James 2:1, 8-9 On Favoritism, Equality and Fairness

Scripture:
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.... If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. James 2:1, 8-9 (NIV)

Junior class (ages 8-12 years)
Ice breaker (5-10 minutes):
I am unique! Since Sunday School is informal, not a lot of the kids know the teacher. To promote eagerness and friendship among everyone, play this mini game.

1. Teacher mentions something about herself that is unique e.g. craving for food that is crunchy every after meals instead of sweet dessert.
2. Distribute bits of paper and pen/pencils to each student. 
3. Ask each one to write one thing that is unique about themselves within the amount of time teacher will set, without writing their name in the paper. The amount of time depends on the teacher. Feel free to adjust when you see kids having a hard time, but encourage them to write whatever comes to mind as usually, those are the correct things. 
4. When the time is up, collect the answers. 
5. Pick one paper from the submission and read out loud for the kids to guess. Depending on your time or size of class, teacher may read all or just choose several. 
6. (Optional) Give prizes! 

Summarize this activity by emphasizing that each one of us is unique. Like crayons, our individuality does not mean one is better or weaker than the other. God uses all of us to create HIS masterpiece.

ctto

Bible verse reading (7 - 15 minutes)
At this point, I bring different Bible versions for the kids to read from and in our native language too.

James 2:1 English Standard Version (ESV) The Sin of Partiality 2 My brothers,[a] show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

James 2:8-9 English Standard Version (ESV) 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

After reading, I ask two or three students what their thoughts are about the Bible verse we have just read, reassuring them that there are no wrong or right questions. My usual questions are:

• What is the most important idea that came to your mind after hearing about our verse for the day?
• Can you think of an example of where we can see this applied today? 

Credit: CrossCards

Group Activity (10 - 15 minutes) 
Verse Clues 

1. Write the Bible verse on various colors of paper, dividing the verse into several lines. Cut the verse according to line. 
2. Fold them and mix with other similar paper. 
3. Dividing the class into two, ask the student to properly arrange the Bible verse. 
4. (Optional) Make it a contest. The first team to arrange the verse correctly wins! You may add obstacles like distance, physical activity (jumping, spinning, skipping step, etc). 

A different version of this, from Sermons4Kids is called Color Clue. It goes like this: The teacher could give a child a color clue for the first part of today's verse, then give another child another color clue for the next part of the verse and continue until all of the Bible verse is in order and taped to the wall or to a poster board. Let children know that all the parts of the verse are very important but were all on different colors of paper or different shapes and sizes for the children to find.

I choose not to do to this because we share our venue with other ministries.

Individual activity (3 - 5 minutes) Word search Here is a handy printable from Sermos4Kids
 Other resources: Sermons4Kids