Unit 4 Summary: Kairos Christmas

Transcription

1 Unit 4 Summary: Kairos Christmas E very kid wants to have the biggest, best Christmas ever. In this hoiday-themed unit, kids wi discover that having the biggest Christmas isn t about the number of gifts they receive, the cookies they eat, or the decorations on their trees. The biggest, best Christmas is a Kairos Christmas, a Christmas where kids earn to recognize God s activity in their everyday ives and make the decision to do something about it. Christmas reminds us that God oves to break into the word of ordinary peope just ike us. From Mary and Joseph to the shepherds to the wise men, this series ooks at the major payers of the Christmas story and how they responded when God showed up in some surprising ways. 1

2 GAME ON: LESSON 14 (Large Group) Key Concept: I can do anything God wants me to do. Bibe Story: An ange visits Zechariah and Mary (Luke 1:1-38) Bibe Verse: For nothing is impossibe with God Luke 1:37 3DM Principe: The Circe (Kairos) Large Group Overview: Kids wi hear the stories of Zechariah and Mary and see how each responded differenty to the ange s news. Hudde Overview: Kids wi pay a game caed Christmas Impossibe and appy the Bibe verse to seemingy impossibe situations in their ives Lesson Outine Game Ginormous Christmas quiz (5 min) Bibe Story Zechariah and Mary (15 min) Appication Big faith / big doubt (5 min) 2

3 Hey Guys, wecome back to Kairos Quest. For the next few weeks, we re going to gear up for one of my favorite hoidays of a time. (Point to Christmas decorations.) Does anyone have any idea what it is? Of course it s Christmas time! You may have noticed that some of our Christmas decorations ook a itte bit bigger than others. That s because we re going to be taking about how we can have the biggest, best Christmas ever! Opening Activity: Ginormous Christmas quiz First et s see how much you guys know about having a big Christmas. It s time to take the Ginormous Christmas quiz. Pay upbeat Christmas music, such as Rockin Around the Christmas Tree or Jinge Be Rock, for this game. You can find pictures of each of these big Christmas items at guinesswordrecords. com, except for the Rockefeer Center Christmas tree, which can be found with a Googe image search. If possibe, dispay each picture as you revea the answer. I m going to ask you about some big Christmas stuff, and I want you to ye out the answer if you think you know it. 1. How big was the biggest Christmas tree ever used at New York s Rockefeer Center? A. 10 feet ta B. 45 feet ta C. 100 feet ta What do you think? (Kids answer.) The answer is C, 100 feet ta. This ginormous tree was used in New York during the 1999 Christmas season. 3

4 2. How many ights were on the tree with the word record number of ights? A. 10,000 B. 50,000 C. 150,000 What do you think? (Kids answer.) The answer is C, 150,000 ights. Those ights decorated a tree in Coogne Cathedra in Germany during the 2006 Christmas season. 3. How ta was the biggest snowperson ever made? A. 12 feet ta B. 52 feet ta C. 122 feet ta What do you think? (Kids answer.) The answer is C, 122 feet ta. In 2008, peope in the town of Bethe, Maine, worked together to buid a 122-foot-ta snow woman. It was argest snow person ever buit. 4. How ong, from the top to the hee, is the biggest Christmas stocking ever? A. 39 feet ong B. 100 feet ong C. 168 feet ong What do you think? (Kids answer.) The answer is C, 168 feet ong. Vounteers in Tuscany, Itay created the argest Christmas stocking in 2011 and stuffed it fu of baoons and candy. That is one big stocking! 4

