Lesso 1 5 Prophets Foretell Jesus Comig Jeremiah 33:14-16 Preschoolers live firmly i the preset ad have a hard time uderstadig delayed time. As a result, it may be difficult for them to uderstad the cocept of log-term promises. They ca, however, uderstad that God is trustworthy ad depedable. God promises to care for us by givig us what we eed, to help us make good choices, ad to help us whe we re sick those are all thigs we ca cout o because God always does what he says he ll do. Use this lesso to show kids that God has doe what he said he d do i the past ad that we ca trust him to take care of us i the future. Lesso What Childre Do easy prep 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. Promise Package Wait for a promised gift to be opeed. Puppy Poiters Tell Theo the Bible Poit, ad watch as Theo blows ito a trumpet to aouce that God keeps his promises. Bible Time: The Kig Is Comig! Aouce the arrival of a kig, baby Jesus, o earth. sigal, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bible, 1 box with lid, wrappig paper, scissors, tape, 1 sticker per child CD player, Theo puppet, strig Teacher Pack: CD, toy trumpet Bible, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Gift-wrap the box so that the lid ca be removed. Put the stickers i the box. Tie the trumpet to Theo s paw. Bible Poit God keeps his promises. 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 trust God to do what he says he ll do. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
6 Lesso What Childre Do Easy Prep Ceter 1: Shoutig the News Use glue ad glitter to put trumpets i the people s hads, aoucig the arrival of God s promise Jesus. My Bible Hugs, pecils, ewspapers, white glue, glitter Remove the Lesso 1 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. 4 Weavig Faith Ito Life about 20 mi. (Choose 2 ceters.) Ceter 2: Tell-a-Fried Sack Use trumpet-shaped sacks to tell a fried that Jesus is comig. Ceter 3: Stable Buildig Build a block stable to prepare for Jesus birth. Bugles cor chips, apkis, atibacterial gel (optioal) buildig blocks, stuffed aimals or toy aimal figures Ceter 4: Telly-Phoes Make a telephoe from paper cups, ad share good ews. 2 white paper cups per child, scissors, pecil, tightly wove strig, markers Cut oe 4-foot legth of strig per child. Use a pecil to poke a small hole i the bottom of each cup. Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. My Bible Hugs, pes 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Actio Prayer Trumpet a prayer to God. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. My Bible Hugs Tear out the Paret Letter i the back of each My Bible Hugs book to give to parets whe they pick up their childre. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
7 Prophets Foretell Jesus Comig Jeremiah 33:14-16 BIBLe BACKGROUND for Leaders Jeremiah Preaches Hope i Times of Trouble This passage was writte early 600 years before Jesus was bor. The orther kigdom of Israel had falle to the Assyrias, who had i tur falle to the Babyloias. Jeremiah also saw the fall of the souther kigdom of Judah to the Babyloias, cocludig with the destructio of Jerusalem i 587 B.C. Despite all that was goig o aroud him, Jeremiah s message i this passage is oe of hope. Repeatig early word for word the message he had give i Jeremiah 23:5-6, Jeremiah utters here his most importat message about the comig Messiah. This Kig would be a descedat of David but would rule with more wisdom, justice, ad righteousess tha ay other kig had ever doe. This comig Messiah would ot oly rescue his people from their oppressors but also reuite the kigdoms of Israel ad Judah, which had bee divided sice the death of Solomo more tha 300 years earlier. The Jesus Coectio Your relatioship with Jesus is a amazig gift. Ad God plaed log ago to give you that gift. Thak him for this life-givig blessig! Log ago, God chose to prepare the hearts of his people with the ews that a Savior would come. As you prepare for Christmas, take some time to allow God s message of hope ad salvatio to sik i for you. Choose to believe God s promises ad allow the woder of Jesus icaratio to overwhelm you. Pray about your heart s desire to live this Christmas seaso immersed i the meaig of God s promises. You ca write your prayer here. Jesus Fulfills Prophecy, but Not as Expected After readig this passage, it s easy to uderstad why people of Jesus day expected a Messiah who would lead them i throwig off Roma rule ad restorig the uified kigdom of Israel. From our stadpoit i history, we kow that Jesus came first as the sufferig servat (see Isaiah 53), drawig people to himself through his perfect life ad his message of repetace. Oe day, however, Jesus will retur to complete his fulfillmet of Old Testamet prophecies ad rule as kig over all heave ad earth. As we look forward to our celebratio of Jesus birth, we ca also look forward to the day Jesus will retur to take those who believe i him to live with him i heave. That s God s message of hope for Christias i today s broke world! Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
