The Shepherd's Voice (John 10:1-10)
Today's Gospel reading is the story of the good shepherd and sheep
SheepThis sheep activity can be done by all ages -- and while the instructions are to use fondant icing, you might like to try other materials like modelling clay, salt dough, or marshmallows!
You may like to name your sheep after one of your friends, neighbours or family and then prayer for that person as you work. 
Playdough matA Good Shepherd playdough mat from Flame Creative Children's Ministry. Print out the mat, laminate and provide a lump of play dough for kids to make their own model of the good shepherd.
Activities
Ice block stick sheep
When Jesus told this story, the people didn’t understand. Do you understand what Jesus was talking about? In this story, we are the sheep and Jesus is our shepherd. He loves us and only wants what is best for us. He will watch over us and care for us and keep us from harm. He will give us everything we need.
When someone tries to get you to listen to what they say, just wait long enough to listen to what Jesus might be saying to you… Make a sheep puppet to remind you that Jesus looks after you, his little sheep. Craft instructions are found at the Crafts by Amanda website. Visio LectioA beautiful image from the Visio Lectio project, created by the Anglican Diocese of Auckland. © Sarah West. All Rights reserved, shared with permission.
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Know my voice! A game for older childrenWhat you need/Preparation
Record snippets of famous people’s voices -- you can do this on your cell phone and play back with a speaker (e.g. Justin Timberlake, the Prime Minister, Scooby doo, Hermione Granger, Spongebob square pants, the vicar, yourself!) Also, paper and pens for each group. What to do Divide people into two or three teams. Explain that you will play voices of famous people. As you do, the teams have to write down the name of the person that they think it is. At the end, check the answers and see how they did! This could lead into a discussion about how we recognise people by their voices. Whose voices/ opinions do we listen to most? How do we listen to Jesus? Re- read John 10:1-10... What gets your attention in this reading? Why do you think God brought that to your attention? What might God be asking you to do about that? Follow the leader - a game for younger childrenPreparation: Nothing!
What to do: Get the children in one long line. The person at the front is the leader. Tell the group that they need to copy what the leader does. After a short time, change the leader by making the person at the front go to the back of the line. At the end, you could talk about how easy it was to follow someone else? How do we follow Jesus? What makes it easy/hard? Sheep and shepherd game
SermonJesus is the gate and the gate is open
A 6 minute sermon reflection from Archdeacon Julie Rokotakala, the vicar of Kapiti Anglicans. |
Intergen Australia resourceThe fourth Sunday of the Easter season is often referred to as “Good Shepherd” Sunday. As we continue on through the Season of Easter, we stop to reflect on one of the most well recognised images of Jesus, that of the Good Shepherd. Resources written and compiled by Rev Sandy Brodine are suitable for the 30 April. Download now from https://intergen.org.au/
The Seven Minute SermonHow to Hear God - A seven minute podcast sermon about today's gospel passage from Rev. George Penk, deacon assistant at St Mark's Remuera in Auckland, and a freelance broadcaster. Great insights shared from Pete Grieg's book, 'How to Hear God' about how we learn the acoustics, nuance and tone of God's voice in our lives.
My sheep hear my voiceRead Read the story of John 10:1-5 together
WatchThen watch this youtube clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDvb1tXuRrU
In Jesus’ day, where he lived, was very much a farming community. Although usually each shepherd would care for His own flock of sheep on his own, sometimes 3 or 4 flocks would be combined together in a larger pen. A watchman would put at the gate to guard the sheep on behalf of the shepherds. When they came back for their flock, each shepherd would go in to the pen and call the sheep that belonged to him. The sheep would recognise the voice of their master and would leave the pen to follow him. A friend of mine has actually seen this happen! She was on a trip to Israel. She was on a bus tour and they stopped for a rest break at a roadside cafe. I looked over a wall and saw an Israeli shepherd leading his sheep out of a sheep pen. He was calling them individually by their names, “Bella, Mary...” and they were following him! Some of the sheep stayed behind - he obviously wasn’t their shepherd! We stopped at the same spot the next day, and I ran to the wall with my video camera ready, wanting to capture the beautiful scene. To my horror, the shepherd was not calling the sheep forward like before – he was hitting them with a big stick, driving them from behind. I asked the coach driver what on earth the shepherd was doing! He replied, “That’s not the shepherd, it’s the butcher and he’s just bought them!" Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He leads from ahead, calling us by name. The sheep recognise the Master’s voice, and when they obey and follow Him, they enjoy good pasture. However, there’s an enemy who’s much like the butcher, driving the sheep from behind and hitting them. He came only to steal, kill and destroy. The Good Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep, in order to save them from the enemy. Not only did He willingly lay His life down, He also took it up again – just as He said He would. Questions
