The Wise Still Seek Him

Cooking Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Make no-bake cookies in the shape of stars.
[Note: 4th – 6th graders visited this workshop.]

For scripture, objectives, and background, see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

• Measuring Teaspoons (2)
• Rubber spatulas (2)
• Soup spoons (1 per student, not plastic)
• Aprons
• Sharpie marker
• Bibles
• Gingersnap cookies (5 cookies per student)
• Soy Butter (substitute for peanut butter, found in the store, by the organic peanut butter)
• Corn Syrup
• Zipper sandwich bags (3 per student)
• Cinnamon-sugar
• Star-shaped cookie cutters
• A medium-sized, empty, decorated gift box.

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Gather everyone around the tables in the Social Hall. Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Cooking Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Say: Today we’ll be making some yummy cookies. First, let’s spend some time talking about what activities you’ve been doing to get ready for Christmas. I’ve got this nicely decorated package. It’s actually an empty box so it’s not really a present for anyone but let’s think of this as our “presenter package.” The person who has the package is the one whose turn it is to talk.

Give the package to someone. When they are finished their turn talking, they pass it to the next person. Allow everyone a chance (saying “pass” is ok if they’re not in the mood to talk). [Don't spend more than 10 minutes on this activity.]

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:

Say: One of the reasons I had you pass around this decorated package is that it also symbolizes what we’ll be talking about today. We’re going to be talking about gifts, and in particular, about the magi or the wise men and the gifts they brought to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Ask: What gifts did the wise men bring? (gold, frankincense, myrrh)
Do those sound like the typical birthday gifts?
Say: Jesus was no ordinary baby. The wise men brought gifts that were meaningful to Jesus.
Ask: You all know what gold is, but what’s frankincense? (an aromatic incense; used in the Temple, it was burned to honor God; made from a certain kind of tree sap)
What about myrrh? (also an aromatic tree sap, used to prepare a body for burial)

Say: Let’s read the story of the visit of the magi.
Ask: Would this story be in the New Testament or Old Testament? (NT; stories about Jesus are in the New Testament)
Ask: Who can tell me the names of the first four books of the New Testament?
Say: The four Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are named after their authors. Our story about the magi can be found in the Gospel of Matthew.

Have them find Matthew, chapter 2, starting with verse 1. Remind them of the quick way to find the New Testament. [Opening the Bible in middle lands you usually in Psalms. Taking just the back half and finding middle of that, gets you to beginning of NT.]

Say: When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Herod was king. After Jesus’ birth some men who studied the stars – we sometimes call them magi or wise men – came from the East to Jerusalem. They asked around, saying: “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.”

On the first week of the Rotation…
Say: I am going to start reading from the Bible at verse 3. Follow along if you’d like to do so.
Read to them Matthew 2:3-12.

On the later weeks…
The students will be more familiar with the story. Have them locate the scripture in their Bibles. Then ask them to tell you the rest of the story. Fill in any missing details by using their Bibles. Read any portions that aren’t clear.

Preliminary Discussion:
Ask: How did the wise men find Jesus? (they followed a star)
Say: These wise men were students of the stars; they studied stars. What they observed in the stars caused them to search for a newborn king. They followed the star, and found Jesus.

Ask: I wonder if it would be handy to have a star that showed us the way to Jesus?
(allow all responses)

Say: God reaches out to us, to lead us to him, even though we may be unaware of it.
Ask: Think about your experiences, I wonder if you’ve had a star show you the way to God?

Say: Let’s go into the kitchen and make some star-shaped cookies. While we work, we can talk some more about the magi.

In the Kitchen:
Wash your hands first and then have everyone wash their hands. Offer aprons if kids want to wear one.

The “recipe” (makes 2 cookies)
5 gingersnap cookies
2 tsp corn syrup
1 tsp soy butter (we are substituting this instead of creamy peanut butter)
Cinnamon-sugar

1. Give each student a zipper sandwich bag and five cookies.
2. Put the cookies inside the bag, seal it, and crush the cookies into fine crumbs. Suggestions: use the back of a soup spoon as a crushing device. The bag will develop holes. Have kids keep same side of bag down (so holes are likely to be on top). Periodically have them gently shake bag from side to side to shift contents a bit. This step may take up to 10 minutes. Use this time to ask discussion questions (see below).
3. When cookies are in crumb stage, if their bag has holes, put the crumbs into a new zipper bag.
4. Have the kids hold their non-holey bag open, while you add 2 tsp of corn syrup and 1 tsp of soy butter. (Get the Shepherd to help you – you dispense one item, the Shepherd scoops in the other item. Rubber spatulas will be helpful here. The measurements do not have to be exact.)
5. Have kids close their bag and knead ingredients until dough forms.
6. Have the students remove the dough from the bag and flatten it on the metal table with their hands, until about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Cut star shapes. They will have to share cookie cutters. Sprinkle the cookies with cinnamon-sugar. Makes about two cookies each. Give each child a napkin to place their cookies on.

Discussion while crushing and mixing cookies:
Say: We sometimes refer to the wise men as kings but they probably were not kings.
Ask: When we were reading the Bible did it say how many wise men there were? (no!)
Say: Tradition assumes there were three wise men because of the three gifts mentioned but we don’t know for sure if there were only three.

Say: As you crush your cookies, listen to the noise you’re making.
Ask: What does it sound like? (it sounds like footsteps)
Ask: What do you suppose the wise men talked about on their journey to see the new king?
Do you think the wise men’s journey took a long time? (it could have taken months or even years)

Say: Most crèche scenes have the wise men visiting a baby Jesus in the stable.
Ask: In light of what we just said, what’s not quite right about that? (by the time these wise men got to Jesus, he could have been up to two years old)
As you are working with crushing and mixing these ginger snaps does the spicy scent remind you of any of the gifts of the wise men?
Two of gifts that the wise men brought were scented items. Do you remember what they were? (frankincense and myrrh)

Back to the Social Hall – Discussion with eating:
When everyone is finished, have the students wash their hands and return to the Social Hall. They may choose to eat one of their cookies. Ask them to bag up their other cookie and take it home; they must tell the story to someone in their family before eating the second cookie.

Say: When the wise men finally found Jesus they knelt down and worshipped him. They celebrated Jesus’ birth by bringing him gifts.
Ask: What do you think would be the most important gift you could give Jesus?

Say: God loves you. We give gifts to others as a response to God’s love for us.
Ask: I wonder how knowing this story will make us think differently about gifts this Christmas season?

Closing:

Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending.

A suggestion: “Dear God, We thank you for your presence with us today around this table. Thank you for the gift you have given each of us of your son, Jesus. Help us to remember this as we share our gifts with others. (End with everyone joining in on the Lord’s Prayer.) Amen.”

If you have extra time:
Play a game of 20 questions. Choose a student to think of a person, a place or a thing from the story. The other students attempt to guess by asking questions that have yes or no answers. Whoever guesses correctly gets to think of the item for the next round.

Resources:

• Goings, Nanette. Incredible Edible Bible Fun. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 1997. (for recipe)
• Hastings, Selina. The Children’s Illustrated Bible. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1994.
• Klusmeyers, Steve and Brenda. “Angels, Shepherds, Magi, Covenant Fulfilled lesson set: Drama Workshop.” 2002.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church, 120 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Copyright 2002, 2008 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material.

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert, Carol. "The Wise Still Seek Him: Cooking Lesson." 2008. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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