Galatians 5:22

The Fruit of The Spirit-Lesson 1:  LOVE, JOY, PEACE

HOOK:
Have the puppets interact with each other or the students.

Girl Puppet:  Yesterday, my grandma came to visit me, and we had so much fun together.  I LOVE my Grandma.  She crocheted me my blankie, she plays games with me and lets me help her in the kitchen.  I love being with her.  She gives me warm hugs and chewy chocolate chip cookies.

Boy Puppet:  That sounds like fun!  I had a great day, too!  Me and my cousins went to McDonalds with our Uncle and then we all went to a park. I went on the swings and my Uncle pushed me and then played hide-and-seek with all of us.  I LOVE being with my cousins!

Girl Puppet:  I wonder if these boys and girls here have someone or something they LOVE very much?  (give children time to answer).

Boy Puppet:  That sounds great!  I know Someone who loves each of us very much and the Bible tells us all about it.

Girl Pupper: Yeah, God loves us sooooooooo much that He sent His Son Jesus.  Jesus LOVES you!

(Boy and Girl puppet sing “Jesus Loves Me” together as everyone joins in)

Boy Puppet:  Well, boys and girls, have a great time in Kingdom Kids learning about the Bible and how much God LOVES you!  See you next time!

BOOK:
The Bible says (Galatians 5:22) that the fruit of the Spirit is (read from your Bible):  “Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

That means that if we love God, we want to show His love to others.  We want to be kind to our Mommy and Daddy and brothers and sisters.  It’s easy to love people when they love us, like our Grandparents and friends and cousins that we like to play with.  But God wants us to show love to people even if they’re mean to us or if they don’t love us.  That’s not so easy.  But we can ask God to help us love those people even if we don’t feel like it.  He will help us because God is LOVE.

And also, if we have God’s love in our hearts, we can have real JOY and PEACE in our lives.  JOY is more than being happy.  It’s having a happy feeling inside because Jesus is our friend, even if we feel sad because something happened.

Only God can give us the kind of peace that can’t be taken away.  The peace that God gives is like having your blankie around you all the time and your favorite stuffed animal .  It’s knowing that God is with you and everything is going to be alright, no matter what is happening around you.

LOOK:
Our special visitors (puppets) told us about the people in their lives that they love and about Jesus, who loves each of us very much.  God is love, and He gives us His LOVE to help us love everyone, even if they aren’t loveable.  He gives us His JOY to be happy in our hearts even if sad things happen to us.  God wants us to know His PEACE that takes away our fears and reminds us that He is always there.  When Jesus makes our hearts new, we will show God’s love, joy and peace in what we do and say.

TOOK:
How can you show God’s love to your family/friends/people around you?

If there’s someone who is mean to you and you want to mean back, ask God to help you have love in your heart and He will help you.

And next time you feel like pouting or being mad, remember that God put His joy in your heart and you can think about all of the great things God put in this world for you to enjoy and He will give you a joyful heart.

If you’re ever afraid, remember that God’s peace is better than your blankie or best stuffed animal, because He is always with you.  You can’t see Him, but you can feel His love, comfort and protection around you like a warm blanket that is always there.

Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your love, joy and peace that helps us be more like you every day.  Please help us show our love for you and for everyone around us.  Help us to have joy, even at times when bad or sad things happen.  Please give us a peace that we feel even more than the comfort of a favorite blankie.  You are a wonderful God.  In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!