Week 29 · about 45 minutes
A Star and Three Gifts
Matthew 2 · Memory verse Matthew 2:11
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Gifts for a King), the matching word search and answer key (The Birth of Jesus), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper star on a stick
Hold up a paper star on a stick. In about five minutes, tell the class this: Wise men follow a star, worship Jesus, and choose a different road home. Show the prop and ask, “What does this have to do with A Star and Three Gifts?” Let two children answer. Then read Matthew 2:11 together: “They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Close by asking one child to say the lesson back in their own words, using the prop.
Story script
Far away, wise men saw a star that told them a king had been born. They traveled a long road to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star and have come to worship him.”
A jealous king named Herod pretended he wanted to worship too. God warned the wise men in a dream not to trust him. The star went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the child with Mary, they bowed. They opened treasures: gold, frankincense, and myrrh — gifts fit for a king, a priest, and a savior.
Then they went home by another road. Worship had changed their direction. Joseph, warned in a dream, took Mary and Jesus to Egypt for a while so the child would be safe. God was watching over the family on every road.
You may not have gold to carry, but you can still bow. Worship is giving Jesus your attention, your thanks, and your trust. And when God shows you a wiser road, it is brave to take it.
Group game
Follow the star around the room to a manger. Each child offers a paper gift: gold for a king, a prayer, or a helping hand.
Craft
Cut a large star and three gifts. Write they worshiped him.
Memory verse
Matthew 2:11
“They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
Take-home prayer
Jesus, you are worthy of worship. Help me follow your light and walk the road you choose. Amen.