Unit 1 Birth of Christ--Lesson 5 NT1.5 Wise Men Worship ... · land to come and worship Him. Our...

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NT1.5 Wise Men Worship Jesus © Beverly Wilson 2019

Unit 1 Birth of Christ--Lesson 5

NT1.5 Wise Men Worship Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-18

Lesson Goal: In this lesson we will learn how God created a special star to show all the earth that His Son had been born. This symbol in the sky led some wise men from a far away land to come and worship Him. Students will understand that God is with us wherever we go and that wise men still worship Jesus today. Students will be challenged to give a gift of service to others.

Introduction: This is the fifth lesson in Unit 1: The Birth of Christ. For 5,000 years God had promised to send a Savior to the people of the earth. In this lesson we will learn how God created a special star to show all the earth that His Son had been born. This symbol in the sky led some wise men from a far away land to come and worship Him. Our lesson today is about a special star that God made to show all the people of the earth that His Son Jesus had been born. We find this story in the book of Matthew. Matthew is one of the Gospels in the New Testament. The Gospels tell the life and ministry of Jesus while He was here on earth. Let's say the names of the gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Attention Getter: How many of you remember singing or saying a nursery rhyme called "Twinkle twinkle Little Star" when you were in preschool? Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonders what you are...That was fun to sing wasn't it? For thousands of years people have studied the moon and stars. Did you know that the stars can tell us much about the earth? For example we can tell directions from the stars. Sailors can look at the North Star and the Big Dipper and know which directions are north, south, east, and west. The stars can even tell us the time at night! Sailors in the 1500's would use a wheel called a noctural to do this. This is a wooden noctural that was used by sailors long ago to tell time at sea. The phases of the moon also tell us about the months and seasons of the year. Did you know that the gravity of the moon causes the tides in our ocean? People today still study the stars. Big telescopes have been built to help us look far into space. People even want to travel in space! So no wonder astronomy has always been very fascinating! Optional: Bring several containers of different perfumes and/or spices. Allow children to smell the different containers and try to identify each smell. (Be aware of children’s allergies before doing this activity.) Say: “Which fragrances did you like best? How do you think they are used? A long time ago perfumes and spices were very expensive and were only used on special occasions. Today we will learn about a special perfume and spices that some very wise people gave to Baby Jesus. These gifts were a way to worship Jesus. We will learn that we too can worship Jesus by giving gifts to Him.”

Opening Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, You have shown to us how special You Son Jesus is by putting a star in the sky just so the wise men could find him. Help us to worship and honor Jesus just like they did. The wise men gave generous gifts to Him. Help us to give generously to you by showing love, goodness, patience and kindness to others. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

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Memory Verse: Our memory verse is Psalms 95:6 "Come, let us bow down in worship, Let kneel before the Lord our Maker.” Lesson Video: http://youtu.be/MZnUXFiJKNo In a faraway land to the East lived some very Wise Men who studied astronomy. They saw a new large bright star in the night sky. It was a special new star that God had created to celebrate the birth of His Son Jesus. They were so impressed with this new star that they wanted to find out more about it! These men probably came from the Media Persia Empire which was the land where the Old Testament prophet Daniel had lived. The wise men may have read some of Daniel's writings which told about a special King from Judea that God would send. The wise men were convinced this was the ruler God had promised. They packed gifts for the new King and set off to find Him. They followed the new bright star for many months and it led them towards the land of the Jews and the city of Jerusalem where King Herod lived. This was a very long journey that took over a year and was filled with many dangers. But they believed the promise of a King and wanted to worship Him! They probably had to travel by camel and cross many miles of hot, dry desert. When the Wise Men finally got to Jerusalem, they asked, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him." When Herod heard the wise men's request, he became very upset! "A new king! I am the King of the Jews!" King Herod did NOT want anyone taking his place. So he called together the chief priests and teachers of the law to ask them where the promised Messiah was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied. "Many years ago the prophet Micah wrote, "You, Bethlehem, are not the least of the leaders of Judah. Out of you will come a King who will lead my people the Jews." "Bethlehem!" King Herod must have said to himself. "Why that is one of the smallest cities in the whole country! It should not be too hard to find one tiny child in Bethlehem!" Then Herod had a meeting with the Wise Men to find out what time the star had been seen. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go find the young Child. When you find Him, let me know so I can go and worship Him also." Now Herod did not really want to worship Jesus. He was secretly planning to kill the new King of the Jews. He was just using the wise men to show him where the new baby Jesus was so he could get rid of him! The Wise Men set off and were overjoyed when they saw the star. It led them to Bethlehem and to the place where Mary, Joseph, and the young child Jesus were staying. After entering the house, the Wise Men saw young Jesus with his mother Mary. They bowed before Jesus and worshipped Him. They opened their bags of riches and gave Him gifts of gold and perfume and spices (frankincense and myrrh.) These were very expensive gifts and had special meaning. Gold is used to make crowns and coins. This gift showed that they believed Jesus was the King of Kings. Frankincense is used to burn as incense and was the symbol of prayer. Jesus had come from heaven. Myrrh were used to make an anointing oil to prepare a body for burial. These gifts showed that the wise men knew that this king Jesus was the Promised One who came to die in order to bring salvation to all men. The wise men were glad when they had found Jesus! They planned to go back to King Herod the next day and tell him the wonderful news! But that night, in a dream God warned them about King Herod. God told the wise men not to go back to Herod. So they went back to their own country by another road.

