How many of you here today have pets? (Encourage responses. You may want to interact more with the audience here by asking what kinds of pets they have, their pets’ names and colors, and so on.)
Well, I have a pet dog named Spot, and I can keep him in my pocket. Would you like to see him?
Let’s see if I can find him. (Reach into your pocket for a deflated balloon. Hold it up.) Well, I see he’s just all out of breath. Give me a moment to “fill him back up.”
(Make the basic dog figure. Draw on a face and a big black spot on his back.)
Well, here he is. Would you like to see Spot do some tricks?
Spot, sit up and beg. (Hold Spot’s front legs with one hand and back legs with the other. Bring the ‘toes’ of the front and back legs together, then release the front legs. Spot’s head will pop up as if he were begging.) Good dog, Spot.
Ok, Spot. Kick like a donkey. (Hold Spot’s front legs with one hand and back legs with the other. Bring the ‘toes’ of the front and back legs together, then release the back legs. Spot’s back legs will pop up as if he were kicking like a donkey.) Good dog, Spot.
Ok, Spot. Roll over, (Hold Spot’s body with your fingertips—one hand pointing up, the other pointing down. Face Spot’s head toward the audience. Moving your hands in opposite directions will make Spot ‘roll over.’) Good boy!
(To the audience…) And now for my favorite trick. (To Spot...) Ok, Spot. Are you ready? Stay! (Rub the side of Spot’s ‘body’ and both legs on your head to create some static electricity. Then place Spot on your shirt, and he should stay.)
That’s a good boy!
(To audience...) I’ve been having a good time with Spot. Dogs make really good pets. Dogs are often called ‘Man’s Best Friend’ because they seem to want to be around people, and they want you to pet them and rub behind their ears.
But they don’t live forever. And when they’re gone, we still need to have other friends, don’t we?
Human friends are great to have, too, aren’t they? We play, and talk with them, and have fun, and do things together. Sometimes, even friends can let us down or turn their backs on us. Sometimes we may even stop being friends with someone and never make up with them.
We really need an even BETTER friend, don’t we?!
(Adapt the following gospel presentation as desired.)
Jesus was speaking to His disciples, and He made three wonderful statements about His being a friend to those who follow Him. He said that the greatest love there is, is when a person is willing to die for his friends. Jesus was willing to die for you and me. He loves us that much, and He wants us to be His friends.
He, also, said, “You are my friends, if you obey me.” When we choose to accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are deciding to live by His commands and His teaching. We show that we are His friends by doing what He says.
He, also, said that He didn’t want us to be the kind of servants that didn’t really know their master as friends. Instead, He calls us to be His friends.
Dogs make good pets, and good friends, but Jesus is really the BEST FRIEND that anyone could ever have.
Point:
When we choose to accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are deciding to live by His commands and His teaching. We show that we are His friends by doing what He says.