BIBLE EXPLORE / NEW TESTAMENT / MATTHEW

Book of Matthew: Chapter 2

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The Magi travel to meet Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12)

Today's bible reading talks about how the magi travelled to meet Jesus. 

What is Epiphany?

We often think of Epiphany as just being one day/Sunday, but in fact it is a season in our liturgical calendar. For three weeks we celebrate how Epiphany is all about expanding God's Kingdom beyond his people Israel.  The word Epiphany describes the 12th day of Christmas, which falls on January 6th and marks the official end to the festive season for many Christians. 

We also celebrate Jesus' baptism on this day (see our other Bible Explore resources for today) and Epiphany also marks the visit to the baby Jesus by the Magi, (the three Kings, or Wise Men). The word 'Epiphany' comes from Greek and means 'manifestation'. It celebrates 'the revelation of God in his Son as human in Jesus Christ'.
Find out more facts about Epiphany here

Activities

A lot of families will be on holiday this weekend, and the story this week is a great one for an intergenerational service. We'd encourage you to include your children into the wider church family, and make sure the worship and teaching is for all ages. If you would like to provide some activities to back up the story for today, you could consider including: 

• Wise men christmas crafts -- a range of good ones here
• An I-Spy printable nativity game
• A Vist of the Magi Wordsearch
• A wise men code breaker
• A star maze
• Yarn wrapped star
• Wise men colouring in page
• Christmas on the Move has a template for the magi which can be printed off and coloured in. Download here
• Church House Collection have some downloadable templates of some gold, frankincense and myrrh that you can print, cut out and hang on the tree. You can find them on their website
  

Chalk Blessings

A simple chalk blessing to pray over the homes and households for the year ahead. 
For background info about the blessing:

• Epiphany Chalk House Blessing (Liturgy)
• Background info (Interrupting the Silence)

What you need: 

• A stick of chalk for each household
• Black construction paper for apartments (optional)
• A takehome sheet for each household. These are printed off double sided and 3 to an A4. Fold in half like a card. 

Alternative Epiphany Collect

God of all wisdom
As the wise ones were guided to your stable by a star, 
lead us through this world with gifts of 
love, reason, and wisdom 
so that we shall know and love you, 
our beginning and our end. 
For you are alive and reign with the Father 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Unpacking the readings

The Church of Scotland have some good lectionary reading content on their website, which is helpful for those preaching this Sunday, or looking for background information on the scriptures. 
You can find their information here

Wondering Questions

• I wonder what why the wise men brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus? 
• I wonder what they said when they gave them to Mary and Joseph?
• I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when they received them?
• I wonder what gifts we can give Jesus today?

Preschool Playdough Mat

Flame Creative have put together a printable Playdough mat, so that the youngest of our children can enjoy Epiphany too. 
You can find it on their website!
Play dough recipe

• 1 ½ cups salt
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon Cream of Tartar
• 2 tablespoons Oil
• 2 cups boiling water

Mix together ingredients. Knead dough until smooth and warm, add a bit more water if the dough is too dry. Use food colourings for different colours. It will keep in an airtight container for ages!

Epiphany Photobooth

What you need

• Print outs of the Photobooth props (Download here) on card stock.
• Kebab sticks 
• tape
• A Photo Booth area set up -- perhaps a corner of the room with gold, purple fabric
• Pens/sharpies for writing on speech bubbles. You might like to print a few of these. 
• A camera and laptop/printer for printing photos, or an instant camera printer. Or an old school polaroid! Use a digital camera if you want to share the photos with your church Facebook page or use in service powerpoints next week! 

What to do

• Take photos of groups of your church family. Encourage them to be creative and excited! Each person adds a prop or decoration to become part of the epiphany story -- a wise man or woman! 
• Share the photos with your church community, or print them out on the day for families to take home. 
• Encourage all ages and members of the church to get involved -- this is a great intergenerational activity. 

Visio Lectio

An illustration from Rev. Sarah West from Visio Lectio, a project from the Anglican Diocese of Auckland.
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Media

Jesus the refugee (Matthew 2:13-23)

In today's gospel reading, Mary and Joseph flee Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod. The reading order is a little out of sync this week, as the story next week is about the wisemen finding Jesus, which happened just before this passage! You may like to consider how you tell these two weeks as a shared story of Jesus' life. 

Jesus was a refugee - Lost Sheep

Australian author and illustrator, Andrew McDonough, has written a wonderful story for this gospel reading: Jesus was a Refugee. 
Watch the story (see right)
Purchase the story (Book Depository)
Illustrations and digital files (Lost Sheep)
Bookmarks (Lost Sheep)
Maze (Lost Sheep)