Christmas-Celebrating Jesus, God's greatest gift
December 2020 • Week 4
Today's Bible story: Peace on Earth (Shepherds Visit) • Luke 2:8-20
Monthly memory verse: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:11 (NIrV)
Memory Verse for 2's - Pre-K: Today your Savior was born in David's town. He is Christ, the Lord. Luke 2:11 (ICB)
Life Application: Christmas-Celebrating Jesus, God's greatest gift
Suggested songs: The Friendly Beasts, Carol Medley, Happy Birthday Jesus and The Camel Song
Praise & Pray: Sing along with the provided worship videos and pray. Access songs here
What you might pray: "Dear God, this year has been hard for many people. We thank you that no matter what happens, you are in control. Help us to remember you are always with us so that we can have peace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen."
Read God's Word together: Luke 2:8-20 (Need a kid-friendly Bible? Check out our suggestions.)
Family Devotional & Discussion
What you do: Watch the complementary video together as a family and discuss today's question.
What you discuss: The shepherds gave glory and praise to God because everything they had seen and heard was just has they had been told. This year was a hard year, but remember even though things may be stressful and hard just remember that we can still have peace. God is always in control. We can have peace knowing that God will never leave us. What does it mean to have peace?
Bible Story Review
What you need: Bible
What you do: Read Luke 2:8-20 together. Review the Bible story with the kids using the questions below.
- What kind of people did the angel appear to? (Shepherds living in the fields.)
- What news did the angel bring the shepherds? (Their Savior had been born in the town of David.)
- What did the angel say the sign would be for the shepherds? (They would find a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger.)
- If you were one of the shepherds in the field that night, how do you think you would have reacted to all this? (Allow time for kids to respond.)
- After the shepherds visited Jesus, what did they do? (They told the good news of Jesus to others.)
- When you think of peace, what do you think of?
- What is the opposite of peace? What does it make you feel?
- What are some things that make you feel worried or afraid?
- How can we tap God's peace during those situations?
Pray and bless your family
What you need: Sticky notes or pieces of paper, pencil
What you do: Ask for prayer requests.
- Give each kid a sticky note and a pencil.
- Encourage kids to write down something they need peace about.
- Let the kids show others their sticky note and pray for each other, either silently or out loud.
What you might pray: "Dear God, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, so we can experience peace. Thank You that the peace You give us through Jesus is perfect and lasting. Your peace helps us get through tough times and also helps us deal with our worries and fears. Thank You that [Bottom Line] God's peace is for everyone. Help us experience Your peace every day and in every situation. Pray for prayer requests. Amen."
Additional Activities
What you need: 2 Cupcake liners per child, 4 inch cut pipe cleaner, tongue depressor or cut construction paper, glue, marker
What you do: Hand out supplies to the kids and explain to the kids they will be making shepherds.
- First, to make the headdress fold the cupcake liner in half. Next, fold about a ½ in on each side to form a triangle shape. Finally, fold down the top (see picture for visual).
- Second, place the tongue depressor or cut construction paper on the second cupcake liner. Fold the sides in to form the clothes as shown in the picture.
- Glue the clothes and headdress onto the popsicle stick or construction paper.
- Take your pipe cleaner and bend it into a staff and glue it onto the shepherd. If you don't have a pipe cleaner, you can cut a staff out of construction paper.
- Finally use a fine tip marker or pen to draw on the face.
What you say: "I love your shepherds. You can share the Christmas story with your families at home this week. My favorite part of this true story happened AFTER the shepherds visited baby Jesus. Luke 2:17-18 says, '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.' The shepherds couldn't wait to tell everyone that Jesus-the one who would bring peace to the world-was finally here! We can tell others about Jesus' birth, too, because [Bottom Line] God's peace is for everyone." [Make it Personal - How does knowing that God sent Jesus for everyone bring YOU peace today OR how has knowing that God sent Jesus for everyone brought you peace in the past? If you're currently trusting God to answer a prayer, share it with the kids. As always make sure your example is age appropriate.]
What you need: "Word Cards" Activity Page (DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE), gift bag, timer
What you do: Divide the group / family into two teams. In the classroom, have kids stay on their 'X' and draw an imaginary line down the center of the room.
- Show the kids the gift bag and let them know that it has cards that have words associated with today's Bible story.
- Let the teams know that they will take turns sending one kid, "the prompter", to the front.
- The prompter should read the card and try to make their teammates guess the word by only using a password-which is a one-word hint. (For example, if the word is "star," the kid can say "sky.")
- Tell the kids that if the prompter's team guesses the word correctly, the opposite team has to share how that word is connected to today's story.
- If the prompter's team doesn't guess the word, their team has to share how the word is connected to today's story.
- Set a 30-second timer for each round.
- Give the prompter's team 30 seconds to guess the word.
- After 30 seconds, reveal the word and instruct the prompter's team to tell why the word is connected with today's story.
What you say: "How did it make you feel when the word or password was difficult? The prompter was the only person who was allowed to see the word in each round. The rest of you had to trust the prompter to give you a password that could help you guess the word easily. Some of the words and passwords were difficult, weren't they? In the same way, God wants you trust Him to lead you through difficult times. God sees what we can't see. Because He sees more than you see, you can be sure that He will take care of you. When you put your trust in Him, you can experience God's peace. Once you have that peace, you can bring that peace to others because [Bottom Line] God's peace is for everyone."
(Classroom extra time activity or incorporate into the Praise and Worship time.)
What you need: Bible, computer to watch and follow along with the actions of Luke 2:11 found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPtbbgFoK1c
What you do: Open the Bible to Luke 2:10 - 11. Ask a family member to read the scripture.
- Practice the scripture memory verse a few times together.
- Watch, sing, and do the actions together to the song for Luke 2:10 - 11 found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPtbbgFoK1c
What you say: "Do you know that the best gift you can ever receive is Jesus? When God gave us Jesus it was the best gift ever. That's what our memory verse reminds us!
"God had a plan to send Jesus to rescue you for a long, long time. It's part of His good plan for your life! And even if life looks differently than you though it would, remember Jesus. Remember that God loves you so much it was His good plan to send Jesus to rescue you so you could have a relationship with Him. Jesus is the gift that can bring you the greatest joy, no matter what happens. And you can trust that the rest of God's plan for your life is a good one, too. [Bottom Line] You can have joy because God has a plan for you."