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Theme Christmas: A Study from Four Points of View

Lesson

1

Big Question What Was the First Christmas Like?

Focus

Scripture Luke 1, 2

nothing is impossible for god

Scripture Memory Luke 2:1-7

Overview Section Pre-Start

Large Group

Small Group

Extra Time

Students will . . .

Supplies

build relationships and have fun!

Pre-Start Activities (pp. 8, 9), SuperStart! DVD (Intro Loop), SuperStart! CD, CD and DVD players, TV or projection equipment

Get-Started Activity (5 minutes)

discover that some tasks seem impossible.

SuperStart! DVD (Countdown), DVD player, TV or projection equipment, non-latex gloves, spray adhesive, wax paper, bowl of pinto beans, empty jar

Teaching Time (15 minutes)

discover that nothing is impossible for God.

SuperStart! DVD (Ancient Ruins Clips, Lesson 1), DVD player, TV or projection equipment, Bible, sheet of paper

Worship (10 minutes)

praise God that nothing is impossible for Him.

SuperStart! CD, CD player

Scripture Study (15 minutes)

study the Scripture to discover that nothing is impossible for God.

SuperStart! magazines, Bibles

Scripture Memory Discovery (5 minutes)

learn Luke 2:1-7.

Bibles, paper, scissors, pencil (optional: pinto beans)

Life Application (5 minutes)

discuss a challenge for this week.

pinto beans

Recap (5 minutes)

be encouraged to rely on God because nothing is impossible for Him.

(optional: Lesson 1 CD print files Challenge cards and Scripture memory reminder cards)

Extra-Time Activities

further explore the lesson.

Unit 1 Extra-Time Activities (p. 12)

Pre-Start Activities (15 minutes before class begins)

Things to do ahead of time:

1. Set out the supplies for the Pre-Start Activities.

2. Collect supplies for the small groups. Go to www.superstartpreteen.com for downloadable PDFs of the small-group time that you can e-mail to small-group leaders.

3. Make sure the DVD and CD players and projection equipment are cued and ready to go.

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Pre-Start

(15 minutes before class) Supplies Pre-Start Activities (pp. 8, 9), SuperStart! DVD (Intro Loop; Countdown; Ancient Ruins Clips, Lesson 1), SuperStart!

CD, DVD and CD players, TV or projection equipment, non-latex gloves, spray adhesive, wax paper, bowl of dry pinto beans, empty jar, sheet of paper, Bible

Before Class Lightly spray several non-latex gloves with spray adhesive and set them on wax paper. Place a bowl of pinto beans next to an empty jar on the same surface. If you have more than 15 students, set up more than one station.

On the CD is a Big Question poster and a Scripture Memory poster for Unit 1 and the professor’s photo. You may want to print and display these in your area. You can display the Big Question poster above the professor’s photo, as shown below.

Choose several of the Pre-Start Activities for students to do as they arrive.

You can play songs from the CD and show the DVD Intro Loop as students have fun and interact with the volunteers.

Large Group

(30 minutes) Get-Started Activity, Teaching Time, Worship Get-Started Activity (5 minutes) Play one of the Countdowns when you are ready to begin the Get-Started Activity. Challenge students to take turns wearing one of the gloves sprayed with adhesive, picking up one bean at a time from the bowl, and dropping it into the empty jar. They cannot use their ungloved hand to help with the task. While they’re trying this, ask: makes this task nearly impossible? (the beans are small and  What

hard to pick up, the gloves are too sticky, using only one hand)

Teaching Time (15 minutes) Prepare students for the video by saying, For several weeks we’re going to watch video clips based on the ancient Õibii (Who we be) people. We don’t know much about the Õibii people except that they were divided into three tribes and that they got together every year to compete against each other and to celebrate who they were as a people. For the reenactment, Samantha is chief of the Paui tribe. Eric is chief of the Zebu tribe. Tabitha is chief of the Fera tribe. And Patrick is the master of ceremonies of the Õibii games. In today’s clip, Patrick has a big challenge for the chiefs.

Show the video clip.

