Lesso 2 17 Zechariah Prophesies About Jesus Luke 1:68-79 Preschoolers are axious to try ew thigs ad lear ew skills. It s a regular occurrece i their lives to grow i these ways, but as they lear they eed assistace. Because of their awareess of their eed for help, they ll easily be able to idetify with our eed for Jesus. Use this lesso to help preschoolers uderstad that just as they eed the assistace of parets ad other adults, they also eed Jesus to help them lear ad grow. Lesso What Childre Do easy prep 1 Gettig Started about 5 mi. 2 Key Verse Activity about 10 mi. Welcome ad Celebrate Welcome each other, ad praise God through music. A Special Gift for Us Uwrap a gift, ad discover that Jesus is God s special gift to us. sigal, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bible, bookmark, 1 box with lid, wrappig paper, scissors, tape, label, pe Use the gift-wrapped box from last week, or giftwrap a box so that the lid ca be removed. Place a label o the gift box that says To the childre i [leader s ame] s group. Bookmark Isaiah 9:6 i your Bible, ad put your Bible iside the box. Bible Poit We eed Jesus. 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 uderstad that they eed Jesus forgiveess. 3 Bible Exploratio about 15 mi. Puppy Poiters Hear how Theo eeds help usig scissors. Bible Time: God Seds a Helper Use rhythm istrumets to celebrate the baby s birth. CD player, Theo puppet, ewspaper with ads, child-safe scissors, strig Teacher Pack: CD Bible, CD player, items that ca be used as istrumets Teacher Pack: CD Tie the scissors to oe of Theo s paws. Tie the ewspaper to the other paw. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
18 Lesso What Childre Do Easy Prep Ceter 1: Jesus Guides Us Create figer footprits to follow Jesus path. My Bible Hugs, pe, washable ik pads, markers (optioal), wet wipes Remove the Lesso 2 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.) 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Ceter 2: Happy Sacks Build edible happy faces i respose to Jesus help. Ceter 3: Jesus Guides Our Way Build a path of blocks, ad watch who leads the way. Ceter 4: Helpig-Had Wads Make helpig-had wads, ad lear a sog. Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Actio Prayer Help each other kow that we all eed Jesus i prayer. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. softeed cream cheese, roud crackers, raisis, plastic spoos, paper plates, atibacterial gel (optioal) buildig blocks, toy figures costructio paper, markers, child-safe scissors, tape, 2 plastic straws per child My Bible Hugs, pes Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
19 Zechariah Prophesies About Jesus Luke 1:68-79 BIBLe BACKGROUND for Leaders God Promises a Child to Zechariah ad Elizabeth i Their Old Age The priest Zechariah doubted a agel s message to him that his agig wife, Elizabeth, would have a so who would prepare the way for the Lord. Because of his ubelief, Zechariah was struck with a iability to speak util the baby was bor. Joh the Baptist Is Bor Whe Joh was bor, Zechariah was suddely able to speak agai. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah delivered the prophecy cotaied i Luke 1:68-79. This proclamatio is kow as the Beedictus, which is Lati for praise be, the first words of the prophecy. much, the Jews loged for peace. Our world is o differet. Caught up i the hectic schedules of livig, most people year for the peace Jesus ca offer. Ad thaks to our merciful God, that peace is available to all who believe i Jesus. The Jesus Coectio We ca ask God to help us see the ways that he wats us to live i the full reality of our eed for him. Whe we ackowledge that we eed Jesus, we ca take actio o our eed for him i our ow lives. Thik about ways you re i eed right ow. Ask for Jesus help, ad trust him to meet your eeds. You ca write your prayer here. Luke 1:76 idicates that Joh would be a prophet who would prepare the way for Jesus. He would be the Elijah figure metioed i Malachi 4:5-6 who was to appear before the comig of the Lord. Joh was to give people the kowledge of salvatio. They had drifted so far away from God that they had lost eve that kowledge. Joh was to prepare them for Jesus by remidig them of what that salvatio was all about the remissio of sis. How would the forgiveess of sis be possible? Through the mercy of God. The words of Luke 1:78-79 are remiiscet of Isaiah 60:1: Arise, shie, for your light has come, ad the glory of the Lord rises upo you. The comig of Jesus would brig light to a dark world through the mercy of our lovig God. Zechariah Also Promises Peace The fial promise of peace metioed at the ed of verse 79 might have brought a sigh of relief to the average Jew. Havig suffered ad struggled so Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
20 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 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 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: We wat everyoe to come to church so they ca lear about Jesus. Today we get to hear why we eed Jesus. Let s sig oe more sog about God s love. 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 Toward all he has made (All he has made), To all he has made. Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
