Christmas is a very exciting time for children. The lights, presents, songs, and festive

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Lesso 4 41 The So of God Is Bor! Luke 1:26-45; 2:1-20 Christmas is a very excitig time for childre. The lights, presets, sogs, ad festive atmosphere create excitemet ad aticipatio.

1 Lesso 4 41 The So of God Is Bor! Luke 1:26-45; 2:1-20 Christmas is a very excitig time for childre. The lights, presets, sogs, ad festive atmosphere create excitemet ad aticipatio. Use this lesso to teach childre the meaig behid the Christmas joy ad traditios. Lesso What Childre Do easy prep Bible Poit Jesus was bor. 1 Gettig Started about 5 mi. 2 Key Verse Activity about 10 mi. 3 Bible Exploratio about 15 mi. Welcome ad Celebrate Welcome each other, ad praise God through music. Jesus Is Bor! Sig a sog celebratig Jesus birth. Puppy Poiters Share the Bible Poit with Theo. Bible Time: Agels Aouce Jesus Birth Act out motios durig the Bible passage. sigal, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bible, CD player Teacher Pack: CD CD player, Theo puppet, small towel Teacher Pack: CD Bible, doll, small towel, alumium foil, tape Teacher Pack: Jesus Is Bor! poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Wrap the small towel aroud Theo. Cut a 1x20-ich piece of foil, ad tape the eds together to make a halo. Key Verse For to us a child is bor, to us a so is give, ad the govermet will be o his shoulders. Ad he will be called Woderful Couselor, Mighty God, Everlastig Father, Price of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will celebrate Jesus birth. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 4 Witer Quarter

2 42 Lesso What Childre Do Easy Prep Ceter 1: Rock-a-Bye Jesus Make a baby Jesus puppet, ad the sig to it. CD player, My Bible Hugs, pe, scissors, glue sticks, woode craft sticks Teacher Pack: CD Remove the Lesso 4 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. O each child s page, cut out the baby Jesus puppet, ad make a slit i the dotted lie o the mager. 4 Weavig Faith Ito Life about 20 mi. (Choose 2 ceters.) Ceter 2: Celebrate New Birth Make baby rattles with pretzels ad baaa chuks. Ceter 3: Celebrate Jesus! Match pictures of thigs that remid us of Jesus birth. paper plates, stick pretzels, baaas, atibacterial gel (optioal) scissors Teacher Pack: Christmas Celebratio cards Cut apart the Christmas Celebratio cards. Ceter 4: Had some Agels Use hadprits to make agel remiders of Jesus birth. white paper, scissors, wide craft sticks, pecils, glue sticks, markers For each child, fold 1 piece of paper i half like a card. Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. My Bible Hugs, pes 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Actio Prayer Thak God for sedig Jesus to be bor for us. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Witer Quarter Lesso 4 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

3 43 The So of God Is Bor! Luke 1:26-45; 2:1-20 BIBLe BACKGROUND for Leaders Mary ad Joseph s Egagemet Is Disrupted Mary ad Joseph s betrothal was quite differet from egagemets today. I fact, i Jewish culture at that time, a betrothed couple had already take public vows ad was legally boud as i a marriage, except that the couple was ot to live together or have itercourse util the appoited time. Furthermore, it is made clear i Luke 1:27 ad 34 that Mary was ideed a virgi. Mary s iitial respose to the agel (Luke 1:34) does t idicate ay hesitatio i watig the agel s message to be true. To be the mother of the Messiah was the dream of every Jewish woma. However, Mary had ot yet lived with Joseph, ad she kew the humiliatio she would experiece if it became kow that she was pregat. She also questioed the physical possibility of such a pregacy. The Jesus Coectio Mary was a willig servat of God. Her life provides a great example of the attitude we ca brig to our relatioship with Jesus. Read aloud Luke 1: Reflect o how scary ad excitig it was for Mary to declare her service to the Lord by givig birth to the Savior. How have you reacted to God whe he has give you a scary assigmet to serve him? Pray to God, askig him to give you the stregth to serve him o matter what he has called you to do. You ca write your prayer here. Mary Respods to God i Faith Whe Mary was told how the child would be coceived ad was remided that God ca do aythig, she respoded i humble obediece. She was God s servat, ad she wated God s pla to be fulfilled i her life. We do t kow if Mary wet aloe to visit Elizabeth, but it seems she left i a hurry, though the trip must have take five days. Elizabeth s proclamatio that Mary would bear the child of God was a fial cofirmatio to Mary of all that she had likely bee thikig durig those five days of travel. With that realizatio, Mary burst ito the poem we kow as the Magificat as she gave glory to God for sedig Jesus to earth through her. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 4 Witer Quarter

