Lesson 4 – The Light of the World

Christmas Theme:

(NOTE: Some of the activities in this lesson are also used in “Jesus, Our Lord: Lesson 2—Jesus is the Light.”)

OVERVIEW

Key Point: Jesus is the Light who Guides

Repeat this phrase throughout the lesson.

Bible Story: John 10:7-15

Challenge Verse: John 8:12—Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Younger Option: John 8:12—Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness…”

ITEMS NEEDED

White Candles—one for each child in the class—These can be the same ones we use for the Christmas Eve Service, if we can order them together.

1 Lighter

5 Tea Candles

A bag of old crayons

A bag with L-I-G-H-T Letters cut out.

A bag with enough Starbursts so that each student can have one.

A brown paper sack with “Be the Light” slips of paper inside. These are at the end of this lesson.

Slips of paper for Christmas Chains

Scotch Tape or glue to put the Christmas Chains together

Bible Verse Poster

BEFORE CLASS

– Hide the letters spelling LIGHT.

– Set out the candles where they are readily accessible, but be sure to keep the lighter out of sight and hidden away where students can’t get to it.

– You may want to put butcher paper on your craft table to help with clean-up.

– Pray for each student by name.

AS STUDENTS ENTER

– Greet each student by name as they enter.

– Give each student an attendance sticker for the attendance chart.

– Get to know any guests.

OPENING ACTIVITY

As the children enter tell them that you have hidden 5 letters somewhere in the room. They are on small pieces of paper. Challenge them to find all five. Once all the pieces have been found, tell them that it spells the word “LIGHT.”

Leader: What’s Christmas all about? / Students: It’s all about Jesus!

Give all your students a Starburst and SAY:

These are Starbursts and we are getting ready to look at a verse in the book of Philippians that mentions stars.

Ask the students: Is the book of Philippians in the Old Testament or the New Testament?

(New Testament.)

Choose a volunteer to point it our on the Bible Book Chart.

Ready…Philippians 2:15…Go!

Read the verse.

Ask the students: Who remembers what this verse said about stars?

(To shine like stars in the universe.)

Ask the students: What does that mean?

(God wants us to shine, or show his love and life to others.)

OPTIONAL: Choose 1 volunteer to turn the lights off.

Ask the students: Tell us about a time you were guided by a light. (Examples might include using a flashlight on a walk, using a camping lantern, and having a nightlight in your bedroom.)

Ask the students: What is the brightest light you have ever seen?

Ask the students: How do you think God is like a light?

SAY: This week we are going to learn that Jesus is the Light who Guides Me

Control Tool

SAY: From now on anytime I say “Jesus is the Light who…” I want you to say, “Guides me!”

Practice a few times. Challenge them to say it louder.

SAY: Jesus is the Light who…(Students: Guides me!)

Leader: What’s Christmas all about? / Students: It’s all about Jesus!

LESSON ACTIVITY

Be the Light

After turning the lights back on…

Choose a volunteer—This volunteer will reach in a bag  and pull out a slip of paper. The slips of paper will instruct the student what to do. This student will be the “Light,” showing everyone else what to do. The Light may not speak (unless the instructions say so) but should lead everyone in accomplishing what is written. Once you, as the teacher, see that the instructions have been followed, tell everyone to give him a hand, then point to someone else and say, “Be the Light.”  They’ll come forward and thus the game continues. If a student doesn’t want to lead, don’t make them, but let everyone who wants to go have that opportunity.

(For an even greater challenge, set up with another class or even another grade a fun competition, where, after doing this game, the two classes meet together. Each class forms a line. On “Go” the first person races down and shows everyone else on his team what to do. Everyone else on his team does the action and he races back and tags the next person, and so forth, until all the challenges are complete.)

Discussion

Ask the students:

– What was hard about being the Light?

– What was fun about being the Light?

Read from your Bible Matthew 5:14

– How does this verse remind you of our game? (Both of them talk about the light; everyone can see a city on a mountain, and everyone could see us doing the instructions.)

– What does Jesus mean when He says, “You are the light”? (That we should live in such a way that our lives are like a light that guides other people to God; and shine, or show them, His life and love.

– When you’re at school, why is it sometimes hard to be a light? (I don’t always want to do the right thing; some people think you’re weird if you’re a Christian; your friends want to do wrong things.)

SAY: It can be hard to be a light. But when we shine Jesus’ love to our friends, we’re doing the best thing we can, which is showing someone about Jesus. By being a light Jesus isn’t asking you to do silly things, like what we did in our game. Jesus wants you to bring hope, courage, and joy to people. He wants you to follow God’s Word and tell everyone that Jesus saves us.

