Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

WELCOME (3 min)

Merry Christmas, everyone! How are you? Can you believe that Christmas Day is almost here? It’s just a few days away!

We’ve been celebrating Advent all month, which is how we relive the anticipation—the waiting and expecting great things—not just for Christmas and presents and everything with it, but also like God’s people Israel, who were waiting for Jesus to come and bring them peace. And for some of us, we’re waiting expectantly for Jesus to come to us personally and bring us peace. He will do that if we want Him to and trust Him to do it.

This Sunday is going to be fun! So let’s start with a fun song. Get up and sing along!

PLAY VIDEO: Salavation Poem Music Video (3 min)

Salvation Poem Music Video

Main Lesson

CELEBRATION OF ADVENT (9 min)

Let’s continue our celebration of waiting for Jesus: Advent!

Christmas is almost here. The waiting is almost over! The same way we’ve been waiting for Christmas when Jesus came to our world as a baby, we are waiting for the day when He will come again—this time as King of the world! And we also may be waiting for Him to be King of our lives.

(Approach the Advent Wreath.) Each week, we’ve added a new candle’s light to our Advent Wreath. At the same time, we’ve also added a new part of the Christmas story. Three Sundays ago, we lit the first candle—the Prophets’ candle (purple). This candle represented our Hope we had because God had promised us a rescuer, Jesus, through prophets who spoke His words. (Light the first candle, if not lit.) The next week, we added the Bethlehem candle (purple), which represents our Faith in God because He always keeps His promises. God promised He would send His Son Jesus, and that He would be born in the little town of Bethlehem. (Light the second candle, if not lit.) Last week, we lit the Shepherds’ candle (pink), which represents the Joy of knowing that God’s gift of Jesus is for everyone, from the richest king to the poorest shepherd.

Today, we light the Angels’ Candle. The Angels’ Candle represents Peace because when Jesus was born, the angel came to shepherds in the fields nearby to give them the great news of Jesus’ birth. Jesus was the one who would be called:

SUPERVERSE:

SuperVerse

(Graphic loops 1.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.) 

Before we light the fourth candle, let’s see what those angels might have looked like.

PLAY VIDEO: Angels and Nativity (1.5 min)

Angels and Nativity

Now let’s light the Angels’ candle. Can I have a volunteer to help me? (Choose a student volunteer and introduce them.)

This Angels’ Candle represents Peace. 

SUPERTRUTH:

Jesus is our Prince of Peace. (Help the student ‘light’ the candle, then direct them back to their seat and begin to pray.)

ADVENT PRAYER 

(1 min)

Father in heaven, thank You for giving us hope in Your promises. Lord, You are worthy of our faith because You keep those promises. Please let us experience the full joy and peace of accepting the gift of Your Son Jesus this Christmas. Help us to understand how much You love us and to put our trust in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

BIBLE BACKGROUND VIDEO

This time of year, we hear a lot of stories—on TV, from grandparents, and so on. Some of them are true, and some are made up. As we prepare for Christmas Day, I want to remind you of something: the birth of Jesus was a real event. It really happened. Here’s a video to help you understand that. And pay attention...there will be a quiz at the end!

PLAY VIDEO: Bible Background (9 min)

Bible Background

PEACE WITH GOD 

(5-8 min)

We’ve been talking about peace today... As the angels said, “Peace on earth to those whom God is pleased with!” And how Jesus is our Prince of Peace. Let’s talk about what that means and how you can have peace with God. I need you all to help me with this. (Have everyone stand.)

Moses tells us in the Bible: In the beginning, God created everything—the heavens and the earth. (Have everyone make a circle in the air with both hands, then thank them for their help.) God made the first man and woman and put them in a perfect garden, where they walked with him every day. (Have them walk in place.) And there was only one rule: (Have them wag their fingers side to side, like saying, “No, no.”) don’t eat fruit from that one tree. (Have them stop.) But guess what they did… (Have them eat an imaginary apple.) They ate that fruit. (Have them put hands on the sides of their head, “Oh no!”) Because they didn’t trust that God loved them, or that He wasn’t holding anything back from them. (Have them do a dismissive wave as if saying, “Whatever.”)

And that was the start of our separation from God. They left the perfect garden, and now instead of walking with God, we run from Him. (Have them run in place.) And we fight with each other... (Have them throw punches in the air.) because we’re afraid. (Have them crouch with their hands clasped in front of their chests.) We’re afraid we won’t get what we need. We’re afraid we won’t get what we want.

