Operation Christmas Child - All Sunday School Program - Final Plan

Whole Group –
Prayer:

Dear God:
Thank you for bringing us all here today.
Please assist us as we undertake Operation Christmas Child again this year.
You have given to us and we understand our obligation to give to others.
We look forward to passing on our blessings like clothes, toys, and school supplies, but most importantly passing on your love and your word.
Please be with us as we fill our shoeboxes and shower your love on those who receive them.
Amen

We have participated in Operation Christmas Child for several years now. Can anyone explain about this project to someone who is new?

Here is a quick quiz for everyone:
How many different countries received gifts through Operation Christmas Child in 2007? 10, 50, or 100
How many shoe boxes were sent in 2007? 700,000; 1,000,000; 7.6 million

The journey of these boxes is very much like the delivery of gifts many years ago. Can anyone think of gifts that were delivered a long time ago?

You know, I think those bearers of gifts are here today (in walk three kings).
King 1: We are the three Kings
King 2: We have traveled a long way to worship the king of the kings.
King 3: We come bearing gifts.
King 1: I have gold fit for a king.
King 2: I have frankincense for a priest.
King 3: I have myrrh to symbolize that his death will be as important as his birth.

(kings will stand frozen while the scripture is read)

Matthew 2:1-12 (New International Version)
The Visit of the Magi
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magifrom the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.



Today we are going to begin thinking about our gifts. Gifts that will not be going to Jesus, but instead going in his name. From now until November 9th, we ask that you bring donations for us to fill shoeboxes. I will pass out fliers with information to each of you, but don’t feel that you have to put together a whole box yourself. If you bring in items we will combine them into boxes from all of us. To that end, we are going to begin our journey today with a few fun activities. I’m going to break you up into three groups pre-K -2nd; 3-5; 6-8.

Break kids into smaller groups as described below:

Group 1: PRE-K to 2nd (four older children to facilitate)
Create the star that the Magi saw – Have star cutouts available. Let kids use glue and glitter to decorate. Let the kids know that they should take this star home to remind them to bring their gifts in, just like the Wise Men did when they saw the star.
Take picture of group.
Have kids decorate Gingerbread Cookies to serve at coffee hour. Explain to them that this is how we are going to let the adults know that we are kicking off Operation Christmas Child.

Group 2: 3 to 5(Two older kids)
Take picture of group.
Brainstorm and write down ideas on a board about what God expects of us and why we do missions. After several ideas are written down, ask kids how do these ideas fit into how they behave and act. Do they need to change to better reflect these ideas?
Decorate wrapping paper. Explain that we would like to wrap the gifts with their love. Ask them to use symbols of God and Christmas to decorate the paper.
When they are done, fill in “about me” paper.

Group 3: 6-8 (2 adult)
Explain that part of the mission of these boxes is to convert people to Christianity. Many of the people that get these boxes may never have heard about God’s love. This box may be their first contact with God.

Ask them to write a letter / note to the recipients about how Jesus & God has affected their lives and why they should received God into their lives.
Challenge them to think about how we could expand this program to include our community.
Give them materials to create posters for town wide collection or pen and paper for a letter to the editor.

Dismiss as needed.

If extra time, come back together as group and do Pass the Prayer Parcel(copied from http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/files/file/OCCCelebrationGuide.pdf ).
Hand out boxes to groups. Explain that, in the manner of ‘Pass the Parcel’, you will play some music during which each small group passes the box round. When the music stops, the person holding the box takes out a slip of paper containing a prayer and reads it out. When the room goes quiet, start the music again and continue.

[Picture: Exercise booksandpens]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to learn.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
enjoy learning at school.

[Picture: Woollyhat]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs clothes.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
keep warm, day and night.

[Picture: Toothbrush]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to keep clean,
We pray that our gifts will help children to
enjoy looking after themselves.

[Picture: Teddybear]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to be loved.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
know that someone cares for them.


When you think everyone is finished, bring the music to an end and conclude with the following prayer:

Leader: God, our maker,
we are all your children,
and we all need your help.
We thank you for giving us Jesus,
because he shows us
how much you want to help us in our lives.
Amen
(copied from http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/files/file/OCCCelebrationGuide.pdf )