Shepherds and Angels

Passage

Familiarize yourself with this passage

Luke 2:8-20
One night, a group of shepherds were outside the town of Bethlehem, in fields, watching their sheep.  It was a quiet night.  The sky was dark and full of stars.  All of the sudden there was a big, bright angel in the sky in front of them!  “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’”  The shepherds were amazed.  Then the angel left, just as quickly as he came.  As soon as the one angel left, a whole group of angels appeared.  They started singing praises to God.
The shepherds ran to town to find the baby the angel had told them about.  The angel said they would find the baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.  After they found the baby, the shepherds ran around town telling everyone the good news that the Savior had been born.  When they finished spreading the news they returned to the baby, Jesus, and worshiped him.

Object Lesson

Supplies Needed:
• A birth announcement
When a new baby is born today, many parents like to send out a birth announcement card. (Show birth announcement.)  It tells when the baby was born, and all about the baby and is something special people can keep reminding them of the new bundle of joy.  God is Jesus’ father. He wanted the whole world to know that His One and Only Son had been born in Bethlehem.  So, God sent out a wonderful birth announcement of His own.  But rather than a paper announcement, God sent angels!

Memory Verse

Luke 2:10-11
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Jesus Connection

The Savior is finally here! The most anticipated arrival in all history has finally happened. Jesus, God’s Son, has come from heaven to earth to save His people. Jesus’ arrival is a great reason to sing praises to God, both at His birth and today. It is also a great reason to tell everyone we can find about His birth. We no longer have to wait. Our Savior is here!

Songs

Angels We Have Heard On High

1. Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.
Chorus
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heav’nly song?
Chorus
3. Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Chorus
4. See Him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise.

Go Tell It On The Mountain

While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night,
Behold throughout the heavens,
There shone a holy light:
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Saviour’s birth:
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And God send us salvation,
That blessed Christmas morn:
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

Game/Activity

Find The Angels

Variation #1

Supplies Needed:
• A bunch of small pictures of angels (can all be the same picture) cut down to wallet picture size
Direction:
1. Before the kids arrive to class, hide all your angels around the class. The more kids you typically have, the more angels you should hide.
2. When you give the signal, have the kids find as many angels as they can as fast as they can. The kid with the most angels wins.

Variation #2

Supplies Needed:
• A bunch of small picture of angels in two different colors cut down to wallet picture size (make sure you have equal numbers of both colors of angels)
Direction:
1. Before the kids arrive to class, hide all your angels around the class. The more kids you typically have, the more angels you should hide.  Make sure you know how many angels you have hidden for each team.
2. Divide the kids into two teams.
3. When you give the signal, have the kids find as many angels as fast as they can. The team to find all their angels first wins.

Craft

Angel Tree Toppers

Supplies needed:
• Colored card stock paper
• 30-cm dinner plate for template
• Sequins
• Cotton balls
• Pipe cleaners for wings and halo
• Stapler, if necessary
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Glue with cotton swabs
Directions:
1. Us the 30-cm plate to draw out a semicircle on the card stock.  Cut out with scissors. Glue the sequin as a trim around the curved edge of the semicircle, about 1 cm from the edge using cotton swabs.  Let dry.
2. While glue is drying, form wings out of pipe cleaners.  Also form a small halo.  Glue the halo to the cotton ball with a small amount of glue.
3. Roll the semicircle to form a cone shape.  Glue the edges in place and let dry.  You may want to staple the join as well, to make the cone more secure.
4. Put a dab of clue on the cotton ball and attach it to the top of the cone.  Use clue to attach the wings to the back of the cone.  Allow the glue to dry completely.  You may also staple the wings in place for added security.

Coloring Page

Mary and Joseph

Passages

Familiarize yourself with this passage

Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25
One day, while Mary was at home, the angel Gabriel came to her with a message from God.  She was going to have a baby and she was to name him Jesus, because he would save the people from their sins.  Mary was confused.  “How can this be,” she asked “because I am a virgin?”  The angel told her that with God, all things are possible.  Mary believed the angel and she became pregnant by a miracle from God.
Joseph was engaged to Mary.  He found out that Mary was pregnant, and he knew the baby was not his, so he decided he would break up with Mary.  Before Joseph could do this, an angel came to him in a dream and told him that the baby inside Mary was from God.  The angel told Joseph that he should still get married to Mary, and so he did.  When baby Jesus was born, he had a physical mom and dad, both of whom loved God.

