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The Wise Still Seek Him

Latimore-flight.into.egypt.refugeesGames Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Use games (Pictionary for older kids, Concentration/Memory for younger) to learn the story. Kids will become refugees when they are “kicked out” of their workshop room. [A reminder that Jesus and his family were refugees (Matthew 2:13-15) and that we are on a journey to seek Jesus.]

For scripture and objectives- see above.

Refugee artwork: Latimore, Kelly. "Refugees: La Sagrada Familia," from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderb...magelink.pl?RC=57109 [retrieved August 30, 2023]. Original source: Kelly Latimore Icons, https://kellylatimoreicons.com/. Read more about it here.


Leader Preparation:

  • Read the scripture for this lesson.
  • Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
  • Prepare an opening and/or closing prayer in case you need one.
  • Be prepared to follow the lesson according to what grade will be in your workshop.
  • Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

  • Bible storybook for 1st and 2nd grade: The Beginner’s Bible (Zonderkidz)
  • Easel with paper, markers
  • Cards for Pictionary game (with Epiphany words written on them)
  • Cards with pictures to play Concentration
  • Worksheets (grades 3 and up-word search, 1st & 2nd dot-to-dot)
  • Someone to come in about 10:10 and kick you out of your room- preferably one of the senior high kids.


Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet your students warmly, introducing yourself and any other adults.

Say: Today we’ll be learning about the wise men and their visit to Jesus. There is even a day that celebrates the wise men’s visit to Jesus; does anyone know what it’s called? (Epiphany) Epiphany falls on January 6th. (We’ll celebrate Epiphany here in this church on Sunday, January 5th.)

Say: First let’s begin with prayer.
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.
A suggestion: “Dear God, Thank you for the story of the wise men who journeyed a long way to find Jesus. Thank you for helping all of us find Jesus in our lives. Amen”

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:

Ask: Would the wise men story be in the New Testament or Old Testament? (New; stories about Jesus are in the New Testament)
Can anyone tell me the first four books of the New Testament? (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)

Say: Our story is in Matthew. [Or try asking, does anyone know where our story is?]

For 1st and 2nd grade:
Read the story of the wise men from The Beginner’s Bible pages 288 – 298, showing the pictures as you read.

For 3rd grade and up:
Have the kids find Matthew, chapter 2, starting with verse 1, in their Bibles. Have kids take turns reading verses 1 – 16 and 19 – 23. [By week 3 – you might try having the kids tell you the story instead of reading it. But do still have them look it up in their Bibles.]
Have the kids repeat the key verse with you (verse 2). [If the Bible they are reading from uses the word “homage”, explain that it means “worship”.]

For all grades:
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: 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. 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. The wise men didn’t visit Jesus as a baby in the stable with the shepherds.

Ask: How did King Herod react when the wise men showed up asking “where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?”
(Answers looking for: Herod was king; he was afraid of someone who might take over his kingdom. He pretended like he wanted to also worship the new born king, asked that wise men tell him where they found the Messiah. He was really planning to kill Jesus.)

Ask: How do you think the wise men felt when God told them not to go back to see Herod? How would you feel if God told you to do something different than what you were planning to do?
Ask: God also gave a message to Joseph to do something different. What message did Joseph get? (to flee to Egypt to escape Herod)
Say: So at a very young age, Jesus became a refugee. Do you know what a refugee is?
(someone who has to leave his or her home country because of something threatening)

Play Games:

For grades 3 and up:
Form two teams. Play Pictionary using the cards provided. Make sure each person has a chance to draw. The rest of their team tries to guess what they are drawing. Have a set time limit (use your judgment). Have each team say how the item relates to the story.
[NOTE: you will get interrupted during this game – see below.]

For 1st and 2nd grade:
Form two groups. [Have Shepherds help decide how to best accomplish this.] Have each group play Concentration using the cards provided. (There are two duplicate sets.)
How to play: All cards are laid face down. When each person takes a turn they turn over 2 cards looking for a match. If no match, turn them face down again. If match, they pick up the cards. When they make a match, have student say how the item relates to the story.

For all grades: The Interruption (or you become refugees)
Someone will come and announce that you must leave your workshop room. They will be insistent: you must leave. Act surprised, saying things like “we’re in the middle of our game!” Protest a little bit. Try not to portray fear or too much concern. Eventually be matter-of-fact, “if you insist, let’s go on a journey to find a different room to use. Guess what: we are refugees just like Jesus was a refugee.”
Instruct everyone to take all your things – including game equipment and class banner. Gather everyone together; count heads!

Say: We are on our journey. I wish we had a star to guide us.
Go out your door to left. Go down one flight via the back stairs that end up by Wesley Lounge. Along the way look in rooms such as Wesley office (too small), Wesley Lounge (someone’s setting up to use that), go past main office, and left towards Chapel. Try Ellen’s office door (locked). Go down the back stairs to ground floor (comment on how rooms are being used, can’t go in that one). [Keep count of your kids!]
If you meet anyone along the way, Say: we are on a journey just as the wise men traveled to seek Jesus.
Go back up to the top floor (maybe via elevator?) Head for room 211.
Say: Here’s a room we can use!

When you’re in your new home:
Gather everyone together on the rug. (Use carpet squares if needed).
Ask: How did it feel to be refugees, to be on a journey and not know where we’d end up?
(allow kids to talk about the experience)
How do you think the wise men felt when they finally found Jesus?

Option if there is time left:
Continue with your game (Concentration or Pictionary) or
1st and 2nd grade can do a dot-to-dot worksheet
Older kids can do a word search

Closing:

Say: The wise men had a special star to guide them on their journey to find Jesus. As Christmas draws near we too are drawn to seek Jesus. God loves you and wants to help you go in the right direction so you can find Jesus in your life.

Ask the kids to help clean up, putting away Bibles and any supplies.
Encourage everyone to come back next week for another workshop, and to invite friends to come too!


Pictionary game cards. Write the following words on cards:

King, Gifts, Follow the Star, East, Wise men, Camel, We have seen his star, baby Jesus, Manger, January, Star of Bethlehem, Knelt down, Egypt, Light, Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh, Worship, Epiphany, Study the stars, We Three Kings, King Herod.

Concentration game cards.

Use clip art to create 2 sets of cards (so create 4 of each picture). Separate the sets so that each deck has 2 of each picture. Suggestions of pictures:

Crown
World (because Christ came for the world)
Star
Path (seeking Christ)
Gifts
Light (Jesus brought light to the world)
Camel
3 Wise men
Telescope
Scrolls (birth foretold in Old Testament)


Resources for Games Workshop:

  • The Beginners Bible. Zondervan, 1989.
  • Davidson, Linda S. (editor). Creative Ideas for Epiphany. Educational Ministries, Inc. 1991.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright 2002 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.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

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Images (1)
  • Latimore-flight.into.egypt.refugees: Latimore, Kelly. Refugees: La Sagrada Familia, from Art in the Christian Tradition
Last edited by Amy Crane
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