5 Great job guys. You sure know your big Christmas facts. These ginormous Christmas decorations are pretty coo but they aren t what make the biggest Christmas. Having the biggest Christmas doesn t come from having the biggest stocking or the biggest tree or the biggest snowman or the biggest presents. Having the biggest Christmas is a about foowing a big God. Thousands of years ago, at the very first Christmas, this big God broke into the everyday ives of norma peope ike you and me, and He sti breaks into our ives today. This week we re going to see that foowing a big God means that we need to have some big faith. Faith means that we trust God. It means that we trust that God is a good dad who aways does what s best for His kids. It means that we trust that God is powerfu enough to do anything. It aso means that we trust Him enough to do whatever He tes us to. Does anyone remember the word we use to tak about those specia moments when God shows up in our ives? (Kids answer.) We ca these moments Kairos moments. On that first Christmas in Bethehem, God pued the utimate Kairos. He showed up in the fesh as a baby boy named Jesus. Before that happened, though, God sent an ange to te two peope what he was about to do. One person had big faith in a big God. The other person? Not so much. I want you to pay cose attention this story to see if you can te me which is which. Bibe Story Set up two stoos, each with an open box that is wrapped in fun, coorfu wrapping paper. Wrap the boxes in different coors of paper and eave the ids off so that you can pu the appropriate props out of each one. Step to the first box, which represents Zechariah. The story starts with a guy named Zechariah. Let me give you a itte info to bring you up to speed. The Bibe tes us that Zechariah and his wife 5

6 Eizabeth were reay good peope who aways did what they knew God wanted them to do. But they were aso sad because they were never abe to have kids, and now they were too od. The Bibe aso says that Zechariah worked in God s tempe in Jerusaem. That was the pace the Jewish peope went to worship God in those days. Prop #1: Cande Zechariah s job was to go in to the most specia part of the tempe and refi the incense. Incense is sweet smeing stuff the priests woud burn as they worshipped God. This was a reay big job, because not just anyone got to do it. Ony one person did it, and it happened ony one time each year. Zechariah got picked for the job this time, so he was probaby excited and nervous. But as big of a dea as this job was, it was nothing compared to what was about to happen. Prop #2: Hao When Zechariah stepped into the tempe, he ooked up and saw something amazing. An ange of God stood beside the atar. This ange didn t ook anything ike the sweet itte ange pictures you see around Christmas, with cute itte wings and a hao. No, this was a rea ange of God, a majestic warrior fied with God s awesome power. When Zechariah saw the ange, he totay freaked out. The Bibe says he was started and gripped with fear. Prop #3: Baby Do The ange tod Zechariah, Don t be afraid. God has heard your prayers. Your wife Eizabeth is going to have a baby, a son. You re going to name him John, and he s going to do some specia work for God. He s going to get everyone ready for the Lord! Think about this. Zechariah and wife had wanted kids for years, but did they have any? (Kids answer.) No, and now they were getting reay od. Do od peope have babies? (Kids answer.) No way. So to Zechariah, this sounded totay unbeievabe. Sure, this was ange. Sure, he spoke for God. But a baby? Now? After a this time? Get rea. 6

7 So Zechariah asked, How can I be sure of this? I am an od man, and my wife is we aong in years. The funny thing is that even though Zechariah was a good man, even though he oved God a ot, he had troube beieving that God was reay going to do this incredibe thing. Doubt Prop #4: Doubt sign The ange was bown away. How coud Zechariah doubt what he was saying? So he said, I am Gabrie. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and te you this good news. And now you wi be sient and not abe to speak unti the day this happens, because you did not beieve my words, which wi come true at their proper time. From that moment unti just after his chid John was born, Zechariah coud not speak a word because he refused to beieve what God had said. Step to the second box, which represents Mary. Prop #5: Wedding Vei Meanwhie, God sent the ange Gabrie to the town of Nazareth to visit a young gir named Mary. Mary was engaged to marry to a guy named Joseph. It was just an ordinary day for Mary. She was probaby excited about her upcoming wedding, excited about her future, excited about her new ife with Joseph. The ast thing she expected was a visit from an ange. Prop #6: Hao Greetings, the ange said. You are highy favored by God. He is with you. The Bibe says that Mary was greaty troubed and wondered what was going on, but the ange said to her, Don t be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You re going to have a son, and you are to ca Him Jesus. 7

