Objectives -:
●Children will know that Christmas is about God’s desire to restore us to unity with Him.
● Children will embrace God’s love and be united with him.
● Children will love God and be united to one another
Bible Story Reference:
Matthew 1:18-25
Memory Verse:
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on
his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Opening
One person comes up with a word then whispers to the next person without anyone listening until you reach the last person. Then each child will say what he/she has heard. The game is to test the integrity of the word finally. Explain to the children that with unity, there is harmony all through.
Bible Story
Valued behaviours speak of Who we want to become as believers in Jesus Christ who worship together at ICC Nairobi. Uncompromised unity is one of our Valued behaviours.
● Uncompromised means firmly fixed in place or steadfast, not movable.
● Unity means wholeness or oneness.
Having Uncompromised unity means that we are steadfast in our unity as a community, that we can not be shaken in our unity.
● Christmas gives us an opportunity to reflect on how Jesus came to unify us to God and to one another.
● One day Mary was greatly troubled by what the angel Gabriel said to her: “The Lord is with you…behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:28-32)
● Mary was expecting a child by the Lord. Joseph who she was engaged to be married to had resolved to divorce her quietly ( Matthew 1:20)
● If not for the angels who visited them, Mary and Joseph may not have come together for the sake of the Lord’s plan. They did not understand everything to begin with, but the prophecy of the Messiah had to be fulfilled by them uniting as a couple. (For older children a mention that
Jesus was prophesied to be a carpenter and a Nazarene because of being Joseph’s son).
● The unity the couple shared was tied in with their faith – and that same faith was what nurtured Jesus until He was ready to begin the ministry that remained part of God’s plan of salvation for everyone.
● We need to learn how to live with one another with love because where there is no love there is no unity.
● First we love God who is able to make us love one another.
Application
Share the good news with your friends and family members this week, by explaining to them the memory verse you learned today. Find out from them what they think the verse means.
Prayer