Image Credit: otherthings on Flickr

This is part of an 11-session series for 11-14 year olds, teaching our mission statement and the importance of it’s values:

We exist to learn to follow Jesus, to show honour to God, to use our gifts to serve, to support each other, and to share our faith.

Session Aim: To learn about the importance of being with other Christians

Activity: Balancing Bottoms
Get everyone into a very tight circle where they are all facing to the right. Shuffle them all as closely together as possible and then ask them to sit down onto the lap of the person behind. If everyone times it correctly, the weight will be distributed around the circle and everyone will be supported in mid air by the person behind. This can be very tricky to get right, but a lot of fun. Explain that as Christians, we should all be supporting each other. Church was designed by God for that purpose.

Read: 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

A person’s body is only one thing, but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that also. Some of us are Jews, and some are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit.

Illustration: House Of Cards
Try making a house of cards by leaning individual Playing Cards together to form triangles. Show how each card relies on the others to support the overall structure, just as Christians must support each other too.

Discuss:

• Do you think you are part of something bigger and have a part to play?
• Do you feel connected to other Christians both locally and globally? Why or why not?
• Have you ever had someone look out for and encourage you? How did that feel?

Pray:

• Ask God to help you connect with other Christians who can support you.
• Pray for any issues affecting the group this week.

Challenge:
Try and meet up with one or two Christian friends and find out how they are getting on this week. Why not offer to pray for them?

Further Reading: Ephesians 2:19-21

Now you who are not Jewish are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. You are like a building that was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in that building, and that whole building is joined together in Christ. He makes it grow and become a holy temple in the Lord.