Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Object Lesson: Merry Christmas
Merry
Christmas
SCRIPTURES: Luke 2:10-11
OBJECTS: Wrapped present,
Christmas ornament, Christmas music, Christmas cookie (enough to share if you
wish), a baby Jesus from a nativity set, and a Bible.
MAIN POINT: The best part
of Christmas is Christ coming to save the world.
(Start playing Christmas music as you enter)
Merry Christmas everyone! Don’t you love
Christmas? Everyone loves
Christmas. It’s the most wonderful time
of the year. Everyone seems to get along
better, everyone walks around humming Christmas carols. (display the ornament) Some people’s favorite
part of the season is the decorations.
Who doesn’t like hanging ornaments on the tree, stringing lights on the
gutters, and putting the wreath on the door.
Some people just drive around the neighborhoods for the sole reason of
looking at the lights and decorations people put up. (display the cookie and distribute to kids if
you wish) Then there’s the food.
Christmas eating is some of the best all year. Deserts rule the season with candy canes,
cookies, fruitcakes, and pies. How many
of you have a favorite Christmas treat?
But of course, everyone knows the real favorite part of Christmas. You’ve probably already told your wish list
to your grandparents. (display the
present) It’s the presents! Waking up
Christmas morning to see all those packages under the tree is one of life’s
greatest joys. All the pretty wrapping
and bows enticing you to tear them apart and litter the living room rug. Everyone loves opening that new game, outfit,
or toy and tearing apart the package to use it the first time. Then you get to see your family’s face light
up as they open the presents you got them.
What fun.
All these things are the favorite parts of
Christmas that make it such a wonderful time of year. These are the things that take up most of our
time, our attention, and even our love.
You spend a month Decorating, shopping, baking, and singing. There’s nothing wrong at all with these
joy-filled traditions. But, there is one
more part to Christmas that seems to take a back seat to all the fun
traditions. There’s one more part that
we kind of try to remember or fit in somewhere between the lights and wrapping,
but it never gets our full attention.
(display baby Jesus).
I think you know what this is. It’s a baby Jesus from a nativity set. Presents, decorations, music, and food are
wonderful. But Jesus should be the first
thing we celebrate, not the last. Jesus
should be the most important thing we remember, not the presents. Jesus is the best, most wonderful, most
joyful news this world has ever gotten.
God, sent to earth to save the world.
(Read Luke 2:10-11) Did you hear
that? For ALL PEOPLE. The people of the world were dying in their
own sins and God sent us a rescuer, a hero, to die in our place. No part of Christmas traditions can ever be
better than this news.
We honestly
don’t know when Jesus was born. It
probably wasn’t in December. But this is
the day we’ve chosen to celebrate the birth of our Lord. This is the day we set aside to remember his
miracle. Let Jesus be the focus of your
decorations. Celebrate Jesus in your
meals and treats. Give and receive gifts
with the love of Jesus. Sing songs that
glorify Jesus. And most of all, like the
angels, spread the good news that Jesus came for all people as the savior to
rescue us from our sins. That’s the best
part of Christmas.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Teacher Tips 10 "Make It Spiritual"
Lots of what we teach the kids is not from the "stage" but in our conversations "off stage." By that I mean, lessons taught when you're not in presentation mode are sometimes the most important. So make it spiritual. When a kid comes to you feeling sick, don't just get them water; heal them in the name of Jesus. When a child tells you of trouble they're having with a bully, don't just give them advice; ask them how they can love and minister to the bully. When they are misbehaving, don't just correct the behavior; direct them toward a desire to please God with their decisions. Every part of life is spiritual. We need to remember that. We especially need to remember that when talking with the kids of stage.
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