8 Prop #7: Baby Do Remember that Mary was just a young gir. She wasn t even married yet. It seemed pretty unbeievabe that she coud have a baby. She didn t even have a husband. What the ange tod her sounded absoutey crazy! In that spit second, Mary had to make a choice. Woud she be ike Zechariah and not beieve God? Or woud she choose to trust God and beieve that He coud do anything He wanted to? Prop #8: Faith sign Mary chose to have faith. Mary chose to beieve. She didn t ask the ange, How can I be sure? She knew God coud do anything. So she just said, How can this be? In other words, how is this going to work? I beieve you God. Just te me what comes next. Faith The ange tod her to reax because God woud hande it with His power, and that this baby was going to be the Son of God. He tod her about Zechariah s wife, Eizabeth, Mary s cousin, who woud have a baby even though she was od. Then the ange said, For nothing is impossibe with God. Nothing is impossibe with God. Then Mary said, I am the Lord s servant. May it happen just ike you said. And it did. Step between the two stoos. Two stories about Zechariah and Mary. Two announcements about specia babies. Two peope visited by an ange. One who beieved God, and one who didn t. God may not send an ange to you this week, but if you re watching for Him, He wi tak to you. Sometimes it happens when you are reading your Bibe or praying; sometimes it happens through a song or a esson or the things other peope say other peope say to you. Sometimes He even tak to you through thoughts He puts right into your head. We ca this kairos. 8

9 And when God tes you to do something or tes you about something He s going to do, you have to make a choice. Am I going to be ike Zechariah and doubt God? Or am I going to ike Mary and choose to beieve that God can do anything? If you want to have the biggest Christmas ever, you don t need a big tree or a big gift or a big snowman. You need big faith ike Mary had. Big faith means you take that kairos that stuff God tes you and not just think about it or tak about it but actuay do something with it. Appication Pu out a third box. I have one more box that tes one more story. It s not Zechariah s story. It s not Mary s story. It s your story. Teacher pus out two signs, one that says Big Faith and one that says Big Doubt. You can choose to have big faith in a big God or have big doubt. Big faith doesn t mean you understand everything. Mary sure didn t understand how she was going to have a baby when she didn t even have a husband. Instead, big faith means trusting in God s power and going aong with God s pan. So this week, et s say that God tes you to hep someone even though you don t know them very we, and you do it. Does that take big faith or big doubt? Kids answer big faith. Or et s say someone hurts your feeings, and even though you re sti hurt you pray and ask God to hep you get over it and forgive and ove that person. Does that take big faith or big doubt? Kids answer big faith. Or what if God tes you to give something you ove away, ike a toy or some money to someone who needs it more than you do. Does that take big faith or big doubt? Kids answer big faith. 9

10 Our Bibe verse for today comes the words the ange said to Mary in Luke 1:37: For nothing is impossibe with God. That means you can do whatever God tes you to do, because nothing is too big or too hard for Him. Let s pray. Prayer Dear God, thank You for showing up in our ives just as you did for Mary and Zechariah. Hep us have big enough faith to do whatever You te us to do. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for Christmas. Amen 10

11 GAME ON: LESSON 14 (Hudde) Key Concept: I can do anything God wants me to do. Bibe Story: An ange visits Zechariah and Mary (Luke 1:1-38) Bibe Verse: For nothing is impossibe with God Luke 1:37 3DM Principe: The Circe (Kairos) Large Group Overview: Kids wi hear the stories of Zechariah and Mary and see how each responded differenty to the ange s news. Hudde Overview: Kids wi pay a game caed Christmas Impossibe and appy the Bibe verse to seemingy impossibe situations in their ives. Suppies 6 Christmas Impossibe cards 6 Situation cards 6 Bibe Verse cards 11

12 Hudde Group Outine Wecome / Review Questions to review esson (5 min) Activity 1 Christmas Impossibe (5 min) Activity 2 Situations / Bibe Verse review (5 min) Hudde Discussion Prayer (10 min) (10 min) Wecome / Large Group Review Gather kids in a circe either on the foor or around a tabe. Wecome back to Hudde. How many of you guys are ready for an awesome Christmas? What s the biggest surprise you ve ever had for Christmas? (Kids answer.) In today s Bibe story, a coupe of peope got a pretty big surprise too. An ange visited them! 6 Who were the two peope? Zechariah and Mary 6 What did the ange te them? They were going to have chidren 6 How did they react? Zechariah had big doubt, Mary had big faith 6 Why do you think Mary had big faith? 6 Why do you think Zechariah had a hard time beieving the ange? Because Mary trusted God s pan, she got to be a part of the biggest Christmas ever, the night Jesus was born. She was abe to trust God because she knew that God was good and that He oved her. Remember that God is our Dad in heaven, and He is aso the King of the universe, which means He can do anything even things that seem impossibe. 12

