Unconditional love

KS 3/4
Based on John 3:16
No props, although could use song 'For God so loved the world' by John Hardwick
http://www.johnhardwick.org.uk/media/sheetmusic/For%20God%20So%20Loved%20The%20World.pdf
Also useful to have text of John 3:16

It is exam time. I wonder what motivates you?

Some of your parents may have said to you: 'We'll give you £100 if you get an A star!'
It is a conditional gift. If you are good enough, we'll reward you.

That may be right for you, but I have to say that I am grateful that God is not like that.

God does not say to us, 'If you are a good person then I will give you eternal life'.
We may try our hardest - but we just end up putting pressure on ourselves and making the lives of others unbearable. We either think we have succeeded or become proud; or we think we have failed, and feel condemned

Fortunately God is not like that. God offers an unconditional gift.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

We don't need to prove ourselves worthy. We simply need to receive.

When it is not good to be me.

Key stage 1/2
No props
Luke 18:9-14

It is good to be me. Each of us is unique, with very special gifts

But there are times when it does not feel good to be me (eg. when mum and dad split up, when there are arguments, when people do bad stuff to me [and then blamed me], when I do bad stuff to other people). Child who said, 'There are two mes: good me, and bad me. I hate the bad me'.

What do we do when it does not feel good to be me?

Jesus tells story of two people who go to church to pray (cf Luke 18.9-14) (You can bring out two children to the front to act out the two people).
The first says: 'God, I thank you that I am so fantastic, so great. I thank you that I am not like him'. The second falls to his knees and says: 'God have mercy on me a sinner'. In other words he is saying, 'God it is not good to be me. I am in a mess. People do bad to me and I do bad to people. Please help me'.
Whose prayer does Jesus say that God hears?

He hears the prayer of the person who cries out for help. The other person is not praying to God but to himself

So when it does not feel good to be me, can I suggest that we do two things:
1. We pray: we say, 'God, it does not feel good to be me - because of what happens, because of the bad other people do to me, and because of the bad I do to others. Please help me'
2. Talk to someone about why it does not feel good to be you: a parent, a teacher, a friend. It is important to do this - even if someone has told you not to. It is much easier to talk to someone else once we have talked to God.

Remember that you are unique and special, and that God made you and loves you. He wants us to come to him, and when we come to him and say, 'God help me, because at the moment it does not seem good to be me', he will help us.

How much are you worth?

Key stage 3/4

How much are you worth?

In 1980, a couple from New Jersy tried to exchange their baby son for a second-hand car worth $8800. The car dealer was tempted because he had lost his son in a fire. He said, 'My first impression was to swap the car for the kid. I knew moments later that it would be wrong - not so much wrong for me or the expense of it, but what would this baby do when he's not a baby anymore? How could this boy cope with life knowing he was traded for a car?' (Quoted by Timothy Radcliffe, Why go to Church?, Continuum p127)

Ask children if they had a price tag, how much do they think they might be worth? 

What about a teacher? What about the headteacher?

We used to put prices on people (to sell them as slaves)

We put prices on footballers to sell them to other clubs

We think that a person is more valuable the better they are. 

Actually you cannot put a price on a person. Each person is unique. 

Psalm 49:7-8 

⁷ No one can redeem the life of another
       or give to God a sufficient ransom—
⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
       no payment is ever enough—

But if you could put a price on someone...

Let's look at it another way round.

Imagine this:

A judge wishes to catch a  criminal. He offers 100 for the criminal. You could say that the criminal is worth 100

But imagine the criminal is much worse. The judge offers a reward of 10000 for the criminal. You could say the criminal is worth 10000

Now imagine the criminal is a terrorist who kills many innocent people. The judges offers a reward of 100000 for the criminal. You could say the criminal is worth 100000

But what if the judge says that he will give everything that he has for this person? What if he says that he will give his life for this person? What does that tell us about the value of the person?

Well I hope that you are not going to be a criminal, and get in trouble with the law

I certainly hope that you are not going to become a terrorist

But the bible tells us that Jesus Christ, the one who God made judge and lord of this world, gave his life for us, for you. And he could do that because he is the Son of God.

And that tells us two things.

1. It tells us that - however bad you are and however much you have messed up, and as you grow older we begin to realise that we are far worse than we thought we were - he chose to die for you. Not to capture you and punish you, but to change you and give you life - to make you the person he meant you to be. 

2. It means that - however insignificant and small you think that you are, or other people say that you are, however well you have done in SATS or however badly - you are far far more precious and valuable to God than you can possibly imagine. He died for you. Because he loves you.