Unit 4 Summary:

Kairos Christmas

Every kid wants to have the biggest, best Christmas ever. In this holiday-themed unit, kids will discover that having the

biggest Christmas isn’t about the number of gifts they receive, the cookies they eat, or the decorations on their trees. The biggest, best Christmas is a Kairos Christmas, a Christmas where kids learn to recognize God’s activity in their everyday lives and make the decision to do something about it.

Christmas reminds us that God loves to break into the world of ordinary people just like us. From Mary and Joseph to the shepherds to the wise men, this series looks at the major players of the Christmas story and how they responded when God showed up in some surprising ways.

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GAME ON: LESSON 17 (Large Group)

Key Concept: Wise people seek Jesus every day.

Bible Story: The wise men worship Jesus (Matthew 2)

Bible Verse: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. — Jeremiah 29:13

3DM Principle: The Circle (Kairos)

Large Group Overview: Kids will hear the story of the wise men and see how they processed the kairos of the Bethlehem star. As they do, they will learn how to apply the circle in their everyday encounters with God.

Huddle Overview: Kids will participate in seeking activities to help them think about how they can seek Jesus this week.

Lesson Outline

Game Jesus In Da House (5 min)

Bible Story The Wise Men (15 min)

Application (5 min)

Bible Verse / Prayer (5 min)

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Hey Guys, welcome back to Kairos Quest. How many of you are having an awesome Christmas this year? What has been your favorite part? One of my favorite things about this Christmas was… (Share answer with the kids.)

The only bad part about Christmas is that it’s over so fast. All the cookies get eaten. All the presents get opened. And sooner or later, all of the decorations come down. Before you know it, you’re back in school, and it’s almost like Christmas never happened.

It’s so fun to look forward to Christmas — the mystery, the surprises, and the fun. But when it’s over, it’s kind of a bummer. Major letdown!

But the very first Christmas reminds us that every day can be a day to look forward to. Every day can be filled with mystery and surprises, because Jesus didn’t just show up once 2,000 years ago. Jesus wants to show up in our lives every single day.

What do we call these moments when Jesus shows up? (Kids answer, “Kairos.)

These kairos moments happen all the time, but we have to pay attention and watch for those times when Jesus shows up so that we don’t miss Him and the adventure that He wants to give us. To help us remember this, we’re going to kick things off today with a game called Jesus In Da House.

Play upbeat game music.

Opening Activity: Jesus In Da House

Instructions

Supplies:

6 Picture of Jesus (something fun and cool, not overly traditional or cheesy)

6 Blindfold

6 Stopwatch or smart phone with a stopwatch feature

6 Upbeat game music

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How to Play:

Divide the group into two teams, boys vs. girls. Bring up a contestant and blindfold him or her. Then hide the picture of Jesus. Once the picture is hidden, take the blindfold off the contestant and start the timer. The contestant walks around the room trying to locate the missing picture. The other kids on the contestant’s team will help him or her locate the picture by beeping like a sonar device. The closer the contestant gets, the faster they beep. The game leader will need to beep along with them to help.

Once the contestant finds Jesus, stop the timer and record the time. Then bring up a contestant from the other team to play a second round. See if he or she can find Jesus faster than the first contestant did.

I have this picture of Jesus, and I’m going to hide it somewhere in this room. A couple of contestants, one boy and one girl, will compete to see who can find it the fastest. Who wants to be the first contestant to play Jesus In Da House?

Bring up first contestant. Fade music.

Here’s the deal: I’m going to blindfold our first contestant on you and then hide this picture of Jesus. When I take the blindfold off, I’m going to start the timer. The contestant will wander around the room until you find Jesus. But you’re going to have some help. Your team — the girls or the boys — will be your sonar helping you find Him.

Teams, all you have to do to be sonar is beep like this. (Demonstrate a sonar beep.) When your teammate gets closer to Jesus, start beeping faster like this. (Beep several times really fast.) But when your teammate moves farther away from Jesus, beep slower like this. (Beep several times really slow.)

