Lesso 1 5 Prophets Foretell Jesus Comig Jeremiah 33:14-16 First- ad secod-graders are discoverig a ew idepedece but eed to kow that Mom, Dad, or other caregivers are still there to help ad protect them. As school ad peers begi to pull childre away from their lovig caregivers, they eed to be able to trust that those caregivers are t pullig away from them. What a perfect time to let childre kow that God ca be trusted to keep his promises! Use this lesso to show childre that God keeps his promises. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started Coi-Toss Cout (about 10 mi.) Try to predict the outcomes of several coi tosses. Jesus Family Lie (about 10 mi.) Hear what God told the prophet Jeremiah. Family Lies (about 10 mi.) Discover how people ca be part of the same family lie. 1 coi for every 2 childre Bible, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bible Poit Jesus fulfilled God s promise. Key Verse All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgi will be with child ad will give birth to a so, ad they will call him Immauel which meas, God with us (Matthew 1:22-23). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will trust God to keep his promises. 2 Bible Exploratio Righteous Braches (about 15 mi.) Make braches to show how Jesus ad David were related. brow paper luch bags, gree costructio paper, pecils, crayos, several pairs of scissors, 2 gree cheille wires per child, hole puch, tape, paper Teacher Pack: Leaves stecil Puch out the leaves from the Leaves stecil. Write Jesus ad David i large letters o a sheet of paper, ad hag it where everyoe ca see the ames. God With Us (about 5 mi.) Lear the Key Verse, ad see how Jesus fulfilled God s promise. Bible, 2 chairs, blaket Set up a scree i a corer of your room by drapig a blaket across 2 chairs. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
6 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Family Trees (about 10 mi.) Make family trees, ad lear about Jesus family lie. My Bible Fu, paper, colored pecils Tear out the Lesso 1 pages from each My Bible Fu studet book. Make a simple family tree showig your parets, gradparets, spouse, brothers, sisters, ad childre. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. My Bible Fu, pes My Bible Fu Tear out the letter to parets from the back of each My Bible Fu studet book. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Witer Quarter Lesso 1
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! Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
8 GETTING STARTED Coi-Toss Cout 1 coi for every 2 childre Coi-Toss Cout Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Gather everyoe together. Ask: What is a predictio? Say: Whe people make predictios, they thik they kow what s goig to happe before it happes. For example, if I toss a coi i the air ad say that I thik the coi is goig to lad a certai way, I m makig a predictio. If I m right ad the coi lads that way, we could say my predictio came true. Hold up a coi, ad show kids both sides of the coi. Explai that oe side of the coi is called heads ad the other side is called tails. Say: I m goig to toss this coi i the air ad let it drop to the floor. Raise your had if you thik the coi will lad heads up. Let the childre vote. Raise your had if you thik the coi will lad tails up. Let the childre vote agai. The toss the coi. Say: If you thought the coi would tur up [heads or tails], you made a good guess. Your predictio came true. Put kids i pairs, ad give each pair a coi. Let kids take turs tossig the cois ad predictig the outcomes. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: How did you decide what to predict for each coi toss? Explai how ofte you were correct ad how ofte you were icorrect. Why is it difficult for people to predict right every time? Say: Whe we make predictios, we do t really kow if they ll come true or ot. Oly God kows what will happe i the future. Today we ll lear that God always kows what s goig to happe ad always keeps his promises. Ad we ll hear how JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. Let s hear more about that! Witer Quarter Lesso 1
9 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Jesus Family Lie Ope your Bible to Jeremiah 33:14-16, ad show kids the passage. Say: I the Bible today, we ll lear how God made a promise to a ma amed Jeremiah, ad that promise was for all God s people. Let s liste to what God said to Jeremiah. Jesus Family Lie Bible CD player Teacher Pack CD: God Speaks to Jeremiah (track 22) Play God Speaks to Jeremiah (track 22 o the CD). Say: Wow! God told Jeremiah some importat thigs. Let s look back at what God said. Reread verse 14. God said he plaed to fulfill his promise to his people. Ivite childre to discuss what it meas to fulfill a promise. Say: To fulfill a promise meas to keep the promise. So God was sayig that he d keep a promise he made to his people. Tell someoe ear you about a promise someoe made to you. Allow time, ad the ivite a few childre to share their aswers with your whole group. Say: God always keeps his promises. I our Bible passage, God told Jeremiah ot oly that he was goig to keep his promise but also how he would do that. Poit out verse 15. God said, I those days ad at that time I will make a righteous Brach sprout from David s lie. That meat God would sed someoe who was related to David oe of his childre, gradchildre, great-gradchildre, or greatgreat-great-great-great-gradchildre. Ivite the childre to talk with those earby about some of the people i their family lies, such as their parets or gradparets. Say: The perso God set was Jesus. God promised to sed Jesus to save everyoe who believes i Jesus. Ad years ad years ad years a really log time after God made the promise, JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Explai whether you thik your great-gradparets kew exactly who you d be what you d look like, how you d act, the thigs you d like. What s so special about the promise God made to sed Jesus? Say: God made a really big promise it was a promise that o perso could ever fulfill, except for Jesus. That promise ca help us remember that God loves us ad that Jesus loves us because JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