13 Hudde Activity 1: Christmas Impossibe The purpose of this activity is to hep kids distinguish between things that are possibe and impossibe. How It Works: Divide your hudde into two teams. In each round, one payer from each team wi face off against one payer from the other. Draw a card from the Christmas Impossibe deck and read the action isted on the card. Ask, Possibe or Impossibe? The first payer to sap the card and say the correct answer wins the card for his or her team. Pay through a the cards and then decare a winner. Suppies: 6 Christmas Impossibe card deck (1 set per group) Speaking of impossibe, today we re going to pay a game caed Christmas Impossibe. Here s how it works. I m going to divide the Hudde into two teams: Team Reindeer and Team Ef. During each round someone from your team wi face off against someone from the other team. I draw a card and pace it on the foor between you. Then I wi read what it says and ask, Possibe or Impossibe? If you think you know the answer, sap the card and make your guess. The first person to sap the card and guess correcty wins the card for his or her team. Pay through the game. Decare a winner. Christmas Impossibe Cards and answers 6 Lick your own ear. Impossibe (uness you have a reay ong tongue) 6 Eat ice cream on the surface of the sun. Impossibe (it s too hot) 6 Run a mie in under four minutes Possibe (the word record is under four minutes) 6 Eat 10 Satine crackers in under a minute without drinking anything. Impossibe (crackers absorb saiva, making it impossibe to swaow) 6 Train a cat to use a toiet. Possibe (at east for some cats) 13

14 6 Jump more than eight feet high. Possibe (the word high jump record is higher than eight feet) 6 Lasso a unicorn. Impossibe (unicorns don t exist) 6 Say the aphabet backward in ess than three seconds. Possibe (the word record is under three seconds.) Some of those things seemed impossibe, but they reay weren t. Others, such as eating 10 crackers in under a minute, seemed ike something you might be abe to do but just aren t possibe. In today s Bibe story, we discovered that even when things reay are impossibe for us, everything changes when God steps into the picture. It didn t matter that Zechariah and his wife Eizabeth were od and chidess. If God wanted them to have a baby, they coud have a baby. It didn t matter that Mary didn t have a husband yet. If God wanted to her to have a baby, He coud make it happen. Hudde Activity 2: Situations & Bibe Verse Review The purpose of this activity is to hep kids appy the Bibe verse to situations in their everyday ives. Pass out Bibe Verse cards to kids. Pace the Situation Cards in front of you. Draw a card and read the situation. You then ask, Possibe or Impossibe? The kids wi respond by reading the Bibe verse, For nothing is impossibe with God. Suppies: 6 Situation cards (1 set per group) Begin by passing out Bibe Verse Cards to kids. 14

15 Our Bibe verse for today is from Luke 1:37. It says, For nothing is impossibe with God. Say that with me. (Kids repeat.) We re going to pay another round of Christmas Impossibe. In this round, you a be on same team. I draw a card and read a situation that may sound difficut or impossibe, and I ask the question, Possibe or impossibe? Then, I want you to a answer together by saying our Bibe verse: For nothing is impossibe with God. Draw a card and ask, Possibe or impossibe? Then prompt kids to respond by reciting the Bibe verse. It doesn t matter in which order you draw the cards. Your dad oses His job. But instead of worrying, you reax and trust God to provide for the things your famiy needs. Possibe or impossibe? (Kids respond, Nothing is impossibe with God. ) A buy at schoo is aways making fun of you. You decide to start praying for him every day. Possibe or impossibe? (Kids respond, Nothing is impossibe with God. ) You ve been saving for months to buy yoursef an awesome Christmas present, but instead you decide to use the money to buy some toys for some kids who don t have much. Possibe or impossibe? (Kids respond, Nothing is impossibe with God. ) A new kid in your schoo hasn t made any friends yet. Even though you re reay shy, you decide to tak to her at recess. Possibe or impossibe? (Kids respond, Nothing is impossibe with God. ) Hudde Discussion Is there anything in your ife that seems impossibe right now? Maybe it s a chaenge you re facing or something difficut that God wants you to do. Whatever it is, God wi give you the strength and the courage to do the impossibe, just as He did for Mary. God might just want to use this impossibe situation to get your attention. What do we ca the moments when God breaks into our day? Kairos. Today we saw some major kairos action when God broke into Zechariah s and Mary s days by sending an ange. We re probaby not going to see a ot of anges this week, but there are penty of other ways God gets our attention. 15

