5 Prophets Foretell Jesus Comig Jeremiah 33:14-16 Trust is importat to third- ad fourth-graders. Therefore, it s importat for kids to kow that whe someoe makes a promise to them, they ca trust that the promise will be fulfilled. Kids this age have had eough life experiece to kow that some promises ca be trusted better tha others. Use this lesso to help kids see that God fulfilled his promise through Jesus ad that they ca always trust God. Lesso What Childre Do easy prep 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio I Promise (about 15 mi.) Play a fu game about makig promises. God Speaks to Jeremiah (about 20 mi.) Discover the meaig of Jeremiah s amazig prophecy. The Promise Fulfilled (about 10 mi.) Explore the Key Verse to fid out that Jesus fulfilled God s promise to sed a Messiah, ad that he promised to be with them. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. a supply of uiflated balloos Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, markers, pes, scissors (several pairs) Bibles Tear out the pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 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 commit to keepig their promises, just as God kept his promise through Jesus. Grades 3 & 4
6 Lesso What Childre Do Easy Prep 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Keepig Promises (about 15 mi.) Determie how keepig ad ot keepig promises affects them, ad make promise cards to give to someoe. Bibles, costructio paper, markers 4 Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Bible Truth Sleuth Lastig Impressios Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bible Truth Sleuth, promise cards made i the Keepig Promises activity Tear out the letter to parets from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 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! Grades 3 & 4
8 gettig started I Promise a supply of uiflated balloos! balloo warig To avoid chokig hazards, be sure to pick up pieces of ay broke balloos promptly. Balloos may cotai latex. I Promise What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids stad o oe side of the room, ad have them form two groups. Say: We re goig to start today by playig a game about promises. Put the balloos i the middle of a table, ad have groups stad o opposite sides of the table. Say: Each group will be give five miutes to blow up as may balloos as it ca. But each group has to tell the other group ahead of time how may balloos it promises to blow up i five miutes. Ad the balloos have to be fully blow up; you ca t just blow them up partway! The group that comes closest to fulfillig its promise will be able to sped five miutes tellig the other group what to do. If you fail to keep your promise, you ll have to follow the directios of the wiig group for five miutes. Go ahead ad talk with the rest of your group, ad decide how may balloos you thik your group ca blow up. You wat to blow up more balloos tha the other group! Give kids a few momets to make their predictios. The say: Okay! Are groups ready? Blow up your balloos! Have the groups try to blow up the umber of balloos they ve promised to blow up. After five miutes, have kids stop ad cout the balloos. Allow a miute for the group of kids who wo to decide the kids of thigs they re goig to make the other kids do. Make sure they re withi reaso. For example, it s fie if they have the other kids do jumpig jacks or make silly faces, but it s ot okay for them to ask the other group to lick the floor of your meetig room. Supervise as the wiig team bosses the losig team aroud. The gather kids together. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: Tell what it was like to make a promise you were t sure you could fulfill. How does that compare to makig real promises? Explai whether it s importat to you to fulfill promises. What s it like for you whe someoe does t keep his or her promise to you? Grades 3 & 4
9 Say: Whe people do t fulfill their promises to us, it makes it hard for us to trust those people. But God made a very special promise to us, which he was very faithful to fulfill. Today we ll lear what that promise was ad discover that Jesus fulfilled God s promise. 2 Bible Exploratio God Speaks to Jeremiah What You ll Do Say: Jeremiah was a prophet, which meat he received messages that God gave him ad passed them o to God s people. Oe day God gave Jeremiah a importat message about somethig special that was goig to happe. Jeremiah told God s message to the people of Israel. Let s fid out what Jeremiah said. Make sure kids have Bibles, ad ask them to tur to Jeremiah 33:14-16. Ask for a willig pretee to read the verses aloud. Say: The message, or prophecy, referred to the promise God made to Jerusalem that he would sed a Messiah. The oe thig the promise did t iclude was a timelie. God s people had to wait for a ukow legth of time. Ad it took more tha 500 years before the promise was fulfilled. Let s get a better idea of what 500 years looks like. Distribute the Bible Truth Sleuth pages, pes, markers, ad scissors, ad have kids tur to the What Does the Future Hold? activity. Ask kids to draw o the left side what they imagie this spot looked like 500 years ago. For referece, remid them that Christopher Columbus laded i America i 1492, ad Jamestow, Virgiia, was settled i 1607. The have them draw o the right side what they imagie it ll look like 500 years from ow. I the middle of the page is a square; have them cut out three sides to create a flap they ca ope to look through their page ad see what this place looks like today. God Speaks to Jeremiah Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth markers pes scissors (several pairs) God Speaks to Jeremiah Easy Prep Tear out the pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Say: It s hard for us to remember details of thigs we kow happeed 500 years ago, much less predict what will happe 500 years from ow. But it was t hard for Jeremiah, because God told him what was goig to happe i the future. Jeremiah told people that the Messiah, Jesus, was comig. Ad more tha 500 years later, Jesus fulfilled God s promise. Have kids form groups of two or three. Say: I your group, try to thik of a promise you could make that might still be worthwhile i 500 years. Allow a few miutes, ad the have kids share their ideas with the whole group. Have kids vote o whether they thik each idea will work. Grades 3 & 4
