Boy Jesus at the Temple

Lesson: My Father's House

1. Game: Search for the Missing Number

Hand out a number to each child in your group on a card. The numbers should be in consecutive order. Before class, hide the No. 1 card somewhere in the classroom that would be fairly easy for the class to find. Have the class work together to put the numbers in order on the floor. When it is discovered that the number one is missing, have the class search for the missing card. When the card has been found, everybody sits back down quietly.

2. Story: 
Tell the story of Jesus in the temple based on Luke 2:41-52.

Simeon and Anna meet Baby Jesus

Lesson: My eyes have seen your salvation
This story actually takes place before the 3 Magi's visit, but due to the Christmas period, we tell it after.

1. Story: 
Tell the story of Jesus being presented at the temple based on Luke 2:21-40.

The Magi's Gifts

Lesson: Jesus' Divinity, Holiness and Death

This is a good lesson to use for Christmas or to start off a series on Jesus' life and ministry.
1. Story: 
Tell the story of the 3 Magi (wise men) based on Matthew 2:1-12.
You can use simple props like crowns or boxes in Christmas wrappers.
You can have a picture card of each box to depict the Magi's gifts or something to symbolise the gift (e.g. a gold ring/coin, incense sticks, and a small perfume bottle)

2. Lesson:

• The 3 Gifts: Gold, Incense, Myrrh
• These are unusual gifts to give a baby. But these gifts foretold what the baby will do when He grows up.

Adam and Eve sinned: The 2 Trees

1. STORY (based on Genesis 3): 

• God created Adam & Eve in His image. 
• They lived in the beautiful Garden of Eden

• There were 2 important trees: 
• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (God says not to eat or will die)
• Tree of Life

• Adam & Eve choose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil 
• Listened to lies of the Snake
• Doubted God’s goodness/love/wisdom
• Wanted to be like God
• Sin came into the world
• Became afraid of God
• Driven out of Eden (eternal death)

• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: represents the Law 
• Wanting to attain right standing with God through our own efforts
• Exposes our nakedness and shame
•  Try to cover with fig leaves (human acts of righteousness)

• Tree of Life: represents Grace
• Life and righteousness given freely to us through Jesus Christ
• Adam and Eve did not choose this tree

• However, God didn’t send them away just like that.
• He killed an animal – shedding of blood to atone for sin – and clothed them in the skin
• Already a plan was set in motion, when the Lamb of God will be killed to atone for the sins of the world and reconcile them to Himself forever.

• From the beginning, God had already planned for Jesus to come to die on the cross so that we may have life. The cross became our Tree of Life, so that all who ate from it will never die.

2. SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

• Craft: Tree of Life (source)
  

 

God created the world

1. HOOK:

• Show video on creation

2.  LESSON:

• Tell the story of creation from Genesis 1
• Emphasise that everything God created was "GOOD"
• God created the world. God created you and me!
• Of all the wonders in this world, we are God's best masterpiece because we are created in His image.

3. ACTIVITY SUGGESTION

• Craft: Creation Spinning Wheel 
• Get kids to colour the pictures of the different days of creation.
• Under "God's best masterpiece", draw a picture of themselves
• Put another round circle card (with a pizza-slice cut out) over it and secure with a fastener in the middle so that both cards can move.
• Kids would be able to turn the top card to show different days of creation.

About Growing Kids in Grace

Growing Kids in Grace is the online archive of The New Covenant Church's Children Church syllabus.

We've been writing our own New Covenant materials for our children ministry. In developing our curriculum, we've tapped on many people's ideas and lessons from books and the Internet; while it is difficult to name all our sources and references, we'd like to register our appreciation to everyone whom we've learned from. We hope our material here will also be of help to anyone who is looking for a grace-based curriculum for their children ministry.


To start you off, check out why we are Teaching the Big Picture.

Do check out Grace Central for more resources for grace-based, Christ-centered ministries focusing on Jesus' finished work on the cross.