8 gettig started Welcome ad Celebrate sigal CD player Teacher Pack CD: Everybody Ought to Come (track 3), All His Promises (Psalm 145:13b) (track 18) Welcome ad Celebrate Tips Do t kow the melodies to the sogs i this guide? Dowload the 99-cet Kids Sogs app by Alkeo ad play the tues for 200+ commo childre s sogs. 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 Everybody Ought to Come (track 3 o the CD) to the tue of Everybody Ought to Kow. Ecourage childre to follow the motios i paretheses. Everybody ought to come, (motio with had to come) Everybody ought to come, (motio with had to come) Everybody ought to come (motio with had to come) To church with us. At church, we lear (make a steeple with hads) Of Jesus love. (put arm aroud a fried) At church, we lear (make a steeple with hads) Of Jesus love. (all kids coect arms aroud each other) (Repeat 3x.) Say: I m so glad you re here today! Today we get to lear how God keeps his promises. Let s sig about that ow. Lead childre i sigig All His Promises (Psalm 145:13b) (track 18 o the CD). Have childre hold hads i a circle as they sig with you. (Chorus) The Lord is faithful, The Lord is faithful To all his promises (All his promises), To all his promises (All his promises). The Lord is lovig, The Lord is lovig Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
9 Toward all he has made (All he has made), To all he has made. Your kigdom is forever. You re powerful forever. You hold the world up every day. You always do whatever you say. (Repeat from the begiig; the repeat chorus.) The Lord is faithful, The Lord is faithful. All His Promises (Psalm 145:13b) by Jay Stocker. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Say: God promised to come, to care for you ad for me. We kow he will because God keeps his promises. Let s lear more about that. 2 Key Verse activity Promise Package Have childre form a circle ad sit dow. Ope your Bible to Isaiah 9:6, ad show childre the words. Tell kids the Bible is God s special book. Say: Our Key Verse from the Bible says, 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). Say: God promised to sed a kig that would save his people. The people had to wait a log time, but God did keep his promise. He set his So, Jesus. Show the wrapped box. I bet you wat to kow what this is. Pause. I have a surprise for you i here, but just as God s people had to wait for what he promised, you ll have to wait util I show you the surprise. First let s play a game to remember our Key Verse. The I promise we ca ope this gift. Promise Package Bible 1 box with lid wrappig paper scissors tape 1 sticker per child Promise Package Easy Prep Gift-wrap the box so that the lid ca be removed. Put the stickers i the box. Repeat the Key Verse together several times: To us Jesus is bor (Isaiah 9:6). The go aroud the circle ad have childre pop up oe at a time to say oe word of the verse (i sequece) ad the sit dow quickly. After goig aroud the circle several times, ope the promised package ad distribute the stickers. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
10 Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was it like waitig to see what was i the box? did you thik I would keep my promise? Why or why ot? What do you like about kowig God keeps his promises? Say: God promised to sed his So, Jesus, for everyoe i the world who believes. Ad God kept his promise he set Jesus, the savior of the world. God keeps his promises. Let s say our Key Verse oce more to remid us that God kept his promise. Lead childre i sayig the Key Verse with you: To us Jesus is bor (Isaiah 9:6). Save the wrapped box ad lid for ext week s lesso. 3 bible Exploratio Puppy Poiters CD player Theo puppet strig Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 2) toy trumpet Puppy Poiters Easy Prep Tie the trumpet to Theo s paw. 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! (Preteds to blow ito the trumpet.) Teacher: Good morig, Theo! I m so glad you came to joi us today. What are you tryig to blow ito? Theo: This is my trumpet. Teacher: Why did you brig a trumpet? Theo: I like to use this trumpet whe I have excitig ews. Teacher: Wow! What s your excitig ews, Theo? Theo: I just foud out I m goig to have a little brother! Teacher: Cogratulatios! That s defiitely excitig ews. How soo will your little brother be bor? Theo: Oh, I have to wait a log time before he s bor, but my mom promised he would come ad whe he does, we re goig to play together. Teacher: How woderful, Theo! That remids me of what we re learig i the Bible today. Theo: Oh, is it about a puppy? Teacher: (laughs) No, Theo. But it is about a promise that God made to sed his So, Jesus. Ad the people waited a log time, but fially baby Jesus was bor. Theo: (Preteds to blow ito the trumpet.) Two babies! Oe puppy ad oe baby boy. Teacher: That s right, Theo! Ad that baby boy, Jesus, is the savior of the world. Whe God set Jesus, God showed that he keeps his promises. Frieds, let s tell Theo our Bible Poit for today. (Lead childre i sayig the Bible Poit for Theo: God keeps his promises.) Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
