Children’s Message: Follow the Leader

In this children’s message, kids play Follow the Leader as they learn about following the real leader—Jesus!

Scripture: John 12:26

Supplies:

• Bible

Follow the Leader

Play Follow the Leader several times with different leaders.

Say: Follow the Leader can be lots of fun. Which do you like best—following or leading? Pause for responses. We follow people a lot—even when we’re not playing a game.

Ask:

• Who are people you follow? Maybe you follow people’s channels on YouTube or you follow a close friend or family member.
• Who are people you don’t want to follow? Why?

Say: There’s one person we can follow who always leads us the right way.

Read aloud John 12:26.

Say: Jesus wants us to follow him. He’s the best leader ever! Jesus is the only one who died and came back to life to save us from sin. It’s okay to enjoy looking up to others, but also important to remember that Jesus is who we can follow over any YouTube channel leader, TikTok influencer, movie star, or sports professional. Above any president or king! Jesus is the King of kings and always will be!

Ask:

• Is it always easy to follow Jesus? Why or why not?
• How can we help each other follow Jesus?

Pray: Thank you, Jesus, for being a leader we can always trust and follow. Amen.

For Extra Impact

• Have kids lead one another in doing silly actions. Then compare how that is like or unlike how Jesus leads us.
• Have kids share ways they’ve followed Jesus at school or at home.
• Tell kids about a time God’s leading was very clear to you.

This children’s message comes from The Best of Children’s Ministry Magazine: Devotions. This book is full of 110 devotions that teach important Bible truths to kids from 5 to 12 years old. For even more children’s messages, check out these posts!