http://youtu.be/MZnUXFiJKNo

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When the Wise Men had gone, an angel of the Lord gave Joseph a message in a dream; "Get up. Take the young child and His mother to the country of Egypt. Go as fast as you can! Stay there until you hear from Me. Herod is going to look for the young child to kill Him." During the night Joseph got up and left Bethlehem with Mary and the young child Jesus. They headed south on the long trip to Egypt. This was a long difficult trip but God had provided the means to make this trip with the wise men's gifts. When Herod found out the Wise Men had returned without reporting to him, he was furious. He sent men to kill all the young boys two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. He wanted to be sure that Jesus would not become king and take his place! But King Herod's soldiers never found Jesus. God had protected His own Son Jesus! After Herod died, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream while he was in Egypt. He said, "Get up. Take the young child and His mother and go back into the land of the Jews. Those who tried to kill the young child are dead." When they returned to their land, God told Joseph in a dream to go to the area of Galilee and live in the town of Nazareth. It had been prophesied many years before that the Savior would be called a Nazarene. The wise men were so glad to finally meet this new King they had traveled so far to see! The first thing they wanted to do was worship Jesus to show how much they loved Him! They were grateful that God had sent this new King to earth as He had promised. We too can be ready to seek Jesus and give Him the best of all we are and have. People talk a lot about honoring Jesus during the Christmas season but it is important to remember that we can worship and honor Jesus not just at Christmas but all year long. One way to show love to Jesus is by loving others. For example we can help our parents without complaining. We can be patient with friends or younger brothers and sisters. When we treat others in loving ways, giving them the gift of respect or patience, we are honoring Jesus. We can be kind by sharing and talking with someone. Helping other kids understand hard math problems or read hard words is honoring Jesus, too. Let's be wise and worship the Lord this week! Remember wise men still seek Jesus!

Review Questions: “Wise Men Worship” Preparation: You will need a rhythm instrument such as a drum, claves, sticks, or blocks, a shaker, castanet, rattle, tambourine, or cymbal. Procedure: Have children sit in a circle. Give one child the rhythm instrument. As you play "We Three Kings" or "How Far is it to Bethlehem?" or "God's Own People" on the DVD, child plays the instrument once and then passes it to the next child. Continue around the circle. After several moments, stop the music. Child holding the instrument answers one of the questions below or chooses another child to answer. Repeat several times.

1. What did God put in the sky to help the wise men find Jesus? (God put a star in the sky.) 2. What place did the wise men come from? (The wise men came from the East probably from

the Media Persia Empire.) 3. How long did the wise men travel to worship Jesus? (The wise men traveled for many

months—perhaps 6 to 18 months.) 4. Who did the wise men go to see first? (The wise men first went to see King Herod in

Jerusalem.) 5. Why were the wise men and King Herod surprised to find out that Bethlehem was the town

where Jesus was born? (Bethlehem was a very small town and not very important.) 6. What lie did King Herod tell the wise men? (King Herod told the wise men that he wanted to

worship Jesus but he really wanted to find out where Jesus was so he could kill him.)

