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Jesus the Good Shepherd Sunday School Lesson Activity

Into the Lesson

As students arrive give each a piece of blankpaper (or have students turn to "What Do YouThink?" in the student books if you're usingthose). Write the following open-ended state-ments on the board:

To be a good shepherd, a person must . . .Jesus was the good shepherd because . . .

Ask your students to write down as many re-sponses to each statement as they can generatein a minute or two. Then call on volunteers toshare their answers with the class.

After discussion say, "Today's lesson willstress Jesus' role as the good shepherd. We willalso learn something about our responsibility toshepherd members of our congregation."

Into the Word

This Yes or No exercise will help students notecontrasts among the shepherd, the thief, and thehireling. Hand out copies of this exercise (or di-rect students to their student books, where thisexercise is also found). Each student shouldstudy John 10:1-18 and then answer yes or no toeach question. Correct answers are in parenthe-ses; do not hand the answers out.

1. Does he access the sheep by the door? Shep-herd (Y); Thief (N); Hireling (Y). 2. Do the sheeprecognize his voice? Shepherd (Y); Thief (N);Hireling (Y). 3. Do the sheep follow him? Shep-herd (Y); Thief (N); Hireling (19. 4. Does he takecare of the sheep? Shepherd (Y); Thief (N); Hire-ling (Y, to a degree). 5. Does he care about othersheep besides those in his immediate fold? Shep-herd (Th Thief (N); Hireling (N). 6. Will he givehis life for the sheep? Shepherd (Y); Thief (N);Hireling (N).

Review the correct answers, and then say,"Jesus made it clear that this figure of speechwas about Him. What do we know about Jesus,

from this text and from other passages of Scrip-ture, that proves Hint to be the good shepherd?"Discuss any passages the students mention.Then discuss the following questions:

1.How does Jesus "enter by the door"? (SeeJohn 9:35-41.)

2.How do the sheep recognize His voice? (SeeMark 1:21-27.)

3.In what way is Jesus the "door" of thesheep? (See Acts 4:12; 2 Timothy 2:8-13.)

4.Who were the thieves and robbers?

5.Who were the hirelings?

6.Who were the "other sheep"?

7. How did Jesus have the power to lay His lifedown for the sheep? (See Matthew 26:53, 54; He-brews 5:7-9.)

You can follow up on each question by asking,"Why is this important to know?" The abovecould be a small-group activity.

Into Life

Students will be completing two exercises.Both parts are found in the student book.

Exercise A: What Do Shepherds Do? Ask stu-dents to consider what is involved in shepherd-ing a church today. Each student should list asmany essential functions as he or she can thinkof. For example, they might list teaching, coun-seling, and praying for the sick. Direct studentsto Acts 20:28-31; 1 Timothy 5:17; James 5:14;and 1 Peter 5:1-3 for more ideas.

When your students are finished, have themshare their answers. Write their ideas on theboard. Then ask your students to complete thenext exercise.

Exercise B: How Can We Shepherd Our Flock?For each of the shepherding functions listed inExercise A, instruct each student to jot down atleast one possible ministry that your congrega-tion can do to fulfill it. For example, a hospitalcalling program would carry out the function ofpraying for the sick.

When your students are finished, list their an-swers as you did before. Ask students which pro-grams your congregation currently performs.Brainstorm ways to begin new ministries that arenot currently part of your church's program.Challenge your students to participate actively ina least one such ministry.

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