The Birth of Jesus (Sunday School Lesson) Matthew 1-2, Luke 2

Title: The Birth of Jesus
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-2:15, Luke 2:1-21
Target Age Group: 3^rd-5^th grade
Main Point: Jesus (make cross with arms) is our Savior (lift hands in the air) King (act like you’re putting on a crown)!
Supplies: Photos of doctor, life guard, fireman, police officer, and king, post it notes, story sequence strips, glue, construction paper, and scissors.

Lesson Opening

Ask: What kinds of things come to mind when you think of a king?
Ask: What do you think of when you hear the word “savior?”
Say: The main point in our lesson today is “Jesus is our Savior King.” We’ll be reviewing parts of the story of Jesus’ birth and talking about why He came to earth.
Pray that God would open our hearts to His Word today and give us a fresh understanding of the beauty of the gospel.

Tell the Story

Show the pictures of the doctor, life guard, firemen, and police officer. Have the kids tell you what each person is and then see if they can tell you what they each have in common. Guide them to see that they all help save people from danger.
Say: We might consider these people to be saviors (with a lowercase s) because they help people in need and often save people from harm or even death!
Say: We have a Savior (with an uppercase S) who saves us not from physical harm but saves us spiritually. Because we sin—that means we disobey God—we are separated from God. We are spiritually dead because of our sins but our Savior makes us alive again! He makes it possible for us to come to God and have a real relationship with him! Does anyone know who our Savior is? (Jesus!)
Say: Over the last few weeks we’ve been learning about the things leading up to the birth of Jesus.
Ask: Does anyone remember how Jesus came to earth? (He was born as a baby.) Did Jesus exist before He was born as a baby? (Yes!)
Say: Before Jesus was born as a baby he was in heaven, surrounded by angels who were constantly praising his name and giving him glory. He was like a king sitting on a throne! Why do you think he would leave heaven to be born as a baby who would be completely dependent on other people? (Jesus loved us so much that he left heaven to save us.)
Show the picture of the king. Ask the kids what it’s a picture of.
Say: Jesus is not only our Savior but he is also our King! Can you think of other things a good king might do? (Provide for his people, bring justice on people who disobey, etc.)
Say: A good king rules over his people with grace and justice. A good king loves his people and wants to take care of them. Since Jesus is our King we must obey him and trust that he will take care of us.
Main Point: Jesus (make cross with arms) is our Savior (lift hands in the air) King (act like you’re putting on a crown)!
Say: At SojournKids, we learn from the Bible, God’s Holy Word. Today’s story is found in two books of the New Testament: Matthew and Luke.
Tell the Story: Our story begins when the ruler of the land, Caesar Augustus, decided that he wanted to count all the people who lived in his kingdom. A census is a way to count people, but to do it, everyone had to travel back to his hometown to register.
Ask: How many of you are from here? Is anyone here from somewhere else? Imagine having to return to your hometown, but you had to walk there! That’s what Mary and Joseph had to do. Joseph was from the town of Bethlehem, and they had to walk many miles in order to be there for the census.
Say: By the time Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, the city was so crowded with travelers that there was no place for them to stay. When they arrived, the time came for the baby Jesus to be born. Where were they to go? The only place they could find was a stable.
Ask: What is a stable? (A place where animals slept and ate.)
Say: The baby Jesus was born in a stable surrounded by animals. There wasn’t a clean bed with nice sheets and pillows for him. Only a manger (or trough) that animals would eat out of. This wasn’t a nice, clean hospital with smart doctors to take care of him. Does that sound like the kind of place where a King would be born? (No. Jesus was born in a humble place because he would be a servant to everyone, even to the point of dying on the cross.)
Say: Everyone who heard about Jesus knew that his birth was good news. God had promised his people a Messiah, or one who would save them from their sins. Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah! He would live a perfect, sinless life in order to be a sacrifice for our sins when he died upon the cross. And now, whenever someone puts their trust in Jesus, they are forgiven for all their sins and can have a relationship with God! Jesus is our Savior! And even now, Jesus is ruling over his kingdom because he is our King!
Main Point: Jesus is our Savior King!
Say: Everything that is in the Bible is there for a reason. God wanted Matthew and Luke to write down the story of Jesus’ birth for us so we could know how much God loves us.
Ask: What are some ways we might respond to hearing about Jesus being born to be our Savior King?
Say: We can thank God for sending Jesus to be our Savior King! God has done a wonderful thing for us in sending Jesus to save us from our sins. We should thank him for dying for us and allowing us to come to God freely!
Ask: Why do you think Jesus died to save us?
Say: Jesus’ death certainly saves us from hell, but Jesus also saves us because He wants to be with us! While Christians look forward to heaven, we can also enjoy life with God now.
Ask: What are some ways that life with God is better than life without God? (Consider sharing an example from your own life.)
Say: People who are close to God have great joy. God also drives our fear in people’s hearts, because it is true that when God has saved us, nothing can take God away from us, so there is no reason to be afraid anymore! And because we are forgiven by God, we can forgive other people when they wrong us. That means we don’t have to carry around bitterness and anger towards other people! We can love them because God first loved us! There are a million reasons why life with God is wonderful now (not just when we get to heaven.) Take time this week to think about why your life is better because you know God.
Pray God thank you so much for sending Jesus to be our Savior King, so that when we put our trust in him we can be forgiven for our sins and have a relationship with you! Amen.

Review Questions

• What was the main point from our lesson? (Jesus is our Savior King!)
• Where was Jesus born? (Bethlehem)
• Who did the angel appear to with the news of Jesus’ birth? (Shepherds)
• What three gifts did the wise men bring? (Gold, frankincense, and myrrh)
• Who wanted to kill Jesus? (King Herod)
• Why did Jesus come to save us? (So we could be forgiven for our sins and so we could enjoy life with God!)

Learning Activity 1: Story Sequencing                     

Supplies: Story strips, scissors, glue, construction paper

• Pass out the story strips and have the kids cut them out, put them in the correct order, and glue them onto their piece of construction paper.
• Go over the correct order as a class.

Learning Activity: Life with God                  

Supplies: Post it notes, pencils

• Encourage the kids to spend a minute thinking about specific reasons why life with God is better than life apart from God.
• Pass out a post it and pencil to everyone and have them write down their answers. Invite the kids to share what they wrote (if they want) and put them up on the board.
• Spend a few minutes praying, thanking God for allowing us to experience life with Him