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.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
God promises that one day we will experience beautiful, perfect restoration. He promises a new heaven and a new earth with no tears or sadness or pain. But until that day, Jesus tells us that there will be trouble. Think about the world around you. What kinds of trouble and brokenness do you see every day—sickness, abuse, death, hunger, loneliness, war? What breaks the hearts of the children you teach? What breaks your heart?
As God’s children, we do not have to wait until heaven for God to heal our broken hearts. Jesus has overcome the world, and He wants to heal the brokenhearted now. Spend time this week asking God to heal the people in your life who have broken hearts. Start by asking Him to heal your own hurts. Then pray by name for each child and person who you know is hurting. Ask God to heal their wounds and help them accept His love!
Let families know that this week their children will learn that God heals broken hearts. Encourage family members to share things that breaks their hearts or make them very sad. If possible, provide the families of your students with copies of the Resource Article “Helping Children Grieve.” You can find this Resource Article just before this lesson.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome your children warmly. Let them know that today they will learn more about love. Start by reviewing what they remember about love.
During the last few weeks, we learned how God defines love in the Bible. Let’s see how much you remember. Try finishing these sentences:
Allow children to share what they remember from 1 Corinthians 13. Then read the passage to them from your Bible if possible:
Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It does not dishonor other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4–8a, NIrV
God always loves us with this kind of love! But sometimes people do not.
What happens when people do not love this way?
When someone does not love us this way, we can get hurt. One way to describe our hurt is to say our hearts are broken. Let’s play a game to help us understand how a broken heart
affects us.
Clear a space for the next activity. Divide the children into 2 teams. Have each team form a line at one end of your space. Place the bucket of water between the 2 teams. Put the 2 pitchers on the other side of your space, with each one directly across from a team. Give the first child in each team one of the cups. If the children notice that one of the cups is cracked, smile and encourage them to play the game anyway.
Explain to the children that each team will try to fill up their pitcher using water from the bucket. The first child in each team will fill her cup, race to her team’s pitcher, and pour the water in it. She will then race back to her team and give the cup to the next child in line. This will continue until one team has filled their pitcher. Tell the children to start.
Cheer for both teams as they play. The children on the team with the cracked cup may become frustrated. Encourage them to continue trying. Applaud their hard work and good attitude! When a team wins, have the children sit down.
Which team filled its pitcher the fastest?
It should be the team whose cup was not cracked.
Why do you think they were faster?
In our lesson a few weeks ago, we compared ourselves to an empty cup. God loves you and wants to fill your cup with His love. When your cup is filled, you can love others the same way God loves you. However, having a broken heart is like having a broken cup. The team with the cracked cup had a harder time filling their pitcher. Some of the water got into the pitcher, but a lot of it did not. In the same way, it is hard to love others when our own hearts are cracked or broken. Today we will learn how God can heal those with broken hearts.
Some of us may have had our hearts broken by things that have happened to us.
Show the children the large leaf. Ask them to pretend the leaf is a heart. If you have a paper available, draw a heart on it. As you share the following things that break a child’s heart, tear the leaf or paper into pieces. Keep the pieces large enough so you can put the pieces back together like a puzzle later in the lesson.
What are some things that can make a child’s heart feel broken?
Allow the children to offer their ideas before sharing the information below. If they offer ideas, tear a piece off the leaf or paper heart for each idea they mention.
These are some of the things that break a child’s heart:
By this time, the leaf or paper heart should be torn into pieces. Lay the pieces in a pile. They will be used later in the lesson.
God does not want any of these things to happen. He does not want your heart to be broken into pieces like this leaf or heart. God knows that when your heart is broken, it can be hard to believe that He can heal it. If your heart has been broken, it may be hard to give or receive love. If your heart has been broken, you may not want to believe that love is real because you are afraid of being hurt again. But God wants you to know His perfect love. He created you and wants to heal your broken heart.
Answer this question quietly to yourself: has your heart ever been broken?
Did you know that Jesus, God’s own Son, also knows what it feels like to be betrayed by His friends? Like you, He knows what it is like to have a broken heart. Listen as I share what happened.
Tell your children this familiar and painful true story.
Optional: If possible, share the images from The Action Bible.
It was evening, and Jesus sat with His 12 disciples eating a special meal. Jesus looked around the table at His friends and told them that one of them would betray Him. This made them all very sad. Each of the disciples asked Jesus, “Is it me?”
Each one of the 12 disciples asked Jesus if he was the one. Even Judas, who had already planned to betray Jesus, asked if he was the one!
Jesus knew Judas would betray him to the authorities. How do you think that made Jesus feel?
After eating, Jesus and the disciples went to a garden. On the way, Jesus told the disciples that all of them would turn away from him that night. Peter, one of His closest friends, said, “Everyone else may turn away from You, but I never will!”