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7. What did King Herod do when he learned about Jesus? (When King Herod realized that the wise men were not going to return and tell him where the baby Jesus was, he got very angry and ordered that all the baby boys two years and younger in Bethlehem would be killed.)

8. What did the wise men do when they learned about Jesus? (The wise men left Jerusalem and went to Bethlehem to worship Jesus.)

9. Why did Joseph and Mary pack their belongings to go to Egypt? (God send an angel to warn Joseph in a dream that the baby Jesus was in danger. God told Joseph to leave immediately and go to Egypt.)

10. What did the wise men do to show they loved Jesus? (The wise men worshipped Him by giving Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.)

11. Were there three wise men? (The tradition of three Wise men comes from the fact that there were three gifts but we do not know exactly how many wise men there were.)

12. Why did the wise men go home without telling King Herod where Jesus was? (God warned them in a dream not to go back to King Herod.)

13. Why should we worship Jesus? (We should worship Jesus because He is the Son of God. He loves us. He died to take the punishment for our sins.)

14. What can you do to show that you love Jesus? (We worship Jesus by singing songs to praise Him, by thanking Him for His love, and by obeying Him.)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: “Peppermint Toss” Our memory verse is Psalms 95:6 "Come, let us bow down in worship, Let kneel before the Lord our Maker.” We can show how much we love Jesus too, by worshipping Him with glad hearts! Have children locate the verse in the Bible. Read the verse aloud with children several times. Preparation: You will need 30 paper plates, and red and blue permanent markers. You will also need red peppermint candies. Procedure: Using a red marker, write each word or phrase of the verse on a paper plate. Make a second set of plates using a blue marker for the second team. Mix up each set of plates keeping the red plates in one group and the blue plates in another. Place each set of plates in rows on the floor. Divide your group into two teams. Students line up their team about 5 feet from the plates. Each student takes a turn to try to toss a wrapped peppermint onto one of the plates in their set. When a peppermint lands on a plate that team gets to pick up that plate. When all the plates from a group have been collected, the team puts the verse words in order. The winning team is the one who gets all their plates in the correct order of the verse first.

Group Learning Activity: Wise Men Charades Preparation: Print various actions of people from the Bible story on separate strips of paper and put the strips into a bag or box. Examples of actions to print:

Wise men following the star in the sky.

Wise men asking King Herod where the new king was.

King Herod pointing toward Bethlehem.

Wise men kneeling at the feet of Baby Jesus.

Angel speaking to Joseph in a dream

Joseph and Mary packing their belongings to go on the trip to Egypt.

Say: “In this lesson we learned about the coming of the Wise Men to worship Jesus. We are going to take turns acting out parts of the story to help us remember what happened when Jesus was born.” Procedure: Volunteers take turns choosing a strip from the bag and pantomiming the action indicated on the strip. (The teacher may need to help read words on the strip.) Child who correctly guesses the

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action takes his or her turn. The child may also choose a volunteer to draw another strip and pantomime an action. Optional: Have students wear Bible time costumes as they act out the entire story. Narrate the story

for children as needed.

Group Learning Activity: “Star Walk” (Grades K-3) Purpose: To play a game similar to musical chairs that will help students remember the lesson about the wise men following the star to find Jesus. Preparation: You will need yellow construction paper or sheets of yellow craft foam and a black permanent marker. (The yellow foam is much sturdier to play the game.) Draw a star on each sheet of yellow paper or foam making one paper for each child. Make one of the stars larger than all the others. Say: "In our lesson today, the wise men followed a star to find Jesus. The wise men thanked and praised God for Jesus. Let's play a game and tell what happened in our story today." Procedure: Place paper on the floor in a large circle. At your signal children walk around the papers. When you signal stop, each child stands by one of the papers. The child standing by the large paper tells the name of a person or an item from today's Bible story. The class can help the child name the person or item. Examples: People in story would be wise men, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Angel, King Herod, chief priests and teachers of the Law. You can change to tell an item and how it was used. Examples:. star--used to guide the wise men; gold--gift for Jesus that showed He was a King; frankincense--gift of incense to show Jesus was from heaven or prayer; myrrh--gift of perfume to show that Jesus would die on the cross; etc. Repeat the game until all children have had an opportunity to stand by the large star and name a person or item. Optional Activity: Print the letters w, o, r, s, h, i, p on the back of the small stars. Guide the children around the room ending at the first selected star. Remove the letter and allow the leader to hold it. Select a new leader. Repeat until each letter is gathered. Then place the letters in order to spell “worship”. Say: “This word is worship. The wise men followed the star until they found Jesus. When they went into the house, they worshipped Jesus. Worship is “to praise, thank, love, and obey God.” We can worship anywhere.” Close with prayer, thanking God for sending Jesus to be our Savior.

