Advent 2009 Children s Lessons

Advent 2009 Children s Lessons Leader s Introduction: Purpose and Meaning of Advent Advent marks the start of the Christmas season. It begins on the Sunday nearest November 30 and lasts four Sundays. The date it begins changes from year to year. The word Advent means "the coming." It is a time of spiritual reflection as well as cheer and anticipation. The Advent celebration includes the lighting of candles in the Advent wreath. An Advent wreath is made from greens to symbolize continuous life and contains four candles three purple and one rose. Often a fifth candle (white) is added to the center of the wreath for lighting on Christmas Eve, in celebration of the birth of Jesus. The Advent devotion time can be flexible and may include reading Scripture, a prayer, a Christmas carol, and/or having a reading. If your students are older, pick a leader for every week. Include the students directly in the Advent celebration. Remember to use safety when lighting and extinguishing the candles each week. The candle lighting is progressive from week to week, preparing the way for the coming of Jesus. Below are suggested Scripture readings for each Sunday of Advent: First Sunday: Hope light one purple candle to symbolize Hope Read Isaiah 60:2-3 Second Sunday: Peace Light two purple candles to symbolize Hope and Peace Read Mark 1:4 Third Sunday: Joy Light two purple candles to symbolize Hope and Peace and one rose to symbolize Joy Read Isaiah 35:10 Fourth Sunday: Love light all four candles to symbolize Hope, Peace, Joy and Love Read Isaiah 9:6-7 Christmas Eve Light all four candles and add the fifth white candle to symbolize the light of Christ Read Luke 1:68-79 and Luke 2:1-20

Leader s Introduction: How to use the Teaching Materials Over the next four weeks these lessons will help your students reflect look back at what happened and remember and look forward at what Jesus is going to do. Each week we will focus on a character from Jesus birth, look at their reaction to the Christ child and ask ourselves (our students) what will we do with Him? Reflection back on what was, reflection inward on what is and anticipation at what Jesus wants to do. Create an atmosphere of celebration in your classroom. Have the students help decorate as you all anticipate Christmas together with excitement! Include a nativity set that will be referenced throughout the four weeks of Advent. Include an advent wreath with candles, providing opportunity for students to interact with the Advent ceremony. The material is written in a large group/small group format. It provides a large group opening that catches the student s attention and introduces the theme for the day, the biblical teaching, the scriptural context and the lesson goals, and includes a large group activity that provides opportunity for movement and interaction with the teaching goals. The small group material is for readers and non-readers. It includes a question section intended to encourage dialog and personal interaction with the teaching material and a personal response that allows the students a practical application of the presented material. Each week also contains a memory verse. The lessons parallel the provided sermon series in scriptural context and general theme. The themes, however, are re-written for a child s context and application. The ideal situation to use the material is during children s worship. The material may be modified, however, for use during Sunday school or small group setting. Each lesson contains the sections: Lesson Preparation, Opening, Bible Point, Activity, Questions and Personal Response. Leader s Introduction: Additional Resources The following websites will provide ideas on crafts, games, and activity elements to include during the Advent season: www.activityvillage.co.uk/advent_paper_chain.htm www.dltk-holidays.com/xmas/advent.html www.first-school.ws/activities/bible/advent1.htm www.amazingmoms.com/htm/christmas_advent.htm http://www.freecraftsandgames.com/curriculum_holidays.html

www.homeschooling.about.com/cs/unitssubjhol/a/advent125.htm The following videos would provide an additional element to each week of Advent: A very special baby: Lesson 1 http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/index.cfm?hndl=details&tab=mm&id=11939 Be Still: Lesson 2 http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/index.cfm?hndl=details&tab=mm&id=6578 The Grinch Who Stole Christmas: (last ten minutes of movie): Lesson 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkdela8ysqy&feature=related Let your light shine: Lesson 4 http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/index.cfm?hndl=details&tab=mm&id=11954 Charlie Brown Christmas: (Linus shares meaning of Christmas) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkk9rv2hufa

