A scarlet thread … Advent lesson for youth

Please pardon the length of this post as this is the first time I ever tried to post an entire lesson for youth. It worked so well for my group that I thought someone else might want to try it since we still have a few weeks before Christmas.

As I mentioned in last week’s worship thoughts, we have to remember that Christmas is only one part of the whole redemptive story. The reason for the season reaches beyond the baby in the manger to the man on the cross.

Just as Christmas is not the end of the story, it is not the beginning either. God’s plan for the redemption of humanity stretches back as far as the Fall itself and was foretold through the prophets in the ages leading up to the Incarnation — a unique, necessary, 33-year chapter in redemptive history in which the Divine became flesh to offer himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin.

To illustrate this truth with my senior high class this week, I downloaded the prophecy video from Youth Specialties that traces the prophetic storyline. I printed each passage on individual numbered cards to make it easier for class members to read.

There are two more big props. The first is the portion of A Charlie Brown Christmas in which Linus recites a bit of the Christmas story. For the second prop, you need to go to a hardware store and buy an 8-inch spike and a craft store to get red yarn. Tie the yarn to the spike and wrap the spike on the bandanna. Now, twist the yarn around the spike. Use a lot of yarn because you need to be able to stretch it along and it needs to disguise the look of the spike.

Now, it’s class time.

After prayer time, I started by asking the student to just shout out the name of their favorite Christmas special. Then, I (truthfully) told them that one of my favorites is A Charlie Brown Christmas and showed the clip. I then pointed out that Linus is right … as far as he goes, explaining that Christmas began with the prophets providing details of the birth and life of Christ long before it actually happened.

I handed each student a card. Make sure to mix them up really, really well and KEEP TRACK OF WHO GETS WHAT NUMBER! By the all-caps, you can infer that this is important because we want each OT prophecy to match up with the NT fulfillment. I began by tying the end of the red yarn to a lamp in the youth room. I asked why this could be symbolic and got a variety of answers — Jesus is the light of the world, we are to be light, etc. Then, I pointed out that the first words spoken by God in the Bible were “Let there be light.”

The student with card one read the passage and wrapped the red string around her wrist. As she passed the yarn-wrapped spike to the student with card two, I explained what the prophecy predicted. The student with card two read the passage in which the fulfillment of the prophecy was completed as she wrapped the red yarn around her wrist and handed the spike on to the student with card three. And so on until you finish all 17 passages in the video. Yeah, I know. Sounds long, but the students loved passing around the string, wrapping it around a wrist and watching the web develop as it crisscrossed the circle. There was also a bit of anticipation as they knew I had to be going somewhere with all of this.

After the last Scripture is read, start to talk about how all of these prophecies pointed to the coming of Christ. While you do this, start unravelling the rest of the yarn. We found that if I held the part with the spike and one of the students just kept pulling the yarn, it went much faster. As you are unwinding the yarn, you’re going to need to fill in until the big reveal. I asked the students if Christmas would still be a big deal if the baby had stayed in the manger. You might want to point out some of the amazing things that Jesus did during his ministry.

Eventually, you get to the bandanna. I don’t remember exactly what I said as I pulled the spike out, but it was something to the effect that the spike stands at the center of the story of God’s redeeming love as much as the manger because it, too, held Jesus — it held him to a cross. The prophecies were not only predictions, but they were also promises that tie us to Christ and tie us together as believers. I ended by reminding them that when people say Jesus is the reason for the season, don’t let them keep him in the manger. Remember him on the cross and celebrate that as the greatest gift of all.

UPDATE: YS had a site redesign over the past year. I fixed the link above so you can still access the video.