A session exploring the theme of love, what love is and how we can express love…Even to the people we don’t like

Suitable For Ages 11 upwards

Required: Glue, Magazines, Scissors, sign that says ‘Love’, Candles, Worship CD, Small Cross, Matches!

Session Plan
It must be love

Brainstorm – What different types of love do the group think there are?
(boyfriend/girlfriend, parent/child, friends, God, people/pets)

Brainstorm – What do you think the characteristics of love are?
(kind, patient, forgiving, not proud, selfless, trusting, sacrificial)

Activity – Give the groups some magazines and ask them to go through looking for images that they think portray love, get them to collage these on a large piece of flip chart with the word ‘Love’ in the middle.
(Picture examples: mother holding child, aid worker holding child etc)

Bible – 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a

Ask: What do you think?

Activity: ‘Lisa and Gary’ Story from page 1233 of the NCV Youth Bible. (These youth bibles are available from most Christian bookshops)

Ask: How do Lisa’s actions reflect the message of the scripture?
How can this passage help you to know what true love is all about?

Ask: Ask the group to think about one thing from the list in Corinthians that they struggle with, perhaps with people they don’t like or even people they do!

Challenge them to try and be better at this one during the week (remember to pray about these things at the end!) if they like they could share these with each other and offer advice! ?

Sacrificial Love

Story – Use a story here that uses the idea of someone giving their life for someone, it could be a video clip from a film such as Vertical Limit or The Day After Tomorrow or you could tell a story
Ask: Would you be willing to do that for someone you love? What about someone you don’t get along with? What about someone who doesn’t like you?

Explain: The love of Jesus is so great that he was willing to die as punishment for our sins even though some of us don’t love him, or even know him!

Say: As Christians this is the standard which we are challenged to live to, and what makes us stand out.

Prayer: Have a small cross which can be handed around the group, explain to the group that as it gets to them they should think about the love of Christ and what the cross means, they can pray for the things spoken about earlier or for something else that needs prayer.

You may like to have quiet worship music on in the background and dimmed lights and perhaps just a candle.