Drag out that extra strand of Christmas lights — it’s an object lesson! While there are tons of teaching opportunities for presenting the Nativity story there are other topics you can teach too . One of those is the subject of church unity. Kids and teens can help encourage unity and solidarity in the church if they know how important it is. Begin this Christmas object lesson by sharing some verses on the topic of unity. Psalm 133:1 is my favorite first to use when teaching the subject. (“Behold, how good and pleasant and it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.”)
This object lesson only requires two things: a working strand of Christmas lights and an electrical outlet with a switch. (You know the kind, power surge protectors. You can find them at dollar stores.) Stretch the lights across the table, preferably a long table and plug it into the power strip. Plug the power strip into the wall and switch the strip off.
Tell the children, “I loved Christmas as a kid but one thing I did not love was all of the squabbling. Every year it never failed, my sister (or brother or cousin etc.) and I always argued over toys. Either she wanted the toy I had or I wanted the toy she had. It seems like we argued a lot around Christmas time. I know sometimes these things happen by when we argue when there is disunity in a family God is not pleased. Have any of you ever argued every toy?” Wait for children to respond. Encourage them to raise their hand before speaking.
“You know that the church is a lot like a family — in fact we are a family. We are God’s family. God is not pleased when people in his family argue, when there is disunity. God wants us to have unity. That means God wants us to share and to love one another. We are not to be cruel or meaning to one another. To show you what I’m talking about lately show you what I have here.” Stand next to the Christmas lights. “As you can see, this is a strand of lights. When I flip the switch, the lights come on. When I flip the switch again the lights go off. As you can see, these beautiful lights shine brightly when the power, like God’s power flows through it. However when there is disunity God’s power flickers on and off. We don’t want that. We want to be united at Christmas and all year long. Let’s pray for unity and God’s church.”
Read more from Mimi by following Tools for Kids Church.
- Easy Christmas Light Object Lesson: Missing a Light
- Christmas Object Lesson: The Christmas Star Ornament
- Advent Children’s Sermon: Those Christmas Lights
- Christmas Object Lesson: The Christmas Card
- Christmas Object Lesson: The Wrapping Paper
I just became the teacher of our Children’s Church. We have a small amount of children ranging from 3 to 11 years of age. I find your lessons to be appropriate for my age group of kids. I really enjoy teaching your lessons to our kids and I know they enjoy them also. it’s like a new adventure for them every Sunday. Thanks for your service to our kids.