After the video clip, ask these questions and solicit one or two answers for each:

 Why did the chiefs think that creating competitions that had to do

with the Õibii people was impossible? (because no one knows much about the Õibii people, including the kinds of competitions they had)

 What makes something seem impossible? (it’s hard to do, it’s

something I don’t know much about, it takes too much money)

are some things that seem impossible for you? (getting all As,  What

being the best soccer player, being the best at anything)

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The three Õibii chiefs thought that Patrick’s challenge to create competitions for their yearly games was impossible. I can think of several situations that seem nearly impossible for me. It seems impossible to get my way all the time or do enough to keep everyone happy with me all the time. How about you? What situations seem impossible? Does it seem impossible that you’ll ever be the smartest student? Does it seem impossible that your mom and dad will ever stop fighting? If I gave you a few minutes, I’m sure you could come up with a huge list of stuff that seems impossible.

Ask students to stand and tell one person in front or behind them about something they thought was impossible that actually happened. Then have all the students sit down. Sometimes the impossible happens.

That’s true for what we’re studying from the Bible the next few weeks.

We’re going to take a look at the Christmas story from four different points of view. Roll a sheet of paper into a cone shape. Hold it up so the point is facing the group. Ask a student to describe what he sees from his point of view. Turn the cone shape around so the point is facing away from the group. Ask another student to describe what he sees. Hold the cone shape so the side is facing the group. Ask another student to describe what he sees. All of you were looking at the same shape. But from your point of view, each of you described something different.

Your point of view is what made the difference. The same is true for the experiences we have in life.

Luke, chapters 1 and 2, tell what happened that first Christmas from different points of view. Today, we’re going to look at what the first Christmas was like from Mary’s point of view. Some of what happened to Mary was great, OK, not so good, or scary. After I tell you something that happened, think about it from Mary’s point of view. When I pause you can shout out “great,” “OK,” “not so good,” or “scary.” It’s OK if you say different words.

Bible Insight Luke 1:26-38 The sixth month refers to the time from John’s conception (see 1:24). Mary’s betrothal (somewhat similar to an engagement) to Joseph was a binding relationship that could only be broken by divorce.

Both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David. Even though Mary didn’t understand how she would have a child since she was a virgin, she called herself the Lord’s servant. She learned from the angel that nothing is impossible with God.

Teacher Tip If you have time and would like to add more thoughts from Scripture, see these passages: Matthew 1:18, 19; 19:26; Luke 18:27. You can also use thoughts from Luke 2:1-7, the Scripture memory for the unit.

Mary was going to marry a man named Joseph. (great) An angel visited Mary. (scar y) The angel said that Mary was highly favored and that the Lord was with her. (great, OK, scar y) The angel said that Mary would give birth to a son. (not so good, scar y) Mary’s son would be the Son of God. (great, OK, scar y) The angel said that the Holy Spirit would come upon Mary. (OK, scar y) The angel said that Mary’s elderly relative Elizabeth was going to have a baby. (great) The angel said that nothing is impossible with God. (great) Ask a volunteer to come to the front and read Luke 1:38. Ask the volunteer to tell how Mary responded to everything that had just happened to her.

What an amazing point of view! One day Mary was living a normal life.

Then she found out that she would give birth to a baby—but not just any baby. This baby would be God’s Son! Mary was very young. She Le sson 1

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had no idea how everything would work out. She knew that others would talk about her. She had no idea how to raise God’s Son. But Mary heard from the angel that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD, and she believed that. She chose to be the Lord’s servant. For the next few weeks we’re thinking about a big question, “What was the first Christmas like?” From Mary’s point of view, it may have seemed scary and pretty overwhelming, but she believed that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD. Worship (10 minutes) Ask students to join you in praising God that nothing is impossible for Him. Lead in two or three songs from the CD, especially “No Other Name.”

Lead in prayer, saying two or three sentences thanking God that nothing is impossible for Him. Have students go to their small groups to go deeper into God’s Word and for relationship building.

Q&A with the Professor If you have time, there are three fun review questions on the DVD for this lesson (Q&A with the Professor, Lesson 1). You can have your own Ancient Ruins challenge by choosing one boy and one girl to be the contestants, or have the boys compete against the girls. Pause the DVD player after each question so students can answer. You can use this fun video clip in lots of ways: at the end of the large-group time, at the end of the smallgroup time while you’re waiting for parents to arrive, just before the lesson Recap in the small-group time, or during the Pre-Start Activities. It’s one more fun way to help students remember the important concepts in the lesson.

Review Questions 1. Creating games based on the Õibii legends seems impossible because

a. no one knows what games were played.

b. it’s very difficult to make up games.

c. no one likes to play games.

