‘Give More’ Christmas Childrens Lesson on The Wise Men

AIM: The ‘Give More’ Christmas Childrens Lesson on The Wise Men encourages children to think of ways that they can be generous, whilst reminding them that God is the greatest gift giver ever!

BIG IDEA: GOD IS THE GREATEST GIVER

SONG IDEAS:

1. ‘Joy to the World’ by Bethel Kids
2. ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’ by Bethel Kids
3. ‘Oh Holy Night’ by Bethel Kids

GAME IDEAS:

1. Pass the Christmas Prezzie.
2. Chocolate Winter Game. Each player sits in a circle and takes turns rolling a dice. When they get a six they put on gloves, hat and scarf and grab a knife and fork to cut some chocolate off the chocolate bar.
3. Santa Relay or Elf Relay. Have kids run in a relay to put on a beard and hat and any other elf or Santa costume pieces you may have. Then they take them off and run back to their team, before the next team runs.
4. Candy Cane Catch. One player from each team stands on a chair on each side of the room. The rest of the members of the teams stand in one line about a metre apart from each other, between the opposing team chairs. Each player from the two teams positioned in the middle of the line are given a candy cane. These players must try and throw their candy cane to the person on the chair. However, they must pass the candy cane between their own team members at least 3 times. This becomes difficult when they cannot move from their positions and must try and pass them over the heads of the opposing team. If a candy cane is hit to the floor it must go back to the middle player. The first team to get the candy cane to their chair player is the winning team.

Alternatively, try a Minute to Win It Christmas game.

 

FUNNY INTRODUCTION VIDEO: 12 Days of Christmas

Say: That is a LOT of gifts to give! The whole point of today is to think about what God has given us already this Christmas and to think about how we can be like Him.

SET the Scene:

Read Matthew 2:1-12. (You can use the visuals here: slide 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

VIDEO IDEAS:

1. ‘The Christmas Story – The Wise Men’
2. ‘The Story of the Wise Men’
3. ‘The Wise Men’ by Saddleback Kids

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) GOD IS THE GREATEST GIFT GIVER.

(see visual here)

You will need a present with a fun prize inside. If you are feeling generous you could even give the whole group a small wrapped up present. You could have a lucky dip where you have a bag and children get to take one of the presents from the bag. Alternatively, you could bring one child up and have a whole bag of presents and allow that one child to choose from the many presents – then at the end give each child a present.

Say: We can never out-give God. God has SO much to give, because He is so great! He created the world and everything in it. He can create anything He wants! God sent His one and only son Jesus to come to the earth and to live life like any normal man, although he had the powers of God. He was FULLY man and FULLY God! WOW! God really did give us the best gift in Jesus.

John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life’. All because Jesus came and lived, we can have eternal life, if we accept him as our Lord and Savior! AMAZING!

God is the greatest gift giver because He was willing to give us the best thing that He had – His Son! God is the greatest giver because Jesus is the greatest gift. (show visual here.) That’s why the wise men were looking for Jesus. They knew a king would be born. But this wasn’t just any king, this was the King of kings! Isaiah 9:6-7 says:

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6-7.

The King of the Universe wants you to know Him! That’s why He came and that’s why He was given.

 

2) I CAN BE GIVING TOO.

Generosity = Making someone’s day, by giving something away (show visual here). Why not create something in front of the children whilst you are talking and then at the end of the teaching point, give it to one of the children? Alternatively you could make something during the week, explain to the children how you made it, and then hand it to one of the children. You could also show this fun movie clip from ‘Arthur Christmas’. In the clip, the elves go on a mission to deliver presents… the wise men also went on a mission to give their worship to Jesus. 

Say: The wise men gave some fantastic gifts to Jesus. Yet they didn’t just give him their gifts of gold, frankensence and mhyrr. They gave him their time and their worship. They gave him their love. We can be giving too. Just as God gave Jesus and the wise men gave their gifts, God calls us to give Him our heart, our time, our attention, our love and our worship. He wants all of us. That can seem like a lot to give, until we realise all that Jesus is and all that He has done for each of us.

We give because we love. When we love someone we want to give them our love, attention and time. When someone has saved our lives we want to give them our thanks. When someone – Jesus – is the God of all creation, we were made to worship Him.

What will you give this Christmas season? What will you give this year?

SEARCH the Scriptures:

Have lots of little boxes wrapped up with a candy and a bible verse about giving inside. Encourage the children to think of different things or different ways that they can give to others. For every child that can think of something, give them a gift to unwrap and ask them to read out the verse.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Why do you think God loves to give? (visual here)
2. Why do you think God wants us to give? (visual here)
3. If you could give anything in the world to someone, what would you choose and who would you give it to? (visual here)

 

SENSE How You Feel:

How does it feel to give a great gift?

1. Encourage the children to create their own treasure chest of gold as they remember the gifts that the wise men gave.
2. Create craft stick stars as children remember the star that the wise men followed
3. Create a gift for someone that you know; bead a bracelet, decorate cookies etc
4. Create a Christmas card for a friend, church or family member
5. Create a fun handprint wise men picture with the child’s handprint as the camels.

SEEK God:

Print out some pictures of presents. As a response children can choose to write the things that they want to give God down on their paper. Then let the children place the printed presents at the front of the room, or at the foot of a Christmas tree, if you have one. It would be an added extra if you could prepare a beautifully wrapped open box for the children to place their papers in at the bottom of the Christmas tree.

Thank you Father God for all that You have given us! Help us to be giving like You. Jesus, thank You that You are the greatest gift that has ever been given. Please help me to know You more and to be more like You. Amen.

For those choosing to follow Jesus:

Thank You Jesus that You came to the world as a gift to us. I know that I have done wrong and that I can be forgiven through You. Please come into my life and forgive me of the wrong that I have done. I believe that You died and rose again so that I can be a friend of God. Amen.