The message Jesus is giving in his ‘I Am’ statements carry a clear similarity. If we hunger to feel life, He is the bread that feeds us. If we feel unsure in the dark, He is the light that guides us. If we feel afraid and alone, He is the shepherd who protects us. If we feel lost in life, He is the way, the truth, and the life. The common theme is that we need Jesus and we need Him so that we can experience what life really is.

This Sunday we looked at the last ‘I Am’ statement for the term and the message is the same. He is the vine, we are the branches, and we can only bear fruit in life if we have Jesus.

Our Part
We read through John 15 as Jesus teaches how, just as a branch needs the vine to find nourishment in order to live, thrive and bear fruit, so we need Jesus to live as God created us to live. We explored each part of Jesus’ analogy: the vine, the branch the fruit. We discussed how important He is to us and how much we need Him (which has been the common message this term).

Some groups had fun in our craft creating a tree out of a brown bag while others used balloons to make the vine.

Your Part
Read John 15 with your children. Count how many times Jesus says “abide/remain in me” and how many times he says “bear fruit”. Emphasise the importance of what Jesus is saying and how we can respond. Lead your children in learning to abide in the vine: read scripture with them, speak to Jesus with them, be a part of the church community with them.

We end the term next week by looking at who we are to Jesus. We can’t wait.

– The Children’s Church team