4 44 gettig started Welcome ad Celebrate sigal CD player Teacher Pack CD: Glad You re Here Today (track 7), Welcome Baby Jesus (track 8) Welcome ad Celebrate Tip Cosistetly use the same sigal to aouce a trasitio to the ext activity. You could flip the lights off ad o, use a trai whistle, have a puppet rustlig iside a bag, or sig cleaup sogs. Keep it simple, cosistet, ad fu. As the childre arrive, greet each oe with a smile. Whe it s time to begi, use your sigal to gather the childre together i a circle o the floor. Lead childre i sigig Glad You re Here Today (track 7 o the CD) to the tue of Te Little Idias. Ecourage childre to follow the motios i paretheses. Come sig ad play ad hear the Bible. (cup hads over mouth) Sig ad play ad hear the Bible. (tur i a circle) Sig ad play ad hear the Bible. (put had to ear) We re so glad you re here! (both thumbs up) We re so glad you re here today! (hads o hips ad shake head) We re so glad you re here today! (hads o hips ad shake head) We re so glad you re here today! (hads o hips ad shake head) Come sig ad play with us. (make come here motio) (Repeat.) Say: Today we get to lear how baby Jesus was bor. Let s sig oe more sog to welcome baby Jesus. Lead childre i sigig Welcome Baby Jesus (track 8 o the CD). Lead childre i marchig i a circle as they sig. Welcome, welcome, Welcome baby Jesus, Bor to us a savior. Welcome, welcome, We welcome baby Jesus here. (Repeat 2x.) Say: We get to celebrate today! That s because Jesus was bor! Let s get started. Witer Quarter Lesso 4 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

5 45 2 Key Verse activity Jesus Is Bor! Have childre form a circle ad sit dow. Ope your Bible to Isaiah 9:6, ad show childre the words. Tell them the Bible is God s special book. Say: At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus was bor! Our Key Verse helps us uderstad why that s so great. Liste while I read it: For to us a child is bor, to us a so is give, ad the govermet will be o his shoulders. Ad he will be called Woderful Couselor, Mighty God, Everlastig Father, Price of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). This meas that Jesus was bor for us. Let s say our Key Verse together. Lead childre i sayig the simplified Key Verse with you: To us Jesus is bor (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus Is Bor! Bible CD player Teacher Pack CD: Baby Jesus Bor Today (track 9) Say: Jesus was bor for each of you! Poit to the childre. Whe you believe i him, you ca live i heave forever with God. That s why Christmas is such a excitig time it s whe we remember Jesus very special birth. Whe people celebrate, they sometimes like to sig. Ask: What sogs do you like to sig whe you re really happy? Say: Let s sig a sog ow to celebrate that Jesus was bor for us. Lead childre i sigig Baby Jesus Bor Today (track 9 o the CD) to the tue of Twikle, Twikle, Little Star. Sig without motios the first time so the childre lear the words. After the childre are familiar with the words, have them follow you usig the motios. Baby Jesus, bor today, (rock preted baby i arms) I our hearts, you ve come to stay. (place hads o heart) You have come from heave high, (poit to heave) Way beyod the stars ad sky. (twikle figers above head) Baby Jesus, bor today, (rock preted baby i arms) I our hearts you ve come to stay. (place hads o heart) (Repeat.) Say: Whe babies are bor, everyoe is excited. The parets of the ew baby sed cards ad pictures tellig about the baby s birth. We ca tell others about Jesus birth by sigig sogs, givig gifts to others, ad decoratig a Christmas tree. We re so happy that Jesus was bor. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 4 Witer Quarter