Story for younger children
** Depending on your audience you may prefer to not include the the paragraph beginning with two ** in your story.
This part of the good Shepherd is not in the children’s bible, but you can read this story to them : Jesus often used pictures and stories to explain things to his disciples. Today we are going to hear about how Jesus tells us he is a the Good Shepherd of the sheep. In Jesus’ day, where he lived, was very much a farming community. Although usually each shepherd would care for His own flock of sheep on his own, sometimes 3 or 4 flocks would be combined together in a larger pen. A watchman would put at the gate to guard the sheep on behalf of the shepherds. When they came back for their flock, each shepherd would go in to the pen and call the sheep that belonged to him. The sheep would recognise the voice of their master and would leave the pen to follow him. A friend of mine has actually seen this happen! She was on a trip to Israel. She was on a bus tour and they stopped for a rest break at a roadside cafe. I looked over a wall and saw an Israeli shepherd leading his sheep out of a sheep pen. He was calling them individually by their names, “Bella, Mary...” and they were following him! Some of the sheep stayed behind - he obviously wasn’t their shepherd! **We stopped at the same spot the next day, and I ran to the wall with my video camera ready, wanting to capture the beautiful scene. To my horror, the shepherd was not calling the sheep forward like before – he was hitting them with a big stick, driving them from behind. I asked the coach driver what on earth the shepherd was doing! He replied, “That’s not the shepherd, he’s just bought them!" Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He leads from ahead, calling us by name. We can trust him. Sometimes it is hard to know what the right thing to do is, that is when it is good to stop and think about what you know about Jesus, the important things he has taught us about how what kind of person we should try and be, you can even just quickly pray in your head, to ask him to help you to follow his lead, his voice. Everyone needs to do this, adults, vicars, teachers, parents and you too. Because you can trust Jesus to guide well because we know how much he loves you. Most of us are lucky enough to have parents who are good shepherds and we know they love us and want the best for us - so it is important to listen to them too! Story for older childrenPreparation
In Jesus’ day, where he lived, was very much a farming community. Although usually each shepherd would care for His own flock of sheep on his own, sometimes 3 or 4 flocks would be combined together in a larger pen. A watchman would put at the gate to guard the sheep on behalf of the shepherds. When they came back for their flock, each shepherd would go in to the pen and call the sheep that belonged to him. The sheep would recognise the voice of their master and would leave the pen to follow him. A friend of mine has actually seen this happen! She was on a trip to Israel. She was on a bus tour and they stopped for a rest break at a roadside cafe. I looked over a wall and saw an Israeli shepherd leading his sheep out of a sheep pen. He was calling them individually by their names, “Bella, Mary...” and they were following him! Some of the sheep stayed behind - he obviously wasn’t their shepherd! We stopped at the same spot the next day, and I ran to the wall with my video camera ready, wanting to capture the beautiful scene. To my horror, the shepherd was not calling the sheep forward like before – he was hitting them with a big stick, driving them from behind. I asked the coach driver what on earth the shepherd was doing! He replied, “That’s not the shepherd, it’s the butcher and he’s just bought them!" Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He leads from ahead, calling us by name. The sheep recognise the Master’s voice, and when they obey and follow Him, they enjoy good pasture. However, there’s an enemy who’s much like the butcher, driving the sheep from behind and hitting them. He came only to steal, kill and destroy. The Good Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep, in order to save them from the enemy. Not only did He willingly lay His life down, He also took it up again – just as He said He would. Reflection Question Ask the children how they feel about the shepherd protecting them. How they felt about the wild animal threatening them. Then talk about how Jesus is our shepherd, that we need to learn to listen to his voice, through praying to him, through learning to feel him inside us, through reading the bible etc. Do you yearn to hear the voice of the shepherd more clearly? PrayerInvite the children to hold their sheep while you pray this prayer : Dear Lord Jesus, I want to hear and recognise Your voice today. Would You come and speak to me by name, in ways that I can’t possibly misunderstand. Please help me to recognise Your voice, to follow You and to trust You as my Good Shepherd. In Jesus’ name, Amen. |
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The Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18)
Today's gospel reading tells the story of Jesus talking to the Jews, who were confused by him saying "I am the good shepherd"
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StorypathThe Storypath website shares ideas for children's books matching the lectionary readings each Sunday.
Today's book suggestions can be found here Quick Questions
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The Good Shepherd: Pursue GOD Kids
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Jesus is the Good Shepherd: CFC Kids
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For Leaders
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In this Gospel Conversation from the Dunedin Diocese for Easter 4, the Diocesan Ministry Educator is joined by Dr Gillian Townsley (chaplain at St Hilda’s School), the Rev’d Vivienne Galletly (hospital chaplain) and the Rev’d Richard Johnson (Dean for Rural Ministry). They discuss John 10:11-18 where Jesus explores imagery surrounding shepherds, sheep, wolves and hired hands.
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My sheep listen to my voice (John 10:22-30)
In the gospel reading today, Jesus claims to be the Son of God. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me" John 10:28-29. As mentioned above, shepherding or pastoral care is a pervasive theme across all of our readings.
It's helpful to know that this story comes right after Jesus has told the story of the Good Shepherd, where Jesus says "I am the good shepherd". If you are sharing this story with children, you might like to unpack this story further.
It's helpful to know that this story comes right after Jesus has told the story of the Good Shepherd, where Jesus says "I am the good shepherd". If you are sharing this story with children, you might like to unpack this story further.
Gospel ConversationsWe take a step back in Jesus' story this week to an encounter at the feast of Hannukah. Who is this Jesus? How can we know? Bishop Kelvin, Tony Martin and Diana Abercrombie join Rev Michael Godfrey for a quiet and thoughtful discussion around encountering Jesus the Good Shepherd.
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Visio Lectio
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The Good Shepherd Media
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Ever dreamt of country dancing a memory verse? Now's your chance. You're welcome.
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Parable of the Lost Sheep Media
Although this is a differen parable, this story may also be helpful in sharing how God is like a loving shepherd who protects and cares for his sheep.
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