Group Learning Activity: “Follow the Light” (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need a flashlight or a very bright directional light such as a spotlight. Say: "The wise men followed the unusual star to the place where Jesus us. Today we are going to see if you can follow the star light!" Procedure: If possible dim the lights where you teach in the room. Turn on the flash light as far from the students as you can. Shine the light on one student, and ask the kids who the light is shining on. The further away you are, the harder it will be to tell who you have chosen. After the kids guess,

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or say they can't tell, move the flashlight closer to the chosen student. Ask if they can guess. Keep moving closer until the light is right over the students. Say: "More than likely the wise men were experts in studying the stars. This must have been a very unusual star in order for the men to want to follow it. And it must have positioned itself close enough to earth so that they could travel many, many miles right to the home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Say: “It is very fitting that God used a star, a great light to guide men to Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus is the Light of the world. Whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness. (John 8:12). Matthew 5: 14 says that those in Jesus are also light in the dark world. When we tell others about Jesus we are like stars in a dark night sky. (Philippians 2:15-16)”

Group Learning Activity: "Wise Men Visit Jesus" (Grades 3-5) Preparation: You will need to make 14 large yellow star shapes from yellow construction paper. Using a black colored marker write one of the following words on each star (1 word per star): Bethlehem, King Herod, Wise Men, Worship Him, Messiah, Prophet, Go and Search, Report back, Stopped Over, Gifts, Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh, and Dream. Procedure: Distribute the stars to each of the students in your class. Each child will need a Bible. Have children sit a table or in front of a chart stand. Say: “In our lesson today a star played a very important role. We are going to use these stars with words to help us in today’s Bible study. Open your Bible to Matthew 2. We are going to read these verses aloud. When we come to the word printed on your star you are to lay it on the table (or bring to the front and tape it to the chart paper.)” Select volunteers to read the following scriptures. Explain each star word as it is laid on the table or placed on the chart.

Matthew 2:1-2 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Bethlehem--the small town in which Jesus was born King Herod--the ruling king of Judea. Wise Men or Magi--the men from the East who wanted to worship Jesus. They probably knew about the scripture that foretold the Child that was to come would save mankind from sin and death Worship Him—what the wise men desired to do to Jesus.

Matthew 2: 3-6 “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Messiah—a name for Jesus meaning “Christ” Prophet—a person who spoke for God. This is a reference to Micah 5:2 who foretold where Jesus would be born.

Matthew 2: 7-8 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for

the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

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Go and search—Herod’s instructions to the wise men was to find Jesus. Herod, the chief priests, and the scribes should have anticipated the birth themselves! Report back—Herod wanted the men to return and give him the location of where Jesus was living. He planned to kill all the male children under the age of 2 because of what he learned from the wise men.

Matthew 2: 9-12 “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

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When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

12 And having been

warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

Stopped Over—The star directed the wise men to the exact house where Jesus lived. This was no ordinary star but one that God created especially for the birth of His Son

Gifts—something given to someone to honor them. These gifts were financially helpful to Jesus and His family in their flight to Egypt to avoid the wrath of King Herod.

Gold—a rich, precious metal that only a person of wealth owned; often only kings had gold; giving gold to Jesus showed that they looked at Jesus as a coming King

Frankincense—a sweet smelling fragrance that is used in worship. It is a symbol of holiness and righteousness and was showing that Jesus would live a perfect life and give Himself up as a sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.

Myrrh—a spice used to embalm or help suffering people. It showed that the wise men believed that Jesus would suffer greatly on the cross for all who would believe in Him.