It’s time to play.

Play until the first contestant finds Jesus. Then bring up a contestant from the other team to try and beat the first contestant’s time. Announce the winner at the end and thank everyone for playing.

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Bible Story

The teaching area should be set with a white board and a marker.

Today we’re going to hear a story about some guys who went looking for Jesus and had an incredible adventure. Today’s story really isn’t a Christmas story. It’s actually an after-Christmas story. It’s a story about some guys who did not want to miss out on seeing Jesus. We call these guys the wise men.

Now we should probably call these guys the mystery men, because we really don’t know much about them. In fact, most of the stuff you’ve heard about the wise men is a total myth. It’s just not true. So right now we’re going to play a game called Wise Men Mythbusters to see what’s true and what’s not so true about these mysterious guys from the Bible.

I’m going to read you some things about the wise men that may or may not be true. If you think it’s true, I want you to say, “That’s the fact, Jack.” But if you think it’s a myth, I want you to make a big letter X with your arms and make a game-show buzzer sound like this. (Demonstrate game-show buzzer sound.)

Go through each question, taking responses from the kids. Don’t single any kids out but let the group answer at once. Explain the answer behind each myth and what the Bible really says. Be careful not to make kids feel dumb for getting the answer wrong. Instead, encourage them for good guesses and tell them that most grown-ups would have answered the question wrong as well.

1. The wise men brought gifts to Jesus. Answer: That’s the fact, Jack.

2. There were three wise men. Answer: X.

Actually, we don’t know how many wise men there were. The Bible says they brought three gifts, but it doesn’t say how many guys brought them. It could have been a couple. It could have been a dozen. Nobody knows.

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Jesus loves to show up in our lives every day. He loves for us to find Him, but, just like in our game, sometimes we have to work at it a little, and sometimes we need some help from our friends.

WE THREE KINGS OF ORIENT ARE...

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3. The wise men were kings. Answer: X.

There’s a famous Christmas song about the wise men called “We Three Kings,” but the Bible doesn’t say anything about these guys being kings. It calls them magi or wise men. They were kind of like modern-day scientists who probably knew a lot about the stars.

4. The wise men brought Jesus expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Answer: That’s a fact, Jack.

5. The wise men visited Jesus at the manger along with the shepherds. Answer: X.

The wise men didn’t show up at the manger. Instead, they showed up at a house much later, probably when Jesus was a toddler.

Great job, guys. Now we know all the things we don’t know about these mysterious wise men. Let’s check out what we do know. Let’s read Matthew 2:1 from the Bible: “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’”

We know that the wise men lived far away in the east and that they knew a lot about the stars. We also know that on the day Jesus was born, that first Christmas day, one of them looked up and saw a brand new star shining in the sky.

Draw a star at the top of the white board.

Can you imagine how surprised the wise men must have been? It’s not every day you see a new star just pop into the sky. The first wise man to see it knew something was up. (Point to the star) That was major kairos action! The coolest part is that the guy didn’t miss it. He was paying attention. And that’s where his adventure began.

Using the star as a starting point, draw the learning circle below it.

Now once this guy saw the star, he was probably like, “Whoa! What is up with that?” (Write “Whoa!” in the upper right corner of the circle.)

Everybody say, “Whoa!” (Kids repeat.)

When this guy saw the star, it totally blew his mind. Somehow he knew this was no ordinary star. So then he probably took some time to think about it, study it, and try to figure out what it meant. (Write, “Hmm” in the middle of the right side of the circle.)

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Everybody say, “hmm.” (Kids repeat.)

Once this guy thought about the star, he probably brought his buddies into the conversation. I bet they talked about it a whole lot. (Write “Yadda, yadda, yadda” on bottom right corner of the circle.)

Everybody say, “Yadda, yadda, yadda.” (Kids repeat.)

Not don’t ask me how they knew this, because the Bible doesn’t say. But somehow the wise men realized that this new star meant that an important King had been born. They even knew He was the king over God’s special people, the Jews.

