Jesus knows everything about us and He will ALWAYS wants to be our friend and want to hang out with us!

Let’s start with some worship! Feel free to sing and dance or just watch and listen, Jesus doesn’t mind HOW we worship, He just loves it when we spend time with Him and sing his praises!

You are Good – Bethel Kids

This is Amazing Grace – Bethel Kids

What a Beautiful Name – Hillsong Kids

Good Good Father – Chapelhill Kids

Story time

Zacchaeus! – Saddleback Kids

Note to families:

Page 264 if you have the Jesus Storybook Bible at home and prefer to read this to your little ones!

Some important points to remember from the story…

• Zacchaeus didn’t really have any friends. He wasn’t really liked by many people because he didn’t do very nice things. He took a lot of money from people when he shouldn’t have and this made them unhappy with him.
• Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was in his town and he really wanted to see Him. He was shorter than most people and so he couldn’t see past the crowds, but he was so eager to see Jesus that he climbed a tree! 
• Even though Jesus was really popular in that town and Zacchaeus really wasn’t, Jesus still chose to hang out with him and Jesus made it clear to Zacchaeus that He was his friend! He even wanted to come to his house!
• Zacchaeus was so happy and excited by this! He couldn’t believe that Jesus chose to hang out with him of all people! He was in a hurry because he was worried that Jesus would change His mind. He didn’t need to worry though because there is nothing that we could have done or could ever do that will change Jesus’ mind about us. Jesus knew all about Zacchaeus and his life, everything bad that he’d ever done and everything good too and He loved him completely!
• It was because Zacchaeus realised that he was loved by Jesus that he was able to start loving other people and being kind to them. So he promised Jesus that he would give back all of the money he took from everyone… and even give them extra!
• God’s love is never ending and nothing can stop it! He will never give up on us!

Some things to talk to your family about…

• Who are your friends? What are they like? Why are you friends with them? Why do you think that they are friends with you?
• Do you think that you have to be really ‘good’ or really ‘popular’ to be friends with Jesus? Can anyone be friends with Him? 
• What do you think this story tells us about being friends with people that we don’t always get along with very well? Should we try and love them and be kind to them just like Jesus?
• Isn’t it amazing that we can be friends with Jesus? Isn’t it wonderful news that no matter what we do, Jesus still loves us so much and He will always want to be with us, wherever we are? How does that make you feel?

Memory Verse

‘Jesus came to seek and save the lost.’ – Luke 19:10

OK, now I want you to try and write down or say out loud something that is REALLY important to you. Maybe it’s a favourite toy, maybe it’s someone in your family, maybe a favourite book? Take a minute to really think about it…

OK, now imagine that you have lost that thing! How would you feel if one day you woke up and you couldn’t find it? Do you think you’d feel sad? Would you go and look for it? Would you spend all day or all week searching for whatever it was because you loved it and missed it so much? Would you keep looking until you found it?

Well, this is just what Jesus feels like if we aren’t close to him or if we ever run away from him! He wants to be friends with us always and he will keep looking for us until he finds us! (A bit like the game, hide and seek!) He will keep ‘seeking’ us because He loves us and He will look for us until He finds us! Just like you’d look for that thing that is really important to you!

Zacchaeus, from today’s story, was lost because he had never known Jesus and he wasn’t friends with Him yet. And that is exactly why Jesus said He was going to spend time with Zacchaeus. Because He came to seek and save the lost, just like this verse says! He came to find us and be friends with us! Forever! Isn’t that brilliant news?

Hide and Seek!

Why don’t you play a game of hide and seek as a family to help you remember this promise and also have some fun together?

Prayer time

Jesus loves everybody! It doesn’t matter to Him if people make mistakes or mess up, He just wants them to say sorry and come back to Him! He is able to help them and to change their heart, just like He did with Zacchaeus. Why don’t we pray that we can be more like Jesus and love everyone around us? Even though it might be a bit tricky to get on with everyone sometimes, Jesus can help us to be kind and loving and we can learn from His amazing example!

Dear Jesus, 

Thank you so much that I don’t have to do anything or be anything other than myself. Thank you for loving me just as I am. Thank you for looking for us until you find us and for never giving up on us. I pray that I’d be able to be kind and loving to everyone, like you are, and to always see the best in everyone. Help me to be a really good friend and look out for people, especially for people that others aren’t always very nice to. Help me to show love and follow your wonderful example.

Amen

Craft time

Zacchaeus climbs a tree!

Why don’t you have a go at making a tree? You could even add in Zacchaeus climbing the tree! You could put this up somewhere at home to remind you that Jesus will always find you and He loves being your friend just like He found Zacchaeus and became his friend forever!

Note to families:

The Bible App for kids is another good resource to use at home with your children if you’d like. You’ll find animated bible stories, as well as different activities related to each story that the children may be able to complete or themselves or that you can complete all together as a family. https://bibleappforkids.com/