God's Special Gift To us - Baby Jesus

Circle Time

            Opening prayer

            Hello song.

Introduction to Bible Lesson

Each one of us is very special to God. The last few weeks we have heard about the wonderful world God created for us. We also learned about the garden that God created for people to live with him in. But Because of Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey, people could no longer live with God. They were sent further out into the world God created and could not live with God anymore because they had sinned. But – God had a special plan. He planned to give a special gift to all people, including you and me, so that we could live with him once again. Let’s hear about God’s special gift to us.

Bible Lesson

God loved us so much that he planned a special gift for us. One of the books in the Bible is called Luke. Luke 2:1-20 tells us the story of God’s special gift to us.

Mary was going to have a baby. It was a very special baby, God's son. She and Joseph had to travel far away to Bethlehem because the ruler of the land told everyone that they had to go to the place of their birth to get counted.

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, they couldn't find a place to stay; however, one innkeeper saw that Mary was going to have a baby and let them stay in the stable with the animals. That night Mary gave birth to Jesus. Mary wrapped him in cloths to keep warm and laid him in the manger for a bed. (A manger is a little box where animal food was put.)

At the same time Jesus was born something else was happening. In a field close by some shepherds were watching their sheep, just as they always did. But tonight was different. The shepherds looked up in the sky and saw a bright light. It was an angel. They were afraid. The angel told them not to be afraid and told them to go to Bethlehem where they would find a baby lying in a manger. Then the shepherds heard a beautiful song. Lots of angels were in the sky singing praises to God. Soon it was very quiet again. The angels went back to heaven and the shepherds were excited about the news. They went to Bethlehem to see for themselves.

When they got there, they found Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. He was lying in the manger just like the angels told them. The shepherds were so excited that they told everyone about baby Jesus, the savior who had been born that day. They told the people about the angels too and everyone believed them. The shepherds went back to their fields to watch over their lambs and they sang praises to God.

When the angel told the shepherds about Jesus, they said that God was telling us he was bringing peace to the earth. When we trust in God, he promises to give us peace too.

Just like God watched over baby Jesus in the manger, God watches over us too. This is because he loves us very much. 

Bible Crafts

1.      Angel Ornament

Materials: doily, gold card, foam hands and face, silver or gold chenille stems, yarn for hair, markers for face, glue

Make body from gold card. Make dress from doily. Glue foam hands to body and dress to body. Draw face on foam circle. Glue to body. Glue hair to face. Make halo out of chenille stems.

Snack Time

Circle Time

            Song 1 – Theme song “God Made Me Special”

            Song 2 – God Made Me

            Book “My little golden book about God”

God Made Me Special Activity

1.      Page 10

My happy heart. Children put foam stickers on page and draw smiley faces on the hearts. Pages are put into book and children can now bring them home.

Closing

                        Closing prayer

Virtue to work on: Thankfulness. Being thankful for every gift we receive.

Preschool Bible Lesson - Jesus as a boy

Lesson Overview

9:45 - sign in and free play time
10:05 - opening prayer, Bible lesson - Jesus as a Boy
10:20 - craft activity: Bookmarks for Bibles - paper bookmarks decorated and laminated.
10:40 - snack: Jennifer to bring
10:50 - Bible story books
11:00 - craft activity: coloring fish for game
11:05 - carnival games: "children's activities from ancient times" theme: fishing, throw "rocks" into cups, pennies in the water,  acting out David and Goliath
11:25 - coloring sheet Jesus-InTheTemple, closing prayer
11:30 -sign out

Bible Lesson

The Bible does not say very much about Jesus as a boy. There are only two stories in the Bible about Jesus as a boy.  The first story was Jesus at two years of age when the wise men came to visit him. The other story is about Jesus at 12 years of age.

Each year, Jesus and his parents went to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover feast. (Do you remember the passover from our story of Moses?) When the days of the Passover feast had ended, Mary and Joseph packed up and journeyed out of Jerusalem with their caravan. (A caravan is a long line of people traveling together with their animals.) The journeyed for a whole day and looked for Jesus. They thought that Jesus was with some of their relatives or friends. They searched the whole caravan but could not find Jesus anywhere. Mary and Joseph decided to travel back to Jerusalem.

They looked for Jesus for 3 more days. (How do you think they would have felt? How do you think your parents would feel if you were missing for 3 days?) After 3 days they finally found him sitting in the temple with the teachers. He was listening to them and asking questions. He was also answering their questions. All of the people who heard Jesus talk were amazed at how much he understood. Mary and Joseph were surprised and  amazed too.

Mary said to Jesus, "We have been so worried about you. How could you do this to us?"

Jesus answered, "Why were you looking for me? Do you not know that I need to be in my Father's house?"

Mary and Joseph did not understand what Jesus had said to them. Jesus went back to Nazareth with them. 
As Jesus grew up, he obeyed his parents at all times. Mary kept these things in her heart. As Jesus grew older, he grew in wisdom and favour with both God and men.

Q. Why did Mary, Joseph and Jesus go to Jerusalem?
A. To celebrate the Passover Feast.

Q. Where did Mary and Joseph finally find Jesus?
A. In the Temple.

Q. What was Jesus doing in the Temple?
A. Learning everything he could by listening and asking questions. Then he would answer the teachers questions (much like we are doing now.)

Q. What does the Bible say Jesus did when he got home with his parents?
A. Obeyed his parents at all times, grew in wisdom (learned everything he could), grew in favour with God (he loved and obeyed God), and grew in favour with men (he loved people and showed them kindness)

Q. How can we be like the boy Jesus?
A. Obey our parents always, learn everything we can from our parents, grandparents, teachers and priests), love God and obey his commandments (the 10 commandments), and be nice to others.