CHRISTmas: craft

Merry CHRISTmas! Today we added Mary and Joseph to our nativity scene. Through Mary and Joseph the prophecy was fulfilled that the Messiah, Jesus, would be from the house of David. Also the fact that, humanly, Mary could not have had a child fufilled another prophecy! Today we painted a nativity scene. As the kids see it on display at their homes, they are reminded to focus on Jesus!

Please remember to practice our memory verse: For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT

(The kids used craft paint to paint nativity scenes. When the paint dried they did the outlines with permanent marker. I used graphite tracing paper to trace the figures onto wood ahead of time. We used 1 x 3 select pine. Each scene used 20 inches. The star is the tallest piece at 6 inches. I found the figures online in the holiday section at billybear4kids.com Aren't they cute?! The instructions with those figures are for a paper doll type nativity. That would be a great option with younger kids or larger groups. P.S. The scene in the photo was done by a student!)

CHRISTmas: story

Merry CHRISTmas! Between now and Christmas we'll be working our way through the nativity scene. We started today with Bethlehem...the prophesied birthplace of Jesus! We also heard a fun radio drama from Adventures in Odyssey called Redeeming the Season. This drama talked about many Christmas traditions and their Christian meaning. As we begin this busy season full of distractions one way we can keep our focus on Jesus is to make Him a part of all our traditions. For example, when we see a pretty light display we can be reminded that Jesus is the light of the world. When we put up a tree we can let the evergreen remind us of the ever lasting life Jesus brings. Even when we share Merry CHRISTmas we can focus on Jesus the Christ!

Please remember to practice our new memory verse.

(We listened to BTV: Redeeming the Season from Adventures in Odyssey by Focus on the Family. Our nativity scene started today with the stable representing Bethlehem. We'll be adding to it each week.)

B-I-B-L-E: review

Today we practiced our verse finding skills and baked "Bible Bars"! Each ingredient was found in a different verse. We also watched a video of the Sunday school kids reciting memory verses. This same video was played for the congregation during the morning service. The decorations we colored last week adorned the sound booth. Most of all, we want to appreciate the Bible...God's true word!


(There are several "Scripture Cake" recipes out there. If you click on the picture above you should be able to read the recipe I used.)

B-I-B-L-E: activity

Today we continued to discuss the Bible...God's true word! We discussed how amazing the Bible is and how it is unique among all other writings. The kids had a chance to see and copy Hebrew and Greek. We also colored some decorations. Most of all, we want to remember that the Bible is a gift from God...for in it He tells how we can come to Him through His son, Jesus!

(Each child had a handout with Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew and John 1:1 in Greek. Using markers they worked at copying these verses.)

B-I-B-L-E: games

Today we continued discussing the Bible...God's true word! Through His son, Jesus, God makes a way for us to be in relationship with Him. He tells us all about it in the Bible...WOW! We played some games to practice practical matters like learning the books of the Bible and finding passages of scripture. ("Bible Drill" game held over for another time.)

(We planned a "Bible Drill" type game to reinforce how to find a passage using its "address". Teacher calls out a passage, each kid searches and steps forward when they've found it. We also had a relay involving putting the books of the Bible in order.)