11 Theo: That makes me so happy! I m goig to go get ready for my baby brother while you lear about baby Jesus. Teacher: That s a good idea! Frieds, 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. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What did you thik about how excited Theo was? Tell about a promise you were excited about. Why ca you be excited about Jesus? Say: Theo was so excited, ad we ca be excited, too! God keeps his promises ad that s so amazig because God s promises are really great. Bible Time: The Kig Is Comig! Ope your Bible to Jeremiah 33:14-16, ad show childre the words. Tell childre that the Bible is God s special book. Say: Today we get to hear about a very special promise that God made. He told some of his leaders to tell everyoe that he was sedig a visitor to the world. The visitor was a kig, ad God said that kig would save the people. Tell about what happes at your house whe a special visitor is comig. Allow time. You might help your mom clea your room, put o facy clothes, or make a special meal. We wat eighbors ad frieds to kow who s comig ad to get excited alog with us. Let s get excited about a special visitor ow. Have childre get to their feet, crouch dow, ad begi whisperig A special visitor s comig! A special visitor s comig! Lead childre i stadig up slowly ad repeatig the words louder ad louder util they re stadig tall shoutig the setece. Bible Time: The Kig Is Comig! Bible CD player Teacher Pack CD: The Kig Is Comig Fafare (track 25) Have the childre sit agai. The say: Whe special visitors promise to visit us, it makes us very happy. I the same way, whe God promised to sed a kig to save the world, the people were very excited, ad God s special leaders told everyoe they kew about the special visitor. Let s play a game to tell others about the promise that God made. The promise was passed from perso to perso, so whe someoe gives you the message, pass it to the perso o the other side of you. I ll start. Tell the child sittig ext to you The kig is comig! Pass it o. The help the childre pass the message aroud the circle. Say: At that time, whe there was a excitig message, they might ve aouced it with special music. Let s pass the message aroud our circle oce more while we liste to special music. Play The Kig Is Comig Fafare (track 25 o the CD), ad Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
12 ecourage the childre to try to get the message passed aroud the etire circle before track 25 eds. Oce it s passed all the way aroud the circle, have everyoe shout together The kig is comig! Say: The people did t kow whe the kig would come or what he would look like, but they kew that God keeps his promises. They trusted God, ad they kew that the kig would come ad take care of them, just as they eeded. That kig came for us, too! His ame is Jesus! Have the childre get to their feet, crouch dow, ad begi whisperig, Jesus is comig, Jesus is comig! Lead childre i stadig slowly ad repeatig the words louder ad louder. Ed with the childre stadig tall ad shoutig the setece. Say: Let s sig a sog about how God keeps his promises. Lead childre i sigig God Keeps His Promises (ot o the CD) to the tue of O, How I Love Jesus. God has kept his promises, God has kept his promises, God has kept his promises, He ll take all my sis away. Jesus came to save us, Jesus came to save us, Jesus came to save us Ad take all my sis away. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What do you thik is so great about the promise God made? What would you tell people about God s promises? What are some ways you ca let others kow about Jesus this week? Say: Jesus was the best promise ever. He came to save you ad me. Whe we believe i Jesus, we ca live with God forever. That s a amazig thig, ad we ca be so thakful that God kept his promise to sed Kig Jesus. Let s tell others this week about how God keeps his promises to love us, take care of us, ad give us everythig we eed. 4 weavig faith ito life 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. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
13 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: Shoutig the News Cover a surface with ewspapers. Give each child a Lesso 1 page from My Bible Hugs. Say: The Bible says God keeps his promises. Ad whe he set Jesus to the world, it was such a amazig promise that people celebrated with shouts ad sogs. Earlier we heard music made with trumpets that s oe way the people might have celebrated. Let s put trumpets i the hads of the people o our My Bible Hugs pages. Show childre how to draw triagles i the hads of the people to represet trumpets. The have them use white glue to fill i the triagles. Fially, have them sprikle glitter over the glue. As childre work, ecourage them to make trumpet souds ad shout Jesus is comig! Say: God promised to sed a kig to his people. Jesus is that kig, ad he came because God keeps his promises. We ca blow our trumpets because we re excited about Jesus visit. Ceter 2: Tell-a-Fried Sack Have childre clea their hads ad the sit dow for the sack. Say: It s so woderful that God keeps his promises. He promises to love us, take care of us, ad give us what we eed. We ca trust him to keep his promises. Distribute the Bugles o apkis, ad ecourage each child to say somethig he or she eeds, such as food to eat, a bed to sleep i, adults to take care of him or her, or frieds to love. After each child shares what he or she eeds, have your etire group of kids use their Bugles to toot their hors ad say God keeps his promises! Choose a child to pray, thakig God for providig the sack ad for keepig his promise to sed Jesus. Ceter 1: Shoutig the News My Bible Hugs pecils ewspapers white glue glitter Ceter 1: Shoutig the News Easy Prep Remove the Lesso 1 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. Ceter 2: Tell-a-Fried Sack Bugles cor chips apkis atibacterial gel (optioal)! allergy alert Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What s it like, kowig God promises to take care of all your eeds? Why do you eed Jesus i your life? Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