Object Lesson

Before you tell the story, have the children open their bibles to Matthew 1:1-16. This is the genealogical record of Jesus. It shows how Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, was a descendant of King David. Have the children read through the verses, perhaps one small section at a time, and see how many of the names they recognize. Explain to the children that this genealogy is important because the Bible say that the Messiah, Jesus, would be a descendant of Kind David, and this record shows us that he was.

Memory Verse

Luke 1:30-31
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”

Jesus Connection

This is the first time in the Bible that we see the name of Jesus mentioned.  The angel Gabriel tells Mary, “you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31) Names are important in the Bible, and if we look at the name of Jesus, we see that it means ‘Savior’. This is a fitting name for the one who would one day die in our place to save us from our sins.

Songs:

Peace Like a River

1st verse:
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river in my soul (In my soul!)
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river in my soul (In my soul!)

2nd verse:
(Joy like a fountain)

3rd verse:
(Love like the ocean)

4th verse:
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Joy like a fountain
I’ve got Love like the ocean in my soul (In my soul!)
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Joy like a fountain
I’ve got Love like the ocean in my soul (In my soul!)

Game/Activity

Wheel of Fortune (verse memory game)

Supplies needed:
• The wheel
o Template with wheel and arrow
o Paper brad
• Dry erase board/chalk board
• Dry erase marker/chalk
• The Bible verse
• Coins (or beans, or buttons)
Directions:
1. Assemble the wheel by cutting it out of the template and fastening the arrow with a paper brad. For more stability you may wish to glue the wheel to a piece of cardboard or print it on thick paper.
2. In the same fashion as Hang Man, draw lines on the board to correspond to the letters and words from the Bible verse. You may add the numbers from the reference, or leave out the reference all together.
3. Divide the class into three teams.
4. Starting with the first team, have them spin the wheel and guess a letter. If the team guesses a correct letter, fill it in on the board. Give the team the number of coins their earned in respect to the number of letters that they found on the board. (ie: They spin 4 and guess the letter T. There are 7 Ts in this verse so they would get 28 coins.)
5. After the first team has one spin, pass the wheel to the next team.  Repeat this process until all the letters in the verse have been discovered.
6. The team with the most coins at the end wins!

Craft

Angel Craft:

Supplies needed:
• Angel template
• Scissors
• Pom-poms
• Colors
• Decorating supplies (glitter, gems, sequence, pipe cleaners…)
• Tape
• glue
Directions:
1. Give each child and angel template and scissors. Cut out the angel.
2. While the angel is flat, decorate one side of the paper using colors and other decorating supplies that are available.
3. Twist the paper into a cone shape so that the cone is held together by the cuts that were made near the wings. You may wish to secure the wings with a piece of tape.
4. Have the children choose a pom-pom as the head of their angel and glue it in place on the tip of the cone
5. Optional: Using a small section of pipe cleaner, bend a circle and glue in place on top of the pom-pom as a halo.

Family Tree

*This is a good craft for older, school aged children.
Supplies Needed:
• White paper
• Colored pencils
• Regular pencils
Directions:
1. Have the children draw a picture of their family tree, going back as far as they can remember. Have them start with their name at the bottom and work their way up the tree the further into their family history they go.
2. Encourage the children to take their tree home and talk to their parents about more names they can add to the tree. You may even ask them to bring it back next week to share with the class if they were able to add any more names.

Coloring Page:

Jacob's Dream

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

Genesis 28:10-29:1

Jacob is running away from home. He has deceived his brother, Esau, two times, stealing the firstborn blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau. Now Esau is comforting himself with the thought of killing Jacob, so Jacob has been sent away in a hurry by his mother to her family in the land of Paddan Aram. Late one night, when he was tired from all his travels, Jacob found a large stone to use as a pillow and lay down to sleep. Jacob then had a dream. In his dream, Jacob saw a staircase that went up to heaven. Angels were going up and down the stairs and at the top of the stairs was God. God spoke to Jacob, renewing the covenant of Abraham and Isaac with him. God promised Jacob that he would return to the place he was sleeping and that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth (or grains of sand, depending on your translation).  When Jacob awoke and realized what he saw in his dream was real, he set up his stone pillow as a memorial. He declared that place to be the house of God and the staircase the gate to heaven. Then Jacob promised that if God was faithful to him, he would be faithful to God. At the end Jacob promised to give one tenth of all he had to God.

