During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But it is just as I told you. You have seen me, and you still do not believe. Everyone the Father gives me will come to me. I will never send away anyone who comes to me.”
John 6:35–37
When Jesus spoke these words, He was delivering a beautiful message of hope. He is the Bread of Life, the nourishment we cannot live without and the perfect sacrifice that brings eternal life. He invites us to come to Him to find righteousness. He will never send us away, and His immeasurable love will fulfil all of our needs.
Take a moment to be still and thank God for the gift of salvation. Praise Him for making a way for your sins to be forgiven and your eternal life assured. Trust Him to lead you to His best for your life. There is no better response to this tremendous gift than an obedient heart filled with love and gratitude.
Encourage families to enjoy some bread together. Ask them to share why bread and other food is important for their bodies. If possible, ask the families to thank God for sacrificing His Son, the Bread of Life, for them.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet each child with a high five as she comes to class. Ask the children to sit in a circle as they enter the teaching space. Be sure to have a cup or small container ready to use.
Let’s play a game! I need a volunteer to be the guesser. The child who can jump the highest will be our guesser.
Have a jumping contest to determine which child will be the guesser.
Everyone, sit in a big circle. Try to sit close together. The guesser will sit in the middle of our circle. We will take turns passing this cup behind our backs so that the guesser will not be able to see it.
Hold up the cup for children to see.
The guesser must keep his eyes closed while counting out loud to 10. We will pass the cup behind our backs as fast as we can. When the guesser reaches 10, we will stop passing the cup and we will all keep our hands behind our backs. When the guesser says, “10,” he will open his eyes. The guesser will open his eyes. He will then have 3 chances to guess which person is holding the cup.
Remember to stop passing the cup when the guesser says, “10!”
Have the guesser close his eyes. Help the children remember to keep passing the cup as the guesser counts. When the guesser says, “10!” remind the children to keep their hands behind their backs and sit still. Allow the guesser to choose as many as 3 children he believes may be holding the cup.
Optional: If you have time, repeat the game multiple times with a different child as the guesser each time.
After the game is over, have the children return to their normal seats.
Great job! Today we will learn about a very special meal that Jesus had with His followers. This is a special meal of bread and wine that is celebrated to remind us of what Jesus did to save us. The meal we celebrate is called Communion.
Jesus explained many things to His closest followers, His disciples, during His time on earth. One day, when Jesus was talking to them about what God provides for them, He explained that He came down from heaven with a very special purpose. Listen to an example that Jesus gave to His disciples.
Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35
What do you think Jesus meant by this?
Allow 1–2 children to respond.
At times, we are all hungry and thirsty. Bread feeds our bodies and gives us energy to live, and water helps us when we are thirsty. But Jesus is not talking about bread that we eat or the water that we drink. He is talking about Himself.
That still may be hard to figure out. So let’s read more about what the Bible says about Jesus as the Bread of Life. Listen to something else Jesus said:
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Everyone who eats some of this bread will live forever. This bread is my body. I will give it for the life of the world.
John 6:51
What did Jesus say the bread is?
The bread is His body.
Remember, when Jesus said that He was the living bread, He was not talking about the kind of bread that we eat. He was saying that He gives us what we need to live forever with God. It is through the sacrifice of His body that we are able to do this. To understand that, we need to understand why Jesus came to earth.
Does anyone remember why Jesus came to earth?
Allow 2–3 children to respond. Answers may include things such as: He came so our sins could be forgiven. He came to save us. He came to show us how to live.
God sent Jesus to the world to save us. The Bible tells us that we all sin. That means that we live in ways that are not what God wants for our lives. Sin separates us from God because He is always good and right. Because we are not perfect and God is, we would not be able to be with Him—except that He did something wonderful for us. He sent us His Son, Jesus.
Jesus loves us so much that He died for all of the sins of the world. He never did anything to deserve His death on a cross, but instead He did this to save all of us. Then He came back to life and went to be with God in heaven. Because of this, we do not have to be separated from God anymore. When we believe in Jesus, we can live forever with God.
Optional: If you are using The Action Storybook Bible, read the story on pages 187, 193–194.
Optional: If possible, share the image from The Action Bible.
Now we understand that Jesus is the Bread of Life because He gives us what we need. We also know that He died for our sins. Let’s use what we learned to help us understand what Jesus said to His disciples during the last meal He would share with them—often called the Last Supper. Listen carefully.
Optional: If you have permission from your church leadership to show the children the elements your church uses to celebrate Communion, you may do so as you read the following verses.
Then Jesus took bread. He gave thanks and broke it. He handed it to them and said, “This is my body. It is given for you. Every time you eat it, do this in memory of me.”
Luke 22:19
What does the bread represent?
It represents Jesus’ body.
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup. He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. It is poured out for you.”
Luke 22:20
What does the cup of wine represent?
It represents Jesus’ blood.
The bread reminds us of Jesus’ body, and the wine reminds us of His blood. Jesus explained that God was making a new promise through His sacrifice. Jesus died for us so that we can be forgiven, and we can live with God forever if we choose to follow Him.
Jesus told the disciples to “do this in memory of me.” That is why today we still celebrate Communion. It reminds us of what Jesus did for us. When we believe in Him and believe that He died to save us, we can be forgiven for our sins and live forever with God.
Why do you think Jesus did this for you?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
He did this because He loves us more than we can ever imagine! Jesus wants us to be with Him forever! That is why the sacrifice Jesus made is so important. It allows us to be forgiven from our sins and restores our relationship with God!
Optional: If your church has a special song that is sung during Communion, you may sing it with the children.
Divide the class into 2 teams. Seat each team on a different side of the teaching space.
Let’s play a game to help us remember why Jesus died for our sins. I will ask you a question about something you learned in the lesson.
If your team wants to answer the question, 1 child from your team will move quickly to the middle of our space. The child who reaches the middle of our space first will be allowed to answer first. If that child answers correctly, a point will be awarded to his team. If that child does not give the correct answer, I will allow the child from the other team to answer. The team with the most points will win our game!
Pause after each of the questions that follow to allow 1 child from both teams to race to the middle of the teaching space. The child who arrives at the middle of the space will be first to answer the question. Award 1 point to whichever team answers correctly. If neither team answers correctly, tell the class the answer before reading the next question.
Ask each team how many points they have and announce the winning team.
You all learned a lot about Jesus, God’s forgiveness, and Communion. Well done!
We all need forgiveness because we all make mistakes and we all sin. God offers us forgiveness from our sins through Jesus. Let’s end our class in prayer.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, give the children crayons and allow 2–3 minutes for the children to complete the activity.
God gave us all a way to be forgiven when He sent Jesus to die for us. It is amazing to think that God loves us this much!
End class by saying this blessing, based on Luke 22:19–20, over the children.
Blessing: May you know that Jesus, the Bread of Life, died for you. May you always remember that He came into the world so that you could live with God forever.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
