NT-03
"The Birth of Jesus”
Big Idea
God's Son, Jesus, came to live with us.
Materials Needed:
Chair, Inflated balloon, Bible style robe, Wrapping paper, Large Box with lid,
Setup:
1. Fold census sheet and place it in the envelope. Write "Mary" on the envelope.
Lesson
1. Review the shopping lists the children made during small group time. Explain the following:
A baby being born is a pretty big deal. There's a whole lot of things you have to do to get things ready. Cribs, bibs, toys, it just never seems to end!
Today, we're going to talk about the birth of a baby. But this wasn't an ordinary baby, like you and I were. This baby's dad was God. This baby was born to save the world. This baby was Jesus.
Just like the baby Jesus was different from us, his birth day was pretty different from ours, too. To find out just how different it was, we're going to throw a baby shower for his mother. Does anybody know what a baby shower is? (Allow a child or two to respond.)
A baby shower is a party people have right before a baby is going to be born. The people who come to a baby shower usually bring baby gifts for the baby's mother to open. Does anybody remember the name of Jesus' mom? (Allow the children to respond until someone says "Mary.")
2. Ask for a volunteer to come up front to represent Mary. Have her wear the robe, placing the balloon under the robe so she looks very pregnant. Have her sit in the chair. Explain the following:
To tell the story of the day Jesus was born, his birth day, we're going to have a small baby shower for his mom, Mary. Before we start, let's refresh what we already know about Mary.
She was a young girl engaged to be married to a guy named Joseph. Before they were married, an angel came to Mary and told her that God's Spirit was going to come to her and she would become pregnant. The baby growing inside her would be God's Son, and she was supposed to name him Jesus. When Mary told Joseph this story, it all sounded a little crazy, so he decided to call off the wedding. But God sent an angel to Joseph, too. The angel told Joseph that Mary was telling the truth, and Joseph decided to go ahead and marry Mary.
Well, as time passed, the baby grew, and so did Mary's belly, as you can clearly see here. Now that we're all caught up on Mary, let's start the baby shower!
3. Explain the following:
Often at a baby shower, the guests will ask the new mom, "Have you picked out any names for the baby yet?" so let's ask our Mary. Have you picked out any names yet? (Encourage Mary to respond with the name "Jesus".) Of course, all the ladies at the shower would tell Mary that Jesus was a wonderful name for a little boy. But let's ask Mary another question. Have you picked out any girls names yet? (Encourage Mary to respond in the negative.) Why not, Mary? (Encourage Mary to say that an angel told her that she'd have a son and she was to name him Jesus.)
4. Explain the following:
Alright, now that the questions are out of the way, let's get on to the best part of the baby shower, the presents! (Set the large present next to Mary.) Mary, if you could do the honors and open up the box. (Have Mary do so.)
It looks like this is a present full of other presents. Let's get them out one at a time so our guests can see. (Hand Mary the envelope. Have Mary describe what it is. Have her open it up and read it out loud.) Our first gift is a letter to Mary and Joseph. This letter said that the ruler of the land, Caesar Augustus, wanted to know how many people were living in his kingdom. So, he decided to count each and every one of them. Everyone living in his kingdom, including Mary and Joseph, had to travel to the home town of the husband to be counted. Joseph' hometown was a place named Bethlehem. But there was a problem.
5. Take the ticket out of the box and hand it to Mary. Have her describe what it is and what it says to the children. Explain the following:
Mary's next gift is a ticket to Bethlehem. Of course, Mary really didn't get a ticket for a fun trip to Bethlehem. Instead, she was told she had to go to Bethlehem, whether she liked it or not. And like we said before, there was a problem.
Mary and Joseph didn't live in Bethlehem. They lived in Nazareth. Nazareth was over 75 miles away from Bethlehem! How were they going to get there? They didn't have cars back then. They didn't have planes back then. They didn't have trains or motorcycles or SUVs or minivans.
They were going to have to walk. Maybe if they were lucky, they would be able to find a camel or a donkey to ride. But animals like that cost money, which Mary and Joseph didn't have a lot of. Maybe Joseph might have found someone's donkey to borrow because 75 miles is a long way for anybody to walk, let alone a pregnant lady like Mary.