Challenge:

(1)   Everyone turn someone next to you, give them a high five and say, “Jesus loves you.”

Great job!

(2)   Now stand up, give three people a low five and say, “Jesus will take care of you.”

(3)   Now shake five people’s hands and say, “You can trust Jesus.”

On the count of three, everyone sit down as fast as you can.

Ready…one…two…everyone say, “Jesus loves you!” (Kids: Jesus loves you!)

Ready…one…two…everyone say, “You can trust Jesus!” (Kids: You can trust Jesus!)

Ready…one…two…three…sit down!

Be sure to praise different students for what they did: How fast they sat, how loud they were, for what a great smile they had, etc.

SAY: It’s both easy and fun to tell other people about Jesus. It’s as simple as saying, “Jesus loves you,” or “Jesus will take care of you.” You can shine Jesus’ light to anyone you know by your words and by how you live.

BIBLE LESSON

SAY: We’re going to take a look at a story in the Bible where God used a star to guide people.

Ask the students: Does anybody know what story I’m talking about? (Hint: It’s a part of the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth.)

SAY: Let’s read about it:

Read from your Bible Luke 2:1-12. Tell the student that when they hear the words “king” or “Herod,” they are to say “Booo.” When they hear “wise men,” they are to say, “They’re smart.” When they hear “child,” they are to say, “That’s Jesus!”

Ask the students: Why do you think King Herod was so interested in what the wise men said? (Because he was the king and if the King was going to be born, it was a threat to him.)

Ask the students: Do you think that King Herod really wanted to go and worship the child? (No.)

Ask the students: Why do you think he wanted to know where Jesus was? (He wanted to get rid of Him.)

SAY: Not everybody was happy that Jesus was born and it’s a very sad thing that not everybody wants Jesus to be in their lives. But the wise men were seeking Him and the star led them to just the right spot. In the same way, you can be a light that leads others to Christ as well.

LESSON CRAFT

Application Questions:

Use these as discussion starters while doing the craft. Don’t expect to cover all of the questions.

How can you shine your light so others can see Jesus in you?

What do you think would be some things people do on a playground or in sports that show they are following the light? What are things people might do when they are living in darkness?

What would happen if you stood up for someone being picked on in the playground? How would that person feel? How would the bully feel? How would you feel? How would Jesus feel?

Is there anything in your life that you do that Jesus wouldn’t like? Does that feel like darkness? Who can tell more about how it feels when you feel guilty for something? How can Jesus’ light that guides you help?

Decorating a Candle with Melted Crayons

Use butcher paper to cover the work area. You will also need a tea candle, lighter, and a bag full of old crayons. Have your students remove the paper coverings from the crayons. Each child will need a white candle.

The following precautions need to be carefully communicated and strictly enforced.

• A teacher must supervise the lit tea candle in the middle of the group.
• No one else is allowed to touch the tea candle that is burning.
• Nothing can be put into the flame other than a crayon with the paper removed.
• No crayon can stay in the flame for more than two seconds.

Each child (being closely supervised by the teacher) will take a turn holding a crayon over the burning candle and then write on his white candle with the crayon’s melted wax. Be sure to tell them that the end that is wax is hot.

Have children draw a cross on the candle to represent that Jesus is the light of the world.  This is a great option for younger children who can’t write yet.

Then the children may write their names (or initials) on the candles to show that Jesus’ light shines through them to the world.

Be careful that crayons are not held over the flame for too long. This creates a bigger mess and the crayons are easier to write with when their ends are only slightly melted. A crayon will repeatedly need to be melted to complete each side of the candle.

PRAYER TIME & WRAP UP

Leader: What’s Christmas all about? / Students: It’s all about Jesus!

OPTIONAL: Choose 1 volunteer—to turn out the lights.

Remind your students that we live in a world of darkness (which means the word is full of a lot of bad things), but that we can give thanks because Jesus is the Light who… Guides me!

SAY: Jesus loves you and He’ll never let you down or lead you the wrong way. You can trust Him because He’s the Good Shepherd and you can follow Him because He’s the Light who guides you.

List Prayer Requests

Pray that all in the group will be lights to the world reflecting Jesus.

EXTRA TIME

Use any extra time to:

– Help your students memorize the verse for today

– Practice extra Bible Drills

The candle creaft was adapted from Kids Kount Publishing, Kingdom Quest, “I AM” series, “The Light of the World” Lesson 5

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