First Thoughts: One of the central themes in this passage is about unity -- how Christ is in us, and Christ is in God, so we are in God. When we stop to think about it, we realize how truly remarkable this claim is. Jesus is telling us that there is no separation between us and God; God is with us, abiding within us, at all times. This means that any message we receive to the contrary, either from the world or from our own inner-state, is untrue. Certainly the world is full of conflict, and the same is true of our hearts and minds. We have endured wounds that create suffering and confusion for us and cause us to feel disconnected or isolated from God. Nonetheless our unity with God is our central truth. However we feel at this moment, whatever tragedy is announcing itself in the world around us, God is in us and we are in God. As Julian of Norwich stated, "All is well, all is well, all manner of things shall be well." Spend some time pondering that statement. Does it find resonance in your soul? Is it immediately accessible to you, or do you have to dig deep for it? Perhaps right now it doesn't ring true at all. If so, can you simply live into the faith that it's true?
Teaching On Your Own: Hey guys, I'm reading this really great book. It's called The Three Musketeers. Have you heard of it? It's got adventure and lots of action and excitement. Do you read books like that? But you know what I like best about this book? The musketeers. They're the best of friends and are completely loyal to each other. In fact a couple of friends of mine and I have decided we're going to be musketeers ourselves. We even made the musketeer pledge to each other, "All for one, and one for all!" What do you think that means? We stick together no matter what. It's a solemn promise. It reminds me a bit of our scripture passage today.
Jesus is praying that the disciples will understand their lives are held in God's care. No matter where they go, or even what mistakes they make, they can always trust that God will be with them. God will stick with them no matter what. And hopefully we can say the same about each other. In the Christian walk we need to have people we can count on, just as we need God. You know what? Maybe "all for one, one for all" can be the church's motto too. What do you think? Would that be a good one? Let's try saying it together then, "All for one, one for all!" (repeat together) With God holding us all together.
Teaching As A Team:
Leader 1: Hey (name), how have you doing?
Leader 2: Great. Except my name's not (name). It's Porthos.
Leader 1: Porthos? Where in the world did you get that name?
Leader 2: (holds book up) From this book, The Three Musketeers! We're reading it at school, and it's the best book ever!
Leader 1: Really? What do you like about it?
Leader 2: There's lots of adventure and action, and (holds up candy) I LOVE chocolate and caramel!
Leader 1: Me too!
Leader 2: But most of all I like the musketeers. In fact a couple of friends of mine and I have decided we're going to be musketeers ourselves. That's why I'm Porthos. We even made the musketeer pledge to each other, "All for one, and one for all!"
Leader 1: What does that mean?
Leader 2: That we're going to stick together no matter what. It's a solemn promise.
Leader 1: Hey, that sounds a bit like our scripture passage today. Jesus is praying that the disciples will understand that their lives are held in God's care. No matter where they go, or even what mistakes they make, they can always trust that God will be with them. God will stick with them no matter what. And hopefully we can say the same about each other. In the Christian walk we need to have people we can count on, just as we need God.
Leader 2: So "all for one, one for all" can be the church's motto too.
Leader 1: I think it would be a pretty good one to try, don't you?
Leader 2: Yeah. Hey, you can be Aramis!
Leader 1: Only if you share your candy.
Closing Prayer: God, help us to trust in the promise of your faithfulness and that you will stick with us every day of our lives. Help us to be brave as we walk together through good times and bad, knowing that you have called us into sacred friendship with you and each other. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, spend more time talking about people who stick with us no matter what. Who are some of those people in the children's lives? What are those folks like? How does it feel to be with someone who you can really count on? You might write down some of the characteristics of a loyal person, and how it feels to be with these people. Then ask if these characteristics are true of God as well. When we think about God sticking with us, do the same feelings come up for us as when we think of loyal people? When we think we're alone, we might feel weak and scared -- like if something bad happened to us, we wouldn't be able to handle it. But when we know we've got people around us who will stand with us, and a God who protects and defends us, suddenly we don't feel so weak anymore. We feel stronger, more able to persevere in the face of difficulty. Introduce the children to Ecclesiastes 4:12: "[A] triple-braided cord is not easily broken." What do they think this means? One strand by itself is pretty weak. But when you add two more cords, suddenly it's a lot stronger. So if one cord is me by myself, the other two cords are loyal friends and God.
For a craft idea, you can provide the children with three different colors of embroidery floss to make braided bracelets. Provide them with two strands of each color and make a knot on one end. (Use more strands if you want a thicker bracelet.) Tape the knot on one end and divide the strands by color, making three in total. Braid until you have a bracelet long enough to fit around a wrist and make another knot. The children will need to ask another person to tie their bracelet on for them, illustrating once again that we need friends to help us! Close with prayer.