Object Lesson:

Supplied Needed:
• A pile of sand
• Paper plates
• Magnifying glasses (optional)
Directions:
1. If possible, ask the children to sit or stand around a table. Give each child a paper plate. Place a spoonful of sand on each plate. If you have magnifying glasses, you can give them to the children now as well.
2. Ask the children to count all the pieced of sand that is on their plate. Note their reactions.
3. After about 30 second or a minute, ask the children how many pieced of sand they counted. Mention to them some of the reactions they gave when you gave them the command to count. (Surprised, overwhelmed, amazed….)
4. Tell the kids that there is a lot of sand in the world. There is no way that we could ever count them all. In the story they are about to hear, the main character may have similar reactions when presented with the idea of counting all the sand in the whole world!

Memory Verse:

Genesis 28:15
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Jesus Connection:

In his dream, Jacob saw a stairway reaching to heaven. This stairway is a connection between heaven and earth, with God at the top, taking the initiative to reach down to man. The stairway is a representation of Jesus, who is God come to earth to save man. Jesus is the only connection we have to God. Jesus says of himself in John 1:51, “Very truly I will you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” We know that the Son of Man is Jesus. The passage being referenced here is none other than Genesis 28 and Jacob’s dream. Through Jesus, God offers us great blessing, just as he did to Jacob .

Songs:

Jacob’s Ladder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OQjuzAH2Ys
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Every round goes higher, higher (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Sinner, do you love my Jesus (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

If you love Him, why not serve Him? (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Rise and shine and give God glory, (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Games/Activities

One Tenth

Supplies Needed:
• 100 of some item (pennies, buttons, paperclips, ect...)
• possibly more of that same item if you have more than 10 kids in your class
Directions:
1. Put your item in a pile in the middle of the group. Ask each child to get 10 pieces from the pile.
2. Using a pile of your own, demonstrate how to make one tenth. Count your items, setting one of them aside to represent the one tenth.
3. Give the children a bigger idea of what one tenth looks like by putting all the items in piles of ten. Emphasize that all the piles are the same. When you have ten piles of ten, count the piles, setting one pile aside to represent the one tenth. Tell the children that Jacob gave one tenth of all he had to God. So, if all of the item that you brought represents all that Jacob had, then that one pile would be what he gave to God.
4. Tell the children that today many people still give one tenth of what they get to God. Ask the children what they get for allowance, if they get any. Ask them what one tenth would be. Encourage them to consider bringing one tenth of their allowance to church to give back to God, just like Jacob did.

Stair Climbing

Supplies needed:
• several pieces of paper
• a pen
• tape
• a set of stairs
Directions:
1. Pre-class prep: On several pieces of paper, write sections of today's bible verse so that when all the pieces of paper are collected and placed in order, you have a complete verse. Tape these pieces of paper to the stairs.
2. Bring the children to the stairs and let them take turns climbing the stairs, finding the pieces of paper taped to each stair.
3. When all the paper has been found, bring the children back to the classroom and have them work together to put the verse in order.
4. This game can be made more competitive by having two sets of paper (differing colors) and allowing the children to race to get the paper and assemble the verse. First one with the verse assembled correctly wins.

Crafts/Projects

Jacob's Ladder Toilet Paper Roll Craft

Supplies Needed:
• Angel template
• colors
• scissors
• tape or glue
• toilet paper rolls (2 per child)
• large popsicle sticks (three per child)

Directions:
1. Give each child one angel template to color and cut out.
2. Tape or glue the templates to the toilet paper rolls
3. Use the scissors to add the slits in the sides of the roll where it is marked on the template.
4. Insert the large popsicle sticks into the slits in both rolls, so that the rolls are connected by the sticks.

Coloring Page