Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (2 minutes)

Welcome to all! This is the final lesson of our Superbook adventure, “The First Christmas.” We have been learning about God’s amazing gift to us. Who can tell me what that gift is? His Son, Jesus!

Who remembers how we can receive that gift? By faith; receive Jesus into our hearts.

I love to worship God wherever I am—but one of my favorite times to worship is with you! Let’s sing “The Salvation Poem” together. As we sing, let’s think about God’s amazing gift that He gave to us. Have you asked Jesus into your heart to be Lord of your life? If not, you can ask Him to be your Savior right now as we sing!

Play Video 7: (Song) The Salvation Poem (3 minutes)

Be sure to preview the song so you can sing along with the children.

The Salvation Poem

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Our SuperTruth for today is “I will tell others about Jesus, the gift of God.” Let’s say it again together!

We all have a job to do for God; does anyone know what that is?

Yes, we all are to tell others about God’s gift of Jesus! That gift was given to us not to just keep for ourselves, but to share with the world!

Introduce Condensed Bible Story Video (1 minute)

If all children watched the Bible story video in a previous lesson, skip it here and go straight to the SuperVerse.

Who remembers why Chris gave away his winning ticket at the mall to another boy? Chris discovered the true meaning of Christmas.

Now for the children who haven’t seen our Bible story yet, we are going to watch a short version of the video. If you’ve already seen it, then this time as you watch, notice the different ways that people reacted to the news that Jesus was born.

Play Video 4: Condensed Bible Story (9 minutes)

Condensed Bible Story

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to ancient Bethlehem to meet Mary and Joseph. There, they experience the true meaning of Christmas—the gift of God’s Son, Jesus.

Play Video 10C: SuperVerse Graphic 3

The graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 3

SuperVerse Discussion (2 minutes)

Our SuperVerse, John 1:12, says,

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.

What does this verse say we must do to become a child of God? Believe and accept Him.

That’s not hard at all is it?

What a wonderful privilege we have to be called His children and to be adopted into His family! This verse is so important that we need to say it again! Children repeat the verse.

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group.

Introduce Signpost Video (1 minute)

Many scriptures in the Old Testament were signposts that predicted important details about Jesus’ birth. These verses tell us not only that Jesus was God’s promised Son, but also who His ancestors were and exactly where He would be born! Let’s watch our Signposts Video to learn more about these prophecies that only Jesus could fulfill!

Play Video 6: Signposts Video (5 minutes)

Signposts Video

Prayer and Send-Off (2 minutes)

Let’s pray before we leave our Large Group today. Dear God, thank You for Your incredible gift to us. We want to share this wonderful gift with others so they, too, can accept and believe in Jesus to become Your children. Give us the boldness to share about Jesus with others. In His name, Amen.

Today in Small Group, we will play a game about sharing the gift God gave us. Are you ready to share with others and have some fun?

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time. 

Game

Share the gift of God: Explore the Superbook story with a game of sharing.

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “I will tell others about Jesus, the gift of God.” The shepherds had no idea what was about to happen to them. This was just another night in the fields with the sheep—or so they thought! Suddenly an angel appeared proclaiming the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the World—and then multitudes of angels joined in praising God.

Read Luke 2:15–18:

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this Child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished.

The shepherds immediately went to see the newborn baby. After seeing Jesus, they could not keep the news to themselves; they had to share God’s gift with everyone! God gave us a gift, but He doesn’t want us to just keep it for ourselves! He wants us to share Jesus with others!

Hold up the gift bags.

These gift bags represent the gift God gave us—His son, Jesus! Now we will share the gift with each other by passing the bags to our teammates.

Divide the children into two teams. Each team divides in half again, forming two lines that face each other about 3 feet apart.

For each team, give a pencil to Player 1 —in the first row — and Player 2 standing directly across in the opposite row. Have Player 1 hang the gift bag on the pencil. Start the game. Player 1 carefully shares the gift by passing it across the row to Player 2’s pencil. Player 1 then quickly hands the pencil sideways to Player 3, who is standing next to him or her in the same row. Player 2 passes the bag across the row to Player 3’s pencil and hands the pencil sideways to Player 4. Continue in this fashion until the bag reaches the last player, then repeat the process in the opposite direction. The first team to return the bag to Player 1 and shout the SuperTruth wins! Play another round if time permits.

Note: The player who passes the gift across the row must also remember to quickly hand the pencil sideways to the next player to receive the gift. This makes it more fun, since players will often forget to do this.

Teaching

The Wise Men searched for the star that brought them to Jesus. Today, we are going to search for stars with signposts about the birth of Jesus, God’s gift to us!

