Prepare
Looking for the direction God has for us is not always as easy as following a star or hearing from God in a dream. When have you experienced God guiding you or helping you to make decisions?
The children in your group may be facing decisions about making friends, joining activities, or becoming more serious about following Jesus. Particularly at the start of a new year, we may all be called to reflect on where best we can look for God’s direction and recognise signs from God which offer us guidance.
A gathering prayer for children
Lord Jesus,
we have come from different places,
taken different routes
and arrived with different needs,
but we thank you
that you meet and welcome us.
Amen.
Share
- Talk together about the different methods people use to find their way, e.g. maps, satnavs, signposts, and when they might use them.
- Discuss whether some are better than others. Ask the children if they, or their family, have ever been lost. What did it feel like? How did they find help?
- In today’s story, God guides the wise men to Jesus. Finding God’s direction is not always as easy as following a map – or a star!
Share the Word
Read the story and pause at the  to share these points with the children (see Stop and share below). Then use the activity to explore the passage together. (10 mins)
 
Click on the image to view a PDF.
Stop and share
- Messiah means the ‘anointed one’, someone chosen by God to save the Jewish people, it’s a title for Jesus.
- Micah was a prophet who wrote down messages from God, a long time ago about the promised Messiah.
- When did the wise men receive some direction from God?
Make a reminder
Remember some key words from the passage
You will need: large wooden craft sticks (two per child), pens, glue.
- Ask the children to write ‘Go’ at one end of a stick and ‘Search’ at the other. Invite them to decorate the rest of the stick. Finally, ask them to glue it onto another stick to make a signpost.
- Discuss that the wise men followed a star, so we might follow a sign but sometimes it might not always be as easy as that to find the direction God has for our lives. Invite the children to keep the stick as a reminder to look for signs of God this week.
 Sing
Preview song, then buy online and download.
Ask Seek Knock, Hillsong Kids on Can You Believe It?
Find more suggestions on the Hymns, songs & music page.
Talk together and talk to God
Use these questions to discuss the Bible passage and then bring your thoughts together by praying to God.
Talk together
- What does it feel like when you’re searching for something?
- When might you ask God to help you find the right way?
- How could you ‘search’ for the direction God has for you this week?
Talk to God: Pray with movement
Encourage everyone to go ‘searching’
- Invite the children to stand in a circle and to pray silently for the person facing them.
- Then ask everyone to face a window and to pray for people outside who are searching to find God’s direction and love.
- Next, invite everyone to face the door and to pray for anyone they meet this week who needs to know about God’s direction and love.
- Finally, invite the children to close their eyes and pray for themselves, that they might know God’s love and direction in their own lives
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