14 Say: God keeps his promises. He promised to sed Jesus to save the world ad he did. He also promises to love you ad take care of you. Remember to celebrate God s promises this week! Ceter 3: Stable Buildig buildig blocks stuffed aimals or toy aimal figures Ceter 3: Stable Buildig Say: Whe God set Jesus, as he promised, Jesus came as a baby. Jesus was bor i a bar, or stable. Let s build a stable ow to get ready for God s promise to come true. Have the childre use buildig blocks to build a stable for the birth of baby Jesus. Ecourage them to work together as they build a large stable. Have kids fill the stable with stuffed aimals or toy aimal figures i preparatio for Jesus arrival o Christmas. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What do you like about gettig ready for a special visitor? What ca you do to get ready to celebrate Jesus birth o Christmas? What will you do to thak God for Jesus? Say: We celebrate Jesus birth at Christmas because Jesus came to save the world. God promised to sed Jesus, ad eve though the people had to wait, they kew that God keeps his promises. This Christmas, we ca get ready to celebrate Jesus, ad we ca thak God for all his promises. Ceter 4: Telly-Phoes 2 white paper cups per child scissors pecil tightly wove strig markers Ceter 4: Telly-Phoes Easy Prep Cut oe 4-foot legth of strig per child. Use a pecil to poke a small hole i the bottom of each cup. Ceter 4: Telly-Phoes Tip Be sure to closely supervise childre while workig with the strig so that it does t become a chokig hazard. Remid them ever to wrap the strig aroud their ecks or ay other body part. Say: God had a special message: He promised to sed his So to earth. God s leaders were excited, ad they told everyoe. Let s make somethig that will help us tell a message i a very special way. Give each child two cups ad oe legth of strig. Help childre thread the eds of their strig through the hole i each cup, ad tie a double kot o the iside for each child. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
15 Let kids decorate the cups ay way they choose usig the markers. They ca also use the stickers from the Promise Package activity if they wat. Have childre pair up. The have oe child i each pair hold a cup o oe ed of the strig while the other child holds the cup o the other ed. Have the childre walk far eough away from each other to keep the strig taut betwee them. Show them how to take turs placig their cups to their mouths ad ears to pass o some good ews to their frieds. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What good ews did you share with your fried? Why did you wat to share good ews? Why would you wat to share about Jesus with someoe who does t kow him? Say: God had good ews he promised to sed Jesus to the world. The people wated to share that good ews because they kew that everyoe who believes i Jesus will get to live i heave forever with God. You, too, ca live i heave forever with God if you believe i Jesus. Ad you ca be sure of that because God keeps his promises. 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. Say: Today we leared that God keeps his promises. I would like each of you to choose a way to remember that God keeps his promises this week. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
16 Give kids these two challeges to choose from: Use the cup phoe you made today to tell a fried about how God kept his promise through Jesus. Every time you see a ativity, tell someoe ear you that God keeps his promises. Say: If you wat to use your cup phoe, circle the choice with oe dot. If you wat to look for ativities, 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! Actio Prayer Show childre how to preted to hold a trumpet by placig their hads i frot of their mouths. Ivite each child to thak God for a promise he kept. The lead the childre i sayig the followig prayer. Pray: Dear God, Thak you for keepig your promise to sed Jesus. I Jesus ame, ame. Weavig Faith at Home My Bible Hugs Weavig Faith at Home Easy Prep Tear out the Paret Letter i the back of each My Bible Hugs book to give to parets whe they pick up their childre. Weavig Faith at Home Sed the letter to parets home with your kids or give it to parets whe they pick up their childre. This is a great way to show families they re importat to your church ad to support their role as spiritual leaders to their childre. 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 emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4