Are you Afraid? (Herod) Scripture Context: Matthew 2:1-18 Memory Verse: John 3:16-17 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 1 Large Group Kids will acknowledge their own personal fear(s). Kids will see Jesus as the peace-giver. Kids will put their trust (fears) in Jesus LARGE GROUP PORTION Lesson Preparation: As students enter, have the room totally changed. Make it dark with windows covered and lights out, have the furniture moved, or keep out of site and let them think you re not there. Make some significant change so the students will wonder what is going on? Opening: What are you afraid of? After all have arrived, ask them how many of you felt afraid when you walked in? (Some won t admit it but keep conversation going with those who did.) Why were you afraid? (Allow for responses but direct to obvious: things were different, you weren t here, it was dark, etc ) We are all afraid of something. (Use images to show different scenarios or characters the students might relate to. Have them dialog about what the person might be afraid of.) What is something you re afraid of? (Give several students a chance to respond, include your own personal fear as well.) Bible Point: We all fear something, but we don t have to. We can have peace.

This is the time of year we begin to start thinking seriously about Christmas. It s hard not to when every store, TV channel and website is blaring Christmas music and images. For those of us who are Christians Christ believers, Christmas is so much more than all that noise. Christmas is a time to reflect look back and remember; and to expect look forward to Jesus. This time of year is called Advent and over the next four weeks we are going to reflect on what happened and look forward to what Jesus is going to do. Each week we re going to focus on a character from the nativity. Now not all of these people will show up in the nativity set you have at home (or we have here) but they were all present at Jesus birth. Let s read together Matthew 2:1-16 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. This happened while Herod was king of Judea. After Jesus' birth, Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, "Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? When we were in the east, we saw his star. Now we have come to worship him." When King Herod heard about it, he was very upset. Everyone in Jerusalem was troubled too. So Herod called together all the chief priests of the people. He also called the teachers of the law. He asked them where the Christ was going to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied. Then Herod called for the Wise Men secretly. He found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem. He said, "Go! Make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, bring me a report. Then I can go and worship him too." After the Wise Men had listened to the king, they went on their way. The star they had seen when they were in the east went ahead of them. It finally stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave him gold, incense and myrrh. But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road. Herod realized that the Wise Men had tricked him. So he became very angry. He gave orders concerning Bethlehem and the area around it. All the boys two years old and under were to be killed. In these Scriptures we see one person who was afraid Herod. What did he have to be afraid of? He was the king. He was in charge of the country and had all of these chief priests and wise men to help him. It didn t matter that Herod was an adult a full grown man who was the king of Judea it didn t matter that he was famous and had lots of people who listened to what he said; he was afraid of a baby! We all shared things earlier that we are afraid of, but none of you mentioned babies. Who s afraid of a baby? And what does it say Herod did because of this fear? First he lied. In verse 8 Herod tells the Wise Men that he wants to know where this baby is so then I can go and worship him too. He never had any intention of worshipping the baby that he feared. He lied to the Wise Men. Then he got mad. After the Wise Men saw the baby, God warned them in a dream to not go back to Herod but go home a different way. When Herod found out the Wise Men didn t come back and report on the baby s location he got mad!

Finally Herod did something awful. Herod responded out of anger and did something that was unbelievable and horrible he ordered that all the boys under 2 years old in the area be killed. Herod s fear drove him to sin he lied, became angry and then he committed murder! That story seems absolutely unbelievable, but it is true! Here is something else that is true. Read John 3:16-17 God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world. He sent his Son to save the world through him. Herod did not have to be afraid of Jesus. Jesus offers us freedom from our fears; He offered the same to Herod. Jesus came as a baby to save us. What do your fears drive you to do? What things do you do or what attitudes do you have because of something you re afraid of? You don t have to be afraid - God sent us Jesus! Jesus wants your fears - your thoughts - and your heart. We are all afraid of something, but we don t have to let our fears rule us, like Herod did. Jesus came to save us and to bring us peace. All you have to do is give your fears (your thoughts) and your heart to Him. You can do that today this first Sunday of Advent! (Provide an opportunity for students who desire to accept Jesus to pray. If you are moving students into small groups, this would provide a good opportunity to connect in a more personal setting with students. Be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. For help on leading a child to Christ, download from resources provided.) Activity: Sending Your Fears Away Provide each student with a balloon, a small piece of paper and a pencil. Have each student write down their fear on the paper and then slip it into the balloon s opening. (Younger children will need assistance.) Students should blow-up their balloons and hold tightly to the end to keep the air inside. With all the students standing on one side of the room, on the count of three, let them release their balloons seeing who can send their fear the furthest. Explain that Jesus wants to take our fears and unlike the balloon, He ll really be able to do it!

