The story basket contains: a swaddled Baby Jesus, a pair of doves, 2 figures for Simeon and Anna, a rose, a bell, a New Testament, a copy of our dedication blessing, a hand mirror, and the felt underlay.
Here's the story script, with instructions to the storyteller in red:
At Christmas we celebrated the good news that God sent Baby
Jesus into the world.
Place Baby Jesus on the underlay.
Joseph and Mary
celebrated too when Jesus was born, and forty days later it was time to
celebrate again. Back in Jesus’ time, forty days after a mom and dad had their
first boy baby, they took him to the big temple in Jerusalem and dedicated him
to God. Jesus was Mary and Joseph’s first boy, and they wanted to dedicate him
to God too. So off to the Temple they went, Mary and Joseph and little Baby
Jesus.
Just like all the other families, they took with them a pair
of doves or young pigeons to give to God as a gift.
Place pair of birds on the underlay.
They didn’t know that something special was going to happen
that day, something that had never
happened with other families.
There was a good man living in Jerusalem who loved God very
much. His name was Simeon, and he was sure that one day God would send someone
to change everything and save the people of Israel. This man’s name was Simeon.
God had promised Simeon that he would
not die until he had seen the Messiah, the special person God would send.
Place Simeon, a figure of a person, on the underlay.
God told Simeon to go to the temple that day. When Mary and
Joseph brought Jesus in, Simeon took Baby Jesus in his arms and knew that this
was the Messiah, the special person God had sent to change everything. As he
held Baby Jesus, he thanked God for him and prayed something like, “God you’ve
done it! Now that I’ve seen him with my own eyes I can be at peace.”
Mary and Joseph were amazed at what Simeon said. They hardly
knew what to think!
Then Simeon said to Mary that Jesus would save Israel. He
also told her some strange, sad things. He said that many people would speak out
against Jesus. He told her that what would happen in Jesus’ life would break
her heart.
There was another person in the temple who noticed Jesus
too. Her name was Anna, and she was a very old prophet, 84 years old.
Place Anna, a figure of a person, on the underlay.
Anna loved God so much that she never left the Temple. She
was so close to God and God was so close to her that she knew what was
important. She saw Simeon holding Jesus
and she knew how special Jesus was. She gave thanks to God and then told
everyone that Jesus was the one who would change everything.
What an amazing day at the temple!
Jesus was dedicated to God. Now he did the important work of
growing into a little boy and then a young man.
Did you know that people still go to church to dedicate
babies to God? Different churches do it differently.
If you were a baby at First Baptist, we did some special
things to celebrate when you were born.
On the Sunday after a baby is born, we put a rose on the baptistery
and tell the church about the baby in worship.
Place a rose on the underlay.
We also set a special time with each family and ring the
bells to celebrate the baby’s birth.
Place a bell on the underlay.
We have a special time in worship where the babies are
dedicated to God. The families bring the babies in, we introduce each baby to
the whole church, and we give them a little Bible with their name on it.
Place a Bible on the underlay.
Then everyone in the church reads a promise to God, to help
take care of the baby and teach her or him about God.
(Read the promise together if you want. You could have the
children read the parents’ part if you like)
Then we ask God to bless the babies.
Place the blessing on the underlay and then begin to read the
blessing:
You
were created by God in God’s image
Show a mirror to the children slowly so that they can see their own reflections. Then put it on the underlay. Read the rest of the blessing,
stopping to explain what it means when needed.
You are a child of God. Because you
belong among us we promise to nurture you in the hope that one day, you will
affirm the Christian faith for yourself and grown to be a partner with God,
participating in the care and continuance of God’s good creation. Amen. May God
bless you all.
Wondering Questions:
1. I wonder what is your favorite part of the dedication of
babies at our church.
2. I wonder what is your favorite part of the story of Jesus’
dedication to God in the Temple.
3. I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when Simeon said that
their baby Jesus was the person who would save Israel.
I wonder what they thought Jesus might do.
4. I wonder what Mary thought when Simeon told her that what
happened to her son would break her heart.
5. I wonder what part of this story is about you.
6. I wonder what this story is teaching you about God and what God is like.
For teachers of older children (4th and 5th grades):
I thought about including in the lesson for the older children (4th and
5th grades) a clarification about the timing of all the events- the
presentation in the Temple, then the visit of the Magi, then the escape
to Egypt, then the return to Nazareth, but since
I included the part about baby dedication at FBC, it would
make the circle time a little long. Still, feel welcome to add that if
you want to. It is something the kids (and adults!) get confused by,
since we present the Magi in with the Christmas
story.
Ideas for Creating a Gift for God Time (Art Response):
There are many ways
the children could go to respond to this story, either focusing on
Jesus' dedication or there own. Both are important. Children love
getting to choose which way they want to respond and what particularly
they want to do.
Ideas to respond to the story of the dedication of Jesus:
1. Make puppets of
Simeon and Anna out of socks or paper bags or tongue depressors and
paper. There are general directions for making all sorts of puppets here. You could also make ones for Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus.
2. Act out the Bible story. (Be sure to video!) I'll have a baby doll or two on hand in the activity room for anyone to borrow.
3. Make a pair of doves, as shown in various ways here.
4. Make a collage of gifts we can give to God
5. Simeon and Anna
became close to God through constant prayer. One symbol of prayer is the
pretzel (which represents arms crossed in prayer, as people did long
ago.) Make a pretzel necklace, as shown here. (Scroll down to p.11)
6. Make a temple out of blocks (First grade has blocks in the Rubbermaid containers near their story circle.
7. Draw the scene in the temple of Baby Jesus in Simeon's arms, or Mary and Joseph with Anna.
Ideas to respond to the story of the dedication of babies at our church:
1. Have the children draw themselves as babies with their parents, and then draw themselves now with their families.
2. The children can
make a self portrait and title it with a line from the blessing: "I am
(child's name), a child of God" or "God made me!"
3. Help the
children think about how our church takes care of them. They could make a
collage or drawing of the ways we do it: holding them, feeding them,
reading to them in the nursery, teaching them about God and Jesus,
reading Bible stories to them, teaching them songs in choir, teaching
them about missions and sharing God's love, etc.
4. What does it
mean to be a partner with God, taking care of God's creation? Children
could make a collage or mural about that, cutting out pictures or
drawing ways we take care of God's creation: taking care of the earth,
taking care of each other, etc.
5. Make a class
collage of pictures of babies for your classroom. Have the children come
up with a title having to do with dedicating our children to God.
Discuss what that means.
I hope these ideas help! Feel free to comment and share your own ideas!
Love, Becky
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