Opening

➢ The Right Guide
Materials: Bibles (optional: blindfolds)
Have students get in pairs. One partner should close his eyes while the other partner snaps his fingers in various locations around his partner. The student with his eyes closed should turn in the direction where he believes the sound is coming from. After a minute, have partners switch roles. Ask kids to tell what they discovered in this experiment.
Be aware that blindfolding and eye-closing can be scary for some kids and can be an opportunity for subtle bullying to occur. Consider having just one or
two kids model this rather than having everyone try.
SAY: I know someone who is the right guide. He helps us to turn and keep going in the right direction. I’m talking about the Holy Spirit.

Ask students to turn in their Bibles to Acts 2:38, 39. Have volunteers read those verses aloud. Then have kids turn to John 14:15-18, and have volunteers read those verses aloud.
ASK: Who is promised the gift of the Holy Spirit? (those who repent of their sins and are baptized) What do these verses say about the Holy Spirit? (God sends the Holy Spirit. He’s the Spirit of truth. He’s a counselor. He will be with us forever. We can’t see Him. He lives with us and in us.)
SAY: When we live by the Spirit, we live a certain way. Let’s find out about that.

Bible Story

➢ Follow along with me as we read through Galatians 5:22- 25 “But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
➢ There are different fruits of the Holy Spirit as mentioned in the verse above. The fruit of the Spirit are qualities that show in the life of someone who
loves Jesus and is living a life of obedience to Jesus.
➢ The Bible teaches us in the following verse that as Christians, we ought to submit to the Lordship of Christ in order for us to bear these fruits of the
Holy Spirit. When we do not allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we will not have these fruits evident in our lives. It is difficult to do it on our own but with Jesus on our side it will be possible.
➢ In John 15: 4-5, Jesus explains to his disciples what they need to do in order for them to bear fruit. The disciples must remain connected to Jesus the way a branch must stay connected to the stem to have its food, water and nutrients. When the disciples are connected to Jesus they will bear much fruit. This fruit includes those mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23.

➢ Through the bearing of these fruits, we will be in a position to disciple others because we have been called to do this. Discipleship can only be a success when we bear the different fruits of the Holy Spirit. ● The Bible tells us that since we live by the help of the Holy Spirit, we should keep in the steps of the Holy Spirit, so that we can be in a position to bear the different fruits of the Holy Spirit. We can therefore, achieve this by reading the word of God and praying that in the direction the Holy Spirit will guide us we may walk in it .

Questions

1. What are the fruits of the Holy Spirit? Galatians 5: 22, let the children mention them randomly.
2. Why should we bear these fruits of the Holy Spirit? To show we love Jesus and help others become friends with Jesus.
3. What are the different fruits you as a person think you have? Let the children mention them.
4. Why do you think we should submit to Jesus in order for us to bear these fruits? Align this with John 15: 5, it is only through the help of the Holy Spirit.
5. What are you going to do as a person to bear fruits? Let the children answer randomly.