Regardless of whether both Mary and Joseph walked, or Joseph walked by Mary who rode on a donkey, the two of them made their way to Bethlehem. This journey probably would've taken them many days. But God wanted his Son, Jesus, to be born safe and sound, so he protected Mary and Joseph as they traveled those many miles.
6. Take the key out of the box and hand it to Mary. Have her describe what it is to the rest of the group. Explain the following:
Mary's next gift is a key to a hotel room. After Mary and Joseph completed long walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem, they needed to find a place to stay while they were there. But they had a hard time finding a place to stay. You see, the ruler of the land had sent out order that everyone had to go to his/her hometown to be counted. Because of this, there were a lot of other visitors to Bethlehem just like Mary and Joseph. And they needed rooms to stay in, as well.
By the time Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem, all of the hotels and motels there were completely booked. There were just too many people in town and too few rooms. Joseph looked and looked for a room for his very pregnant wife to play. He didn't want her to have to give birth to God's Son in the middle of the street. And you won't believe what room he found.
7. Take the toy farm animal out of the box and hand it to Mary. Have her describe what it is to the rest of the group. Explain the following:
Mary's next gift is a farm animal. The only place Joseph found in Bethlehem where they could stay wasn't a nice, cush hotel room. It wasn't even a small, clean motel room. The only place Joseph could find that was available was a stable, a small barn where people would keep their animals.
As you can imagine, it wasn't the greatest room in the world. There was no bed to sleep on. There was straw and hay everywhere. And it smelled a lot like animals. Not exactly where Mary dreamed her husband would take her on vacation. Or where she thought she'd give birth to God's Son. But, like it or not, Jesus was about to come, and he didn't care whether they were in a stable or the greatest hotel room ever made.
8. Take the baby doll out of the box and hand it to Mary. Have her describe what it is to the rest of the group. Explain the following:
Mary's next gift is a baby. While they were in Bethlehem, the Bible says "the time came for the baby to be born." That meant the muscles around Mary's belly would start to tighten up so they could eventually push the baby out of Mary. Then those muscles would start to hurt a little bit more. Then they'd start to really hurt! But even though those muscles really hurt Mary, they were doing their job exactly, and after a while, Mary was holding a brand new baby in her arms. And it was a boy, just as the angel had told Mary and Joseph. God's Son had come to earth to live with us.
They named him Jesus, just as God had told them to do.
9. Take the baby blanket out of the box and hand it to Mary. Have her describe what it is to the rest of the group. Explain the following:
Mary's next gift is a blanket. Since Mary and Joseph were far from home and they were spending the night in a barn, there weren't a lot of extra baby clothes lying around. In fact, there weren't any. But Mary did have a blanket with her. The Bible says that Mary took the little baby, who was God's Son, and wrapped him up in cloths. (Have Mary wrap the baby up in the blanket.)
Not too long after, both Mary and the baby were getting sleeping. Mary was tired from having the baby and the baby was tired from just being born. So, since Joseph hadn't dragged a baby crib all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Mary began looking for a place for the baby to sleep. And what she found was probably one of the weirdest places ever used for a baby's bed.
10. Take the straw/hay out of the box and hand it to Mary. Have her describe what it is to the rest of the group. Explain the following:
Mary's next gift is some straw/hay. In a barn, there really aren't a lot of places for a newborn baby to sleep. You don't want to set him on the ground because he might get stepped on. And you can hold him all night because you might fall asleep and end up dropping him. But Mary found one place that, even though it was a little weird, would work great.
That place was a manger. It was a small box that people would fill with food for the barn animals to eat. It was usually filled with hay, and maybe a little donkey slobber. But Joseph and Mary cleaned it out as best as they could and laid Jesus, God's Son, in the hay in the manger.
11. Take the letter blocks out of the box and hand them one at a time to Mary in the following order: G, O, D. Have her describe what it is to the rest of the group. Explain the following:
Mary's last gift is some baby blocks. These blocks spell the word "God." And that's because that's exactly who this baby was.That teeny, tiny baby lying in the manger was not only God's Son, he was God himself.
You see, God knew that the people he had created and placed on this earth needed lots of help. And he wanted to save us from the mess we'd put ourselves in. So, in order to do just that, he decided first to come live with us. And he decided to live as a human being, just like us. And since every human being starts as a teeny, tiny baby, so did he. God's Son, Jesus, came to live with us.