10 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What s the mai differece you otice betwee the promises you tried to make ad the promise God kept? I what ways does this promise help you trust God more i your ow life? I what ways ca you show God you trust him? Say: Jesus fulfilled God s promise. God is so much greater tha we are, ad his promises show that. Seeig ad uderstadig how God keeps his promises ca help us trust him with thigs we do t uderstad i our lives. Let s take a look at our Key Verse to fid out more. The Promise Fulfilled Bibles The Promise Fulfilled What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Matthew 1:22-23. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read it aloud: 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. Say: God promised to sed a Messiah to save us, ad Jesus fulfilled God s promise whe he came to earth. Our Bible passage tells us what God promised, ad our Key Verse tells what happeed more tha 500 years later. The best part is that God also icluded a promise eve as he was fulfillig the first promise. He promised to be with us. Have kids close their eyes. Say: Without opeig your eyes, lie up i order by height. You ca talk, but you ca t ope your eyes. Allow kids a few miutes to try liig up accordig to their height. Before kids fiish liig up correctly, say: That seemed pretty difficult. Let s fid a way to make this easier. Choose two kids to ope their eyes ad help the other kids get lied up i the right order. Have these kids promise the rest of the group that they ll help them ad accomplish this task together. These kids ca direct the other kids based o what they see. Allow time for them to fiish liig the group up. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What differece did it make to have someoe who could see help you lie up correctly? Grades 3 & 4
11 Explai oe way havig God i your life is like havig people who could see i our game. I what way was trustig the people who could see like trustig God s promises? Say: God loves you. He loves everyoe. That s why God set Jesus because he loves us. God kew that it was oly through Jesus that he could be with us. Whe God makes promises, he ll do icredible thigs to fulfill those promises. Jesus fulfilled God s promise. 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Keepig Promises What You ll Do Say: Let s take a look at our Key Verse, Matthew 1:22-23, agai. Have kids agai tur i their Bibles to Matthew 1:22-23, ad read the verse aloud while the kids follow alog: 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). Keepig Promises Bibles costructio paper markers Say: Let s reflect o the thigs we ve leared about makig ad keepig promises. Form circles with o more tha six kids per circle. Allow time. Thik about a time you made a promise to someoe ad kept it. Pause. Ivite willig kids to share their reflectios o keepig that promise. Whe ayoe who wats to share has doe so, have kids all take a step toward the ceter of their circles. Say: Thik about a time someoe made a promise to you ad kept that promise. Pause. Ivite willig kids to share their reflectios o others keepig their promises. Whe ayoe who wats to share has doe so, have kids all take aother step toward the ceter of their circles. Say: Whe we re all hoest ad keep our promises to oe aother, we feel closer to our frieds ad family. We kow we ca trust them to do what they say ad ot disappoit us, ad they kow the same about us. That s how God wats us to trust him. God wats us to read the Bible ad see all the ways he s kept his promises to us. Jesus fulfilled God s promise. Let s make promise cards today. Give kids each a sheet of costructio paper, ad have them fold the paper i half to make a card. Have markers available for kids to use. Grades 3 & 4
12 Say: God promised to be with you. Thik of a promise you ca make to someoe that will help that perso see God is with him or her. This promise could be for a family member, or it could be for a fried. After you ve thought of someoe, write Dear ad the perso s ame o the iside of your card. The write your promise to that perso. For example, you could promise your mom that you will help her with the dishes every ight ext week. Or you could promise your fried that you will ask your parets if he or she ca sped the ight with you ext weeked. It could be ay meaigful promise you wat to make ad keep. Give kids time to write their cards, ad the have them decorate the frots of the cards. Say: Take these cards with you, ad pray about how you wat to give them to the people you wrote them to. The take the actio steps eeded to make these promises tur ito reality. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What s it like to kow you ve made a promise ad that someoe is waitig for you to follow through? What differece does it make whether you keep the promises you make? What differece does it make to you to kow that God has always kept every promise he s made? Say: God keeps promises better tha ayoe else ever has or ever will. We ca trust God completely. He ever lies, ad he s always with us. Whether ayoe else keeps the promises they make to you, you ca remember how Jesus fulfilled God s promise. God loves you, he made you, ad he ll always keep the promises he makes. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s cosider this week that Jesus fulfilled God s promise as we do our Daily Challeges. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Grades 3 & 4
13 Get some paper ad writig supplies. Pray about the way you hoor your promises. As you pray, creatively express your promise-keepig through creative writig. Whe you re doe, pray ad ask God to help you keep your promises. draw small pictures to depict the differet ways God has kept promises to you or other people you kow. Combie those drawigs ito a collage so you ca stad back ad admire the promises God s kept. Hag your collage i a promiet place i your room, ad remember to thak God for keepig his promises whe you see it. put your promise card i a place you wo t forget it. Whe you get home, talk to someoe i your family about it. Give your card to the perso you wrote it to, ad ask God to help you as you follow through o this promise. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the 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: God promised that Jesus would come to save everyoe, ad Jesus fulfilled God s promise. Let s trust God s promises ad be trustworthy i our promises by followig through o our Daily Challeges this week. Weavig Faith at Home Sed the letter to parets home with your kids or give it to parets whe they pick up their kids. 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 God s promises. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Ask kids to brig their promise cards to a quiet area i the room. Ecourage kids to pray about the promises they wrote dow. The close by prayig: Dear God, thak you that we ca trust you to always keep your promises. Thak you for sedig Jesus to keep the greatest promise of all. Help us keep our promises, too. I Jesus ame, ame. Weavig Faith at Home Bible Truth Sleuth promise cards made i the Keepig Promises activity Weavig Faith at Home Easy Prep Tear out the letter to parets from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Grades 3 & 4