,
Thank you for sending Jesus
Your perfect Lamb, and the hope of the world!
Help us point to Him and tell others about Him.
Help us share your love with those around us.
Thank you for your love
We love you, God!
In Jesus name, Amen!
Bible Verses/story to Reference:
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). -John 1:29-42 ESV