Dream—how God spoke directly to the wise men. The wise men were more concerned about obeying God than they were King Herod. They traveled by faith!

Say: “The wise men left their homes in the East to travel to Bethlehem to worship Jesus. The wise men knew there was something special about the star, but even more they knew that there was something special about the King they wanted to find.”

Say: “What do you believe about Jesus? Is Jesus special to you? Why? Would you be willing to travel a long distance, like the wise men to find Jesus? The wise men worshipped Jesus? How can we worship Jesus?”

Invite children to believe in Jesus as their Savior if they have not already. Close in prayer thanking God for His salvation. Thank God for the freedom to worship Him. Pray for individuals around the world who are arrested or even killed because they worship Jesus.

Have students record what they have learned in their spiritual journals.

Group Learning Game: “Star Toss” (Grades K-1) Preparation: Cut several big stars out of cardboard. Cut a large circle out of the middle of each star. Say: Today in our lesson, God was with the wise men. He put a star in the sky to help them find Jesus. Let's play a game to remind us of this story." Procedure: Turn a chair upside down. Children take turns tossing the star rings over the legs of the chair. Children may stand as close to the chair as needed in order to place rings over the legs.

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Group Learning Activity: “Gift Relay” (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need 3 paper slips, 3 boxes, gift wrap, bag, scissors, 3 game markers (chairs, boxes, or cones), and tape. Procedure: Print the memory verse on each slip of paper. Place slip of paper in each box. Wrap each box with the gift wrap. Place game markers at the opposite end of the room from the gifts. You will also need to print the following instructions on slips of paper and place in a bag: Hop on one foot. Pretend to ride a horse. Pretend to fly like an airplane. Flap your hands like bird wings. Snap your fingers. Walk backward. Say: “What did the wise men follow to find Jesus? (star) After they followed the star they, worshipped Jesus. How did they worship Jesus? (They brought gifts.) The wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Our game today is a relay game with gift boxes. After our game we will unwrap the boxes to see what is inside them.” First Relay: Place the three boxes at the starting point. Instruct each child to stay behind a particular box so there are three teams. Tell students that you will pull an action slip out of the bag. The first three people will carry the box in that way to the marker and then return the box to the next person on your team. Continue until all the children on the team have had a turn. Second Relay: Divide the students into two teams. Give a box to the first person in line. Lead the children to pass the gift over their heads and through their legs. The last child in line will run the gift to the front of the line and start again. Play as time permits. Have children sit in a circle. Pass the gifts around until you say “stop.” Have students with the boxes open them and read the memory verse. Psalms 95:6 "Come, let us bow down in worship, Let kneel before the Lord our Maker.” Optional: Bring to class some objects that represent the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus. These might be something gold colored, something that smells like incense (potpourri spray, and a spice like cinnamon or nutmeg. Let the children look at the objects, smell them, and imagine what it was like for the wise men to bring these gifts to Jesus.

Craft Learning Activity: “Star Gazers” (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need paper towel tubes (1 per child) black construction paper or sticky Contac paper with glitter or stars on it. You will also need scissor, glue, paper clips, and washable colored markers. Say: The wise men saw the star in the sky. They had read in the ancient books of prophecy about the coming of a special baby. The star was a sign that the baby had been born. They decided to follow the star and find the new born child. Today we are going to make star gazers that will help us understand how the wise men followed the star to find Jesus. We can use these to help us look at the stars and learn about them.” Procedure: Distribute the supplies. Help each child cover their paper towel tube with black construction paper or Contac paper. You can also have the children use colored markers to decorate the tube. Star stickers or glitter is another optional decoration. Have students cut out a small black circle from the black construction paper. Use the paper clip to poke a few holes into the black paper. Assist students in taping the black circle to the end of the decorated tube.

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Say: “This tube is called a star gazer. If you hold it up to the light and look through the end you will see points of light that look like stars. Let’s hold up our star gazer and see if we can see some stars! (Allow children to experiment with their star gazer.) The wise men followed a star to find Jesus. They worshipped Him. We can worship Jesus at church and at home. We can worship God anywhere.” Say: “What facts do you know about stars? (Allow children to respond.) The sun is a star. It is the closest star to the earth. A star is “a giant ball of burning gas.” Stars come in different sizes. Giant stars are much bigger than the sun and dwarf stars are much smaller than the sun. Sometimes stars explode. These are called novas and supernovas.” For older students you can print out the constellation cards below and distribute them to study and learn facts about the stars. Encourage them to study the stars with their parents at home. Close with prayer.

