Lesson 1 God Is Love

Serving the World
God is Love

Read: Romans 5:1-11, Romans 8:35-39, Ephesians 3:16-18, 1 John 4:16

Questions for Discussions:
What do these verses tell us about who God is?
Is God an angry God or a God of wrath? Explain your answer.
Do you ever feel that people promote a God who is angry or disappointed with us?
How does this view conflict with 1 John 4:16?
Is it easy for you to believe that God is Love?

As a family, challenge each person to write, or draw, six qualities or characteristics of God that you are thankful for (grace, faithfulness, forgiveness, etcetera). After everyone’s lists are complete, go around and compare lists. Talk about the root of most of these characteristics. How many of them stem from God’s unwavering love for us? Talk about the words, “God is Love.” How is this different than simply loving someone? The Bible says that God is love. Could “love” be the word that best describes God?

Key Thought: We know that God is love, however as we go through different things in life, we may forget in our hearts who God really is. At times, we may even begin to blame God for pain that we are enduring. Satan wants us to waver in our belief that we cannot be separated from God’s love, because than we are more susceptible to all of his lies. In addition, understanding who God is and how he feels about us is a huge step in developing a closer relationship with him.

Pray and thank God for being love and for loving us. Use your lists of qualities made earlier as a starting place to spend time as a family praising God. Challenge your family to spend time in adoration of God, separate from a time of prayer requests.
Pray that your family would resist lies that tempt them to place fault and blame on God and thank him for using everything we go through for his good.

Activities

Preschool:

Talk with your child about how people show love. Encourage them to draw a picture of one of the ways you discussed. As they draw or paint, talk about all of the ways that God shows his love for them. Talk about his provision, his forgiveness, and how he sent his son for them.

Lower Elementary:

Make a list with your child of all the ways that love can be shown (hugs, kisses, helping, patience and so on). Buy a pack of fuzzy pompoms or fuzzy pipe cleaners and help your child use them to make an assortment of fuzzy creations. Paper feet and body parts can be cut out of paper to help the creatures stand up and add personality. Use a pen to write one of the ways that love can be shown on a small piece of paper for each “warm fuzzy” they have created. Attach the paper to each warn fuzzy. Talk about how God shows his love to us, are any of the ways the same as the “warm fuzzies” that were created?

Upper Elementary:

Help your child write a love note to God. Encourage them to thank and praise God in the note. After it is completed, help them pray and use the note as a tool to help them understand praise. Remind them that God is love.

Teens:

Think of a time when you have struggled to believe that God is love. Do you have friends or family members who might be struggling with that belief right now? Pray that God would lay someone one your heart to share with about this. It may not have to be a long drawn out conversation, it could be simply reminding them that God is love and loves them. You could also write them a note of encouragement reminding them that God is love.