VERSES: Luke 2:1-20
MEMORY VERSE: Luke 2:7 "And she brought her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for him in the inn."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review the first four books of the New Testament. This is the foundation of all of the New Testament books. Review until you think all of the students know them.
PRAYER: Thank God for sending Jesus to save us from our sins.
SPECIAL SONG: No, Not One (see June - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #6 on this blog. Click on orange circle for tune.)
VISUAL AID: Large Activity (see below)
LESSON POINTS:
- About the time that Jesus was to be born, all the people were required by the Caesar or the king to go from wherever they were living to their own city to be registered or taxed. Because Joseph was a good man, he obeyed the laws, and went out of the city of Nazareth where they had been living to a small town called Bethlehem which was Joseph's home town. Joseph went to Bethlehem, which was also called the City of David, because Joseph was from the house of David. Joseph could trace his family's lineage all the way back to Abraham (Matthew 1)! Mary also went with Joseph to Bethlehem because she was his wife and was also going to have a baby boy who was God's Son. While they were in Bethlehem, Mary had the baby. Because there were so many people in Bethlehem due many people coming to be taxed, there was no room in the inn or motel for Joseph and Mary, so they had nowhere to stay, but where the animals like cows and sheep were kept. Mary wrapped the baby up in what they called swaddling clothes or cloth and laid him in a manger.
- In the meantime, in that same country, there were shepherds in the fields who were watching over and taking care of their sheep at night. While they were out in the field, an angel appeared. The Bible says that the glory of the Lord shone all around the shepherds and the shepherds were afraid. The angel told the shepherds not to be afraid because the angel was bringing good news, full of joy, to them and to all people. A Savior, which was Christ the Lord, was born in Bethlehem and the angel said the shepherds could find him wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Suddenly, there was a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and goodwill towards men!" And then the angels went away into the heavens. The shepherds turned to each other and said, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see if this really happened." So, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found the baby lying in the manger just like the angel had said. When they had seen that what the angel said was true, they went and told everyone about the baby. All the people who heard the news thought about what had happened, but Mary kept all those things in her heart. Finally, the shepherds went back to their field, but as they went, they praised God for all the things that they had heard and seen.
- Luke, the writer of the book of 'Luke,' was a doctor (Colossians 4:14) and had perfect understanding of all the things he was going to write about from the very beginning. He wrote down everything that he was inspired to write about Jesus' life in an orderly way and addressed the book to his friend, Theophilus (Luke 1:3). He wanted his friend to know the record with certainty (Luke 1:4). Many years later, we, too, know in detail about Jesus' life through the inspiration of this Gospel written by Luke.
Materials needed: 9" x 12" dark brown construction paper, 2" x 12" strip of tan construction paper, 3" x 3" dark brown construction paper, 5" x 7" tan construction paper, scraps of brown and white paper, glue, scissors, marker, crayons.
- Hand out dark brown paper.
- Fold shorter edges of dark brown paper in 2 inches (two sides). (See picture)
- With black crayon or marker, draw lines to resemble boards on dark brown paper. (See picture).
- Unfold edges.
- Hand out 2" x 12" strip of tan paper.
- Without cutting into two pieces, cut snips along one side of paper to resemble hay, leaving 1/4" all along the opposite edge uncut.
- Crumple hay slightly.
- Fold back 1/4" uncut edge.
- Glue 'hay' to top inside panel of dark brown paper. (See picture).
- Hand out 5" x 7" tan paper.
- Draw Joseph and Mary.
- Color Joseph and Mary apart from each other. (See picture.)
- Glue Joseph and Mary on bottom of inside edge of panel of dark brown paper. (See picture.)
- Hand out 3"3 dark brown paper.
- Fold one edge 1/2". This is the manger.
- Glue largest side of folded 3" x 3" dark brown paper to bottom of large dark brown paper in the middle of Joseph and Mary.
- Glue left over 'hay' to top edge of manger and inside the manger.
- Hand out scraps of brown and white paper.
- Draw two sheep and one cow.
- Glue to outer brown panels. (See picture).
- On leftover white scrap paper, write "Jesus Is Born!" and "Luke 2:1-12".
- Glue white paper to middle dark brown paper. (See picture).
- Add eyes ears to sheep and cow.
- Cut out a small white rectangle. This is Jesus' swaddling clothes.
- Glue in the middle of the manger.
- Cut out a small tan circle. This is Jesus' head.
- Glue head to swaddling clothes.
- Draw face on baby.
- Make dark brown paper 'stand up' on a table. Crease folds more if it falls down.