For hundreds of years God’s messengers, the prophets, had been telling everyone that a special King would someday be born. He would make everything right, and He would rule forever. Now the star had shown them that the special King was here. It was Jesus.

Somehow the wise men figured this out, and then they had a big decision to make. What were they going to do about it?

It’s one thing to see God at work, to think about, and to talk about it. But these guys decided to do something about it. They decided to act. They decided to put together a plan. (Write the word “plan” on the lower left corner of the circle.)

Turn to someone next to you and say, “What’s the plan, Stan?” (Kids repeat.)

These guys came up with a plan. They realized that Jesus was so special that He deserved to be worshipped. Worship means that we love something with all we’ve got. So the wise men decided to do just that. These magi put together a plan to get some expensive gifts together — gold and some sweet smelling stuff called frankincense and myrrh — to take to the newborn king.

They knew that Jesus was worth it.

Write “Buddy up” in the middle of the left hand side of the circle.

But they didn’t do it alone. We don’t know how many wise men came, but we do know it was more than one. When we’re doing what God wants us to do, we all need people to help us and cheer us on.

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Turn to someone next to you and say, “Gooooo team!” (Kids repeat.)

And then they went for it. They began their journey to find Jesus. It’s not enough to hear God, not enough to think and talk about it, not enough even to have a plan and a buddy to encourage you. At the end of the day, it all comes down to doing something. Turn to someone next to you and say, “Just do it!” (Kids repeat.)

Write “Just do it” on the upper left hand corner of the circle.

The wise men did it, and God’s new star led the way. They followed it all the way to Jerusalem. When they got there, they asked people, “Where can we find the king of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship him.” Eventually they followed the star until it stopped over Mary and Joseph’s house.

When they got to the house, they found Jesus, the King of all kings, the Son of God. The wise men bowed down to Jesus and worshipped Him and gave him their gifts.

Think about it. These guys probably traveled for months on a long adventure, and they got to meet Jesus! It had to be absolutely amazing.

Application

Here’s the thing. Anyone could have followed that star, but not everyone did. Most people missed out. As far as we know, no one else even noticed the star. If they did, they didn’t know what it meant or have the courage to do anything about it.

Wise people seek Jesus every day. It was true 2,000 years ago. It’s still true today.

This week God may not hang a new star right over your house to get your attention, but He will try to get your attention in other ways. It may be through a Bible verse or a song. It may be through a thought that pops into your head while you’re praying. It may be through something someone says to you or just through something that happens to you in your day.

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If you’re wise, you’ll check it out, think about it, talk about it, make a plan, get a buddy to cheer you on, and take some action.

Bible Verse

Our Bible verse today is from Jeremiah 29:13. It says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

God wants us to look for Him. He wants us to find Him, and He wants us to know Him better each and every day. Let’s pray.

Prayer

Dear God, Thank You that You show up in our lives every day. Please help us to look for You this week and not to miss out when You’re talking to us. We want to hear You and take action on whatever You tell us. Thanks for the adventure.

Amen

Dismiss kids to Huddle Time.

GAME ON: LESSON 17 (Huddle)

Key Concept: Wise people seek Jesus every day.

Bible Story: The wise men worship Jesus (Matthew 2)

Bible Verse: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. — Jeremiah 29:13

3DM Principle: The Circle (Kairos)

Large Group Overview: Kids will hear the story of the wise men and see how they processed the kairos of the Bethlehem star. As they do, they will learn how to apply the circle in their everyday encounters with God.

Huddle Overview: Kids will participate in seeking activities to help them think about how they can seek Jesus this week.

Supplies

6 Hidden picture books or printouts (1 for every pair of children)6 Ping-pong ball marked with the letter J for Jesus (1 per group)6 Opaque plastic cups (3 per group)6 Bible Verse cards (1 per child)

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Welcome / Large Group Review

Gather kids in a circle either on the floor or around a table.

