Lesson 16: God's Protection and Guidance

Aims
* To learn the key events of the story
* To learn about God’s protection and guidance

Materials
* First Bible Stories – John Dillow
* Bible – Matthew 2, Luke 2
* Visual aids – large pictures of the story
* Worksheets
* Christmas card – picture, coloured pencils, card, glue, glitter, stickers
* Movable wings angel – card, brass fasteners, glue, scissors,
* Star over Bethlehem – paper plate, glue, glitter, scissors

Lesson Outline
1. Review the story of Jesus’ birth
2. The Shepherds and the Wise Men
3. Questions
4. Activities – worksheets, Christmas card, movable wings angel, Star over Bethlehem
5. End with a Prayer

1) Review the story of Jesus’ birth
Can the children remember the key events from last week’s story?
1. An angel visited Mary
2. Joseph had a dream
3. Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem
4. Jesus was born in a stable
2) The Shepherds and the Wise Men

Today we continue the story from last week.
1. Angels appear to shepherds to tell of Jesus’ birth
2. The Shepherds find Jesus lying in a manger
3. Three wise men follow a star, a sign of a new born king
4. They meet King Herod, who pretends he also wants to worship the new king
5. Wise men give gifts to baby Jesus
6. They don’t return to Herod
7. Mary & Joseph flee to Egypt

3) Questions
– What happened to a group of shepherds? – Angels appeared in the sky at night
– What were they told? – God’s promised King and Saviour, was born in Bethlehem that day
– Who were the wise men? – they studied the stars
– What were they looking for? – a newborn baby, the king of the Jews
– Who did they visit first? – King Herod
– What did Herod tell them? – When you find him let me know so I can also worship him
– What gifts did they give to Jesus? – gold, frankincense, myrrh
– Why did the wise men not go back to Herod? – They were warned in a dream not to go back
– Why did Joseph & Mary leave? – Joseph was warned a dream that Herod wanted to kill Jesus
– Where did they go to? – Egypt

4) Activities
A variety of activities that can be used over a few years

* Worksheets
– The Angel’s Announcement – Use the code to find out the angel’s message
– The Shepherds and the Angels – Circle the correct number of angels, sheep and shepherds
– The Shepherds run to Bethlehem – Find 12 differences between the pictures
– Follow the Star – Find the right way to baby Jesus for the wise men
– Journey to Egypt – Find the right way to Egypt for Mary and Joseph
– The Christmas Story – Fill in the missing words

* Craft Ideas
– Movable Wings Angel – This craft reminds us that God sends angels to protect and guide us
1. Color the angel and the wings.
2. Cut out the angel, the wings, and the tab pattern on the bold lines. Glue them all on lightweight cardboard. Cut them out again.
3. Cut a slit in the bottom of the robe as shown.
4. Punch holes where shown.
5. Insert brass fastener in the holes of the angel, and then in the wings. Fasten.
6. Run a short length of string about 10 cm through areas marked with asterisks (*).
7. Bring the ends of the string down, and tape them to the tab as shown.
8. Insert the tab into the slot in the bottom of the robe.
9. Move the tab up and down to make the wings move.

* ‘Star over Bethlehem’ card holder
1. Color and cut out the patterns.
2. Get two blue paper plates. Cut one of the plates in half and flip it over. Glue the two pieces together forming a pocket.
3. Glue the star to the beams. Use gold glitter on the star. Then glue the piece to the top comer of the whole plate.
4. Glue the Bethlehem scene to the front of the half plate. Now you have a card holder. 
* Make a Christmas card
– Colour the picture, stick onto card, decorate with stickers, glitter, etc..

* Games
Wise Men Search
You need a clothes pin to be baby Jesus. One student is picked to be a wise man and steps out of the room. Another student is picked by the teacher to hide baby Jesus somewhere in the room. When Jesus is hidden, the wise man comes back into the room. He is to find Jesus by directions from the student that hid him. These directions are: the star is not very bright if the wise man is far away, brighter if somewhat nearer, getting brighter if even closer, and VERY bright if very close. When the wise man finds the baby Jesus, the person that hid baby Jesus is now the Wise Man.

5) Review the aims
* To learn the key events of the story
* To learn about God’s protection and guidance

6) End with a Prayer