Choose a child to search for Sign #1 and then read it aloud: Virgin birth.

Herod’s scholars knew about the coming Messiah because of prophecies in the Scriptures beginning with the very first book of the Bible, Genesis. When Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden because of their sin, God told the serpent that someday Satan would be defeated by a woman’s offspring. This was fulfilled when Mary gave birth to Jesus.

Additional discussion for Grades 4–6: In Genesis, God warned Satan of his defeat by Jesus and also referred to the woman’s offspring. Read Genesis 3:15:

And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel.

This meant that Satan would hit and hurt Jesus’ feet—which happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross—but that Jesus would crush Satan’s head and win the final victory. The Prophet Isaiah predicted that a woman would give birth to Immanuel. Read Isaiah 7:14b:

“The Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”

Choose a child to search for Sign #2 and then read it aloud: Jesus’ ancestors.

Ancestors are the line of relatives you come from: your father and mother, grandfathers and grandmothers, going back in time. In Genesis, God tells Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him. This happened through Abraham’s son, Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob. Centuries later, Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would be a descendant, or relative, of King David. The first chapter of Matthew in the New Testament gives a long list of people that Jesus descended from—including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David!

Additional discussion for Grades 4–6: God tells Abraham in Genesis 22:18:

“And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed — all because you have obeyed Me.”

Read Galatians 3:16:

God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.

Choose a child to search for Sign #3 and read it aloud. Jesus’ birthplace.

King Herod’s scholars knew about a prophecy given hundreds of years earlier in the book of Micah. This is what King Herod’s scholars referred to that we spoke of earlier. Hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, Micah predicted He would be born in Bethlehem. Here is something amazing—Mary and Joseph were not from Bethlehem; they were from Nazareth in the region of Galilee! They traveled to Bethlehem because the Roman government ordered a census to be taken—to count all the people who lived in various locations. So God used an order from the Romans to bring Mary and Joseph to the right place at the right time so Jesus could be born in Bethlehem, just as the Prophet Micah predicted!

Additional discussion for Grades 4–6: The Bible tells us about Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem. Read Luke 2:15:

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

God works through amazing ways to accomplish and fulfill His Word!

Choose a child to search for Sign #4 and read it aloud: Prophecies fulfilled.

King Herod desperately wanted to find Jesus. He did not want any other king to threaten his rule, so he had all the baby boys under the age of two killed! God saved Jesus’ life by sending an angel to warn Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt. This actually fulfilled a prophecy given by the Prophet Hosea saying that the Messiah would flee to Egypt. Then, after King Herod died, it was safe for Mary, Joseph and Jesus to move back to Nazareth. This fulfilled another prophecy that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene!

Additional discussion for Grades 4–6: Read Hosea 11:1:

"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called My son out of Egypt.”

Read Matthew 2:22b–23:

Then, after being warned in a dream, he [Joseph] left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

There were many prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament—and Jesus fulfilled all of them!

Choose a child to search for Sign #5 and read it aloud:Good News!

The birth of Jesus is Good News to a world in darkness. Isaiah tells us that people who walked in darkness now see the light. Who is that light? Jesus, the light of the world!

Can anyone say our SuperVerse, Isaiah 9:6, from last time?

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Jesus is God’s gift to the world. He came to the world to forgive our sins and give us a wonderful new relationship with our Father in heaven!

Additional discussion for Grades 4–6: Let’s look up another prophecy in Isaiah. Read Isaiah 9:2:

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

Let’s see how Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.

Read John 8:12:

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Jesus is that great light in a world of darkness!

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

People need to see the light—the light of Jesus Christ that brings hope to the world. This leads us to our Discipleship Challenge.Hand out invitations to any children who have not received them yet or who have already given theirs away. Even though this Challenge ends today, we should never stop inviting others to church or sharing the Good News! Would anyone like to introduce guests who they invited to church today?

Allow children the opportunity to introduce their guests. Give each visitor a warm welcome and invite them to return whenever possible. Pray a prayer of blessing over all of the children and thank God for His wonderful gift of Jesus that He gave us.

SuperVerse

Let’s read the verses just before and after our SuperVerse so we can have a better understanding of what our SuperVerse means.

Read John 1:6–14:

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the Light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the Light; he was simply a witness to tell about the Light. The one who is the true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him. He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him. But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John the Baptist was sent by God to be a light and to share the Good News that the Savior of the world was coming! This is exactly what we are to do—share our testimony about Jesus so that others may believe! When Jesus came as a baby, He wasn’t what the world expected. Many people rejected Him because they were looking for a great and powerful ruler to come and establish an earthly kingdom and deliver them from the Roman government immediately! But to those who believed by faith and accepted Jesus, He gave them the right and privilege to become the children of God! When we believe in Jesus, we are adopted into His family! What an amazing blessing we have in Christ!