16 Does anyone remember some of the ways God speaks to us? Through Bibe verses or stories, circumstances (things that happen to us), things others say to us, thoughts, etc. We re going to take some time right now to give you guys the chance to share any ways God has been taking to you. Maybe it s through something hard you re facing or maybe it s through a Bibe verse or Bibe story. Maybe it s through something another person said to you. Maybe it s through something that happened to you and made you wonder, Is God trying to te me something? Let kids share their exampes. Some may be reay obvious kairos moments where God is speaking to them. Others may be totay random thoughts. Do your best to affirm kids who share random comments whie reining them in so that you can get to some genuine kairos exampes in the group. For kids who share kairos, ask foow-up questions ike, 6 How did that make you fee? 6 Why do you think God wanted you to notice that? 6 What do you think God wants you to do about it? Remember that what we do with a kairos moment is huge. It shows the kind of faith we reay have. Zechariah had a kairos moment and bew it. Mary had a kairos moment and fuy embraced it. She beieved God and cooperated with what He was trying to do in her ife. Pray through this time, asking the Hoy Spirit to hep you to know to respond to each chid s situation. Whenever possibe, point the kids back to a Scripture and affirm that God oves them and oves that they are istening to Him in their ives. Prayer Take prayer requests. Write them down so that you can pray over them during the week. Take time to pray together as a group. Encourage kids to pray for each other during the group time. You may want to cose out with a prayer ike the foowing one. God, we know that nothing is impossibe for You. We know that we can do whatever you want us to do, even if it seems tough or scary. Pease teach us to be ike Mary and have big faith in you our big God. Amen. 16

17 Lesson 14 Hudde BibeVerse Cards For nothing is impossibe with God. Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossibe with God. Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossibe with God. Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossibe with God. Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossibe with God. Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossibe with God. Luke 1:37

18 Lick your own ear Eat ice cream on the surface of the sun. Run a mie in under four minutes. Eat 10 Satine crackers in under a minute without drinking anything. Train a cat to use a toiet. Jump more than eight feet high. Lasso a unicorn. Say the aphabet backward in ess than three seconds.

19 Your dad oses his job, but instead of worrying, you reax and trust God to provide for the things your famiy needs. Possibe or impossibe? A buy at schoo is aways making fun of you. You decide to start praying for him every day. Possibe or impossibe? You ve been saving for months to buy yoursef an awesome Christmas present, but instead you decide to use the money to buy some toys for some kids who don t have much. Possibe or impossibe? A new kid in your schoo hasn t made any friends yet. Even though you re reay shy, you decide to tak to her at recess. Possibe or impossibe?

20 LESSON 14 (Famiy) Today I Learned: I can do anything God wants me to do. Bibe Story: An ange visits Zechariah and Mary (Luke 1:1-38) Famiy Chaenge This week your kids earned about how Mary had the faith to trust God to hep her do impossibe things. Get onine this week and Googe word records and tak to your kids about some of the things that peope did that seemed impossibe. Then tak about how some things are truy impossibe without God no matter how much we try. Discuss chaenges your famiy is facing right now and how you can trust God to hep you to do hard things. * Act Account Observe Learning Cuture Pan Refect Discuss * The four questions you are asking are ways of figuring out what your kids Kairos moment was 20

21 Dinnertime Discussion At dinnertime this week, ask one of these questions to get your famiy taking. 1. What s your favorite thing about Christmas? 2. What is the biggest Christmas surprise you can remember? 3. Before the first Christmas, how did Mary react to God s surprising news from the ange? How did Zechariah react? 4. Is there anything in our ives right now that seems too big for God to hande? Use these questions to hep kids deveop faith in God to do whatever He says He wi do and to hep them to wak through difficut situations. 21