Kids will learn that God used the prophets to tell of Jesus birth and bring hope to the people.

Transcription

1 Nov 29 BOTTOM LINE: Through the light of Jesus we have hope. OBJECTIVE: Kids will learn that God used the prophets to tell of Jesus birth and bring hope to the people. KEY PASSAGE: Micah 5:1-5, Bethlehem Prophecy MEMORY VERSE: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 (NIV) SUMMARY: Jesus came to bring light to the darkness of this world. His arrival was so important, it was talked about by the prophets hundreds of years before his birth. KIDPORTS OUTLINE: 9:00 10:30 Length 9:05 10:35 (8-10) Opening Activity Jedi Training 9:15 10:45 (3-5) Lesson Intro 9:20 10:50 (5) Video Skit Long Long Ago 9:25 10:55 (5) Video Songs Joy to the World, Christmas Dance 9:30 11:00 (8-10) Memory Verse Erase It Game 9:40 11:10 (3-5) Lesson Continued 9:45 11:15 (10) Amy Bible Story Micah 5: Bethlehem Prophecy 9:55 11:25 (4) Video Song It s About the Cross 9:59 11:29 (15) Small Groups 9:00 Asteroid Hunt 10:30 Messengers of Hope 10:14 11:44 Review Game

2 OPENING ACTIVITY JEDI TRAINING (8-10 min) ITEMS NEEDED: Jedi robes (optional) GAME GRAPHIC ON SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS: (Select five to ten kids who hope to become Jedi and bring them to the front. If you have them, give each kid a Jedi robe to wear during the exercise.) Today begins your Jedi training. To become a Jedi, you have to do what a Jedi does and not do anything a Jedi would not do. The training consists of a game of Simon Says. (Execute a series of moves. Before some of the moves say A Jedi waves his hands like this, A Jedi stands on one foot, etc. For other moves, leave out the Jedi: Flap your arms like bird, Shake your head. ) Kids are out of the game when they do any of the non-jedi activities. When a kid is out, he must return his robe and leave the game. (Play until two or three kids remain. Stop the game and declare them as apprentice Jedi knights. Repeat the game with a different group of kids as time allows.) WHAT S THE POINT: People go into training (for all sorts of things) with the hope of becoming something greater. God has given us Jesus. When we put our hope in him, we have the greatest gift there is. STAR TRIP LOGO ON SCREEN

3 LESSON INTRO ITEMS NEEDED: Star Wars toys, Nativity scene INTRODUCE THE LESSON (3-5 min) (Pull out Star Wars toys.) Anybody here a Star Wars fan? How many of you have seen the movies? If you have, you might know that each of the Star Wars movies start the same way. On the screen appear these words, A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away " When we watch the movies or play with the toys, we feel like we re experiencing something futuristic. With all of the robots and spaceships and light sabers, it s fun to imagine that some day those things could all be a reality. But the people who make the movies tell us that this all happened a long time ago. This is the Advent season, the weeks leading up to Christmas. Christmas is a special time when we remember something that happened a long time ago. But unlike the make-believe universe of Star Wars, what happened long ago at Christmas is very real. Jesus was born. (Pull out nativity scene.) Most of you know the story of the baby, the manger, the animals, Mary & Joseph, the shepherds, the angels but over the next few weeks, we ll be looking at the journey of the wise men. We don t know much about these men we call Magi. We know they came from the east. We know they were looking for a newborn king. We know that they came bearing gifts. Tradition tells us that there were three of them, though we don t know that for sure. We don t really know how smart these men we call wise really were. So this morning, we invite you to imagine with us as we go on a journey with the Magi following a star. Although you ve never met them, you might find these Wise Men seem quite familiar. And yet, they re something from out of this world. PLAY VIDEO: SKIT LONG LONG AGO (4:43) SONGS: JOY TO THE WORLD (3:10) CHRISTMAS DANCE (1:18)

4 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 (NIV) VERSE GRAPHIC ON SCREEN. Read through the verse a couple of times with the kids. Then announce the memory verse game and forward the DVD to remove the verse graphic from the screen. STAR TRIP LOGO ON SCREEN. ERASE IT GAME (8-10 min) This is a repetition game. By the end of the game, most of the children should be able to say the Bible verse from memory. MATERIALS NEEDED: White board Dry erase marker Eraser SET UP: Using the white board, write out the Bible verse in large enough letters that it can be read from the back row. Have an eraser on hand. Define two groups of kids. TO PLAY: The goal of the game is to be able to remember the verse. Each team will take turns reading the verse out loud all together. But after one team has read it, I ll erase one word and see if the next team can still say it. Your team will be OUT if you cannot remember all the words. Your team will stay IN if you can say it all. We ll keep going until someone gets out or until we have erased all the words.

5 LESSON CONTINUED MATERIALS NEEDED: Wrapped gift with HOPE sign inside. CONTINUE THE LESSON (3-5 min) Let me ask you a question: What is your favorite part of Christmas? (Give the kids a chance to answer. Then bring out a wrapped gift.) For most of us, this is one of if not our all-time favorite parts of Christmas. Gifts! We like getting stuff! Does that mean we re selfish and greedy? Well, maybe, if we re never satisfied with what we get and we always have to get more, more, more. But sometimes, I think, it s not about greed at all. It s about hope. You see, it s not really getting what s in the box that s our favorite part of Christmas. It s all the time leading up to that. You wait for the gifts to show up under the tree. Then you try to imagine what s inside. It s exciting! The anticipation is what s really exciting about Christmas. It s about looking forward to something. It s about the hope of things to come. (Open the box and pull out the HOPE sign.) And it s not just gifts. Hope is what Christmas is all about. God spoke through the prophets to tell the people that Jesus would be born. He would come to bring light into a dark world. The message of Jesus was delivered hundreds of years before that first Christmas. It gave the people of God something to look forward to. Something to keep them going. Something to hope for. Let s see what Mrs. Amy has to say about hope and Christmas. But before we do, open your Bibles to the book of Micah. That s in the Old Testament, but it s almost all the way to the New Testament. AMY SHARES BIBLE STORY PLAY VIDEO: SONG IT S ABOUT THE CROSS DISMISS TO SMALL GROUPS

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