“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (ESV)
One of my favorite children’s sermon times was when our pastor’s sermon title was “Directions to Athens, Atlanta, and Eternal Life.” The text was John 3:16. I was extra excited to see the text for the week since John 3:16 is one of the verses our Children’s Bible Drillers learn. As I thought about the verse and the sermon topic, I decided to do a Bible verse activity related to John 3:16.
Using the idea of travel and directions from the sermon title, I grabbed a couple of older highway maps that were lying around at the house. (My husband loves to travel, so we are not lacking for maps at our house!) They were cut to fit some 8 ½ x 11 card stock that I had. Using adhesive, I attached them to the cardstock. Taking a black permanent marker, I wrote 2-3 words from the verse per sheet. I saved the reference (John 3:16) for the portion of the GA map that had Hwy. 316. I highlighted 3:16, circled Athens, and then put a circle around Monroe where our church is located. I then laminated them for durability. We had a great time using the John 3:16 memory verse activity during our Children’s Sermon time as we involved children and adults in our congregation.
Our Christian life is a journey as we come to know Christ and grow in him. In my opinion, John 3:16 is a great verse to use in illustrating the idea of directions for a trip or a journey in relation to our Christian life. Many of us use it as a key verse when we share with others the directions to eternal life – how to become a Christian.
With many churches at various phases of reopening and currently having an intergenerational worship time, include a fun Bible Skill activity if you have a Children’s Sermon time. This John 3:16 activity is a great Bible Skill resource to have on hand in your Kids Ministry files. I would love to hear about any creative Bible Verse Games that you have used with your kids!
Maria Brannen 