2. Mary was visited by

a. Eric.

b. the professor.

c. the angel Gabriel.

3. Mary learned that

a. God asks us to do the impossible.

b. nothing is impossible with God.

c. her middle name is “impossible.”

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Small Group

(30 minutes) Scripture Study, Scripture Memory Discovery, Life Application, Recap Scripture Study (15 minutes) Hand out the SuperStart! magazines and have students turn to page 3 to get better acquainted with the Õibii tribal chiefs and master of ceremonies of the Õibii games. Then have them turn to page 4 and decide which of the things talked about actually happened or are true and which they think did not happen or are not true.

Have students turn to Luke 1:26-38 in their Bibles and ask for volunteers to read aloud the verses. Ask the following questions. Encourage all students to participate and be sure to give students time to think about the questions. seemingly impossible events happened? (an angel appeared,  What

the angel told Mar y she would have a baby—God’s Son)

might you have felt had you been Mary or watching the  How

interaction between the angel and Mary? (scared to death, like I wasn’t sure it was real, exited, proud)

do you think would have been the best or worst part about  What

being Mary? (worst would be not knowing what would happen to me, best would be getting to talk to an angel, best would be knowing God had chosen me)

Supplies SuperStart! magazines, Bibles, paper (trace your foot and cut it out), pencil, scissors, pinto beans (optional: pinto beans, Lesson 1 CD print files Challenge cards and Scripture memory reminder cards—print and cut out one of each per student)

Teacher Tip Be sure to be sensitive to your students’ reading abilities. Ask for volunteers to read aloud or be sure to call on those whom you know like to read aloud.

Include reluctant readers by asking them to listen as you or others read Scripture aloud and let them answer questions.

did you discover looking at Christmas from Mary’s point of  What

view? (that Mar y had no idea how ever ything would work out, things must have seemed pretty scar y to Mar y, that Mar y had a lot of faith in God)

could really believing that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD  How

affect what you do? (I wouldn’t be afraid to do things I know God wants me to do. I wouldn’t worr y so much. I would remember to ask for God’s help more because He can do anything.)

Have students pair up and share with each other one or two situations that seem impossible. Encourage partners to pray together and ask for God’s help about these situations, remembering that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD.

Le sson 1

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Optional Activity Give each student a pinto bean.

Tell students that they can do the impossible with their beans by wrapping the beans in damp paper towels. The beans will grow into plants! Have students take turns reading Luke 2:1-7.

Then let students try to do impossible things with their beans such as balancing them on their nose, stacking the beans, or standing the beans on edge.

Scripture Memory Discovery (5 minutes) Our Scripture memory for the next several weeks is Luke 2:1-7. Have students find these verses in their Bibles and ask for volunteers to read them aloud. did Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem? (ever yone was  Why

commanded to go to their hometowns to register and be counted)

Put the foot outline on the floor. Have students take turns standing on the outline, explaining the verses from Mary’s point of view. (it seemed like a long trip to go to Bethlehem since she was expecting a baby, it was hard to have the baby while being away from home, it was odd to have a baby in a place where animals stayed) From Mary’s point of view, everything surrounding the birth of her baby must have seemed pretty hard. But Mary had faith in God and learned that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD. Challenge students to mark Luke 2:1-7 in their Bibles, read it every day this week, and work on memorizing it.

Life Application (5 minutes) Get students’ ideas about what they can do in response to knowing that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD. One suggestion you can make is for students to remember to ask God to help them in seemingly impossible situations. Another suggestion is for students to ask for God’s help to do something they know He wants them to do. Give each student a pinto bean. Challenge students to carry the beans with them this week as a reminder that God can do anything. Remind students to come prepared next week to share what they did because they believe that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD.

You may want to give each student a Lesson 1 Challenge card and Scripture memory reminder card to take home.

Collect the SuperStart! magazines for use in the following weeks.

Recap (5 minutes) Isn’t it great that God can do anything? Briefly share about a time, especially when you were a preteen, when you learned that God can do anything. When I’m faced now with situations that seem impossible, I don’t give up. I remember what I’ve learned about God and that He can do anything. When you face times that seem impossible, you can rely on God because NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD.

Extra Time

As you have time, let students participate in one or more of the ExtraTime Activities on page 12.

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