Preparation

A chart or OHP with the two columns “Friends” and “Servants”. Any items for the role play?

Introduction

Would you like to have servants to look after you all the time? (Oops is that a Mum?) What would it be like to be a pop star and have people running around after you getting you everything you wanted? Would any of you like to try it? Invite one of your extrovert pupils up to be the pop star master and a few of their friends to be their servants – give them a chance to role play ordering their servants around. At the end ask the “servants” for some words to describe what it felt like to be a servant and put these on the list.

The Message

If you give people a choice I think most of them would rather be a master than a servant, it looks much more fun doesn’t it? When Jesus was on earth he had twelve special followers called disciples, they weren’t exactly his servants, but they followed Jesus and followed his instructions.

One day Jesus had something very special to say to them – he said that they must not think of themselves as his servants, they were his friends. What do you think is the difference between a servant and a friend? Fill in the chart with some suggestions.

Jesus said that the difference was that servants did not know exactly what their master was doing, but friends talk to each other and tell each other everything. He promised the disciples that he had told them everything because he had brought them the true message from God. Because Jesus treated the disciples as his friends it means that anyone else who wants to can be a friend of Jesus and God too, because the disciples shared their memories of all that Jesus said and did and they were written down in the Gospels in the Bible for later people to read. And ever since that time, for 2,000 years, people have been finding out about Jesus and becoming his friend. Those friends are called Christians, and they also try to be like their friend Jesus in the way they act and behave, and they chat to Jesus in prayer. Being a friend of Jesus also means that you will be working with him on very special missions in helping other people and sharing God’s message too. Being a friend of Jesus is both an honour and a responsibility.

Prayer

Thank you Lord, that you love us and call us your friends. help us to live up to that honour and to act in such a way that other people will know what a good thing it is to be a friend of Jesus. Amen

Also this week look at what the friends of Jesus went on to do - use the first chapters of Acts, and use a saints dictionary to find out the stories of the disciples / apostles.