Craft Learning Activity: Mobile "Showing Jesus' Love to Others" (Grades 2-5) Purpose: Children will make a mobile to ways to "Show Jesus' Love to Others." Preparation: You will need a wire hangar, scissors, scotch tape, and brightly colored drawing or construction paper for each child. Say: "In this lesson we learned that the wise men understood that Jesus was the Promised One. They showed love to Him by bringing him gifts when they came to worship Him. One of the best ways we can show love to Jesus is to show love to others. Let's fill this mobile with words and pictures describing people and situations in which we can show Jesus' love." Procedure: Distribute materials to students. Students are to write descriptions or draw small pictures of people and ways they can show Jesus' love to people. Students can cut around pictures to make a variety of shapes and then use the paper hole-puncher to make holes at the tops and bottoms of their paper shapes. Students tie string through the holes to attach their papers to the mobile. Students continue adding shapes until mobile reaches the follow. Use the following questions to guide students to think what to write on their mobile: Say: "What words could you use to describe God? (He is forgiving and good and loves everyone.) How do you think a person who believes that God is loving and kind would show his love for Jesus? What is the most important choice a person can make? (To believe in Jesus and to accept God's gift of salvation) Who are some people who might need Jesus' love at home? (parents, siblings) at school? (teachers and other students) at soccer practice? (your team and the opposing team). What are some times that kids your age can choose to show love to Jesus? Why do you think that people sometimes choose not to show love to Jesus?"

Craft Learning Activity: “Sand Art Shapes” (Grades K-3) Preparation: You will need heavy weight paper, shirt boxes, and various colors of sand, glue, cotton swabs, scissors, tarp, table and a broom. You will also need to print the “Shapes” on heavyweight card stock. Each child will need several shapes. Cut out the shapes on the dotted lines. Place tarp under the table. Place colored sand in salt and pepper shakers. How to make colored sand: You will need play sand, powdered tempera paint, and Ziploc bags. Put 5 heaping spoonfuls of slightly damp sand into the bag. (Damp sand takes on the color better than dry sand.) Add 1 spoonful of powder paint. Seal the Ziploc bag and shake like crazy to thoroughly mix the

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sand and powder paint. You’ll see the sand turn a fantastic color. Now just leave your bag open or spread the sand out on a try to dry for a few hours. When the sand is wet the color may transfer to your hands. Once its dry it’s ready for the sand art picture. Say: “The wise men saw a star in the sky. They knew that the star told about a special baby. The wise men followed the star to Bethlehem. What happened when they arrived? (Review the Bible story.) The wise men traveled a long way to worship Jesus. They did not travel in cars or airplanes. They traveled by camel or other animals probably over sand. Today we are going to make some art shapes that use sand from our story.” Procedure: Place the materials on the table. Ask the students to choose a shape and place it in their box. Use the cotton swabs to place the glue on the shapes. Wipe the glue across the shape until all areas of the shape are covered. Students are to then carefully sprinkle the san onto the glued space. The glue will hold some of the sand in place. The background shapes lines will show through the sand. Lift your paper and gently shake the loose sand into the box. Assist students as needed. Encourage the students to use blank sheets of paper and make their own drawings or shapes. Say: “The wise men worshipped Jesus. We can worship Jesus, too.” Clean the area with children’s help. Close with prayer, thanking God for sending Jesus. Optional: You can let the children play with the remaining sand in their shirt boxes for a few minutes. Ask them to pretend to be the wise men traveling in the sand. Make camels out of craft sticks and chenille items or provide plastic desert animals. Ask the children what they think the wise men talked about as they journeyed across the desert to worship Jesus.

