3PK. December 15-16, Waiting for the King. Luke 1-2; Matthew 2. Jesus is here!

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1 3PK December 15-16, 2012 Waiting for the King Luke 1-2; Matthew 2 Jesus is here! SCHEDULE for all sites: First 10 minutes of the service hour: Relationship-building time (kids get to know each other and the volunteers) Next 25 minutes: Large group teaching and worship Last 30 minutes: Story review, snack and small groups, activities/crafts When you're doing a craft/activity that kids will do individually, write their names on the back of the item as they come into the room. That will save you some time later and allow you to spend more time helping them with the activity. Plus, it is easier to distinguish which craft is theirs at check-out time. If you finish early, have kids engage group games as parents arrive. Check out the end of the activities section to find an idea for this week. As kids leave, tell them to show their parents the birthday card they made today. Today, we re reading a story called Waiting for the King. It s a kids version of the Awaited show.

2 Goal: To help kids celebrate Christmas as Jesus birthday! Why? As Christmas nears, it s easy to get caught up in the festivities and forget why we re celebrating. We want kids to know that Christmas is not just a holiday to have fun and get gifts. Tip: Normally, we help kids retell a story. But today, we really just want to celebrate Jesus in small group. Make it a party (3PK-style) atmosphere! QUESTIONS Lead kids to RETELL the story: 1. Who was Jesus mom? (Mary) 2. Where was Jesus born? (Bethlehem; outside; with animals) 3. Did the people expect the new king to come as a tiny baby born in a manger with animals? (No!) 4. Who did angels tell about Jesus first? (Hint: They were so EXCITED, they RAN to worship Jesus! the shepherds) 5. Why is it so exciting that Jesus was born? (He is the promised rescuer and king!) 6. When do we celebrate Jesus birthday every year? (at Christmas) ACTIVITY SAY: We do a lot of fun things at Christmas time, but it s important to remember that we are really celebrating Jesus birthday! Today, we re going to make a birthday card for Jesus. Take it home and put it somewhere to remind you that Christmas is all about Jesus birthday. DO: Hand each kid a birthday card. Let them color and/or write in it. Ask them if they have a message they d like you to help them write. *You may want to sing happy birthday again as a class. Lead the kids to RELATE to the story: *What s your favorite way to celebrate Jesus birthday? (Try to keep kids focused on the festive air of Christmas and not things like presents.)

3 2 QUESTIONS ACTIVITY *Extra time? Try out this game to keep kids engaged until their parents arrive: Act It Out! (OPTIONAL IF TIME PERMITS) Feeling creative? Have the kids act out today s story. At this age, they love dramatic play and it helps them remember what happened. You can even hone in on certain actions. Here are a couple of ideas: 1. Wait and wait and wait...then turn on some music and dance to celebrate that Jesus is here! 2. Pretend to be Mary and Joseph. Take a long journey, then stop and pretend you re in a loud, stinky place. Then dance and celebrate that Jesus is here! 3. Yell, Glory to God! Then pretend you re the shepherds who just got the good news run in place to worship Jesus. Then dance and celebrate that Jesus is here! It s up to you. Be creative to make the story fun!

4 1 Today, we are using a children s storybook version of Awaited. With Christmas coming soon, it ll give kids a full overview of the story. But throughout the events of the story, make sure to model the excitement of Jesus birth! Find ways to keep kids engaged by having them repeat a word or phrase, act something out, make a face or a motion... every couple of minutes give them a way to engage verbally or kinesthetically. Double bonus - It will actually help them remember what you're saying too! (There are already some ideas for this in the script.) Presenter: Hi Friends! Welcome to Kid s Club. I'm and I'm really glad you're here today. Before we get started, I want you to meet my friend, HOPS. She s going to remind us of the kind of choices we can make today in Kids Club. Video: HOPS 1 Have Fun! (Approx. 1 minute--provided) Presenter: (Holding up the Bible for kids to see.) This is God s story. Out of all the stories in the world, this story is the most important. It s God s Rescue plan. REVIEW Remember how God made the whole world and everything was good? It was perfect and beautiful. And God wanted us to live there as his family forever. But then something bad happened. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sadness and death came into the world. Show me your sad face (pause for kids to make their sad faces). Things kept getting worse and worse. But God promised to send a rescuer, a king who would come to save everyone from all the wrong things in the world. Today, we re going to hear the story of that king! Are you guys ready to hear it? *(The following is nearly quoted text from Waiting For the King. Italicized portions are additions/changes; parts in parentheses are ways to make it interactive. You can hide your script in the book if you want, but please don t just read out of the book as the script is purposefully geared toward a large group of listeners. Each new image has a brief description to help you keep track.)

