Respond to the Word

For children

Follow my leader

Play ‘follow my leader’ again, with one of the leaders at the front of the line. End up with everyone sitting down together, and the leader turning to everyone and saying, ‘Well done! You followed me very carefully, and went everywhere I went.’ Jesus said in the reading that, if we followed him and served him, God would be very pleased with us. With the older children you might want to ask what it might be like to be ‘honoured’ by God (v. 26).

Seed pictures

Provide a range of colours and sizes of grains and seeds; red and yellow lentils, brown and white rice, dried green peas, and so on. Make patterns or pictures by gluing them on paper. The younger ones will want to do random patterns. Older children could make a mosaic of Jesus speaking to the crowd.

Seed cards

On the outside of a folded piece of A5 card, write ‘Unless a seed falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single seed …’ Stick one apple seed in the middle of the card and decorate around it with dark colours representing the earth.

Inside the card, stick lots and lots of drawn, coloured and cut out apples. Write ‘but if the seed dies, it bears much fruit’, and decorate round the apples with bright, sunny colours.

Sing a song

Learn and sing this song. It works very well in a round, and would be a good offering of worship to bring to the rest of the church. The children might want to march, or do actions as they sing.

Tune Frère Jacques

We will follow, we will follow
God’s own son, God’s own son
Showing him we love him, showing him we love him,
Day by day, day by day.

Dares

Prepare a list of dares — but ones that are safe to do (like singing a note until you run out of breath, patting your head and rubbing your tummy simultaneously, keeping still while someone tickles you, and so on). Each child rolls a die. If they throw a 6 or a 3,it is their turn to do a dare. Choose ones that are appropriate to the age of the child. Younger ones might like to play in pairs and do the dares together. Clap each attempt enthusiastically.

These things are fun. But Jesus was being challenged to do something he was going to find very hard — and he did it. God was really pleased with him.

Questions

Divide the older children into two groups. Give one group a copy of John 12.20-26, and the others, John 12.27-33. Ask each group to go through their verses and write any questions they might have about what Jesus said, and what happened. Then swap readings and questions, and start thinking about possible answers. Discuss both questions and answers together.

For young people

Counting the cost

In John 12.25-26 Jesus talks about the cost and the rewards of discipleship. Give your group a chance to explore these verses and to talk about how they can practically engage in this. What would it mean to lose their life or to follow and serve Christ? Invite the group to undertake an agreed task over a number of weeks. It may seem small and insignificant but so does a grain of wheat. Could you collect money for a special cause, take on a prayer project, make the effort to mend a friendship, decide not to gossip … ?

Honour

In this passage — which seems very bleak — there are glimpses of wonderful hope. What might it mean for us to be honoured by God for serving Jesus? Fame, fortune, or something rather different?

Follow the footsteps

(An ongoing activity from previous weeks.)

Note the words of Jesus in John 12.33, which provide another indication to those who spent time with Jesus as to how he would meet his death. Review notes from previous weeks to see the progression.