Craft Learning Activity: “Star Wand” (Grades 2-5) Preparation: Print the template of the two yellow stars below on heavy cardstock. Each child will need one copy of the template. Procedure: Give one sheet of two stars to each child. Each child cuts all pieces and slides the star pieces together to form a star. Tape each child's star to secure it. Give each child four 16" lengths of curling ribbon. Tie all four ribbons together to hang from the bottom of the star. Tape the curling ribbon to the bottom of one of the star tips. Trip ribbon ends so that each is a different length. These streamers are like "star rays." Attach the star to the end of a 12" dowel rod. The child can whirl the star through the air like a sparkler! Say: "Why did the wise men want to worship Jesus? (He was the new King God has promised to send.) "Why do you think King Herod did not want to worship Jesus? (He wanted to be the ONLY king.) What are some reasons to worship Jesus? (He is God's son. He loves us. He died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins.)" Say: “Why do you think the wise men traveled so far to find Jesus? What do you think the wise men talked about as they traveled home? How do you think the wise men’s lives were different after they met Jesus? The wise men were committed to finding Jesus. They gave their time, energy, and property to worship Him. In what ways can we worship Jesus? (We can use our words as we speak to other. We can sing songs of worship. We can give to meet other

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people’s needs. We can be kind to others. We can read the Bible.) Why is worshipping Jesus so important? (God is pleased. We are obeying Him. God gives us joy as we worship Him.) Review the memory verse. Psalms 95:6 "Come, let us bow down in worship, Let kneel before the Lord our Maker.”

Craft Learning Activity: “Camel Silhouette” (Grades 3-5) Preparation: You will need to print the camel silhouette template below on heavy cardstock. Say: “In this lesson we learned that the wise men traveled from a long distance from the east to worship Jesus. We do not know exactly how the travelers came but a common way of traveling during the time of Jesus was to use camels. Camels were especially helpful when traveling across the desert. Since the wise men would have come across the desert they may have used camels. Today we are going to make a silhouette picture of camels.” Procedure: Have students cut out the center of the camel without cutting the edge of the camel. Basically you have to start with a hole in the middle of the paper and trim out the image. You will discard the image of the camel. You will be left with a piece of white paper that has a camel hole in it. Trim the white paper to the outside square line. Mount the white paper with the cutout onto a piece of black construction paper so it looks like you have a black camel with a black border. Note: Portraits and scenes cut from paper date back to ancient Greece. The word silhouette comes from the Frenchman Etienne de Silhouette who was famous for his free cut portraits. In England in the days of Queen Victoria, these same types of pictures were called shades or shadow portraits.

Craft Learning Activity: “Three Kings Banner” (Grades 3-5) Preparation: Each child will need a rectangle 20” X 30” of burlap, a 25” dowel rod, sewing darning needles, yarn thread, colored felt, googly eyes, ribbon, rick rack, black yearn and other small trims such as buttons or fringe. Procedure: Have students cut a rectangle approximately 20" X 30" from the burlap. Fray the edges. Burlap has an uneven weave but that is just part of the rustic charm. Trim fringe so it is even. Have students fold the burlap to make a pocket at the top to hold the stick or dowel rod. Use a sewing machine to sew this pocket securely. Or you can have students use the darning needle and yarn to sew the pocket. Have students take 3 different colors of felt (green, blue, purple or red) and cut out tall skinny triangles to make the bodies of the three magi. Make the three triangles of different heights and different colors. Cut round circles of flesh toned felt for the heads. Use tacky glue (white glue doesn't stick well) and attach the felt triangles and heads to make the three wise men. Students can line the wise men up by height or put the shortest one in the center. Glue wise men into place. Cut out a large star from yellow felt. Students can also cut out a crown or two for the wise men. Add some trim to the front of the triangles. Students can use ribbon or rickrack. Students also can add some hair with brown or black yarn. A snowflake cut in half also makes a good crown. Add curly hair and a beard if you wish. Glue on some goggly eyes, little pompoms for a nose or use a small piece of felt, a button or bead. Add some felt strips for arms. Use little trims or buttons for the gifts for each King.

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Finally add the dowel stick to make a hanger with string or ribbon attached. See photo for finished product.