Then Jesus said to Peter, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will say 3 times that you do not know Me.”
Jesus knew that the disciples would turn away from Him and that Peter would deny that he knew Jesus 3 times. How do you think that made Jesus feel?
When they arrived at the garden, Jesus asked the disciples to wait while He took 3 of His closest friends—Peter, James, and John—deeper into the garden to pray. He knew that He was soon to die to pay for people’s sin. He told these close friends, “My soul is very sad, and I am close to death. Stay here and watch while I go alone to pray.”
When He was alone, Jesus fell on His knees and prayed to His Father, “Oh, My Father, if it is possible, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. But I will do what You want, not what I want.”
When Jesus returned to Peter, James, and John, they were asleep. He woke them and asked, “Could you not watch with me for an hour?”
What do you think Jesus may have felt when He found His 3 close friends sleeping instead of praying for Him?
Jesus went off alone to pray 2 more times. Each time, He asked Peter, James, and John to keep watch and pray. Each time when He returned, He found His friends asleep. The third time, Jesus woke them by saying, “Wake up! It is time. Here comes the person who will betray Me.”
Judas entered the garden leading a crowd armed with swords and clubs. “Greetings, Teacher!” he said to Jesus and kissed him. Judas had told the soldiers that the man he kissed was the one they were to arrest. So the armed men grabbed Jesus and arrested Him.
Judas was Jesus’ follower. He had been with Jesus nearly every day for 3 years. What do you think Jesus may have felt when Judas betrayed Him?
Children may answer any of the following: the disciples sleeping instead of staying awake while Jesus prayed, knowing that Peter would deny knowing Jesus, Judas betraying Him, or His disciples running away.
Do you think Jesus understands how you feel when your heart is broken?
Why or why not?
When your heart gets broken, Jesus knows how you feel! God is close to those whose hearts are broken.
Read Psalm 34:18 from your Bible to the children.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
If your heart is broken, He understands what you are feeling. Jesus does not want your heart to stay broken. He can heal your broken heart. He can mend your cup so that it can hold His love!
If you have been hurt by someone you trusted, it can be hard to trust again. Let’s do an activity about trusting each other.
Have children form a circle of boys and a circle of girls. The children will stand in tight circles with their shoulders touching. Then have all the children turn to the right at the same time so everyone is facing the back of the person in front of her. Every child will hold the shoulders of the person in front of her.
On the count of 3, everyone will slowly sit onto the lap of the person behind him. Every child must sit at the same time or some will fall to the ground. The goal is to have every child sitting on someone’s lap at the same time. Keep a lighthearted attitude so that the activity is fun even if the children cannot do this successfully. After the activity, have the children go back to their seats.
Did you find it easy or hard to trust that the person behind you would be there for you when you sat down? Why?
Sometimes people do break your trust and hurt you. This makes Jesus sad. He understands what it feels like to have a broken heart. He is with you. He loves you and wants to heal your broken heart.
Listen to this story and think about all of the ways this child responded because he had a broken heart.
Tadeo wanted desperately to be loved, but he was scared to let anyone love him because he had been hurt deeply before. When someone was nice to him and tried to be a friend, Tadeo would act unfriendly and mean. He did not let anyone get close to him because he did not want to be hurt again. He did not know how to receive love, and he did not know how to give it. Before long, people ignored him because of how he acted. So he thought to himself, “I knew it. I am just not lovable. Maybe being lonely is best. At least no one will hurt me like I was hurt before.”
Tadeo was often scared. He found a place that made him feel safe. He would climb into a tree and hide in its branches. He would watch people having relationships with others, but he could only watch. Tadeo knew the tree could not hurt his heart. In the tree, he felt safe, but he was never happy.
Jesus does not want anyone’s heart to stay broken. Listen to what the Bible says about God:
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
No one will ever love you as much as God loves you. He can mend your broken heart with His love. Let’s allow Him to put our broken hearts back together. First, we will do this with the leaf from the beginning of our lesson. Then, we will pray and ask Him to heal our broken hearts.
Lay out the pieces from the torn heart or leaf on a table or on the floor so that the children can piece it back together like a puzzle. If you have tape, tape it together so the pieces form the heart again.
God can put our hearts together again. He can make us willing to trust others again. He can help us learn to love others. God will take the broken pieces of our hearts and put them back together again so that we can accept and give love!
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, the children can respond on them.
Encourage the children to pray or think silently. They can tell God about how their hearts have been broken. Then they can ask Him to mend their broken hearts.
If the children do not yet know God or do not think they have experienced a broken heart, they can think of a way to encourage someone they know who has a broken heart. Allow a few children to share how they can encourage someone with a broken heart, if time allows.
Close class by leading the children in the following blessing based on Psalms 34:18 and 147:3. Explain that you will read a line of blessing over them, and they will repeat it after you:
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.
