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.
Before class, place the stones in a circle. Give enough space between stones for the children to sit behind the stones. Place a small pile of extra stones in the middle of the circle to give to any extra children who might join your class today. Also, before the students arrive, place some thin mud in a bottle and shake it until it coats the inside of the bottle. Then pour out the mud that did not stick to the bottle.
But God is faithful and fair. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure.
1 John 1:9
Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree in the garden of Eden, we have lived in a sinful world. However, when we make choices that are hurtful and do not glorify God, we have an opportunity to ask Him for forgiveness. This is because God’s only Son died so that we could be forgiven.
Consider times when you know you went against God’s will for your life. Think about the weight of that sin. Then think about how it feels to be in a relationship with God because of His forgiveness and love for you. Think about what He has done so that you can come to Him and ask for forgiveness. Cleanse your heart of any sin you feel you need to be forgiven for. Ask Jesus to take your burdens from you. Pause and praise Him for His great love shown through forgiveness.
Encourage families to try to resolve conflicts that arise this week with forgiveness. Inform the families that the children are learning that forgiveness happens when someone releases to God the hurt and anger caused by a wrong that was done.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome the students as they enter and tell them, “Jesus loves you!” Ask each child to sit in a circle by a stone.
You each have a stone. These stones are about the size of your hands. You may pick up your stone.
Let’s pretend the stone in your hand represents something you did wrong. This could be something mean you said or did or something that you think brought shame on you or your family. Think for a moment about something you have done that you know was wrong. When you have thought of something, place the hand holding the rock against your chest.
Wait until most of the children have their hands against their chests. This should take about 30–60 seconds.
When you do something that goes against what God would want, this is called a sin. We all sin. When we sin against someone it can feel like the stone you are holding. Our sins begin to feel very heavy and hard to hold.
You will hold this stone in your hand until the end of today’s lesson. I will remind you that you are holding the stone throughout the lesson. It may not be easy to hold the stone for the whole lesson, but carrying the weight of our sin is not easy either. When you sin, it becomes something heavy that can be hard to get rid of. There is a way to get rid of this heavy weight we carry, though. Think about what I said to you as you came into class today.
What did I tell you?
Allow 1–3 children to respond.
Jesus loves you! Because He loves us, He made a way to take away the heaviness of our sins. This is called forgiveness. Just like giving away our stones or putting them down would lift the heaviness from our hands, forgiveness can lift the heaviness of sin from us. Today you will learn about forgiveness.
Have the children keep their stones in their hands as they return to their regular seats. Remind them they will hold their stones until the end of the lesson.
Remember when we learned that Adam and Eve, the first people, chose to sin against God? They chose to do something God told them not to do. Ever since then, we all choose to do things that are against God.
Tell the children to look at the stones in their hands. Remind them that these stones represent sin.
When we sin, it breaks our relationship with God. Yet He loves us so much that He wanted to restore our relationship with Him. The Bible tells a true story about Jesus’ cousin. His name was John. Listen to what he told people about Jesus.
Read this verse directly from your Bible.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29
Jesus came to save the world from sin. This does not mean that we would no longer sin. Instead this means that when we do sin, we have a way to be forgiven. Forgiveness allows us to fix our broken relationship with God the Father.
Encourage the children to feel the weight of their stones in their hands.
Do you remember what we have learned about what Jesus did so that we could be forgiven?
Allow 1–2 children to respond.
Jesus died on a cross. He took the weight of our sins with Him. Then He came back to life and went back to His Father in heaven. Because of this, Jesus made a way for us to be forgiven so that we can return to God. Listen to what the Bible says about God’s forgiveness.
But God is faithful and fair. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure.
1 John 1:9
When you believe that Jesus died to take away your sins, you can ask God to forgive you for the wrong things you have done. He will forgive you! To see what this type of forgiveness looks like, let’s do something fun.
Pick up the dirty bottle.
What do you notice about this bottle?
Answers may include ideas about the bottle’s size, shape, or that it is dirty.
If you noticed this bottle is dirty, raise your hand. This bottle is very dirty! It will be difficult to get the dirt out of the bottle. The dirt is a lot like sin. When we do things that go against what God would want, we sin. We all do things that hurt ourselves and others because we all sin.
When we sin, it can be difficult to get clean again. Even if we just have a little bit of sin in our lives, we still need to clean it off. There is a way to be clean again, though.
How can we clean the dirt off this bottle?
We can wash it with soap and water.
We can wash this bottle with soap and water to get the dirt off. In the same way, when we ask for forgiveness, our sins can be washed away.
Pour a small amount of soap and water into the bottle. Swirl it around and pour out the dirty water. Repeat this process until the bottle looks mostly clean.
Jesus came to wash away our sins. When you ask God for forgiveness, He cleans your heart and restores your relationship with Him. This will help you to live a life that is pleasing to God. I will read from the Bible. Each time you hear the word “forgive,” clap.
The word “forgive” is underlined in the following verses. Clap with the children each time you read the word “forgive.”
Forgive other people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive the sins of other people, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:14–15
What do these verses tell you to do when someone sins against you?
Forgive the person.
Why do you think forgiveness is important?
It helps me receive God’s love and show it to others.
God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us so that we could be forgiven. When we forgive other people, we show them God’s love too.
We will talk more about forgiving others and ourselves in the coming weeks. For now, know that God gave us a perfect example of forgiveness in His Son. Jesus gave His life so that we could be forgiven!
Ask the children to sit in a circle. Lay the 2 strings in the shape of a cross in the middle of the circle. Ask the children to look at the stones in their hands.
Think about the sin your stone represents. Think about the weight of the guilt and shame you feel when you think about what you did. Close your eyes. Imagine that weight being lifted from your hand. Think about Jesus taking your sin. Open your eyes.
How do you think it feels to be forgiven?
Answers may include: light, good, or like everything is okay.
Let’s give our sins to Jesus. In a moment, you will come to the middle of our space and place your stone on top of the string. As you place your stone down, you can ask Jesus to forgive you and make you clean. Let’s imagine Jesus taking our sins from us!
Invite the children to come to the middle of the circle as they feel led. Give them 2–5 minutes to place all of their stones on the strings you laid down. If any children are not yet ready to respond by asking for forgiveness, encourage them to think about it. They can keep the stones, and if they decide to ask for forgiveness later in the week, they can then safely toss the stone away from them. This will signal that Jesus has removed their sin. Once all of the children who want to have responded, lead the children in prayer.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to die so that we can be forgiven. Thank You for forgiving us for our sins. We praise You for taking this weight from us.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give each child some mud or dirt and allow him to use it to cover the heart on his page. Guide the children in the activity and allow them to clean their hearts.
Forgiveness washes your heart, which takes away anything that is between you and your heavenly Father. It is important for us to ask for forgiveness for the things we have done wrong, and it is important for us to forgive others. Our memory verse today reminds us why it is important to forgive others.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive one another, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done.
Ephesians 4:32
Do the following motions as you read through the memory verse. Repeat the actions and words with the children 3 times.
End class by saying this blessing, based on 1 John 1:9, over the children.
Blessing: May you trust God to be faithful and fair. May you ask Him to forgive your sins. And may you allow Him to take away your sins.
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.