Week 2: Jesus is our Savior

Big Idea: Jesus is our savior

Memory Verse: “2 Corinthians 13:14 “May the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the friendship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Bible Story: Jesus is born (Matthew 1:18-25, 2:1-23)

Bottom Line: Father, Son, Spirit - God is THREE in One

Objects needed: A piece of paper to make an airplane\make airplane

Objective Lesson Overview: The Pilot

Hey there flight crew, how y’all doing today? I hope everybody’s ready for Easter. I know I am, I can’t wait for all that amazing candy. What is your favorite candy for Easter?(Ask a few kids)

Well, we are in week two of our sky high series and last week we talked about God our Heavenly Father. Does anyone remember what job we associated to God in last week’s story?( Ask kids: Air Traffic Controller) Great job!

How about a harder question? It looks like we’re flying into some rough weather and I wanna see if my Flight crew are up to the challenge. Do you think you have what it takes? (Wait for answer) Alright, first question. What’s the Memory Verse?( 2 Corinthians 13:14 “*May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” ) Oh it’s a little bumpy! Better make sure your seat belt is fastened. Next question. What’s the Bottom Line? (Father, Son, Spirit - God is THREE in One.) OK, we’re starting to smooth out. Last one for clear skies. What’s Big Idea?(Jesus is our Savior) Great Job Crew, and we are free and clear. Nothing but blue skies!

You all are an amazing Flight crew and I’m so glad to be flying the HK(Hills Kids)Airlines today. Can anyone guess who our Pilot is for today’s flight? (Jesus) That is right. The One and Only Son of God, The Messiah, The King of Kings, Jesus! The Savior of the World! He is the best pilot in the world. No one is better than Jesus in ensuring us that He will bring us safely to the destination of God’s love and forgiveness. With the added bonus of eternal life. That is the flight I definitely want to be on, how about you?(Wait for response)

Alright Crew lets get ready to hit 600 mph at our cruising altitude of 40,000 feet and hear how Jesus is the Best Pilot ever! Our story actually starts a long time ago at the beginning of everything. Jesus was with God at the beginning of creation. He is mentioned all throughout the old testament even though He is not called Jesus at that time. His birth was foretold or another word is prophecies by many prophets or holy people.Does anyone know what prophecies mean?(Ask: to tell the future) God was setting up the flight plan for saving humanity. So here is a quick fly by of the birth of Jesus.

Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph. She became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. An Angel of the Lord cam to Joseph in a dream telling him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife. The child she was carrying was given to her by the Holy Spirit and she will have a son. Joseph was to name him Jesus and he will save his people from their sins. Now I don’t know about you but that seems like a lot of responsibility and quite scary. Probably why the Angel said “Don’t be afraid.”

Ok pretty intense flying there. But wait it gets even bumpier. Can anyone tell me what town Jesus was born in?(Ask: Bethlehem) Thumbs up! Ok easy one. How about I see if I can shake up the plane with this one. Who was the ruler at that time?(Ask: King Herod) Wow steady as a rock if a rock could fly! Ok on with the story. At the time of his birth a great star rose and some very wise men saw it. They knew the star was the sign of the birth of the Messiah and they came to worship him. Unfortunately they ran into King Herod who was not happy that there was a threat to his claim to the throne, for Jesus was prophesied to be the King of the Jews. King Herod asked the Wise Men to go to Bethlehem find the child and come report back to him so he can worship him also. Big fat lie! The Wise Men found Jesus, bowed down and worshipped Him. When it was time to leave back to their own country God came to them in a dream to warn them not to return to King Herod.

Now this is where we fly into the heart of the storm with Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. After the wise men left an Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream again. Wow, Joseph has some really awesome dreams. What were some of your most crazy dreams?(Get a few answers from kids) The Angel told him to “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother. Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” And you bet Joseph got right up, grabbed Jesus and Mary and flew down to Egypt. Well probably took a donkey since they didn’t have planes back then. They stayed in Egypt till Herod’s death. Thus fulfilling another prophecy. We made it through the storm and clear skies ahead!

So now we make our final approach and bring our plane in for the landing. When Herod died guess who visited Joseph once again?(Ask: Angel of the Lord) Yep, for the third time. The Angel said “Get up! Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” So Joseph got up grabbed Jesus and Mary and moved to Beverly Hills. No wait that’s not right. Where did they move to?(Ask:Nazareth) That’s right. Again fulfilling another prophecy. And what does prophecy mean?(Ask: to tell the future)

Illustration: Paper Airplane

Now for my favorite part, the visual. (Set paper airplane on the table and don’t pick it up yet) What is this?(Point to plane) That’s right. It’s a paper airplane. We are just like this paper airplane sitting on the table. Now look to the other side of the room.(Have the kids look across the room) That’s really far. Lots of obstacles and dangers in the way for our poor little plane to have to cross. (Have some kids call out some of them) Right. If I just threw the airplane would it make it all the way to the opposite wall without hitting anything, crashing or not even making it. It probably wouldn’t even fly straight. There is no way to guarantee it would make it, right? (Ask) Right. All those problems this little plane faces are like the sins in our lives. It can’t make it to its destination, the wall or in our case God’s love and forgiveness by itself. It needs a pilot. And who did I say was the best pilot in the world?(Ask: Jesus) That’s right. (Pick up the airplane and with dramatic effect walk it to the opposite wall while talking) So Imagine that Jesus just took over the controls of this plane. He helps us to follow a clear path, avoid dangers, shows us the way to live, and protects us from sin. (Reach the back wall at this part) When we trust in Him, He brings us safely to the destination of God’s love and forgiveness. Now it’s customary to clap when the pilot lands the plane. So everyone please lets have a round of applause for Jesus!

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father…

Thank you for the best pilot in the world, Jesus…

Thank you for the gift of eternal life…

I believe you are the Son of God…

Who died on the cross for my sins…

And rose from the dead on the third day…

Come into my heart and be my Savior, Amen

Let’s head into Small Groups!!!