John 10:9–10

Imagine a house without a door! We would have no way to get inside. When Jesus said that he is the door, it was a proverbial way of saying that through him we have access to the kingdom of God. The emphasis of this lesson is that Jesus keeps us safe, and that through him we have eternal life.

Key Verse

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…”

– John 10:9a (NIV)

Series Memory Verse

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”

– 1 John 3.1a (NLT)

Lesson

Supplies: Pictures of things that you would or would not let into your front door?

Object Lesson (Would you let it in?)

in-or-out

Welcome the children and have them imagine that they’re in a house just like the 3 little pigs. Imagine you hear a knock at the door and when you go look in the peep-hole you see the big bad wolf [show the picture of the big bad wolf]. Do you let him in? No! Let’s say you hear a knock at the door and you see your grandma [show the picture of a grandma]. Do you let her in? “Yes!” Repeat the same thing with the picture of an ogre, the grumpy old troll, a little kitten. Use those examples to explain to the kids that the door of a house is very important. The door allows us to go inside and be safe and warm. The door also keeps out things that are bad or unsafe.

Tell the children that today’s Bible story is from the book of John and it’s not about 3 little pigs in a house, it’s about sheep in a pen!

Bible story

Jesus told a story about sheep in a pen in the book of John. The pen that Jesus was describing was like their house. It’s where the sheep are safe from predators and thieves. In the morning the shepherd opens the gate to the pen. He goes inside and talks to his sheep and they love to listen to the shepherd. He calls them out and he looks after them while they’re out in the field. Then, in the evening he leads the sheep back to the safety of the pen. In the story there’s a gatekeeper who opens up the gate for the sheep and the sheep can go inside and rest and settle down for the night.

But one day, along came a thief. The thief wanted to steal one of the sheep so he tried to see how he could get in. He could not get through the gate, but the gatekeeper said “no way, I know what you want to do. You want to steal a sheep!”, so the thief tried to break down the gate but the gate was strong! Next he decided to try climb over the side, then the gatekeeper knew: “This man really is a thief!”. What do you think he did? He chased him away!

After Jesus told that story he said to the people …
Read the words of Jesus from John 10:9–10.

That’s so strange! Jesus says that he is the gate. What does that mean? It means that he is the only way to get into the house. Jesus is stronger than any thief, so we are perfectly safe when we are in Jesus.

Application

The Bible tells us that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us in the Father’s house (John 14:2). He says that there are many rooms to that house and we’re all invited! One day Jesus will come back and it’ll be a big celebration for everyone who put their faith in Jesus. It will be a sad day for those who don’t care about Jesus because they won’t be able to get into the house.

Imagine a house without a door! We would have no way to get inside. When Jesus said that he is the door, it was a way of saying that we can go through him to the kingdom of God. Jesus keeps us safe, and through him we have eternal life. To go into the house we have to go through Jesus!

Remember that we are all God’s children when we put our faith in him. He loves us and want the best for us and that is why he gave us his Son Jesus, so that we can come into his house. Here’s a verse from a letter that John wrote when he was very old. Even though he was an old man, he loved being one of God’s children! He said:

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”

– 1 John 3.1a (NLT)

Prayer: Thank Jesus that he is the door to the Father’s house. Thank him that nothing bad or evil can stand against him but that he is strong enough to protect his children from any evil! Pray that the children would turn to him for safety whenever they’re afraid.

Review Questions:

  • Where did the sheep sleep at night?
  • Whose voice did they love to hear and follow?
  • How did they get in and out of the pen?
  • Could the thief get through the gate? How did he try get inside?
  • Why did Jesus call himself the door/gate?

Activity

Bean Bag Game – Through the Door

Supplies: 4 bean bags and one bucket, masking tape

Split the kids into 4 teams and have them line up in each corner of the room. Give each team a beanbag and place the bucket (Which represents the ‘Door’), in the center of the room. Place a tape mark about 4 or 5 feet from the bucket in front of each team corner.

When you say “go”, The first person in each line will walk to the tape mark and try to throw their bean bag into the bucket. The first team to get theirs in gets a point. Have the kids retrieve their bags and hand to the next person in line. Start again and play until everyone has a turn. The team with the most points at the end wins! If there is a tie then those teams all get a point.

Variation: Have teams pass the bean bags through their legs to the first person in line before they go to the mark and throw the bean bag.