Are you Afraid? (Herod) Scripture Context: Matthew 2:1-18 Memory Verse: John 3:16-17 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 1 Small Group Kids will acknowledge their own personal fear(s). Kids will see Jesus as the peace-giver. Kids will put their trust (fears) in Jesus SMALL GROUP PORTION Discussion Questions: 1. What was it that you said you were afraid of? 2. Why are you afraid of that? 3. When you are faced with what you re afraid of the dark, spiders, being alone, etc., what do you do? How do you respond/react? 4. Is there ever a time that fear causes you to say or do something that is hurtful to others or to yourself? Herod was afraid of a baby baby Jesus. Because of that fear he lied, became angry and in the end killed innocent children. What Herod didn t realize is that Jesus came not to make him scared but to take away his fear to save him from his fears. Jesus came to save you too and He wants to take away your fears to give you peace. What do you need to do? (Give him your fear your thoughts and your heart.) Personal Response: Non-Readers: Draw a picture of what you re afraid of. When it s all done draw a big no/do not symbol the red circle with a line. As a small group, create a bulletin board that says Jesus came to save and have each student post their picture on the bulletin board. [If you do not have bulletin board space, create a space using a border on a wall and the header.]

Readers: Using old magazines; cut out words and images of things you and others are afraid of. Glue all of those words and images in a collage onto paper. Over top of the images write the memory verse: John 3:16-17. Students can take their papers home and post on their bathroom mirror, refrigerator, in their backpack or on the back of their bedroom door as a reminder that they do not need to be afraid Jesus came to save them! Leaders: This lesson opens the door to the salvation message. Take time to prayerfully seek the Lord s guidance and when you sense the moving of the Holy Spirit, initiate conversation with your students ask them if they would like the peace that only Jesus can give. For help in leading children to Christ, download the included document.

Do you have room? (Innkeeper) Scripture Context: Luke 2:1-8 Memory Verse: Revelation 3:20 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 2 Large Group Students will know that Jesus wants to live in their house (life). Students will see how crowded their life is and discover what is taking up all the room. Students will desire to make room for Jesus. LARGE GROUP PORTION Preparation: Have the room changed this week so that the area around the nativity is over-crowded with things kids like and do a TV, videos, gaming system, stack of school books, a computer, a bike, skateboard, various other toys, Christmas gifts and decorations, etc. Make the area so crowded that the nativity is hidden from view. Opening: How many of you had an amazing, fear-free week? Did someone give a fear to Jesus last Sunday and have a word to share on how Jesus gave them freedom from that fear and peace? (You may want to have one or two students prepared ahead of time to share. Conduct an interview-style conversation with the student(s) to control time and lead discussion.) It is awesome that some of you experienced peace instead of fear! You already got an amazing Christmas gift from Jesus! Did anyone notice that we have more stuff in our room this week than we did last week? What did we add? (Allow time for their responses pointing out the items they list as you go.) How many of

