LEADERS HUB
Year 1, Term 4, Week 1: Ideas for Middle Group
Week 1: Jesus is coming - The Prophet's foretold it!
Lesson Objective:
It was always God's plan to send King Jesus to rescue us, God's prophets tell us so!
Bible Passage:
Isaiah 1:1-4, 7:1-14, Micah 5:1-5 (Prophecy about Jesus)
Memory Verse:
Isaiah 7:14 - A Virgin is pregnant. She will have a son and will name him Immanuel.
Story Idea: Tell it with Magic Letters and Visuals
.jpg)
You will need:
- Whiteboard with markers
- The magic lettering template
- Crown and sword (prop cupboard)
Before the lesson:
- Draw the letter grid on the board (4 squares, then 2, then 6)
- Leave space in the top corners to write the prophets name
Introduce:
- Who has a pet dog or cat? Do your pets know that they belong to you? Do they love and trust you? (Yes!)
- Animals know who their owners are and they follow them!
- Today we'll talk about two men who had important messages from God to God's people - Their names are Isaiah and Micah (write names on board around magic lettering grid
Tell the story and fill in the negative spaces in the grid to slowly reveal the letters as you speak:
- ISAIAH (point to name) told God's people that God was very upset with them!
- He said that even animals know who their owner is, they know who to follow... but God's people had forgotten who they belonged to!
- God's people had turned away from Him and done their own thing - that's called sin - and it makes God VERY angry!
- God uses words like DISGUSTING and DESERVES PUNISHMENT when He talks about sin
- So Instead of following God, the people of Israel were fighting each other (swing sword)!
- Lots of people were afraid because of the fighting - everyone was waiting for the next invasion!
- ISAIAH had brought terrible news - people had turned away from God and GOD WAS ANGRY!
- Everything seemed HOPELESS...
- MICAH's message from God started in the same way - Gods people had done the wrong thing and GOD WAS UPSET!
BUT - THE STORY DOESN'T END THERE!
- ISAIAH and MICAH had GOOD NEWS from God as well!
- ISAIAH said that a special lady was going to have a SPECIAL BABY
- And MICAH said that the promised baby would be born in Bethlehem and would be a NEW KING (point to crown)
- The new king was going to bring peace to the WHOLE WORLD
- Perhaps God's people heard this and thought that the new king would come and fight off all of their enemies so they wouldn't have to be afraid anymore...
- But the new king was going to do something much much MUCH better!
- The new king would fix the problem of sin so that God would no longer be mad at His people!
- That is how the new King would bring peace to everyone!
- Who do you think Isaiah and Micah are talking about? (Jesus)
Quiz Questions:
​
1. Who were the prophets that God used to speak to His people? Isaiah and Micah
2. What is sin? Doing the opposite of what God wants
3. What had the people forgotten? Who they belonged to
4. Why was God upset with the people? They had turned away from Him and sinned
5. Who was God going to send? A new King
6. What details do Isaiah and Micah give us that help us know who the new King was? He would be born in Bethlehem and He would bring peace
7. What do you think the people expected the new King to do? Fight off their enemies
8. Jesus didn't fight off anybody... Instead, He died on the cross... Why? To pay for our sins
9. Why does having our sins forgiven give us peace? Because God is no longer angry about sin - so we can have a relationship with Him
Game Idea: Good News, Bad News, Jesus Side, Other Side
- Designate one side of the room as the 'Jesus Side' and one side as the 'Other Side'
- When you call out an action - kids must all do that action:
Good news = Stand with arms in the air
Bad news = Curl up in a crouching ball
Jesus side = Run to the Jesus side of the room
Other side = Run to the other side of the room
- The last person to complete the action is out!
- The last person left in is the winner!
Remind the kids that we have all walked away from God (to the other side!) and done our own thing. The bad news is that God cannot stand sin, but the good news is that Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of our sins!
Craft Idea: Crown Christmas Decoration
.jpg)
Before the lesson:
- Download and print the Jesus crown template on yellow or orange card and cut out
- Download and print the promised king gem on coloured paper and cut out
- Gather ribbon, scissors, tape glitter, sequins, glue, shape cut-outs and anything else for decorating
Have the kids:
- Decorate their crown and include the printed gem which reminds them that Jesus is king
- Cut a length of ribbon and tape it to the back to create a hanging loop (young children will need help with this)
