Welcome Families: Below is a short lesson plan/activity you can do with your child at home.

This lesson is suited for preschool and older. Thanks to Group Publishing for sharing these
resources to us for families to us during this unique time in our lives. Enjoy! Jennie

Jesus wants us to care for

and serve others
Bible Verse
“All of you, serve each other in humility” (1 Peter 5:5b).

Growing Closer to Jesus

You’ll ■act out the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet,
■play a game that reveals how you’re all feeling
■find ways to serve one another, and
■pray together

Adult Enrichment
Bible Basis
■Jesus washes his disciples’ feet.

At the Last Supper recorded in John, it is especially significant that Jesus washed
the disciples’ feet, because none of the disciples was willing to stoop below the
others to do this demeaning task. The washing of feet, necessary because people
in Jesus’ day all wore sandals, was customary before the beginning of any meal
and was normally done by a servant as guests entered the house. However, since
this was a private meal, there was apparently no servant there. The water, the
basin, and the towel were there, and certainly the disciples thought about the fact
that no one had washed their feet. But none of them took the initiative to do the
washing before the meal. After the food had been set out, Jesus took action.
Peter’s resistance to allowing Jesus to wash his feet revealed that Peter didn’t
understand what was really happening, part of which was Jesus illustrating the
cleansing power of his death. Peter also exhibited pride in his refusal to let Jesus
wash his feet. He didn’t yet understand that Jesus came to serve, not to be served.
Peter’s rejection of Jesus’ act was based on an understanding of the Messiah that
didn’t allow for such a humble, servant like action.
 If your family is among the many that’s homebound during this pandemic, you
know how stretched patience gets, and how important it is every family member
serves and acts with grace and compassion.
Today’s lesson will bring that to the forefront for children—and you, too.

Bold text is spoken text.

Game
■Name That Feeling
Sit so you can see one another.
Say: Let’s take turns acting out feelings. You might pick mad, sad, glad, or
scared. Or even something like frustrated, frantic, or flabbergasted. You pick!
When it’s your turn you’ll act out that emotion until the rest of us guess what
you’re feeling. But you have to act it out—no talking!
Take turns acting out emotions and then play another round with a rule change:
You’ll portray the emotion you have in mind by saying the word, “avocado” while
everyone else has their eyes shut.
Ask: • What was easy or hard about sharing your feelings with just actions?
• What was easy or hard about sharing your feelings with just words?
• If you could pick just one emotion that sums up how you’re feeling lately, what would it
be? Why?
Say: The feelings we acted out are just a few of the feelings and emotions we feel every
day. You may wake up and realize: “Hey, no school!” and be happy but then you realize
you can’t see your friends and then you’re sad. You might be scared because of the
coronavirus pandemic. You might be mad because there are so many things you aren’t
allowed to do right now.
Well, one thing you can do is to be a servant. Jesus wants us to care for serve others and
when we do that we make others happy. Our own mood improves, too. And we’re doing
what Jesus wants us to do!

Bible Exploration & Application

■Dusty Feet
SUPPLIES: Bible, bowl of water, large towel
Place a bowl of water nearby.
Families will need a chair for each person lined up against a wall in a row, facing out.
Have everyone sit down.

Open your Bible to John 13:1-17. Say: Today we’ll learn how Jesus washed his friends’
feet.
Ask: • Have you ever washed your friends’ feet?

• Why do you think Jesus washed his friends’ feet? (Because he wanted to show them
how much he loved them; because their feet were dirty!)
Say: Back in Jesus’ time, most people wore sandals. When they would come inside, a
servant would take off the sandals and wash the people’s hot, dusty feet. This would
refresh the people and make their feet clean. Today we’ll find out why Jesus did this.
Ask for one person in your family to be Jesus and one to be Peter. The rest of the family
will be disciples. If it’s just you and one child, you be Peter and deputize the child to play
the part of Jesus.
Say: Jesus and his friends had gathered for a special meal. Jesus wanted to show his
friends just how much he loved them because he knew that soon it would be time for him
to be crucified. This means he knew he was going to die soon. While the food was being
served, Jesus got up and wrapped a towel around his waist.
Have the person playing Jesus stand and wrap a towel around his or her waist.
Say: Then Jesus began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel around his
waist.
Explain that today, we wash our hands, not our feet, before eating.
Instruct Jesus to wet the towel and use it to quickly wash the hands of others in the
room. Or, if you have a supply of antiseptic hand wipes, you can substitute those and do
a quick hand cleaning.
After washing hands, Jesus will dry them with the large towel.
Have Jesus stop when he reaches Peter. As you read the following, have everyone act
out their roles.
Say: Finally, Jesus came to Peter. Peter said, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
“No,” Peter protested, “You will never ever wash my feet!”
Then Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
So Peter said, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
Jesus explained that he needed to wash only Peter’s feet, and then he did this.
Then Jesus sat down and said, “Since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Now that you
know these things, God will bless you for doing them.” Today, we don’t wash each other’s
feet as a way to care for each other or serve each other, like they did in Jesus time. But
Jesus was teaching his followers an important lesson.
Jesus wants us to serve and care for others .
Ask: • What did the disciples learn from Jesus that day? (To serve others; that they’ll be
blessed if they serve others.)
• What do you think Jesus expects us to do as servants? (Show love and respect to
others; help others; share.)
Say: It’s hard to think of others first, but with God’s help, nothing is impossible! Our Bible
verse for today says “all of you, serve each other in humility.” That comes from 1 Peter
5:5b. Peter, the man in our story just now, is the one who wrote that. He learned, just as we
are learning, that Jesus wants us to serve others. Now let’s think of some ways we can
serve others.

■Service With a Smile

Supplies: slips of paper; pens or pencils; box, bag, or sack

You and your family probably can’t be out and about in your community the way you were just a
few months ago. You’re spending much more time together at home which means—if you’re like
most families—things are getting a bit tense.
So find ways you can serve one another during the duration of your coronavirus quarantine.
Parents, join in, too—a heart for service is more “caught” than “taught;” what you do to serve sets
the bar for kids’ behavior.
Make sure each person has slips of paper and a pen or pencil. Take a few minutes to write or
draw on slips ways that you’d like to be served in the next week. Maybe you’d appreciate
someone fixing you a meal, or cleaning your bathroom, or giving you a foot rub. Maybe even
washing your feet! Write one way you’d like to served on each slip of paper. When you’ve
finished, put those slips of paper into a sack, bag, or box—something that will hold the slips
without letting you see inside.
Finished? Take turns drawing out slips until everyone has a slip that he or she filled out.
Issue the challenge: Do that thing on your slip for someone else in the house.
Pick a slip of paper every day and see how it changes things when you’re busy serving one
another!

Closing
■Strike a Pose Prayer
Ask everyone to stand together and strike a pose that symbolizes how to serve others. Maybe it’s
kneeling like you’re tying someone’s shoe, or standing on tip-toe like you’re reaching up to get
something off the top shelf for someone who can’t reach it.
Family members will take turns guessing how others’ poses show service and then pray together
asking for the hearts and hands to serve one another…and others beyond your family, too.