you spent time this week doing these things? (Go through some of the items and get a show of hands making the point that they were busy.) Wow you guys are busy and your lives are awfully crowded with stuff! Hey wait a minute we re missing something from last week. What s not here? (Give clues to lead students to recognize the nativity is gone.) Baby Jesus and the nativity are missing where on earth did they go? (Get a few students to help you sort through the stuff to find it.) Oh my goodness, our room got so crowded with toys and games and school things and Christmas decorations that we lost sight of Jesus! (Take the nativity out and restore it to a place of prominence in the room.) Bible Point: Jesus wants to live in your house (life) is there room? Last week there was a character from the nativity we talked about anyone remember who it was and what he did? (Allow time for responses and review of last week s lesson: Herod was afraid of baby Jesus and his fear led him to sin. Jesus came to give him peace and Herod missed it!) This week we re going to look at another character from the nativity and like Herod, this one isn t found in your traditional nativity set! Let s read Luke 2:1-7 and see if we can discover who it is. In those days, Caesar Augustus made a law. It required that a list be made of everyone in the whole Roman world. It was the first time a list was made of the people while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be listed. So Joseph went also. He went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea. That is where Bethlehem, the town of David, was. Joseph went there because he belonged to the family line of David. He went there with Mary to be listed. Mary was engaged to him. She was expecting a baby. While Joseph and Mary were there, the time came for the child to be born. She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. There was no room for them in the inn. Who were some of the characters mentioned in this passage? (Allow students to share responses. Perhaps write the names down on a white board, hold up the characters from the nativity that appear, etc.) Now wait a minute no one mentioned our character for this week. Let me look at this again. (Pause and look again at the Scripture verse.) I see the problem, the character isn t directly mentioned but they talk about what he did, or didn t do, in verse 7. Let s read it together again: She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. There was no room for them in the inn. Who had no room for Jesus? (The person who owned the inn the innkeeper.)

Jesus was born that night in the town of Bethlehem and the innkeeper s house was so crowded he didn t have room for Jesus. In fact, his house was so crowded he didn t even know that it was Jesus! The Bible says in Revelation 3:20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If any of you hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with you. And you will eat with me. Jesus is saying that He wants to come into your house into your life. Just like Mary and Joseph knocked on the door of the innkeeper s house, Jesus is knocking on your house s door your heart, and He wants to come on. What will you do? Are you like the innkeeper whose house was so crowded that there wasn t any room? Are you so busy like the innkeeper that you don t even notice when Jesus is at your door? Or are you willing to get rid of some of the clutter (point to the items they agreed fills their lives from earlier in the lesson) and make room for Jesus? I want you all to close your eyes and think through what your typical Monday is like. What are you going to do tomorrow from the time you wake up on? (Perhaps go through some of the things typically they will do wake up, brush teeth, eat breakfast, get stuff together for school, etc putting emphasis on how full their day is and busy. Do not include prayer and Bible study on purpose.) Do you spend every day going from one activity to another? Do you have time do you have room for Jesus? How do we make room? By setting aside time to pray and have Bible study. By taking time to think about Jesus and listen for Him to talk to you not out loud but through your heart. Activity: Get Ready Relay (high energy) Provide piles of clothing pants, shirts, socks, shoes, jackets, hats, etc try to come up with about ten different clothing items. Have as many piles of clothes as you will need teams to participate based on your number of kids. Assign one student to be it for each team. The other members of the team run across the room one at a time to the pile, grab one item of clothing, race back and dress it, when they are done the next person goes. Continue this until it is fully dressed and the kids are all exhausted! Make the point that as fast as they ran to dress it so their team would win, is often how fast we run through our day with all the stuff we fill it with. Challenge them to slow down this week and make room for Jesus! Provide each student with a clothes pin as a reminder of the game and their need to slow down and make room for Jesus.

Do you have room? (Innkeeper) Scripture Context: Luke 2:1-8 Memory Verse: Revelation 3:20 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 2 Small Group Students will know that Jesus wants to live in their house (life). Students will see how crowded their life is and discover what is taking up all the room. Students will desire to make room for Jesus. SMALL GROUP PORTION Discussion Questions: 1. What kinds of things keep you busy during a day? 2. How many of those things are important and need to happen? 3. Which of those things can you get rid of or shorten the time of? 4. Where can you make room for Jesus in your typical day? 5. How will you do that? 6. What difference do you think it will make in your life, when you intentionally make room for Jesus? Personal Response: Revelation 3:20: 'Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If any of you hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with you. And you will eat with me. Review this week s memory verse and have each student include it on their pictures/schedules: Non-Readers: Have each student draw a picture of them doing something that makes room for Jesus. Ask them to share what that thing is and when they are going to do it this week. Write their responses for them on their paper. Ask them to take their paper home and post it somewhere they ll be reminded to make room for Jesus. Readers: Create a daily schedule for the week. Have each student fill out the things they have to do and when like school, practices, lessons, family functions, etc. Then have them fill in time for Jesus before they add things like TV, gaming, playing with friends, etc. Things for Jesus

might include prayer, Bible study or devotions and church. Have them take their chart home and see how well they do making room for Jesus. Ask them to put a sticker on each day they set aside time for Jesus and then bring the schedule back next week to share with the group.