21 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: Jesus loves you, ad Jesus loves me. Just like our last sog said, we ca kow he s always there whe we eed him. Ad that s a good thig because we eed Jesus all the time. Let s lear more about what it meas that we eed Jesus. 2 Key Verse activity A Special Gift for Us Have childre form a circle ad sit dow. Show the wrapped box. Say: Look at this woderful box I foud. Ad look! It has a label o it. It says To the childre i [leader s ame] s group. That s us! Have childre pass the box aroud the circle, just lookig at the outside of the box. The let childre help you ope the box ad take out the Bible. Say: Our Key Verse is marked here. Ope your Bible to Isaiah 9:6, ad show childre the words. Tell kids the Bible is God s special book. Say: Today we re learig that we eed Jesus. That s why God set him to this world. Our Key Verse 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). Lead childre i this discussio. What were you thikig whe you heard the gift was for us? What do you thik about Jesus beig bor for us, too? A Special Gift for Us Bible bookmark 1 box with lid wrappig paper scissors tape label pe A Special Gift for Us Easy Prep Use the gift-wrapped box from last week, or gift-wrap a box so that the lid ca be removed. Place a label o the gift box that says To the childre i [leader s ame] s group. Bookmark Isaiah 9:6 i your Bible, ad put your Bible iside the box. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
22 Say: God set Jesus for us because he kew that we eed Jesus. Every perso i the world eeds Jesus so we ca be frieds with God ad live i heave with him forever. Ad we eed Jesus help while we live o earth. Let s lear more about why we eed Jesus. 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 ewspaper with ads child-safe scissors strig Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 2) Puppy Poiters Easy Prep Tie the scissors to oe of Theo s paws. Tie the ewspaper to the other 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! Teacher: Good morig, Theo. Thaks for comig to visit today. What are you doig with a pair of scissors? Theo: I wat to cut somethig out of this paper! Teacher: Hmm. What is it? Theo: It s a coupo, but I m havig trouble! I m ot very good at cuttig yet. Teacher: We d be glad to help! (Take the ewspaper ad scissors, ad have a child help you cut out the coupo.) There you go. Theo: Thaks! Teacher: You re welcome. We re happy to help you, Theo. We all eed help at times. It s ice to have people who ca help you do thigs, is t it? Theo: It sure is. Teacher: Today we re learig that we eed Jesus. Jesus was bor so that he could come to earth ad help us kow more about God. Frieds, let s tell Theo our Bible Poit for today. (Lead childre i sayig the Bible Poit for Theo: We eed Jesus.) Theo: I m so happy you have Jesus to help you. I bet Jesus helps you all a lot! Ad thak you for helpig me today. Teacher: I m glad we could help you! Have fu shoppig, ad we ll see you ext week. 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. Tell about a time you eeded help with somethig like Theo did. What are some ways Jesus ca help you? Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
23 Say: Theo eeded help to do somethig he could t do all by himself. Sometimes we eed help, too. We eed Jesus to help us lear ad grow. Bible Time: God Seds a Helper Ope your Bible to Luke 1:68-79, ad show childre the words. Tell childre that the Bible is God s special book. Pass out the items that ca be used as istrumets. Say: The Bible tells about a ma amed Zechariah. He worked i a church, ad he prayed to God for help. Zechariah ad his wife wated a baby, but his wife was gettig very old. Oe day God told Zechariah ad his wife that they were goig to have a baby! Let s celebrate with them ow. Ecourage the childre to make oises with their istrumets ad say Thak you, God! Bible Time: God Seds a Helper Bible CD player items that ca be used as istrumets Teacher Pack CD: Sog of Zechariah (track 5) Say: All babies are special, but this was a extra-special baby. God told Zechariah ad his wife to ame their baby Joh. God also said that Joh would tell the people that Jesus was comig to save the world. Let s celebrate with Zechariah ad his wife agai because of their baby, Joh, who would help people get ready for Jesus! Ecourage the childre to make oises with their istrumets ad say Thak you, God! Say: Zechariah loved God very much, so it made him very happy that his so would help people kow that everyoe eeds Jesus. Zechariah kew he eeded a savior, ad he was thakful that he ad his family could be used to help people kow about Jesus. Let s liste to what Zechariah said whe his so, Joh, was bor. Each time Zechariah stops talkig, we ll praise God with our istrumets (make a beat o oe of the istrumets) ad our voices as we shout Thak you, God, for Jesus! Let s practice. Lead childre i practicig. Play Sog of Zechariah (track 5 o the CD). Lead childre i usig their istrumets ad sayig Thak you, God, for Jesus! as they liste to the track. Say: Zechariah was so happy. He had a ew baby, ad he kew that his baby would grow up ad help people get ready for Jesus. He was so happy that Jesus was fially comig to save everyoe who believes i him. He kew that he eeded Jesus, all the people livig durig his time eeded Jesus, ad we eed Jesus, too. Lead childre i this discussio. Tell about a time you were really excited about somethig. Why ca you be excited about Jesus? Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