Choose eight children to stand side by side in the front of the room. Scramble the eight pieces of paper and give one to each child. Starting on the far left — from the class’s perspective — have the eight children create a “wave” by holding up and reading aloud their individual phrases — which will be out of order — and lowering their papers when done. Ask the class if that sounded right. Then ask them to guess which reader should be first, second, third, etc. Rearrange the eight children in that order and have them repeat their phrases, again creating a “wave” with their papers. Ask the class if the verse is now correct. If not, have the class rearrange the readers again until they can say the phrases of the verse in the proper order. Finally, have the entire class follow the “wave” to say the verse together two or three times, going faster each time. If time allows, mix the cards up and allow eight new volunteers to arrange the verse. If younger children are not able to memorize the entire SuperVerse, simply have them repeat it several times and be sure they understand its meaning.

Prayer

Read the angel’s words in Luke 2:10–11:

“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”

What is the Good News of Jesus?

Jesus came into the world as a baby—then He grew up to die on the cross for our sins and rise from the grave so we can have new life. The Bible tells us that this Good News will bring great joy to all people. So today, let’s pray that God will help us share the Good News with those around us. As you mention various groups of people, have the children pray silently.

Dear Father, thank You for giving us Your Son, Jesus. Help us share the Good News with friends and family members who do not know You ...

We pray that as we give away our invitations, these people will want to come to church and hear the Good News …

We pray for neighbors on our street who need to know You …

We pray for teachers, nurses, doctors, firefighters, and police, and for those who work in the offices and shops in our community …

Thank You for bringing these people into our lives. Open our eyes to ways we can share the Good News with them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Suggest that when the children walk and play in their neighborhoods, they should continue to pray for others and look for opportunities to put the SuperTruth into action: “I will tell others about Jesus, the gift of God.”

Obstacle Course

Suggestions to make the obstacle course:

1. Suspend a pool noodle between two easels, or have two helpers hold it up. Each child must do a “limbo” move to go underneath it.
2. Place a hula hoop on the floor. Each child will jump into it, lift it up to the waist, and try to twirl it three times.
3. Hang the jump rope on a hook. Each child must take it down, jump rope three times, then hang it back up.
4. Place a broom over two low chairs. Each child must jump over it. Do not have anything with sharp edges nearby in case a child trips.
5. Place a chair in the middle of the course. Each child must walk around it three times, backward.
6. Drape the blanket or sheet over a table. Each child will crawl under it. Do not have children crawl if girls are wearing short skirts.
7. Place the exercise ball or beach ball a short distance from the laundry basket. Each child must try to throw the ball into the basket.
8. Put the plastic baseball bat on the floor. Each child must stand it on its end, put his or her forehead on the end and spin around the baseball bat without lifting it from the floor.
9. Place an empty bucket on the floor. Each child must put one foot inside, walk backward three steps, then forward three steps, returning the bucket to its place.
10. Place a 2" x 4" board on the floor—like a balance beam, children must walk the length of it without stepping off.
11. At the end of the obstacle course, each child walks to the manger with feet touching heel-to-toe, kneels down, gently places the heart on top, then races back to the starting line.

How many Wise Men were there? Many stories and songs say there were three, but the Bible doesn’t really tell us.

Why did they follow the star? To worship the newborn King of the Jews and give Him their gifts.

The Wise Men were not Jewish, but they came from the East to worship the King of the Jews. This helps show us that God wants people from all over the world to worship Him! Read Revelation 15:4:

“All nations will come and worship before You.”

In Bible times, there were no cars, buses or trains, so it must have been hard for the Wise Men to travel all that way to bring their gifts to Bethlehem! What kind of obstacles do you think they may have faced? Mountains, rivers, deserts, lack of food or water, robbers, hot sun, freezing nights, tired camels.

We are going to play a game where each of us will bring our gifts to Bethlehem. What do you think is the best gift we could ever give to Jesus? Make Him Lord of our lives, our hearts, worship, our lives.

Yes, we can ask Jesus into our hearts and make Him Lord of our lives! So, we are going to carry our hearts to the manger today! The Wise Men encountered obstacles along their journey, and so will we—but we are not going to quit!

Distribute the hearts and pencils or markers to the children. Have them write their names on the line provided. Carry a heart as you walk through the obstacle course to demonstrate how it works to the children. Place the heart on the top of the manger to complete the course. Start the game. Allow each child to complete the course. Be prepared to assist any children with special needs.

