Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, you we thank you for giving us Jesus to be our Light. Help us to follow Him as we get ready for Easter. We ask this through Christ our Lord . Amen.
Sorry Song (to the tune of If you’re happy and you know it)
When we say that you are sorry, God forgives.
When we say that you are sorry, God forgives.
If our sins are large or small,
God will still forgive them all.
When we say that we are sorry, God forgives.
Then sing the Gloria (tune of Row, Row, Row your Boat)
Praise, praise, praise the Lord, Praise our Father dear.
As we listen to his word, feel his spirit near.
Gospel – John 20:19-31
The Lord be with you. All: And with your spirit. (teach them this)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John. All: Glory to you, O Lord. (teach them this)
All: “Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ”
Gospel:
It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Do you believe because you see me? How happy are those who believe without seeing me!”
Suggestions for the Discussion
Who knows what ID stands for? Identification. What is identification? It is proof that you are who you say you are. It's usually a plastic card, mostly with a picture and some personal and private details. Who can think of some types of identification? Driver's licence, health card, passport, credit card bus pass.
Imagine I left my credit card in the store by accident and I went back to get it from the staff there. Do you think they would just hand it over to me when I asked for it? No! What do you think they might ask me for? They would probably ask for ID, like a driver's licence, so that they would know they were giving the card back to the right person. How could they tell? By checking the photo on the licence and the name and address.
When you get to middle or high school, you will probably get a picture ID card and if you play compettive sports you may also need picture ID. There will be many times in our lives when we need to prove that we are who we say we are.
In our Bible story today, Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to a group of His disciples. One of the disciples was not there. What was his name? Thomas. When the other disciples told him about it, he did not believe them. He wanted to see it with his own eyes and put his hand on Jesus' side where the spear was. A week later Jesus did appear again and this time Thomas was there. Jesus told him to touch His hands and His side and to stop doubting and believe. Did Thomas belive then? Yes, he did! Jesus told him "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Many people today don't believe that Jesus rose from the grave because they haven't seen Him. They want to "ID" Him before they believe. We need to accept Jesus by our faith and not worry about needing to see everything with our eyes. We need to feel with our hearts and see with our minds. If we try to live as Jesus would want us to, that will help us to open our hearts.
Can you think of things we can do to help us to do that? We can be thoughtful, more truthful and sharing . We should always pray every day, ask for forgiveness for our mistakes, and listen to our parents, carers etc. We can also encourage our friends to come to church as we do, to learn about God and Jesus.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sins. Help us to believe by faith that He is risen and is alive, because it is true, whether we do believe or not. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
*Gospel passage taken from:
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)
© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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