6 46 3 bible Exploratio Puppy Poiters CD player Theo puppet small towel Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 2) Puppy Poiters Easy Prep Wrap the small towel aroud Theo. Puppy Poiters Say: Liste, everyoe, Theo s comig! He has somethig to show us. Let s fid out what it is. Play Here, Theo (track 2 o the CD), ad brig out Theophilus the FaithRetriever. Theo: Hi, everybody! Teacher: Hello, Theo! It s ice of you to come to church with us today. Theo: Yeah, ad I eve brought my baby blaket so I ca be baby Jesus. Teacher: Well, I do t thik your blaket will tur you ito baby Jesus, but you could preted to be baby Jesus wrapped i his blaket. We just fiished sigig about baby Jesus. Frieds, let s tell Theo our Bible Poit for today. (Lead childre i sayig the Bible Poit for Theo: Jesus was bor.) Teacher: Jesus was bor so that we could kow him ad have a friedship with him. Theo: That makes me feel special! I thik it s time I put my blaket away. Teacher: That s a good idea. We ll see you later, Theo. Let s say goodbye to Theo. Ecourage the childre to wave or say goodbye to Theo. The put Theo away i a safe place for ext week s use. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Why do you thik Theo was so excited about baby Jesus? Tell about somethig you re really excited about. Why do you like to tell others whe you re excited about somethig? Say: Theo was really excited about baby Jesus, ad we ca be, too. The fact that Jesus was bor is oe of the most excitig thigs ever! Jesus came for us, ad whe we believe i him we ca live forever. Let s lear more about Jesus birthday. Witer Quarter Lesso 4 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

7 47 Bible Time: Agels Aouce Jesus Birth Ope your Bible to Luke 1 2, ad show childre the words. Tell childre that the Bible is God s special book. Say: Let s fid out what happeed o that very first Christmas whe Jesus was bor. Show the doll ad wrap it i the small towel. Let s preted this is baby Jesus. Put the halo o your head, ad explai that whe people thik of agels, they thik of halos. Say: A youg woma amed Mary was workig i her house oe day whe suddely a agel appeared. Let each child try o the halo, hide behid you, ad pop out to appear to the other childre. Say: Whe Mary saw the agel, she was very afraid. The agel told her ot to be afraid. The agel came to tell Mary she was goig to have a baby. Ivite the childre to pass aroud baby Jesus. Say: God wated Mary to ame the baby Jesus. Mary was ot afraid aymore. She was glad to do what God wated. Mary ad her husbad, Joseph, had to go to a tow called Bethlehem. They walked for a very log time ad were very tired. Have childre stad up ad walk i a circle, pretedig to become very tired. Bible Time: Agels Aouce Jesus Birth Bible doll small towel alumium foil tape Teacher Pack Jesus Is Bor! poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Bible Time: Agels Aouce Jesus Birth Easy Prep Cut a 1x20-ich piece of foil, ad tape the eds together to make a halo. Say: Whe they got to Bethlehem, there was o room for them i the hotels, so they had to sleep i a stable. A stable is where aimals stay! Have childre lie dow o the floor, yaw, ad preted to go to sleep. Ivite oe child to preted to be a aimal ad crawl aroud the sleepig childre. Say: Mary gave birth to baby Jesus i the stable. She wrapped him up ice ad warm ad laid him i the mager. A mager is the box that holds the aimals food. Ivite oe child to practice wrappig the towel aroud the baby. As he or she does, have the others rock preted babies i their arms. Show the Jesus Is Bor! poster. Say: That same Christmas ight, shepherds were i the fields watchig their sheep. Poit out the shepherds o the poster. They were tired ad early asleep. All of a sudde, a agel appeared i the sky. Poit out the agels o the poster. The ivite the childre to pop up from behid you agai. Say: The shepherds were very frighteed. The agel told them ot to be afraid. They said Jesus the Savior was bor, ad they told them where to go to fid Jesus. The shepherds wet right away. Have kids stad up ad ru i place, puttig their hads above their eyes as if searchig. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 4 Witer Quarter