Option: For more of a challenge, time each child for the fastest completion of the course. If time permits, the children must return to the start line, going through the course in reverse order.

Object Lesson

Our SuperTruth says, “I will tell others about Jesus, the gift of God.” Everyone likes to receive gifts, don’t they? This is the absolute best gift we could ever receive! Have you ever been told that if you did a really good thing that you would receive a reward for it?

Yes, I think everyone probably has. Hold up jar or container. Sometimes a teacher at school will keep a jar and put marbles or some small objects in it each time that your class does something well. Put a few marbles in the jar as you say: Maybe the class listened really well one day or everyone turned in their homework on time. Now, what happens when the jar is full? 

The class is rewarded with something for all of your good deeds! It might be extra recess time, or popcorn, or maybe even a little party.

Empty the marbles out of the jar, back into the bag.

Now, is that how it works with God’s gift of Jesus? If we do a certain number of good deeds, or we obey God’s Word a certain number of times, then do we receive God’s gift?

No! God’s gift to us isn’t based on anything that we do or don’t do! God loved us all so much that He made a plan to save us—and it wasn’t based on how good we are or how hard we try! Read Romans 5:6–8:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Hold up the empty jar. The depth of God’s love is amazing. Even when everyone’s jar was empty—God sent Christ to Earth to die as a gift to us! God’s gift is not based on anything we did or could do. All we have to do is believe and accept Him like our SuperVerse says! Then He gives us the right to become children of God! Read Ephesians 2:8–9:

God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Light Game

The Wise Men left their homes and traveled a long way to follow the star and find Jesus. Let’s play a fun game where we take turns following the star.

Have the children form a line and give the flashlight or glow stick to the child in front. Close the curtains and dim the lights.

It’s night time. Follow the star!

As they follow the “star” around the room, the child in front chooses an action to do that the others must imitate, such as waving their arms, taking tiny steps, or pumping a fist up and down. After about 30 seconds, turn on the lights.

Sunrise!

Everyone stops as the person in front passes the flashlight to the next person in line and then goes to the end of the line. Dim the lights again.

It’s nighttime. Follow the star!

The next child leads with a motion to imitate. Repeat until all children have had a turn as the star.

Our SuperTruth says, “I will tell others about Jesus, the gift of God.” Just like the star shined bright in the sky to lead the Wise Men to Jesus—we are to be a light to others pointing the way to Jesus! Our words and actions will light the way!

Read Matthew 5:16b:

“Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Bible Study

Our SuperTruth says: “I will tell others about Jesus, the gift of God.”

Have children look up and read the verses aloud. Lead a discussion using the questions below. Feel free to add any questions that you think will facilitate deeper discussion with your particular group.

1.  2 Corinthians 5:18-20:

¹⁸And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.¹⁹For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!"

• Paul is talking about the gift of God, Jesus, who reconciled or brought us back into a right relationship with God and made our lives new.
• Who initiated the work of Christ to bring us back to Him? God.
• What important task does God entrust us with now? Bringing the message of reconciliation to others. Bringing Christ to others so they too can be reconciled.
• What is an ambassador? Someone who represents and speaks for someone else.
• How are we ambassadors for Christ? We speak for Him—we are His voice to others telling them to come back to God.
• How does being an ambassador for Christ make you feel?

2.  Matthew 5:14–16:

¹⁴“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. ¹⁵No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

• What are we called to be? Light to the world.
• Are we to lay low and just shine our light at church? No! We are to shine bright and stay visible in the world.
• This verse isn’t just about speaking God’s Word. How else can we be a light? By our actions and how we live our life. By doing good deeds.
• When we live God’s Word and help and bless others, what is the result? People will praise God and be attracted to Him.

3.  Acts 1:8:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

• Who did Jesus send to be our helper when we witness about Jesus? The Holy Spirit.
• How can the Holy Spirit help us to share God’s gift to the world? Gives us power and boldness to proclaim Jesus.
• Are we just responsible to tell our own family about Jesus? No—the whole world. Anybody that we have an opportunity to share God’s gift with.

Craft

Distribute the Gizmo Silver Bell Patterns to the children along with the other items listed under "Get Ready." Have the students carefully cut out the pattern, including the slits near Gizmo’s torso. Tape the coin on the craft were shown. Gently fold and assemble the craft according to the directions on the pattern. Tape to secure edges as needed. Use a single hole punch to punch holes where indicated. Thread the ribbon or yarn through the holes to hang the ornament.