MATERIALS: Cut paper into strips, glue or tape, markers. Photocopy all Bible Verse Visual Aids for colouring. Photocopy Sword Play Tracks
Jigsaw puzzle.

AS KIDS ARRIVE PRIOR TO THE LESSON:
Welcome Teacher/Trainers, Trainers and students. Get the children to colour all the Bible Verse Visual Aids.

1. GAMES: (10 minutes)
Fellowship game: One person stands in the front and says one fact about themselves eg I like ice cream, I go to church, I have a dog, I like blue, etc Anyone that also shares that favourite thing stand up and yells ‘That’s me!’ This is great fun and kids love to know others are similar to them.

2. TEAM GAMES: (10 minutes)
Friendship chain: The group is divided into two teams boys and girls. Provide then with strips of paper 8” wide enough for each child and pencils each team member writes what they think is the most important quality of a friend and they are linked to make a Friendship chain. At the end of class these can be read out by the opposite team.

3. ACTIVE PRAISE CHORUS: (10 minutes)
The more we get together (Use music video and lyrics from Visual Aid Manual)

4. INTIMATE WORSHIP: (5 minutes)
I am a friend of God (See music song sheet)

Prayer: Heavenly Father you are faithful, you have called us into fellowship with your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us not be yoked together with unbelievers because we are taught that righteousness and wickedness have nothing in common. So let us walk in the light, as You are the light, so we may have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, your Son, purifies us from all sin. Amen

5. TEACHING:
a) “Back Track”
Sing: Mighty is your love for me (See music video and lyrics in the Visual Aid Manual)

b) Sword Play (Wave the Power Sword)
Ready…Swords up… 1 John 1:7a … CHARGE!
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, (1 John 1:7a)

(Give out the Sword Play Tracks one for each child)

c) Teaching the Lesson - Five Means to Spiritual Growth: Fellowship: (Friendship with other Christians)

How does our friendship with other Christians help us to grow?
When we are with other Christian friends, we can pray for each other and help and encourage each other. In this way we can help each other to love Jesus and live for Him.

God desires that ongoing and open fellowship exist between him and his children. When we diminish the importance of unity in the body of Christ, we risk being invaded by the enemy. God has called us to divine fellowship. That fellowship is one of the most powerful tools of witness to a lost and dying world.

It takes effort to get a long and be in agreement with other brothers and sisters in Christ to be in fellowship. It is definitely a lesson in love. It takes humility, patience and endurance but we are to be eager to guard and keep this harmony and oneness into which we were called. Unity is produced by the spirit of God and it has the power to bind us together in peace. We were called to one hope and as such we have more in common with each other than not, so we should recognize this and strive to live in harmony

Do you enjoy working jigsaw puzzles? Jigsaw puzzles can be a lot of fun. (Open the box to reveal the pieces of the puzzle.) Wow! Look at all the pieces of this puzzle. The pieces of this puzzle are in many different sizes, shapes, colors. If you look at one piece of this puzzle, you don't get very much of the picture, do you? No, the pieces are not very important by themselves, but when they are all joined together and become one, they show the total picture.

This jigsaw puzzle can teach us an important lesson about the church. The church is made up of many individual members. Like the pieces of this puzzle, the members of a church come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. Jesus himself prayed that the church would be one so that the world would see God's love in us. You and I are part of the picture. Jesus wants us to love one another, help one another, and serve one another. When we do that, we become one, just as Jesus prayed we would be, and when we are one, the world can see God's love in us.

Unfortunately, just as it is sometimes difficult to put all of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together, the individual members of the church sometimes have a hard time being one with each other. We may hear people in the church saying things like "I don't like the songs we sing" or "The preacher preaches too long." When we say things like that and concentrate on our own likes and dislikes, we are no longer being one. We are like the individual pieces of the puzzle. The world cannot see God's love in us. They don't get the whole picture.

If you ever find yourself thinking about yourself, rather than being united with others in the church, remember that Jesus prayed that we would be one. When we are one, bound together by Christ's love, the world will see God's love through us.

Extracts from http://www.sermons4kids.com/we_are_one.htm

When we avoid, criticize, or argue with each other, we hurt Jesus as well as ourselves. But when we rely on the power of His Spirit working through us, we can achieve the unity He desires.

6. APPLICATION/ENCOUNTERING GOD: Refer to our Encountering God Handbook for ideas for this important section of the session. Experience the Holy Spirit Learning Centers creating an atmosphere for this experience.

CLOSING PRAYER: Today, I pray that you make every effort to live in unity with other believers. May the spirit of God grant you the love and patience required to live in singleness of mind so that the power of God will be evident in your lives and through it bring glory to you Father.