During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Before class, cut or tear out the nativity pictures at the end of this lesson. You will use these pieces for the Teaching section. Start with only Mary and Joseph. Add the pieces as you tell the story of Jesus’ birth and the visit from the Magi.
Before class, place a rock or other visible object at 1 end of the teaching space.
The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11
Imagine this scene: Magi who have travelled many miles coming and bowing before Mary and the Christ child. God chose for His Son to be born humbly, not in the way you would expect a King to arrive! Imagine being with the Magi bowing before Jesus. The gifts they brought suggest Jesus’ royalty, deity, and death. They recognized that Jesus was the King at His birth.
Pause and consider what gift you could bring to your King. He wants us to offer our hearts and our service to Him. God gave you talents and things you do well. Think of something you are good at or something you have. Maybe you are good at singing, teaching, or drawing. Maybe you are good at encouraging others. Now think of a way to serve those around you with those things. What better gift to give your King, your Saviour, than something that comes from your heart and that gives honour to Him?
Encourage families to talk about different talents or skills they have. Maybe some are good at games like football. Perhaps others have always helped others. Families can talk about ways to share these skills with others.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet the children as they come to class. Ask them to sit at 1 end of the teaching space.
In a moment, we will play a fun game to help us find a place using stars. For many, many years, travellers have used stars to help them find places where they wanted to go. Explorers used stars to find new places and tradesmen used stars to go where they needed to go to sell items. Today’s Bible story will talk about some travellers who were guided by a star.
Would you like to try to get somewhere using a star? Let’s play a game. There are stars in the sky that help us to find where to go. To see how this works, let’s form 3 lines.
Separate the children into 3 groups of approximately the same number. Ask the children to stand so that they are directly behind the person in front of them. Spread the lines out so that each line of children will move toward the star from a different part of your space.
We will pretend that this rock is a star. When I say, “Go,” each line will move toward the rock on the other side of our space. You must do this by walking in a straight line. You will do this by placing 1 foot directly in front of the other so that the heel of 1 foot touches the toe of your other foot.
Demonstrate for the children how to walk by placing 1 foot directly in front of the other so that the heel of the foot in front touches the toe of the other foot. Take about 3–5 steps like this to show the children what to do.
Once the first person in your line has begun to move across the space, the other children in your line will begin following his path by placing 1 foot directly in front of the other. The team to get all of its members to the star first wins the race! Ready? Go!
As the children move toward the star, remind them to place 1 foot directly in front of the other. Stand near the star so you can call out the winning team.
That was fun using a star to get from 1 place to another! Today, you will learn about some men who used a special star to find the baby Jesus!
Imagine hearing the news that a special King has just been born. You are so excited about this very important baby that you decide to travel to meet him. You travel to meet the young king, and you bring him a very nice present. It takes many days to get to the king, but when you meet him, you are filled with joy!
Most of you probably know that a very special baby was born a very long time ago. This baby’s name was Jesus.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is God. Jesus is God’s only Son. Jesus is our Saviour.
Ask for 6 volunteers. Assign each volunteer to 1 of the following figures from the tear-out page at the end of the lesson: Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, Magi 1, Magi 2, and Magi 3. Ask the volunteers holding the Magi to sit for a moment while the volunteers holding Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus act out the first part of the story.
Today, I will tell you the story of some men who came to visit Jesus after He was born. This true story from the Bible begins with Jesus’ birth. Jesus’ mother and earthly father could not find a place to stay in Bethlehem, so they found a stable where animals were kept. And that is where baby Jesus was born.
Ask the 3 Magi to stand up 1–2 meters away from baby Jesus and His family. Have Magi 1 pretend to point to a new star in the sky as you read.
A little while later, some men travelled from the East to meet the infant king. They were called Magi, or wise men. They saw a new star in the sky and followed it. They knew this star was a sign that the king had been born. When they reached Jerusalem, which was not very far from Bethlehem, the Magi asked if anyone knew where Jesus was. Listen to what they said:
Read this verse directly from your Bible.
They asked, “Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose. Now we have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:2
Ask the Magi to repeat the words you just read as they are printed above or as they are printed in the Bible you are reading from.
King Herod of Judea told the Magi that Jesus was in Bethlehem. The men continued to search for Jesus by following His star.
Have the children with the Magi figures pretend to continue on their journey until they come to where baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are. Then place the Magi near Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
The star moved until it came to where Jesus was. It stayed where Jesus was, and the Magi followed it until they found baby Jesus. The Magi were filled with joy when they saw Him! Listen to what the Bible says the men did next.
As you read, ask the Magi to pretend to do the actions of bowing to baby Jesus and giving Him gifts.
Read the next verse aloud from your Bible.
The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11
These men bowed down to worship the King of Kings! Do you remember when we learned about worship? We learned there are many different postures of prayer. One of them was to sit on our heels and bow down so our arms are stretched out in front of us. This is much like the Magi bowing to baby Jesus. Let’s try this now.
Sit on your heels and encourage the children to do the same. Bow so that your arms are touching the ground and stretched out in front of you. Encourage the children to follow your movement. Stay bowing for a few seconds and then sit up.
They gave Him very special gifts! Gold was a gift worthy to give a king. Frankincense is a type of incense burned for holy celebrations. Myrrh is used to preserve the bodies of people who have died. These might seem like strange gifts to give a small child, but the Magi had prepared these gifts for Jesus because He was a king.
Optional: If you are using The Action Bible, allow the children to read the story of the Magi’s visit on pages 570-571.
Optional: If possible, share the image from The Action Bible.
Have the children clap for the volunteers, and ask the children to sit with their classmates in front of the nativity scene.
We honour Jesus in our celebration of Christmas, but we can also honour Him through our worship every day. You learned that giving gifts to God and others is a way to worship God. Let’s think for a moment about the gifts we can share with Jesus. When we pray, we spend time with Him and give Him praise and honour. When we do good things for other people, we do those things in His name. We can also sing praises to Him. If we have money, we can give it to those who need it.
Gifts come in many forms. The Magi in our story walked from very far away and gave their time to baby Jesus. The men also gave Jesus gifts that were special for a king.
Let’s pretend we are traveling a long way to meet baby Jesus. First, we see the star in the sky.
Pretend to point toward a star in the sky.
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Think about the things you are good at doing that might be used to honour Him. For example, if you have a beautiful voice, perhaps you would like to use it to sing songs of praise to Him. If you are good at making things, maybe you would like to make a special present for Him. If you have money, you could give it to Him. Raise your hand when you have thought of a gift to give Jesus.
Pause until most of the children are raising their hands.
Pretend to pick up your gift with me. Now, we will travel using the star to guide us.
Walk around the teaching space a few times and stop in front of the nativity scene.
We found baby Jesus! Wonderful! Let’s take turns setting our gifts in front of Him and worshipping Him. I will go first.
Pretend to lay your gift in front of Jesus and bow in worship. Then encourage the children to do the same. Once each child has pretended to place a gift in front of Jesus, ask the child to sit down nearby.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children scissors. Allow 5–7 minutes for them to cut out the people and act out the story of the 3 Magi.
Just as the Magi worshipped Jesus by offering their gifts to Him many years ago, we can remember to worship Jesus this Christmas by offering Him the talents, time, and treasure we have.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Matthew 2:11, over the children.
Blessing: May you be in awe as you worship God’s Only Son, Jesus. May you use the gifts He has given you as you worship.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