24 Say: We ca all be as excited as Zechariah was because just like him, we eed Jesus. All people who have ever lived eed Jesus so they ca be forgive ad live with God forever. Let s thik more about why we eed Jesus. 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. 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: Jesus Guides Us My Bible Hugs pe washable ik pads markers (optioal) wet wipes Ceter 1: Jesus Guides Us Easy Prep Remove the Lesso 2 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. Ceter 1: Jesus Guides Us Say: Today we re learig that we eed Jesus. Before Jesus was bor, the people kew they eeded God to sed someoe to help ad save them. So whe God set his So, Jesus, the people were excited about him. Had out the Lesso 2 My Bible Hugs pages. Say: Zechariah kew that Jesus would help ad guide everyoe who believes i him. Poit out the house at the bottom of the My Bible Hugs pages. Let s preted that s where you live. Poit out the stable at the top of the page. Say: Jesus was bor i a stable that was a place where aimals lived. Let s make footsteps o the path to show us goig from where we live to the stable where Jesus was bor. Show the childre how to press their idex ad middle figers oto the ik pad ad walk their figers up the path to the stable. As the childre make figer footsteps alog the path, talk about how Jesus ca help lead the way. Childre might metio examples such as helpig us get alog with brothers, sisters, ad frieds. Give childre each a wet wipe to clea their figers. As a optio, provide markers for childre to color i the ladscape alog the path. Lead childre i this discussio. Tell about a time you eeded help goig somewhere or doig somethig. What are some ways you ca go to Jesus whe you eed help? Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
25 Say: God set Jesus to help us. He kows that we eed Jesus. Jesus loves us so much, ad he wats to helps us. We ca always go to Jesus for help, ad he ll be there for us. Ceter 2: Happy Sacks Have childre clea their hads ad the sit dow for the sack. Say: We ca be so happy ad joyful that God set Jesus, just like Zechariah was! We eed Jesus just as much as Zechariah did. Let s make a sack to show excited faces. Give each child oe or two roud crackers, a plastic spoo, ad a hadful of raisis o a paper plate. Have childre spread cream cheese o the crackers ad the use raisis to make a happy face. Say: Whe I m havig a hard time ad eed help, I kow Jesus is there to help me. That makes me feel happy iside. Lead childre i this discussio. Ceter 2: Happy Sacks softeed cream cheese roud crackers raisis plastic spoos paper plates atibacterial gel (optioal)! allergy alert What makes you feel happy iside like Zechariah was? What about Jesus makes you happy? Say: Zechariah waited a log time for God to sed Jesus. Zechariah kew he eeded Jesus. He was happy that Jesus was goig to save him from his sis ad bad choices he had made. We eed Jesus, too! Ivite oe child to pray for the sack. Ceter 3: Jesus Guides Our Way Set out buildig blocks ad toy figures. Say: Today we re learig that we eed Jesus. Jesus helps lead us i the right directio. He kows what s best for us, so we ca always follow him. Let s build pathways to thik about how Jesus leads us. Ecourage childre to build paths for the figures to walk alog. Ceter 3: Jesus Guides Our Way buildig blocks toy figures Whe childre are doe buildig, have oe child use a toy figure to represet Jesus ad lead other figures alog the pathway. Remid the childre that we eed Jesus to guide our way. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
26 Lead childre i this discussio. What did you like or ot like about followig our preted Jesus? Why is followig Jesus the best way to go? What are some ways you ca follow Jesus this week? Say: We eed Jesus to help us kow where to go ad what to do i life. He s God ad he loves us, so we ca always kow it s the best way whe we follow him. Ceter 4: Helpig- Had Wads costructio paper markers child-safe scissors tape 2 plastic straws per child Ceter 4: Helpig-Had Wads Tip Save time makig paper hads by tracig oe child s had ad stackig papers to cut out several hads at oce. Or trace every child s had, but avoid cuttig aroud all the figers. Say: People all over the world eed Jesus. By usig helpig hads, we ca show others that they eed Jesus just as much as we eed Jesus. Let s make somethig to help us remember that. Have childre place their hads palm-side dow o the costructio paper. Trace aroud each had with a marker. Let them cut out their hadprits, or assist as eeded. Tape the base of oe palm to a straw so that most of the hadprit ca flap freely. Repeat so that each child has two wads. Show kids how to wave the wads i the air. Lead childre i wavig their wads ad sigig Jesus Guides Us (ot o the CD) to the tue of Lodo Bridge. Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
27 Jesus guides us o our way, O our way, o our way. Jesus helps us every day, We eed Jesus! Lead childre i this discussio. What are some ways you ca tell others about Jesus? Say: Everyoe eeds help sometimes. God set his So, Jesus, to help us every day. We eed Jesus. Let s ask Jesus for help this week, ad let s tell others that they eed Jesus, too. 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 we eed Jesus. I would like each of you to choose a way to remember that you eed Jesus this week. Give kids these two challeges to choose from: Before goig to bed each ight this week, thak God for sedig Jesus to help you be brave whe you re scared of the dark. Look for people who eed help this week. Do what you ca to help them, ad the tell them how Jesus ca help them. Say: If you wat to pray before bed, circle the choice with oe dot. If you wat to help others, 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 2 Witer Quarter
28 Actio Prayer Have the childre form a circle ad sit dow. Ivite each child to share a reaso he or she eeds Jesus. After each child shares, have all the childre say, We all eed Jesus, ad pat that child o the back. The close the prayer: Thak you, God, for sedig Jesus to take care of us, to guide us, ad to help us be frieds with you. 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 emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4