5 Begin in page 2: Many years ago during a dark and scary time, in the far off nation of Israel, people were waiting for the king that God had promised. Next image (drummer boy): Angels watched as these people waited for their coming king. Next image (sad crowds): The people waited and waited. They became impatient and began to cry, Where is our king that God promised? When will he come and rescue us? (Pretend to cry and ask kids to respond.) They waited and waited. Next image (crowds watching): And then God gave angels a message to deliver. Next image (Mary): One angel was sent to the city of Nazareth to give God s message to a young woman named Mary. Remember, God sent Gabriel and he told Mary, (say straight into your mic): Jesus is coming! (Ask kids to say Jesus is coming! as loud as they can.) God chose Mary to be Jesus mom. Mary was scared, but she believed the miracle would happen, and she celebrated. Next image (Joseph): Joseph, the man she was going to marry, did not believe that a miracle had happened. Mary was pregnant, but the child was not Joseph s son. It was God s son! So Joseph planned not to marry her. Next image (Mary and Joseph): But God sent an angel to Joseph with a message. Joseph was a good man, and finally believed that God was doing a miracle. So Mary and Joseph got married. Next image (journey to Bethlehem): When Mary was about to give birth, they had to travel back to Joseph s hometown of Bethlehem to be counted by the government. Remember how we took a journey with them? Let s do that again. (Have kids stand and walk in place with you as you narrate the following image.) Next image (in line at Bethlehem): Remember how they traveled a long and dangerous way through rugged lands? Whew! It was so tiring! But finally they arrived. Let s all have a seat, too. (Motion for kids to sit) The little town of Bethlehem is where the most important king would be born. Next image (stable): But in the crowded town, Joseph had trouble finding a place for them to stay. Next image (candle in window): The greatest king was going to be born in the lowest place, an old barn full of smelly animals and hay. (Plug your nose and narrate the following image) Next image (manger): Remember how Jesus was born outside with animals? He slept in their feeding dish! It s not just STINKY, but LOUD. (There is no actual text on this page.)

6 Next image (picturing a warrior): Well, everyone was imagining the coming king as a mighty warrior who would conquer the darkness and rescue them with his awesome power. Next image (Mary/Joseph/Jesus): Little, tiny baby Jesus was the most unexpected answer to God s promise. But God chose to send his only son, Jesus, to show how much he loves us. Give yourself a hug if God loves you! (Make sure all kids feel invited to respond.) Next image (shepherds dancing): Remember, when Jesus was born, angels told shepherds in the fields nearby about the king of the world. They began to worship and sing and dance. (Last part of text on this page has been omitted.) Next image (shepherds again/3sheep): They shepherds were so EXCITED that they left their fields and RAN to see baby Jesus. (Run in place from seat.) Next image (3 wise men): We ll hear more about these guys next time! (No text in book) Next image (wise men traveling): Those men took a long journey to meet Jesus. The brightest star in the sky would lead them to the promised king. Next 2 images: Everybody worshiped Jesus! They loved him SO much! (No text in book) Next image (people surrounding stable): The story of God s loving rescue began that day. (Part of sentence omitted) Next image (bright stars no text) The day Jesus was born is a day to celebrate! Next image (people dancing): Everyone was happy and rejoiced! The long awaited king had come! Every year, we celebrate the birth of this king at Christmas! Let s stand up and dance and rejoice to celebrate Jesus birthday! Song: Happy Birthday (sung to Jesus) Song: King of the Jungle Music Video: Joy to the World Dismiss kids to small groups. (Be creative as you dismiss them. Ask them to come give you a high five, or maybe tiptoe or hop--like Hops--to their groups.)

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9 Coloring pages: Balloons 1 birthday card per kid: 3/wallpaper-balloons.aspx (junior size, 110 lb value satin finish, default envelope) Plenty of crayons / markers Waiting for the King children s storybook Jesus Storybook Bible 1. Video: HOPS 1 2. Scanned images of ALL pages of children s storybook (remove text) EXCEPT the following: a. Pg. 1 of the story ( We are God s angels. ) b. Last page of the story ( Jesus went on to share a message.) c. Explanation pages at end 3. Song: Happy Birthday 4. Song: King of the Jungle 5. Music Video: Joy to the World ( Whose birthday do we celebrate at Christmas? Tell me about what happened when Jesus was born. Today, we heard a kid-version of the Awaited story, which is basically a retelling of the whole Christmas story from Luke 1-2 and Matthew 2 in the Bible. We celebrated how excited everybody was when Jesus was born and talked about how we still celebrate Jesus birthday every year at Christmas. To focus on Jesus birthday in the midst of this busy season, we made birthday cards for him.