Craft Learning Activity: “Three Kings Toilet Paper Rolls” (Grades 2-5) Preparation: You will need a set of three toilet paper rolls for each child, brown construction paper, hot glue gun, black markers, shiny gold paper, gold rope braid, and various fabric samples of silk, velvet, gold satin, etc. Prepare a sample for students to see the finished project. Procedure: Have children make a set of three kings from toilet paper rolls. Distribute all the materials to students. Give each child a set of three toilet paper rolls. Have them cover the end of the roll with brown construction paper cut in a 1 1/2" wide strip and long enough to wrap around the tube with enough overlap to glue or tape easily to the toilet paper tube. Using black markers draw a face on the brown construction paper. Draw the face on the side opposite the tape. You might want to draw first in pencil and go over it with black marker. To make the bottom half of the king use some luxurious fabric such as velvet or silk in gold, blue, purple or even shiny white satin. Have children make the fabric selection for each of their kings. Adults should hot glue the fabric to the toilet paper tube for them. Then use gold rope for belt. You can then add additional decoration such as thin gold ribbon, thick gold rope, or even fluffy feathery material. The crowns can be cut from shiny gold paper. Coordinating the color of the robe with the crown gives a nice effect. Craft Learning Activity: “Coupon Book” Preparation: You will need to print multiple copies of the coupon template below for students in your class. Say: “In this lesson the wise men showed their love to Jesus by giving Him very rich gifts. We too can show our love to God by loving others. I am going to give you a blank coupon. You are to think of a way that you can show love and honor to others by giving them a gift of service.’ Have students complete the following coupon and give it to someone they wish to show love to this week. For example the coupon could say: This coupon is good for ....taking out the trash; cleaning my room; washing the dishes; making my bed; cleaning out the car; walking the dog, etc. Give students multiple copies of the blank coupons if they wish.”

Snack Learning Activity: Decorate Star Shaped Cookies Preparation: You will need one or two star shaped cookies for each child; frosting in small containers, candy sprinkles plastic knives, napkins, and paper plates. Procedure: Children can frost and add sprinkles to their cookies. Say: "In our lesson today God put a bright star in the sky to lead the wise men from a faraway place to Jerusalem. God took care of them on their trip and showed them where to find Jesus. God is also with us wherever we go. Today we are going to decorate some star shaped cookies to remember their journey to worship Jesus and how God also guides us.”

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Life Application Challenge: “Giving Our Heart” Preparation: You will need to print the heart pattern below one for each child on red copy paper. You will also need scissors, colored marking pens, glue, glitter, stickers, etc. Procedure: Distribute the art supplies and have each child cut out and decorate a paper heart. While they work you can sing the song “Into My Heart” or similar song of dedication and joy to praise the Savior. Read the poem message on the heart to the class. Say: “The wide men were wealthy men. They brought expensive gifts to Jesus. But all that they brought was not enough. The shepherds were very poor. They thought they didn’t have anything to bring to Jesus but they did. It’s something that everyone can give no matter how rich or poor they are. Do you know what that is? Listen to the poem:

What shall I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I’d give Him a lamb. If I were a wise man, I’d do my part. Yet what can I give Him? I’ll give Him my heart.

Say: “We can give our hearts to Jesus by believing and trusting in Him as our Savior. We can pray to Him and thank Him for coming to earth and living a perfect life so He could die on the cross for our sin. We can praise Him for His resurrection from the dead and the promise to give us eternal life with Him in heaven. Say: “After we have received the gift of salvation that Jesus offers to us we can tell others about Jesus. This is an important way to worship Him. We can also bring out gifts of money to support our church and missionaries. We can be obedient to our parents and teachers and use out time and talents to help others.” “Do you want to give Jesus the gift of your heart? He would love your worship in that way.” (Allow students to respond to the gospel message. You can ask children to give themselves to Jesus by counseling with each one and leading them in a short prayer of commitment and dedication.)

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Wise Men Worship Jesus

Psalm 95:6 Come let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

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Print these stars on heavy cardstock. Cut on solid lines. Slide stars together at the slits to form three dimensional stars.

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Shapes

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Constellation Cards

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Unit 1 Birth of Christ--Lesson 5 NT1.5 Wise Men Worship ... · land to come and worship Him. Our...

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Transcript of Unit 1 Birth of Christ--Lesson 5 NT1.5 Wise Men Worship ... · land to come and worship Him. Our...