8 48 Have kids sit agai, ad poit to the poster. The shepherds foud baby Jesus, brought him gifts, ad worshipped him. At Christmas, we ca celebrate Jesus birth, too, by worshippig him o his birthday. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What do you thik about how the shepherds celebrated Jesus birth? What do you like to do to celebrate Jesus birth at Christmas? Say: The shepherds saw the agels ad kew Jesus was special. He was God s So, set from heave. We ca be happy Jesus was bor. At Christmastime, we ca thak Jesus for comig to earth by sigig to him, prayig to him, ad helpig others. There are so may ways we ca show our thaks! 4 weavig faith ito life Ceter 1: Rock-a-Bye Jesus CD player My Bible Hugs pe scissors glue sticks woode craft sticks Teacher Pack CD: Baby Jesus Bor Today (track 9) Ceter 1: Rock-a-Bye Jesus Easy Prep Remove the Lesso 4 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. O each child s page, cut out the baby Jesus puppet, ad make a slit i the dotted lie o the mager. Choose at least two of the learig ceters to help reiforce today s Bible lesso. Gather the eeded materials, ad put the supplies i a out-of-sight area util you re ready for them. Allow the childre to choose which ceter they d like to explore first. The circulate amog the childre as they create ad explore. Ecourage them to make coectios betwee their activities ad the Bible by askig them the questios icluded with each ceter s descriptio. Ceter 1: Rock-a-Bye Jesus Give each child a Lesso 4 page from My Bible Hugs. Say: Today we re celebratig Jesus birth. Look at Mary ad Joseph o your page. Jesus is missig. Let s show Jesus i the picture. Give childre each a woode craft stick ad let them share glue sticks. Have kids rub a small amout of glue at oe ed of the stick ad place the baby Jesus cutout at the top. Tell kids to hold baby Jesus agaist the stick ad cout to five very slowly so baby Jesus will stick. Whe all the childre are fiished, show them how to carefully ope the slit o the mager ad slide the craft stick dow through the slit. Play Baby Jesus Bor Today (track 9 o the CD), ad have kids rock baby Jesus back ad forth as they sig the sog. Witer Quarter Lesso 4 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

9 49 Say: It s always excitig whe babies are bor, ad baby Jesus was a special baby he s the So of God. We ca tell everybody that Jesus was bor. Ceter 2: Celebrate New Birth Have childre clea their hads ad the sit dow for the sack. Say: Let s make a preset for baby Jesus usig our sack food. What kids of thigs ca we give to babies? Let childre suggest differet presets. If o oe metios a baby rattle, you ca. Say: Let s make baby rattles to give to baby Jesus as a gift. Break off two chuks of baaa for each child ad show kids how to put oe piece o each ed of a pretzel to look like rattles. Ceter 2: Celebrate New Birth paper plates stick pretzels baaas atibacterial gel (optioal)! allergy alert Say: Lightly shake your baby rattle ad make a rattle oise with your voice. Pray for the sack, ad let childre eat. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was it like to try to make a rattle oise with your voice? What are some ways you ca use your voice to tell others about Jesus birth? What are some other ways you ca help others kow about Jesus love? Say: At Christmastime, we wat others to kow that it s Jesus birthday. We ca tell others that Jesus was bor by usig our voices, or we ca do thigs to show them Jesus love. Ceter 3: Celebrate Jesus! Say: Let s play a game to celebrate that Jesus was bor at Christmas. Shuffle the Christmas Celebratio cards, ad lay them faceup o the table. Have kids take turs fidig the matchig pictures about Jesus birth. Remid kids that there are lots of fu ways we ca remember Jesus ad celebrate his birth. Ceter 3: Celebrate Jesus! scissors Teacher Pack Christmas Celebratio cards Ceter 3: Celebrate Jesus! Easy Prep Cut apart the Christmas Celebratio cards. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 4 Witer Quarter

50 Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was it like tryig to fid matchig cards? What are some ways that remids you of the shepherds lookig for Jesus?

