December 21st

Early Service: Christy, Chandra, Lisa & Harvey
Late Service: Kevin, Chandra, Tim & Rhonda

Media: Lisa/Rhonda

Main Idea: Nativity Story - The Savior came in an unexpected way

Lesson: Christmas Story - Christy/ Chandra

Memory Verse: For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a savior, He is Christ the Lord.

Object Lesson:
Have 2 gifts wrapped up or in a gift bag, one should be really fancy and the other should be plain. Have a rock or something a child would not be interested in (a broken toy, an egg beater, you get the idea) in the fancy package. Have something the kids would really like in the plain package (I pod, $20.00 bill,). You don’t have to let the kids keep the item (unless you want them too)Presenting the lesson: Talk about how fancy the one package is and you can hardly wait to find out what is in it. The other package is okay but it does not look that good. Must not be anything too interesting in there. Someone went through a lot of time to make this one look so pretty! (and so on)Pick a child to come up and ask what package they would choose if one was for them. (most will pick the nice package. HINT: The older children may have seen an object lesson like this before. Pick a young child, they will be most likely to pick the pretty package especially if it is a girl!!!)Ask them why they picked the package they did….(It is so pretty, It is bigger)Let the child open it to see what is inside. Act surprised - ”Wow such a pretty package and a disappointing gift inside!”Point of lesson to share with the children: Before Jesus came people were expecting a King to come and rescue them. They had been told a Messiah would come to save them. They expected someone who was rich and powerful to rescue them from the Romans who ruled over them and were very mean. They cried out to God to send them a Savior. They weren’t expecting the Son of God to come to a stable. They did not expect Him to be born in a family that was not living in a palace. But here God gave them the best gift He ever gave and many missed receiving the gift because they wanted God to do it their way and not His way. The gift God gave wasn’t in a pretty package like this - show pretty package (or what is left of it) The gift He gave was just a ordinary looking package. What was inside though was the biggest surprise ever! Open the ordinary gift and let the kids see the great gift in the plain package. If people would have looked inside the plain package, the baby born in a manager they would have seen the great gift God sent. He did send them a Savior, a Messiah but He wasn’t sent to save them from the Romans. He was sent to save them from their sins which was a even greater gift then they could ever have guessed!! Have you received this gift? Christy/ Chandra

Game: Powerpoint "Christmas Say What?" played much like hangman Christy/ Tim or Kevin

Worship: Karaoke Christmas Carols off DVD/ Christy/ Melissa

Christmas Craft: All/ All