Lesson Objective:
The children will learn the Christmas story from a new viewpoint.
Scripture:
Luke 2
Arrival:
As the children arrive, sing Christmas carols with them, even if you are teaching the story at another time of year.
Prayer:
Thank the Lord for the greatest gift of all – His Son Jesus.
Lesson:
(Show the children a picture or toy representing a lamb. This will be the main character of the story)
Boys and Girls, this little lamb’s name is Isaiah, and a long time ago he saw something amazing. It all started one night while Isaiah and his family were resting on the side of a hill. The sun had just set and the shepherds were reclining to enjoy a night of sleep while watching their sheep.
Suddenly, the entire sky lit up! It looked like daytime, only it was the middle of the day. The shepherds looked up in wonder and fear. Isaiah here ran behind his mom. He was scared! Nothing like this had ever happened to him.
Isaiah looked up in the sky and saw a man, or what looked like a man. This man was different, though. He wore a long white robe and glowed like the sun. Do you know what he was? An angel, that’s right!
The angel said, “Fear not, for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy!”
“For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord”
“And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in manger.”
As soon as the angel said that, the sky exploded with light. Thousands of angels were in the sky, and they started to sing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.”
Isaiah was excited! He didn’t understand everything the angels had said, but he knew this was one special baby. Suddenly, one of the shepherds reached down and picked him up. “There, there little lamb,” said the shepherd, “we’re taking you to meet a king! We can’t welcome a new baby into the world without a present, now can we?”
Isaiah was a little frightened, but he remembered what the angel had said, “Fear not!” He expected them to head to a castle to meet a king, but he was very surprised when they headed down the path to the shepherd’s town. Bethlehem was a simple farming village, not a capital city. How would they find a king there?
The shepherds raced to Bethlehem, which was the city of David. They went from stable to stable until they found one with a young girl, her fiancé, and a newborn baby. The baby was wrapped in little pieces of cloth, which Isaiah decided must be the “swaddling clothes.”
Suddenly, the shepherd who was carrying Isaiah did something startling. He laid the lamb at the baby’s side. The baby was lying in a feeding trough, a manger, on a bed of hay. “For the savior,” was all the shepherd said. The young mother thanked the shepherd, and then all of them kneeled before the new baby, paying reverence toe the new child. One of the shepherds asked the mother what the baby’s name is, and she replied, “Jesus.” This little baby was the king, the Savior the angel had told about.
Boys and girls, that is how Jesus was born – in a simple stable in Bethlehem, not in a palace where a king should be born. But Jesus was a very special kind of king – one that ruled in people’s hearts, not from a throne.
Memory Verse:
Allow the children to pretend to be a multitude of angels as they learn Luke 2:
Craft/Game Time:
Make a lamb handprint craft.
Dismissal:
Remind the children to remember the real meaning of Christmas all year long.