Is it hard to Obey? (Joseph) Scripture Context: Matthew 1:18-25 Memory Verse: John 15:9-11 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 3 Large Group Students will see there are times when what God asks or does doesn t make sense. Students will know that even when God doesn t make sense, they need to trust Him. Trust in God and surrender to His will means, I m going to obey even when I don t understand. LARGE GROUP PORTION Preparation: When the students arrive give each one a card with an instruction on it, asking the student to do something completely random. Items can include things like standing on one foot, laying on the floor, holding their arm in the air, folding and unfolding a piece of paper, etc. You can give all the students the same instruction, or a variety of instructions. Allow them to follow the instruction for a period of time while you do something else to prepare for the morning. Opening: Did any of you wonder why I asked you to do what you ve been doing? Does anyone have a clue why? I must admit, there was no reason other than to demonstrate that sometimes we re asked to do things that just don t make sense. Today we re going to look at another character from the nativity who was asked to do something that was really hard to understand. Bible Point: Joseph Obeys So far, we have looked at two characters from the nativity. Who are they and what did they teach us? (Allow responses: Herod and we learned to not fear but give Jesus our fears because He came to save us and give us peace. The innkeeper showed us that we need to be intentional about making room for Jesus our lives get busy and crowded and there s no room for Him.)

How many of you were able to make room for Jesus this past week? What did you do or remove? (Encourage responses, perhaps have several students prepared in advance to share their stories. Share your personal story as well.) What was different about your week when you made room for Jesus by being intentional with prayer and Bible study? (Encourage the response that their week was better, less stressed and busy, they were nicer, happier, etc.) Our memory verse last week said that Jesus stands at the door of our heart and wants in He knocks but it is up to us whether we open the door or not whether we let Him in or not. We get to choose. Today we re going to look closely at a character from the nativity who had to choose. His choice was to obey God or not. Let s read together and see who this is and what he did: Matthew 1:18-24: This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary and Joseph had promised to get married. But before they started to live together, it became clear that she was going to have a baby. She became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph was a godly man. He did not want to put her to shame in public. So he planned to divorce her quietly. But as Joseph was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That is because he will save his people from their sins." All of this took place to bring about what the Lord had said would happen. He had said through the prophet, "The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel." The name Immanuel means "God with us." Joseph woke up. He did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He took Mary home as his wife. In that Bible passage, who was the character with a big choice? (Joseph.) Joseph is the character from our nativity we re going to look at today and Joseph really is someone you ll find in your nativity at home and ours here at church. (Take time to point out the Joseph figure in your church nativity.) Joseph was given the choice to obey God and take Mary home to be his wife, or to walk away divorce her quietly. Sometimes God asks us to obey and the choice is pretty easy and makes sense, but there are times when God doesn t seem to make sense, when it is hard to understand God s plan. The Lord speaks to Joseph in a dream and tells him that Mary is going to have a baby, but the baby is from the Holy Spirit and will be God s Son. This baby is going to fulfill Isaiah s prophecy. Wow that is a lot for Joseph to take in. Remember, no one had ever had a baby like this before and this wasn t anybody this was his fiancée. I am sure that for Joseph it seemed like God didn t make sense:

Jesus, the promised Messiah, is coming as a baby. And Mary, his fiancée, is going to be His mother? Joseph had a decision to obey God even though what He asked seemed crazy and didn t make sense, or to walk away. Of course, you know the story and Joseph did choose to obey. Joseph put his trust in God s plan. Joseph obeyed God and as verse 24 says, Joseph woke up. He did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He took Mary home as his wife. Joseph teaches us a valuable lesson that even when God doesn t seem to make sense, you can put your trust in Him and obey. In everything, choose God s way! Joseph and Mary went on to get married and Joseph had the privilege of being Jesus earthly father. What an amazing gift because he chose to obey. Activity: Simon Says Play a game of Simon Says with your group. Start the game by asking them to do some pretty common things things generally asked in a game of Simon Says. (Raise your right hand, pat your stomach, turn around, etc.) As the game goes on, however, start asking the group to do more difficult or more bizarre things. (Ask them to do multiple things at once such as stand on one foot, turn in circles, pat their belly and rub their head. Then ask them to wiggle like a fish on a hook or pretend to be a dog drinking from a stream, or something else that is silly. Make sure to not embarrass one student or draw undue attention to one specific student during the game.) How many of you could follow Simon? Some of the times Simon asked you to do things that were really hard and other times you were asked to do something that was silly or embarrassing or you didn t understand. This was just a silly game but a good reminder that you, like Joseph, will sometimes be asked to obey God even when it doesn t make sense. Remember, that God s plan is ALWAYS the best plan and if you obey Him, you will always make the right choice!

Is it hard to Obey? (Joseph) Scripture Context: Matthew 1:18-25 Memory Verse: John 15:9-11 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 3 Small Group Students will see there are times when what God asks or does doesn t make sense. Students will know that even when God doesn t make sense, they need to trust Him. Trust in God and surrender to His will means, I m going to obey even when I don t understand. SMALL GROUP PORTION Discussion Questions: 1. How was what God told Joseph in his dream so hard to believe? 2. Is it surprising that Joseph made the choice he did? 3. Do you think it was hard for Joseph to make the right choice? Why? 4. Have you ever been asked to do something other than in class today that didn t make sense? What was it and what did you do? 5. Is there something that God asks you to do that doesn t make sense? What is it? 6. Why is it important to ALWAYS choose to obey God even when He doesn t make sense? How do you know this? Read this verse together as a class. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:9-11) What did God promise would be ours if we obeyed? (The Father s love and complete joy) Review this memory verse together. Create hand motions or some other way to learn it together as a group.

Personal Response: Non-Readers: As a group talk about some of the things God asks us to do: share, be kind, tell the truth, read our Bibles, pray, help out in church, give to others in need, etc. Let them talk about things they know and share their own thoughts. Hold up pictures of a variety of scenes in which students are given a choice. When you hold up the picture have the group shout Obey on the things God would want them to do. Make sure to include some pictures they shouldn t say Obey as well. (You can use images from magazines, the internet, or show a few short video clips.) Readers: Give each student an opportunity to read additional Scripture verses, either individually or in pairs. Genesis 22:17-18 John 15:9-11 Exodus 19:4-6 Romans 2:13 Leviticus 25:18 Ephesians 6:1-3 Deuteronomy 6:24 I John 2:5 I Kings 3:14 Jeremiah 7:23 Job 36:11 Matthew 28:19-20 After each verse have them write out what God has promised if we obey. Pray with the group, asking God to help them to always choose His way.

Get Excited! (Shepherds) Scripture Context: Luke 2:8-20 Memory Verse: Luke 2:10-11 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 4 Large Group Students will share in the shepherd s excitement. Students too will hurry to see Christ. Students will want to share the good news with their friends and family. LARGE GROUP PORTION Opening: What is the best news you have ever heard? (Give students opportunity to share things. Suggest news such as: you re going to move to a new house, or you re not going to move, you re going to have a brother or sister, you re getting a dog, you got an A, you made the team, etc.) When you hear good news what is the first thing you do? (Scream, jump up and down, clap, cheer, etc.) Let s do that together on the count of three, I m going to say good news and all of us are going to cheer. 1 2 3... Good News (Be prepared for the noise.) Wow that was amazing. Every time today that I say the phrase Good News I want you to cheer. Now let s try a few other responses, but this time, let s do it with faces and hands and not voices! Show me what you look like when you re: scared, angry, happy, confused, and overjoyed. (Take time to go through a few, encouraging the kids to show you how they respond; add Good News to see if they remember to cheer.) Bible Point: This is our final week of celebrating Advent anticipating together the coming of Jesus! We have looked back at the nativity scene at how some of the people responded or reacted to Jesus. Let s review together: Herod was scared of baby Jesus and his fear led him to sin. Jesus came to take away our fears; to save us and give us peace.