Welcome back to huddle. Today, we talked about some wise men that went looking for Jesus. Let’s see how much you learned about these guys.

6 What was the special sign that God gave the wise men that Jesus had been born? The star

6 How many wise men visited Jesus? We don’t know for sure

6 How many gifts did they bring? Three

6 What did they do when they found Jesus? They worshipped Him

These guys were wise enough to know that there was nothing more important than Jesus. Even though they had to go through a lot to find Him, they knew Jesus was worth the trouble to search for Him with all their hearts. God wants us to search in the same way.

Huddle Activity 1: Hidden Pictures

The purpose of this activity is to help kids think about looking for Jesus everywhere they go.

How It Works:

Divide kids into pairs (give one pair a third if the number is uneven). Give each pair a hidden-picture book or a hidden picture printout. Give the pairs five minutes to see how many pictures they can find by working together.

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Huddle Group Outline

Welcome / Review Questions to review lesson (3 min)

Activity 1 Hidden pictures (7 min)

Activity 2 Hide and Seek (10 min)

Huddle Discussion (10 min)

Prayer (10 min)

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Supplies:

6 Hidden picture books (such as the I Spy or Where’s Waldo series) or hidden picture printouts (1 for each pair of children) You can purchase or borrow hidden picture books or check them out from the library. If these books are unavailable, search online for “printable hidden pictures” and print your own.

Today I’ve brought some hidden picture books for you guys to check out. I’m going to give you about five minutes to find as many hidden pictures as possible.

Divide kids into pairs and give each pair a book. At the end of the time, ask the kids the following questions:

6 How many pictures did you find?

6 Was it hard or easy?

6 Did it help to have friends on your team looking with you?

6 Do you think there are any hidden pictures you didn’t find?

Those hidden picture books can be tricky. You know the pictures are there from the beginning, but it takes work to find them. You can’t just glance at the picture. You have to really search for it, and sure helps having some friends to look with you.

It’s the same way in our everyday lives. God shows up every single day at our school, our homes, and our neighborhoods. But sometimes He can be hard to see at first, especially if you’re busy or having a bad day.

That’s why we have to look for Him everywhere we go. It’s also why we need good friends who can help us look for Him. Remember that wise people seek Jesus every day. Today we’re going to talk about some ways we can look for Jesus every day.

Huddle Activity 2: Hide and Seek

The purpose of this activity is to help kids identify ways they can look for Jesus.

How to Play:

Play the classic “shell game” with kids. Choose a child to find “Jesus” (the ping-pong ball with the letter J). Then put the ping pong ball under one

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cup and begin to switch the cups around quickly a few times before letting the child guess which cup they think Jesus is under. Every time a child finds “Jesus” let them draw a Hide and Seek card and answer the question.

Supplies:

6 Ping-pong ball with the letter J written on with permanent marker (1 per group)

6 Opaque plastic cups (3 per group)

6 Hide and Seek cards

The wise men in today’s Bible story could actually go to a place and physically see Jesus in the flesh. For us, it’s a little bit trickier. Even though Jesus is with us, we can’t see His body like the wise men did. We have to look for places God is working and wants to use us.

Jesus may show up in a Bible verse you read, or maybe when you’re praying, He might remind you of something He wants you to do. He may show up when you see a chance to help someone or in some other way. But as long as you go into each day looking for Jesus, He’ll help you see Him working in your life.

Our Bible verse for today is from Jeremiah 29:13. It says: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

We’re going to play a game today called Hide and Seek to remind us that we need to seek Jesus with all of our hearts.

This is a ping-pong ball with the letter J on it. It’s going to stand for Jesus in this game. I’m going to put it under one of these cups then mix them up. Then I’m going to see if you can find Jesus. If you find Him, you’ll get the chance to draw a Hide and Seek card and answer the question.

Choose someone to go first. Put the ping-pong ball under one cup and tell the child to keep their eye on that cup. Then switch the cups around. After a few seconds stop and ask the child, “Where’s Jesus?” If child guesses right, let him or her draw a Hide and Seek card and answer the question.

