NT-05

"Magi Visit Jesus”

Big Idea

Jesus is King of the Universe.

 

Schedule

1. Small Groups: Constellations activity (5 min)

2. Big Group: Lesson (25 min)

3. Verse Activity: Lock and key activity (10 min)

4. Activity: Tennis Laser stars activity (10 min)

5. Small Groups: Fly swatter activity (15-20 min)

Materials Needed

Resource: Constellations,   Resource: Story Icons,   Playing cards (one for each child, but only one card is a King)

Before Big Group

1. Explain the following, writing the big idea below on the chalk/wipe board:

    The big idea for today is "Jesus is King of the Universe." We'll find out more about what this means in big group time. But first, we're going to talk a bit about how big the universe is.

2. Explain/ask the following: "The word scientists use to describe the sun, moon, stars and everything else is "universe." How many stars do you think are in the universe?" Have each child write his/her guess on a chalk/wipe board. When finished, write the correct answer on the board, which is a scientific estimate: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

3. Explain the following:
    People in the past, when they looked up at all the stars in the sky, noticed that some bunches of stars formed shapes, if you pretended to connect the dots between them. They found a bunch of these shapes and gave them names. Let's look at a few and see if you can guess what thing the constellation was supposed to be.
    Show the children the Resource: Constellations sheet. For each constellation, allow the children to look at it and give their opinion as to what it's supposed to be. Then, give the children the correct answers: Gemini: Twins holding hands, Ursa Major: Bear, Hydra: Snake, Orion: Hunter with Bow.   

After Big Group

1. Explain the following:

    Our big idea for today is "Jesus is King of the Universe."  Even though he was a human just like us, he was also God, and he created everything we see: the sun, the moon, the stars, the entire universe. And as the one who created everything, he's also in charge of it.

2. Place Resource: Story Icons on the table. Starting with the icon on the top left and working your way left to right, top to bottom, help the children retell today's Bible story by describing which part of the story each icon represents. If possible, have a different child explain each icon. The icons represent the following: Star-The magi were people who studied the stars. Crown-They believed the stars told them the king of the Jews had been born. Camel-They traveled from the east to Israel to see the newborn king. Picture of Herod-The magi met with Herod to find out where the child-king had been born. Numbered Presents-The magi gave Jesus gifts for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

3. Place the King of the Universe game. Select one child to be "it" and have him/her leave the room. Place the playing cards face down on the table and have the remaining children select a card. Whoever selects the King card is in charge. He/she does motions in rhythm (waves hands, winks, lightly claps, etc.) that the other children in the room follow without making it obvious as to who the King is. Have the King switch motions every 15-30 seconds. Have the child who is "it" return to the room after the rest of the children have begun following the king. Ask "it" who he/she thinks the king is. If he/she is correct, ask everyone, "But who's the King of the universe?" to which they will hopefully answer "Jesus!" If he/she is incorrect, have the children continue following the king, and allow "it" to guess one more time.

4. Hand each child a journal page. Have them fill it out, writing down the big idea "Jesus is King of the universe'” and how they can use it in their life (Examples: I can do what Jesus says because he's in charge.) Place the page in their journal binder.