Note to the Teacher

The central theme is sharing Christ's love. The icebreaker, "Shape Seekers," encourages creativity and interaction among students. Discussion questions guide students through a thoughtful exploration of the ideas of love and joy as a community expression. The active learning exercise gets students working together to create a visual expression of joy.

Icebreaker: Finding Shapes! (15 minutes)

Begin by giving each student a small, simple object (e.g., a stone, a piece of paper), and challenge them to use their imaginations to find or create a shape that represents something else (e.g., a state, an animal, a famous character). Once they have had a moment to find/create their shape, invite them to hold the objects up to see if the group can see the same shape. The goal is to hold the object in a way that helps the group see the same shape. After the group guesses, the person holding the object can reveal the shape he/she saw.

Read Scripture (5 minutes)

Read John 15:9-17.

Discussion (15 minutes)

Can you summarize the main points Jesus makes in John 15:9-17?
The word “love” is used many times in this passage. How would you define Jesus’ idea of love in verse 17? How about defining God’s love for people?
In your own words, what does Jesus mean by “remaining in his love”?
Can you remember the last time that you “jumped for joy” about something?
When you read what Jesus says about joy, what seems different about the joy he describes compared to what people normally think of as joy?
Do you agree with the idea that joy is more complete when shared with others? Why or why not?
How does it look for us to demonstrate our love for others through what we do as part of our church? Our group?
If you had to create a TikTok video that focused on inspiring people to love one another, what would it have in it?

Activity and Discussion (20 minutes)

Get out a bunch of magazines, newspapers or ads, colored paper, scissors, and glue. Invite students to work together to create a collage on a large posterboard that represents what joy means to them, especially in the context of Jesus’ teachings. If you have a group that is bigger than four or five, consider splitting into multiple teams.

Encourage them to include images, words, and even their own drawings or writings.

Once they have finished, have students explain why they chose what they chose. Discuss how these collages reflect the intertwining of personal joy with Jesus' joy and the act of loving others. Talk about how doing this together created something different than if everyone had done it separately.

TOTAL TIME: 55 minutes