Innkeeper was too busy and his house was too crowded for Jesus. He taught us that we need to be intentional about making room for Jesus! Joseph was given a hard choice to obey God even though it didn t make sense or to walk away. We learned from Joseph that it is best to always obey God! We have one more character to look at and actually it is a group of people who had two things in common what they did for a living and what they all experienced one night! Let s read together Luke 2:8-20 and see who it is and what they did! There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they were looking after their sheep. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy. It is for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger." Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven also appeared. They were praising God. They said, "May glory be given to God in the highest heaven! And may peace be given to those he is pleased with on earth!" The angels left and went into heaven. Then the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The baby was lying in the manger. After the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child. All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought about them over and over. The shepherds returned. They gave glory and praise to God. Everything they had seen and heard was just as they had been told. Who from our nativity are we talking about today? That s right, the shepherds! What were the shepherds doing that night? (They were looking after their sheep.) And who showed up? (An angel of the Lord.) The scripture tells us of three things the shepherds did when the Angel of the Lord showed up on their hill that night. First they were terrified (verse 9). And who wouldn t be? Something completely out of the ordinary happens to them and it scared them to death. What do you think their faces looked like? (relate back to what students did in opening encourage them to look terrified) o But then the angel spoke to them and gave them some Good News. (cheer) The angel tells them about the baby Jesus, where they can find him, and why God sent Him to earth to give us peace.

After the shepherds heard that they weren t terrified anymore now they were excited and interested/intrigued. They wanted to see if this thing the angels said was true they wanted to find the baby. The scripture tells us that they hurried off. o And then they see Him baby Jesus. And as soon as they do, they know that what the angels said is the truth and they are amazed. The shepherds were so overjoyed by what they saw - baby Jesus - that they told everyone what they had seen and heard. Verse 20 tells us that they gave glory and praise to God. The Good News (cheer) of Jesus isn t just for us to keep to ourselves. The Good News (cheer) is to be shared with everyone. God wants us to respond like the shepherds we should be amazed, excited, overjoyed and tell everyone we know! Activity: Whisper the Good News Have the students form groups of four to six kids. Tell them that we are going to see which group can be the quietest AND get the message passed from the first person to the last the most accurately. Whisper into the ear of the first person a message. (Suggestion: use a portion of the memory verse or a phrase about Jesus being the Good News.) Have them whisper from one to the next the message. When all are done see which group was able to pass on their message of Good News the best. Give them a cheer for doing such a great job! We can all share the Good News! If you learn Luke 2:10-11, it will be a great start in helping you!

Get Excited! (Shepherds) Scripture Context: Luke 2:8-20 Memory Verse: Luke 2:10-11 Lesson Goals: Children s Lesson Week 4 Small Group Students will share in the shepherd s excitement. Students too will hurry to see Christ. Students will want to share the good news with their friends and family. SMALL GROUP PORTION Discussion Questions: 1. Who are the four characters we ve looked at and what were their reactions to Jesus? (Herod fear, Innkeeper no room, Joseph obeyed, Shepherds excitement) 2. Which character are you most like? Why? It is easy this time of year (Christmas) to get excited about a lot of things presents, decorations, family, good food, etc., but we must remember the most important thing the Good News! (cheer) 3. What is the Good News and what are we supposed to do with it? 4. Who do you know that you can tell about Jesus? When, where and how can you do that? Personal Response: Non-Readers & Readers: Share the Good News! Provide small gift boxes, wrapping paper, bows, and name tags for each student. For non-readers, provide a paper that says Good News! and give each student an opportunity to add glitter or decorate it. For Readers, provide them a sheet that says at the top: Good News and have them write out what the good news is sharing the gospel story.

Include the verse Luke 2:10-11 on the paper. Have each student wrap their Good News in a beautifully decorated package and choose one person to share it with. Encourage them to talk about who they want to share the Good News with and why. Remind them that it isn t just a package and piece of paper they are to share but truly the story of Jesus!