Kids will learn that God gave us His best when He gave us Jesus, and we can give our best back to Him.

Transcription

1 Dec 27 BOTTOM LINE: We can give our best to Jesus. OBJECTIVE: Kids will learn that God gave us His best when He gave us Jesus, and we can give our best back to Him. KEY PASSAGE: Matthew 2:9-12, Magi Meet Jesus MEMORY VERSE: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light. Ephesians 5:8 (NIV) SUMMARY: Finally, the Magi arrived in Bethlehem where they found Jesus and presented Him with gifts. We must remember that Jesus is God s gift to us. KIDPORTS OUTLINE: 9:00 10:30 Length 9:05 10:35 (8-10) Opening Activity Blaster Training 9:15 10:45 (3-5) Lesson Intro 9:20 10:50 (5) Video Skit May the Lord Be With You 9:25 10:55 (4) Video Song Joy to the World 9:29 10:59 (8-10) Memory Verse Popcorn 9:39 11:09 (3-5) Lesson Continued 9:44 11:14 (8) Video Bible Story Magi Meet Jesus 9:52 11:22 (4) Video Song It s About the Cross 9:56 11:26 (15) Small Groups 9:00: The Best Gift 10:30: Pin the Lightsaber on the Jedi 10:11 11:41 (2) Video Song Christmas Dance 10:14 11:44 Review Game

2 OPENING ACTIVITY BLASTER TRAINING (8-10 min) ITEMS NEEDED: Nerf gun, empty soda can, dry erase board, bucket GAME GRAPHIC ON SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS: (Select one child from each grade to go through Blaster Training.) One at a time, our Trainees will use their Blaster (Nerf gun) to compete in three training exercises. The first exercise is to knock a soda can off the table. The second exercise is to hit a bulls-eye drawn onto a dry erase board. The third exercise is to land your laser blast into a standing bucket. Each Trainee will get two tries at each station. You ll receive one million points for each successful shot. The Trainee with the most points at the end of Blaster Training wins! WHAT S THE POINT: To be successful in our training, we have to give our best. God gave us His best when He gave us Jesus. We can give our best back to God. STAR TRIP LOGO ON SCREEN

3 LESSON INTRO ITEMS NEEDED: Star Wars action figure, shovel, cookbook INTRODUCE THE LESSON (3-5 min) I m going to need your help this morning. I need to figure out the best gift to give to my friend. I ve narrowed it down to three possibilities. (Bring out the three items.) I ve got this Star Wars action figure, this shovel, and this cookbook. Which of these is the best gift? (Have all of the kids shout out their answers at once.) I hear some different opinions out there. Since I didn t tell you anything about my friend, everyone probably just picked the gift that he or she would like the most. But what if I said that my friend s favorite hobby was cooking? Which gift would be the best one? (Have kids answer.) What if I told you that my friend wanted to learn how to garden? Which gift would be the best then? What about if my friend loves everything science fiction? What then? To give the best Christmas gift, you have to know the person you re giving it to. My science fiction loving friend wouldn t get much from a cookbook. My gardening friend doesn t have much interest in an action figure. The best gift for one person might not even be an okay gift for someone else. EXCEPT when we talk about the best gift ever given. That s the gift that God gave us in Jesus. Jesus came to earth to be our Savior, to suffer and die for our sins, to conquer death for us by rising from the dead. It is a gift for all of us, no matter who we are or what we ve done. It is a totally free gift; we don t have to do anything to earn it. And whether you like to cook or garden or watch Star Wars movies, Jesus is the best gift any of us could ever receive. PLAY VIDEO: SKIT MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU SONG JOY TO THE WORLD (3:10)

4 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light. Ephesians 5:8 (NIV) POPCORN (8-10 min) This is another repetition game that will allow for some wiggle time while hearing the verse multiple times. INSTRUCTIONS: I have some cards. There is one word to our verse on each card. But there s a problem. The cards are all mixed up. I m going to pass these out to kids who have been quiet and paying attention. (Pass out all 22 cards. When the cards are out, randomly point to kids with cards and have them read their word. It should NOT make much sense.) Hmm. We ve been talking about giving our best to God because He gave us His best when He gave us Jesus. This doesn t sound like our best. It doesn t even sound close to good! Maybe we need some help. Giving our best takes practice sometimes. (Forward the DVD to bring the verse up on the screen.) VERSE GRAPHIC ON SCREEN Now, do you think we can do a better job? OK. Now we ll go through the verse again. Look at your word, then look at the verse on the screen. We ll start with the person who has the first word. When it s your turn to read your word, pop up out of your seat and shout it out. (Lead the kids through the verse once or twice. Then have them hand their card to someone else and let the next group of kids pop up and say the verse. Repeat the verse with as many different kids as possible, encouraging each group to try to be faster/louder/ jump higher/etc. than the last group.) STAR TRIP LOGO ON SCREEN

5 LESSON CONTINUED MATERIALS NEEDED: 1st place trophies or ribbons (we ll have some, but bring your own if you have them) CONTINUE THE LESSON (3-5 min) Look at these awards! What do they show? That s right, they show that whoever earned them was the best at whatever they did. (Talk for a minute about the trophies/ ribbons.) Today, we re talking about The Best. What does it mean to be the best? It means: the tops there s nothing greater. We ve been talking a lot about Star Wars. For some people, Star Wars is the best movie ever made. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia are the best heroes ever. Darth Vader is the best villain ever. But, it s also Christmastime. For many people, this is the best time of year. Between the time spent with family and friends, the gifts under the tree, the decorations, and the good cheer, this time of year can t be beat! Then there s the Christmas story, which is the story of Jesus. The story of Jesus life is the greatest story ever told. It starts with Christmas where God gave us the gift of Jesus. We ve been following the journey of the Magi how they followed the star to find the newborn king. Last week we saw them reach Jerusalem where they met King Herod who was not happy to learn about God s gift of a Savior. He sent them on to Bethlehem to find Jesus, with instructions to report back to him the location of the baby. Herod s plan was to get to Jesus and kill him, although he told the Magi that he wanted to worship the new king. We ll pick up the story from there. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 2, verse 9. PLAY VIDEO: BIBLE STORIES WITH MRS. AMY SONG IT S ABOUT THE CROSS (3:43) DISMISS TO SMALL GROUPS PLAY VIDEO: SONG CHRISTMAS DANCE (1:19)

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