But Jesus came to change that. (Remind them to hold the scared pose.) Jesus showed us that He is God by doing miracles: like walking on water… (Have them tiptoe ‘on water.’) and making blind people see. (Have everyone shout, “I can see!”) And then He died on the cross to take our punishment for not trusting God and doing bad things as a result. (Have everyone open their arms to make a cross.) And He showed us that God really does love us, and doesn’t hold anything back from us—not even His own Son. So we don’t have to be afraid. And we can have peace… (Have everyone move toward the center, putting their hands on the shoulders of the people next to them.) with each other, and… (Have them look up.) with God.

(After a moment, have everyone look up front again.) If you want to have peace with God, you just need to do three things: (Have them hold up one finger.) Admit that you need God. (Have them hold up two fingers.) Believe that Jesus really is God’s Son—fully God, who was fully a person on earth, who gave Himself fully to take your punishment. And… (Have them hold up three fingers.) say what you believe—that Jesus is Lord. Not just once, but whenever and wherever. Keeping it a secret won’t help.

(At this point, you can invite kids to pray and ask Jesus into their hearts) “Jesus, thank You for dying on a cross to pay for my sins. Please be my Savior, my Master, and my Friend. Please come into my heart to give me new life, and to help me to follow You and do what You want me to with the help of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.” (Be sure to follow up with the students as necessary.)

And that’s how we can have peace with God: by believing in Jesus, our Prince of Peace.

DISMISSAL (1 min)

We’ve lit our Advent candles and heard the story of Christmas. We’ve experienced the anticipation of waiting expectantly for Christmas and, more importantly, for Jesus. There’s only one more candle to light—the one in the middle. That one gets lit on Christmas Eve. (If your church has a Christmas Eve service and will light a fifth Advent candle, encourage the kids to come to see that.)

You don’t have much longer to wait. So as you do, remember this: Jesus is our Prince of Peace. Merry Christmas, everybody!

(Dismiss here or go to the "Jingle Bell Jungle" optional activity in the next section.)

Jingle Bell Jungle (Optional Activity)

Preparation:

Attach some of the bells to the string temporarily to find the way that works best for your group. Because you will not know where they need to be and the difficulty of storing the string with bells attached, plan on having the students and leaders connect them during the activity. Here are some ways to attach the bells:

• Twist Ties—Have one attached to each bell beforehand, then twist each onto the string where needed.
• Girth Hitch—Pull a loop of the string through the bell’s eye, then over the bell.

What to Do:

Gather everybody together and explain you’re going to play “Jingle Bell Jungle.” Tell them you’re going to make an obstacle course with string and bells. Tell them the object is not speed, but instead to keep the peace by running the course without ringing the bells. If you have a very large group, divide them into two or three groups as necessary, each doing the same thing (you’ll need to double or triple the supplies accordingly).

Start passing the string through the group(s) so that everyone gets to hold part of it. Once everyone is holding the string, let out another 20 feet (6 meters) or so of excess and cut the string.

Pass the bells out and teach them how to attach them to the string in three steps:

• Show them how to do it.
• Have them do it.
• Have them undo it.

Pick the two who learned best as “designated bellers” to attach bells to the string as the obstacles are formed.

Start making obstacles with the string. These will be configurations of string to go over, under, or through without touching any bells. Here are some suggested configurations:

• Zig-Zag Step-Throughs: Two columns of students have strings zig-zag between them. The object is to run through them, lifting the knees up high like a tire-run in an outdoor obstacle course.
• Hoop: Students form a vertical loop to pass through. Usually, they are more square-shaped or triangular than circular.
• Limbo Line: Students hold up a horizontal length of string to pass under by crawling or ducking. 
• Hurdle: Students hold up a horizontal length of string to go over. (Take care not to create a leg snare!)

Have the Designated Bellers attach bells to the string at critical points in each obstacle.

Make at least three obstacles unless you are short of people to hold the string. In this case, you can make one obstacle at a time, have everyone run it, then make the next.

Choose the Bellers as the first two to run the course. Once they have done the course, have them trade places with students holding the string, who will run the course next.

Rotate students through the course this way until everyone gets to do it.

Notes/Suggestions:

Stress to students that the object of this activity is to avoid the bells, NOT to speed through the course—which may cause injury.

Ways to keep score:

• Distance: How far through the course they went without ringing a bell. Once a bell is rung, their turn ends. Offer do-overs for bad starts.
• Bells Rung: They run the whole course, gaining a point each time they ring bells. The lowest score wins.

Make sure the obstacles are challenging. Trust us: easy equals boring in this game. Try this at home or with your leaders first. Once you work the kinks out, it will be a lot of fun.