When Life Feels Dark, Shine Jesus Light!

When life feels dark, shine Jesus’ light! Bible Story: Jesus comes as a baby to be king. (Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:18–2:12)

Bible Verse: “Jesus...said, ‘I am the light of the world.’ ” (John 8:12)

Bible Insights • Mary and Joseph lived in a dark time for God’s people. Jews suffered under Roman rule. Herod—a “client king” chosen by Roman leaders—governed with cruelty. Fearing conspiracy, he had two wives, three sons, and his mother-in-law executed!

• Jesus’ parents traveled about 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Walking the rugged terrain would likely have taken about five days.

Scholars don’t agree on the exact identity of the Magi. Perhaps these men belonged to a priestly tribe from Mede. Maybe they came from Babylon, representing a group of elders who studied everything from science to medicine. Regardless, their expertise in studying the heavens put them in a position to see a unique star—with divine meaning!

Culturally, shepherds held little esteem. Their low status included the reputation of being coarse, ceremonially unclean, and even dangerous. Yet God chose this unlikely audience to be the first to hear of Jesus’ birth. (And they became the first missionaries as they spread the joyful news!)

Why It Matters Today

As people who love kids, we want their lives to be filled with peace and joy. We hope childhood overflows with bright moments of happiness. Yet the truth is that life can feel dark for children. Loneliness and bullying are realities. Recent research shows that about 12.5 million children live in poverty. Even kids with stable homes hear (or see) discouraging news stories. Like sponges, kids absorb anxiety felt by parents and caregivers. Amid this darkness, there’s hope! Isaiah prophesied, “For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine” (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus, the light of the world, offers the promise of peace and joy. Today celebrate the light that shines...and can’t be extinguished (John 1:5)! Encourage kids to illuminate our dark world with the same hope that Jesus offers.

Day 1: When Life Feels Dark, Shine Jesus’ Light! Items for Every Day: Space Blaster* Bibles (1 per Crew) • pens and markers Sing & Play Blast Off Music CD * • media player *available from group.com or your Group VBS supplier

Sing & Play Blast Off (25 minutes) Welcome your group at Sing & Play Blast Off. Everyone will enjoy singing the theme song and other upbeat music. On the first day, when the elementary Crews start discussing Crew roles, take your group to the room you’ll be meeting in for the week.

Welcome and Forming Crews (15 minutes)

Supplies: • adhesive name tags (1 per person) • markers or pens (1 per person) • copies of the “Space Shuttle” handout on p. 22 (1 per person) • copies of the “Crew Roles” handout on p. 23 (1 for every 6 teens) Hand out the name tags and markers. Have everyone write his or her name on a tag and attach it near the collar of his or her shirt.

All week at Stellar, we’re shining Jesus’ light in a dark world! Imagine if you could take an adventure out into our vast solar system. Imagine if you could get close to a star! Of course, stars are actually really far away—they just happen to shine so brightly that we can see them here on Earth!

We can shine, too. When life feels dark, shine Jesus’ light.

Every space launch includes a mission—a purpose for the journey. Your mission is to help others see Jesus at work, bringing hope and joy into their lives. You can notice people who need a little extra light in their lives. That means you have to pay attention and get to know people. Let’s spend time getting to know others right now!

Activity

Give each person a copy of the “Space Shuttle” handout, and allow time for everyone to rate their top three picks of what they’d bring on a trip to space.

Have teens share their picks and form groups based on their top picks.

If groups of “top picks” are larger than six people, help those groups divide into equal groups. Some smaller groups may need to combine. You’ll want each group to have around six members but no more than six.

After groups are set, teenagers can take turns introducing themselves and sharing the reason they chose their top pick from the handout.

There’s a lot you’d have to do without if you traveled to space. Maybe it was hard to pick the most important thing to bring along. The groups you’ve formed are your Crews for the week. You’ll stick together for small-group discussions, team up in games, and get to know each other over the week.

