Sing of Love — Weekly Christian ed lesson

Lesson background

We’ve reached the final Sunday and the final theme of Advent: love. It’s hard to talk about the love of Christ without pointing to the hope, peace and joy explored during the earlier weeks. Therefore, this lesson will allow children to consider not only the love embodied in the little baby who will soon be placed in the manger. They will also connect the four themes of Advent to their own lives through the lively hymn, “He Came Down.”

You will need

• Chart paper or whiteboard and markers
• Video recording(s) of “He Came Down.” Here are a few you may want to choose from:
  • Performed by Oonte OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) Choir from Namibia. Includes lyrics on the screen.
  • Traditional choir performance with lyrics on the screen.
• Glory to God hymnals or printed sheet music or lyrics for “He Came Down”  (optional)
• Copies of the Advent themes sheets, pencils, and scissors (optional)
• Hearts (approx. 4” wide) cut from construction paper in 2 different colors, crayons or markers, single hole punch, and yarn (optional)

Starting out

Greet the children as they arrive.

On the chart paper or whiteboard, write “I love you.” Ask the children to brainstorm all of the people who might say these words to them. Write their responses on the chart paper/whiteboard.

Then, ask the children how people show love without saying the words “I love you.” Write their responses on the chart paper/whiteboard.

Singing the faith

Remind the children that it is the last Sunday of Advent. Ask the children to recount the three themes of Advent that you explored in earlier weeks (hope, peace, and joy). Write these on chart paper/whiteboard. Share that the group will be exploring the fourth theme – love – today as well as thinking about why all four are important to our faith.

Play “He Came Down” for the children. You may choose to play and project any of the recorded versions listed above and project the video, as many include the lyrics. You may also want to choose a version you love or that is familiar to your congregation. You could also play multiple recordings so the children can experience it in different musical styles. If you would like, you can ask the children to sing along with the video or you can provide them with hymnals or printed sheet music and/or lyrics to use to sing along.

After listening to and/or singing the song, ask the children:

• This song tells us that Jesus came to live on earth for several reasons. What are those reasons?
• How does the music make you feel? How do these feelings connect to Jesus?
• We began Advent by thinking about the hope that Jesus brings to the world. This song tells us about Jesus’ love in the first verse. Why do you think the songwriter did this? What do you think the writer is telling us about the love that Jesus brings?

Connecting to the song

Help the children connect to the song and the themes of Advent through one or more of these activities.

• Advent rankings: Gather the materials you’ll need for this activity: copies of the Advent themes sheets [link to the document advent_themes_sheets], pencils and scissors. Divide the group into pairs or small groups. Give each group a copy of the Advent theme sheet featuring the four quadrants. Tell the groups they will be pretending that they are interviewing Jesus about hope, peace, joy and love. In each box, they should write what they think Jesus would give as the definition of the word. Remind them to think of the word from Jesus’ perspective. Have each pair/small group share their definitions with the larger group. Then, provide each group with a copy of the sheet with the Advent themes written in large print. Ask them to cut out the words. Then, ask them to again pretend they are interviewing Jesus. Have them put the words in order from least to most important to Jesus. Ask each group to share their rankings. Finally, have each group come up with their personal rankings for the themes. Discuss any differences and similarities.
• Love came down: Gather the materials you’ll need for this activity: hearts (approx. 4” wide) cut from construction paper in two different colors, crayons or markers, single hole punch and yarn. Replay the first verse of “He Came Down.” Note that it reminds us Jesus came to earth as Emmanuel (God among us) to show us God’s love. Have the children brainstorm ways that Jesus showed the world God’s love. Hand out paper hearts to the children. Be sure all of the hearts are the same color. Ask them to draw pictures or write words about one of the ways Jesus showed love. Then, ask the children to brainstorm ways that we show the world God’s love. Hand out the other color paper hearts to the children. Ask them to draw pictures or write words about one of the ways they can demonstrate God’s love. String the hearts together by punching holes on the right and left sides of each heart and running a piece of yarn through the holes. Alternate the two colors as you string the hearts together. Hang the hearts for others to see.