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.