Kids, let’s play a game. I’m going to start this timer [countdown timer on screen starts from 1 minute. As the timer counts down, I continue speaking] When the timer goes down to 0 the game will pause. The way to win this game is to talk to the person behind that column and ask him for a gift, this little cross. [person behind the column will give each kid who comes a little cross and ask them to sit down near him/her] [At this point Team 1 comes down the left side of the church with a bunch of balloons and starts giving the balloons away to as many kids as they can. Each time they give a balloon, they tell the child, “If you want a balloon, you must stay seated! 15 seconds later team 2 comes down the center of the church giving away small packs of toys to as many kids as they can. Each time they give a toy pack away, they tell the child, “If you want a toy, you must stay seated. 15 seconds after that Team 3 comes down the right side of the church giving away stuffed little animals. Each time they give a stuff animal away, they tell the child, “If you want a stuffed, animal, you must stay seated.” I expect a lot of chaos and excitement. After the minute is over, calm all the kids down and speak.]

[ask one of the kid's to give you his balloon, ask another kid to give you a toy.] "Let me ask you something. Which is a better gift? A toy or a balloon? How long can you play with a balloon? {a day} How long can you play with a toy? {weeks, years} Good answers"

The game is not finished. I want all of you to listen very carefully to my instruction. Those of you with balloons hold them up high. Now, I want you to give them back to the people that gave you the balloons. Those of you with toy packets and stuff animals, I want you to give them back to the people that gave them to you. [After all of the gifts have been returned to Teams 1, 2, and 3, I’ll continue]

Those of you who have the plain old cross. Please hold them up. Teams 1,2, & 3, please distribute the gifts to the kids with the cross. [Expect a lot of complaining at this point, calm them down]

We go through life, so focused on making choices. Some choices are easy. Do I want a ballon or do I want a toy? Some choices are harder? Do I want this house or do i want that house? Do I want a career or do I want a happy family? Do you know what one of the biggest mistakes that we often make in life? We forget that at some point, the timer will run out. And when we reach the end, we have to give everything back. There is only one thing from this world that you get to keep. That's the cross. Make sure you make the right choice, because those that choose wisely, will get everything in the end.

You see that’s what makes Christmas so special. God made this world. God made you and me. God has wonderful gifts to give us. But we don’t follow his rules. We try to get the gifts of life our own way and we end up very sad. God doesn’t want to see us sad like that forever, so he sent his Son Jesus. Every Christmas we celebrate Jesus’s birthday. If we believe in Jesus, we can enjoy a life with God now and forever in heaven.

This game is still not over. Please give all the gifts back to the team members. Let me ask you something, if we have to give all the gifts back, what's the point of having gifts? There is one thing we can do with gifts, we can use them to help others get to know God. This is what we are going to do. After service, the teams are going to have some tables in lobby. The balloons and crosses are for you. I want you to remember this lesson every time you see a cross, any cross. The toys will also be on the tables with a sign Christmas Gifts from Jesus. There will be these cards. On one side it says, John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. That whoevers believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” On the other side, I want you to decorate it with stickers, draw a picture, and put a message for one of your friends. I want you to find a toy or a stuffed animal that you think your friend will like.

The next time you see your friend, I want you to tell them how you went to church and this man played a game where he gave all these gifts away, but then he took them back. Tell your friend how it made you feel kind of bad. Then tell them that God doesn’t want us to feel that way. That’s why he sent us Jesus. That’s what this verse is about. That’s why we celebrate Christmas.

Let’s pray that God will use these gifts to help our friends come to know Jesus.

#Kids #ChineseBibleChurchofMaryland