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Hide and Seek cards

6 A Bible verse keeps popping into your head all day. Could this be Jesus?

6 You see a kid at school get embarrassed when he drops his lunch tray. You think you should jump in and help him clean it up. Could this be Jesus?

6 After fighting with your brother, you realize you said some things that were pretty mean. You feel like you should go apologize. Could this be Jesus?

6 You keep hearing the same Christian song every time you turn on the radio, and the words remind you of how much God loves you. Could this be Jesus?

6 Every time you pray, you keep thinking about a kid who doesn’t have many friends. Could this be Jesus?

6 You were really worried about a test at school, but your best friend reminded you that God would help you through get through it no matter what. Could this be Jesus?

As you guys can see, Jesus can show up in all kinds of ways in our day. The important thing is that we look for Him just like the wise men did all of those years ago.

Bible Verse

Pass out Bible verse cards to kids.

Let’s read our Bible verse for today together. It’s Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Put this verse somewhere you can see it all week long to remind you to look for Jesus every day.

Huddle Discussion

Remember what God did to get the wise men’s attention? He put a new star in the sky. We might not see a new star, but God might get our attention with some of those things we just talked about.

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We’re going to take some time right now to give you guys the chance to share any ways God may be talking to you. Maybe it’s through something hard you’re facing or maybe it’s through a Bible verse or Bible story. Maybe it’s through something another person said to you. Maybe it’s through something that happened to you that made you wonder, “Is God trying to tell me something?”

Let kids share their examples. Some may be really obvious kairos moments where God is speaking to them. Others may be totally random thoughts. Do your best to affirm kids who share random comments while reining them in so that you can get to some genuine kairos examples in the group.

For kids who share kairos, ask follow-up questions like:

6 How did that make you feel?

6 Why do you think God wanted you to notice that?

6 What do you think God wants you to do about it?

Remember that what we do with a kairos moment is huge. It shows the kind of faith we really have. The wise men didn’t just see the star; they followed it until it led them to Jesus.

Pray through this time, asking the Holy Spirit to help you to know to respond to each child’s situation. Whenever possible, point kids back to a Scripture and affirm that God loves them and loves that they are listening to Him in their lives.

Prayer

Take prayer requests. Write them down so that you can pray over them during the week. Take time to pray together as a group. Encourage kids to pray for each other during the group time. You may want to close out with a prayer like the following one.

God, thank You that You love us and that You want to us to find Jesus every day. Thanks for showing up in our lives in really cool ways. Help us to pay attention and look for You with all of our hearts this week.

Amen.

Lesson 17 Huddle

BibleVerseCards

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

— Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

— Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

— Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

— Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

— Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

— Jeremiah 29:13

LESSON 17 (Family)

Today I Learned: Wise people seek Jesus every day.

Bible Story: The wise men worship Jesus (Matthew 2)

Family Challenge

This week your kids learned that the wise men recognized the activity of God in their lives, processed it, and put what God showed them into action by seeking out Jesus. Make a game of finding Jesus this week with your kids. Take a baby Jesus figure from a nativity set or cut out a picture of Jesus from a Christmas card if you don’t have a nativity set. Hide the figure or the picture in plain sight somewhere new every morning. See who can be the first person to find Jesus each day. Let whoever finds him hide Jesus the next day.

Plan • • Discuss

LearningCulture

Act • • Observe

Account • • Reflect

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* The four questions you are asking are ways offiguring out what your kids’ Kairos moment was

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Dinnertime Discussion

At dinnertime this week, ask some of these questions to get your family talking.

1. How hard was it to find Jesus today?

2. Who do you think is going to find him first tomorrow?

3. What are some ways we can look for the real Jesus every day?

4. How can we put what Jesus tells us into action?

Use these questions to help kids develop the habit of looking for God’s activity in their every day circumstances, processing it with family and spiritual friends, and acting on what God tells them to do.

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