These cards remid us of the may thigs that help us celebrate the excitig day Jesus was bor.

ad Joseph they were havig a baby, ad the agels also helped the shepherds fid baby Jesus. Let s make some agels to help us remember to tell others about Jesus birth.

10 50 Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was it like tryig to fid matchig cards? What are some ways that remids you of the shepherds lookig for Jesus? What are some ways you ca celebrate like the shepherds? Say: Today we ca celebrate like the shepherds celebrated because God set Jesus to be bor for us. These cards remid us of the may thigs that help us celebrate the excitig day Jesus was bor. Ceter 4: Had some Agels white paper scissors wide craft sticks pecils glue sticks markers Ceter 4: Had some Agels Easy Prep Ceter 4: Had some Agels Say: The Bible tells us about agels that told Mary ad Joseph they were havig a baby, ad the agels also helped the shepherds fid baby Jesus. Let s make some agels to help us remember to tell others about Jesus birth. While we get our agel wigs ready, tell someoe ear you what you love about Jesus. Help each child lay oe had o the folded paper with the thumb lyig o the fold of the paper ad the figers spread apart. Trace the child s figers, but ot the thumb, o the paper. Cut the had tracigs, beig careful ot to cut the fold of the paper. For each child, fold 1 piece of paper i half like a card. Let childre ope their had shapes to form wigs for a agel. Give each child a wide craft stick, ad allow childre to draw a smilig face o oe ed of the stick. Help childre glue the craft stick oto the paper betwee the wigs. If you have extra time, allow childre to color the wigs with markers. The let them use the agels as puppets to review what the agels told the shepherds whe Jesus was bor. Witer Quarter Lesso 4 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

11 51 Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Tell about someoe you ca celebrate Jesus birth with. Tell about someoe you ca share about Jesus birth with. Say: This week, use the agels you made to celebrate ad tell others that Jesus was bor, the way the agels did i the Bible. 5 lastig impressios Daily Challeges After the childre have cleaed up their ceters, brig everyoe back to a circle area o the floor. Review the lesso activities ad the Bible Poit, ad the ecourage the childre to share what they remember about what they leared from the Bible today. Daily Challeges My Bible Hugs pes Also use this time to challege kids i their faith. Ecourage them to choose a Daily Challege for applyig today s lesso to their lives this week. Use this challege for ecouragig your childre s growig relatioships with Jesus. Talk With Kids Say: Today we leared that Jesus was bor. I would like each of you to choose a way to celebrate Jesus birth this week. Give kids these two challeges to choose from: Decorate cookies for a eighbor, ad tell him or her that you re celebratig Jesus birth. Talk with your parets about family Christmas traditios that remid you that Jesus was bor. Say: If you wat to decorate cookes, circle the choice with oe dot. If you wat to talk about family traditios, circle the choice with two dots. Check that each child circled a choice o his or her My Bible Hugs page. Make sure you tell kids the challege you choose. Your commitmet will ispire childre ad will give them a opportuity to see God at work i your life as well as i theirs! Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 4 Witer Quarter

12 52 Actio Prayer Form a circle, ad have the childre sit dow. Say: Today we re thakful that Jesus was bor. Let s preted to hold baby Jesus while we pray ad thak God for Jesus. Have childre preted to rock a baby i their arms, ad ivite them to tell God reasos they love Jesus. Close the prayer: Dear God, thak you that Jesus was bor for us. I Jesus ame, ame. Weavig Faith at Home Have childre take home their My Bible Hugs pages whether they worked o them or ot. Have the childre tell their parets the challege they committed to i the Daily Challeges activity. Ecourage the parets to help their kids fulfill this commitmet durig the week. By workig together ad focusig o the same goals, you ad parets ca help childre weave faith ito their lives! Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Witer Quarter Lesso 4 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

If raised to believe in Santa Claus, children this age are becoming skeptical. They often

If raised to believe in Santa Claus, children this age are becoming skeptical. They often Lesso 4 41 The So of God Is Bor! Luke 1:26-45; 2:1-20 If raised to believe i Sata Claus, childre this age are becomig skeptical. They ofte see the holes i the story but preted they do t. They wat to grow