10 Family Lies Say: God made a promise to Jeremiah hudreds of years before Jesus was bor. He promised that God s people would be saved by someoe i David s family lie. Let s do a activity to help us uderstad what a family lie is. Have kids stad at oe ed of the room. Choose oe child to be David, ad have that child move to the other ed of the room. Explai that David had a so amed Solomo. Choose a child to be Solomo, ad have that child go over ad hold hads with David. Have the two childre stad with arms outstretched betwee them. The say that Solomo had a so, ad choose aother child to hold hads with the first two. Cotiue choosig kids ad explaiig that each so had a so, util all kids are holdig hads i a log lie. Say: Look how the perso at the ed of the lie is coected to the perso at the begiig of the lie. That s how Jesus was coected to David, eve though Jesus was bor a log, log time after David. That s what a family lie is like a log lie of people who are related to each other. Ivite oe or two childre to show their ow family lies usig childre i the group to represet people i their families. Guide childre to represet oly oe perso i each geeratio. For example, a child might stad i as himself ad the hold hads with a secod perso who represets his mother. His mother could hold hads with his gradfather, ad the gradfather ca hold hads with the great-gradfather if that child kows of him. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Tell about the very oldest perso you re related to. What do you thik about God makig a promise that wo t happe for hudreds of years? Explai whether kowig about promises like that helps you trust God with your life. Say: Jesus was bor hudreds of years after David was alive. But eve so, JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. God promised that Jesus would come ad save every perso who believes i Jesus. God is the oly oe who ca make promises like that ad we ca trust him to keep all his promises. We ca trust him to take care of us ad to love us always. Witer Quarter Lesso 1
11 Righteous Braches Say: I Jeremiah 33:15, God told Jeremiah that Jesus would be a righteous brach from the lie of David. Righteous meas that Jesus would always do what is right. Raise your had if you ve always doe everythig right I mea every sigle thig. You ve ever doe aythig wrog, ever. Pause. We re all huma, ad we ve all sied, but ot Jesus. Jesus is the oly oe who has always doe everythig right. Let s make somethig to remid us that Jesus is righteous. Give each child a paper luch bag. Show kids how to ope their bags ad crumple them so the paper becomes wrikled. The demostrate how to roll ad twist a bag, startig at the bag s bottom, ito a twisted paper brach. Use tape to keep the braches tightly twisted. Say: Remember how the Bible said that Jesus would be a righteous brach from David s lie? These braches ca remid us that God promised that Jesus would be a righteous brach from David s family tree. Set out gree costructio paper, pecils, scissors, ad crayos. Show kids how to use the pieces from the Leaves stecil to trace two leaves o a sheet of costructio paper. The have kids cut out the leaves. As kids work, puch a hole i each leaf. Poit to the ames you wrote o the paper ahead of time, ad say: Jesus was a righteous brach from David s family lie. Have each child write David o oe leaf ad Jesus o aother leaf. Be ready to help kids write the ames o their leaves. Righteous Braches brow paper luch bags gree costructio paper pecils crayos several pairs of scissors 2 gree cheille wires per child hole puch tape paper Teacher Pack Leaves stecil Righteous Braches Easy Prep Puch out the leaves from the Leaves stecil. Write Jesus ad David i large letters o a sheet of paper, ad hag it where everyoe ca see the ames. Give each child two gree cheille wires. Show kids how to put a cheille wire through the hole o the David leaf. Demostrate how to kot oe ed of the wire behid the hole by bedig the ed of the wire back o itself. The wrap the other ed of the wire aroud oe ed of the brach so the leaf dagles from the brach. Use the other cheille wire to repeat the process with the Jesus leaf, attachig that leaf to the other ed of the brach. Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
12 Retur the Leaves stecil to your Teacher Pack for use i Week 6. Say: Whe you look at your brach at home, remember what God told the prophet Jeremiah. God said that Jesus would be the righteous brach that sprouted from David s family lie. God made a promise, ad he kept it! JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. Let s lear today s Key Verse as a remider. God With Us Bible 2 chairs blaket God With Us Easy Prep Set up a scree i a corer of your room by drapig a blaket across 2 chairs. God With Us Say: God promised to save his people, ad JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. Ope your Bible to Matthew 1:22-23, ad show kids the passage. Say: Our Key Verse for today tells us more about Jesus. It says, All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgi will be with child ad will give birth to a so, ad they will call him Immauel which meas, God with us (Matthew 1:22-23). That meas God promised to sed a savior, ad he did Jesus is the Savior of the world. Ad oe ame they called Jesus was Immauel. Let s say our Key Verse together. Lead kids i the adapted