LEADERS HUB
Year 1, Term 4, Week 6: Ideas for Middle Group
Week 6: Jesus is Here! - The Shepherds Visit Him!
Lesson Objective:
The angel tells the shepherds to visit Jesus because He is a special baby- He was sent to be the Saviour!
Bible Passage:
Luke 2:8-20 (shepherds)
Memory Verse:
Luke 2:11 - This very day in King David's home town a Saviour was born for you. He is Christ the Lord!
Story Idea: Watch it!
​
Have the kids watch the following youtube video:
Quiz Questions:
​
1. How did the shepherds feel when the angel appeared? Scared
2. The angel told them not to be afraid, why? The angel had good news
3. What was the good new? A baby was born!
4. Who would this baby be and what would He do? Jesus - save the world!
5. Jesus came to save us, save us from what? Sin
6. What is sin? When we do what we want instead of what God wants
7. Why do you think sin is a problem? It ruins our relationship with God
8. Why does God want to fix our sin? He loves us and wants to have a relationship with us
9. How did the shepherds feel when they saw that the Saviour - Jesus, really had been born? Excited!
10. The Bible tells us the Shepherds praised God all the way back to their sheep fields, why do you think they were so excited? They really believed that Jesus was the Saviour!
11. How does it change your life to know that Jesus came to save you and that He loves you? Feel loved, love Jesus, thankful for what He has done, want to follow Him.
Game Idea: Balloon Sheep Herding
- Before the lesson, blow up some balloons in several different colours - one colour per team, with at least as many balloons as kids
- Split the kids into two groups and separate them at opposite ends of the room - each group with a leader
- Throw all of the balloons in to the middle of the room
- Have the kids from each group take turns running out into the middle, grabbing a balloon of their teams colour with their knees and bringing it back to their side
- The first team to collect all of their 'sheep' wins!
Remind the kids that the shepherds looked after sheep in the field... The shepherds got to see the promised Saviour Jesus when He was born and they were so excited that they praised God all the way home!
Game Idea: Angel, Shepherd, Baby
- Have the kids stand in a circle
- Explain the actions:
ANGEL = Hold arms out and flap
SHEPHERD = Stand with hands on hips
BABY = Curl into a ball on the ground
- Play some music and allow the kids to dance or walk around in a circle (around some marker cones)
- When you stop the music, call out on of the actions
- All the kids should try to do the action
- Kids who do the wrong action (or the slowest to do the correct one) can stand to one side or in the middle of the circle
- The winner is the last child left 'in'
Game Idea: Cotton Ball Sheep Herding:
- Before the lesson, download and print the shepherd template on A4 paper and laminate
- Gather some cotton balls
- Split the kids into teams and have them race relay style across the room, using their laminated shepherd to fan the cotton balls from one side to the other
Activity Idea: Giant Memory
- Before the lesson, download and print four copies of the shepherds memory match game on cardboard so they are not translucent
- Lay the Sheets out face down in a grid
- Split the kids into teams
- Have each team take turns choosing two sheets to be revealed
- When a match is made - the team collects those cards as points
- If no match is made - the card are turned face down again
- Continue play until all matches are made
- The team with the most points wins!
Remind the kids that the shepherds knew that Jesus was the saviour and they praised God!
