Christ the King
Isaiah 9:6, John 12:15, Revelation 17:14
The last Sunday before Advent begins is Christ the King! This is a day where we celebrate Christ as King with ultimate power over everything in creation. The purpose of this lesson is for the children to recognise Jesus as king over heaven and earth.
Opening
(5-10 mins)
Today we are opening with a short game; identifying what someone does by the hat they wear. You can use pictures of hats or if you are blessed with a rather large selection of fancy dress outfits you can delve into that. You can have a mixture of serious jobs with more comical ones (builder, pirate, policeman, cowboy, jester), but finish with a crown.
Today we are going to talk about a very special king, one who doesn’t rule on earth but over everything.
The Reading
There are quite a lot of references to Jesus as King in the Bible. Some of the readings we chose were Isaiah 9:6, Revelation 1:5, 12:10 and 17:14. We also compared Matthew 21:5, Mark 11: 1-4 and John 12:15, which show Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as king.
Discussion
(10-15 mins)
Ask the children what they think it means to be a king. Most of their answers will probably be along the lines of what it meant to be a king in Biblical times.
- All powerful
- Decides what your job is
- Orders you around
- Decides who you will marry
- Tells you who your friends can be
- Make you fight in his army
- Can have you killed if he dislikes you or you upset him
Ask the children if this sounds like a description of Jesus. Jesus does not rule in the same way that an earthly king does. His ways are much more peaceful. He came not to be served but to serve (Matt 20: 28; Mk 10: 45). Therefore we should treat Him in an appropriate manner:
- full respect
- full trust
- total faith
- complete honesty of self
- willingness to stand up for His way
- willingness to volunteer in His service
- helping others,
- teaching others about Jesus
- openly worship and praise Him
Craft
(10-20 minutes)
Decorating Crowns
You will need:
Paper (Coloured or white)
String or Glue (depending on the size of your crown
Coloured pencils/Felt pens
Things to decorate the crowns (craft feathers, stickers, stars etc).
If you need to keep the lesson short you can have pre-made the crowns and just let the children decorate them. If you need help with the crown itself here are some handy templates you can print off and use.
The craft is very simple, cut out the crowns and stick on decorations. The children can use their own imagination to decorate them and then wear them back into the main service.
(As soon as my camera starts working we’ll be able to put up pictures as we go!)
Closing
When Jesus walked the earth although He looked like an ordinary person He was actually a king. Even though we cannot see Him He is still with us and He is still a king. We should always want to follow Him so that when the time comes we will be a part of His kingdom.
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