verse: The Lord said through the prophet: They will call him Immauel (Matthew 1:22-23). Repeat the verse several times. Say: It s pretty amazig that God told Jeremiah that he d keep his promise to sed Jesus ad the did! Our verse says that Immauel meas God with us. That meas God came dow to earth as a huma perso ad that perso was Jesus! I ll show you what I mea. Poit to the scree you made ahead of time. Say: Before God set Jesus, it was hard for people to uderstad what God was really like. People had heard about God, but they had trouble uderstadig who God really was. Choose a child to hide behid the scree. Say: Let s preted that you had ever met [child s ame]. Let s preted that I had told you about [child s ame] but you had ever met him [or her]. Describe as much as you ca about what [child s ame] is wearig. Allow time. Say: You have met [child s ame], so you do kow some thigs. But what if you had ever met him [or her]? Tell a parter whether you thik you d feel like you kew [child s ame] if you d ever talked to him [or her]. Allow time. Have the child come out from behid the scree. Say: Jesus is God. He s God i huma form. So whe he came to earth, it helped the people kow God eve better. Seeig Jesus, hearig him speak, ad watchig him do miracles helped Witer Quarter Lesso 1
13 people kow God. Now that we see [child s ame], it s easier for us to feel like we kow him [or her] ad it s easier for us to iteract with him [or her]. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What s difficult about kowig someoe you ve ever see? Explai whether you feel close to people you do t kow. What thigs do you kow about Jesus that help you feel close to him? Say: God wats everyoe to kow him. So God set Jesus to earth to help people uderstad him better. By gettig to kow Jesus, people could get to kow God. That s what our Key Verse meas whe it calls Jesus Immauel it meas that God is with us. JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. Ad eve though Jesus is t livig o earth today, whe we believe i Jesus, we ca be part of God s family. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Family Trees Tips If kids do t kow a perso s give ame, let them write the ame they use to address that perso istead (Mommy, Daddy, Gradpa, ad so o). The ame is t as importat as the idea of a family lie. Also, be sesitive to childre i your class who come from bleded families. Help them add step- ad foster-relatives ames to their trees. Say: Just as Jesus was part of David s family, we ca be part of God s family whe we believe i Jesus. Let s make somethig to show that we wat to be part of God s family. Show kids the family tree you made, ad ivite them to ispect it. Poit to the differet family members as you explai who they are. The give each child a Lesso 1 My Bible Fu page. Family Trees My Bible Fu paper colored pecils Family Trees Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 1 pages from each My Bible Fu studet book. Make a simple family tree showig your parets, gradparets, spouse, brothers, sisters, ad childre. Say: A family tree is a picture that shows all the people i a perso s family. Let s make trees showig your families. Have each child prit his or her ame o the tree where the truk meets the leaves. Help the childre prit their parets ames above their ow ad their gradparets ames above those. Fially, help the childre prit their brothers ad sisters ames beside Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
14 theirs. Explai to the kids that if they get married someday, their husbads or wives ames will go beside their ames ad their childre s ames will go below. After kids complete their family trees, have them form pairs. Let parters explai their family trees to each other, ad the ivite a few childre to show their family trees to the rest of the group. Say: Jesus had a family tree, too. God told the prophet Jeremiah that Jesus was comig ad would be part of Kig David s family tree just like you re part of your family tree! Because JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE, whe we believe i Jesus, we ca joi God s family tree! Have kids add Jesus ame to the top of their family trees. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges My Bible Fu pes Daily Challeges Say: Let s thik about how JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges i their My Bible Fu pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Carry a rock i your pocket. Every time you feel it iside your pocket, thak God for keepig his promise of sedig Jesus. Read Luke 2:1-20 with a adult, ad talk about how Jesus fulfilled God s promise. Pray ad ask God to help you keep your promises each day. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: We ca trust God because he always keeps his promises. Let s remember that JESUS FULFILLED GOD S PROMISE as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Witer Quarter Lesso 1
15 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. Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about how God keeps his promises ad how Jesus fulfilled God s promise. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their My Bible Fu pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Take a couple of miutes to pray with your kids, thakig God for always keepig his promises. Allow time for each child to share a way God has kept his promises. Also remid childre that God promises to take care of us, ad ecourage them to share their eeds with God. Pray: God, we kow you keep your promises, ad we thak you for keepig your promise to sed a savior. We wat to kow you, ad we re thakful for Jesus. I Jesus ame, ame. Weavig Faith at Home My Bible Fu Weavig Faith at Home Easy Prep Tear out the letter to parets from the back of each My Bible Fu studet book. Lesso 1 Witer Quarter