You don’t all have to be best friends now or even by the end of the week. But if you genuinely agree as a Crew to be a group of people who listen to each other, respect everyone’s experiences and opinions—even if you can’t relate or you disagree—and refuse to start or take part in making fun of each other, you’ll be guaranteed to have an amazing adventure together.

Directions

Give a copy of the “Crew Roles” handout to each Crew, and have a willing person in each Crew read the handout aloud.

Crew members write the name of each person next to a role on the handout to remember who’s doing what through the week.

Put the handouts somewhere Crews can find them, if needed, later in the week.

Let’s start our adventure with a game where you’ll have to gently herd sheep!

GAME

• Set up two buckets for each Crew, with enough space between them for Crew members to spread out at least 6 feet apart. • Fill all the buckets on one end of your playing area with water balloons.

Demonstrate the sound of your Space Blaster, and let Crews know you’ll start and stop most games during the week with that sound, so they’ll want to listen carefully for it.

Today’s Bible story is going to include some shepherds. Let’s get into the mindset of a shepherd by carefully herding sheep.

1. Have Crews each choose a set of buckets and spread out between them.

2.The Crew members on the ends should stand right next to the buckets.

3.The water balloons will represent sheep. Teenagers must “herd” their sheep from one “pen” (bucket) to the other by tossing them down the line, using only their non-dominant hand.

4. Crews will try to herd all the sheep as quickly as possible, one-handed.

5. If time allows, teens can herd the “sheep” back to the first pen.

6. Play the Sing & Play Blast Off Music in the background while Crews play.

7. Count how many sheep were successfully moved without breaking.

8. Turn off the music and sound your Space Blaster when it’s time to move on.

SAY

Excellent job!

In this game, you had to be very gentle with your sheep so they didn’t break! I wonder how careful real shepherds have to be with their sheep. Let’s talk about this in your Crews.

Do you think you’d enjoy being a shepherd? Why or why not?

Tell about an animal you do think you’d like to take care of.

Share your own example before inviting Crews to share. This gives teenagers a chance to think about their own stories.

Maybe you love animals, and caring for sheep sounds fun! In today’s Bible story, we’ll meet some shepherds who cared for their sheep out in the dark, cold countryside. In fact, the whole world felt a bit dark and cold at the time. But when life feels dark, shine Jesus’ light.

Have teens help you clean up any pieces of broken water balloons.

Allow about five minutes for teens to take a break before gathering back together for the next activity.

Bible Study: A Dark World

Talk About Christmas Today you’ll discover more about the shepherds who saw Jesus right after his birth. Maybe you’ve heard all about those shepherds at Christmas!

Let’s talk about what we love about Christmas. Share what you love most about Christmas, and then allow time for Crews to share.

It’s fun to think about Christmas in the middle of summer! But do you know what would be even more fun? Decorating for Christmas in the middle of summer. Let’s do it!

Decorate for Christmas Set out strands of Christmas lights and garland, and let Crews have free rein on decorating your room for Christmas. Make sure the lights can reach an outlet, but have teens wait to plug them in.

Now that we’re ready to celebrate Christmas, let’s get started. Turn off all the lights.

Before Jesus came, the world felt dark and hopeless. Maybe you’re familiar with the fact that the Bible has two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. But you might not know that there is a gap of about 400 years between when the Old Testament was written and the New Testament timeline began.

For 400 years, no one had heard from God. And for even longer than that, the nation of Israel had been scattered. The country had been taken over long ago by other kingdoms. And although some people had returned home, they lived under the rule of an evil king—one who would soon send his army to kill all the Jewish baby boys.

But in the midst of this darkness and hopelessness, God shined the light of Jesus. When life feels dark, shine Jesus’ light.

Plug in the Christmas lights.

Make Angel Ornaments

That light started with a young woman named Mary. Some people say Mary was no older than you—maybe even younger. She was engaged to be married when an angel came to her with some startling news. Let’s read about that. Give each Crew a marked Bible, and have them open to Luke 1.