Matthew chapter 2 recounts the story of the Wise Men following the star to find Jesus, King of the Jews.
Memory Verse: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” ” Matthew 2:1-2.
Materials needed to create The Wise Men quiet book page:
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page! Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Matthew 2 - Learn the story of the Wise Men who came to worship Jesus
Imaginative Play - re-enact the Wise Men following the star
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides to form a pocket for piece storage
Magi... it seems strange that priests from a different religion came to worship Jesus, doesn't it? To find out how the Babylonians came to know prophecies about Jesus, read The Connection Between Daniel and the Christmas Story.
Matthew chapter 1 lists Joseph's genealogy and records the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary.
Memory Verse: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” Matthew 1:21.
Materials needed to create the Baby Jesus quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet - I used white
Betty Lukens Felt book 011 Life of Jesus as a Boy available at Koorong (not an affiliate link)
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the gates onto the doorposts by the sides.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides
to form a pocket for piece storage
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Matthew 1 - Learn about Joseph's lineage and how Jesus was born to the virgin Mary
Imaginative Play - put Baby Jesus to bed
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
I left the wise men out of the cover picture as they are not mentioned till
Matthew 2 - didn't think about it until after taking the photos that
actually the shepherds are not in this chapter either!!
I often think about the fact that without sin entering the world you and I would never have existed. Should we be grateful?
In everyone's lineage there is going to be some kind of sexual sin... I'm not sure about my lineage, but with almost 6000 years of history there has got to be quite a lot.
Adam and Eve could have had children without sin entering the World - but would WE have existed, or someone else... there are so many eggs and sperm around with slightly different DNA. If everything hadn't gone pear shaped, there would have been different combinations made, and plenty of people, but not specifically me.
When I explain my view to people, they often think I am saying that sex is wrong or bad or something. I don't mean that at all. God created intercourse to be beautiful. But we are all descended from people who have resulted from sexual sin. Everyone has prostitution, adultery, rape or something in their ancestry at some stage. Even having multiple wives like Jacob did is something I can't see happening in a perfect world. Not to mention all the children from Levirate marriages whose first child was considered the child of the father's brother/relative (the woman's first husband who died childless).
Would you have been born if sin never existed? Would your great great great grandparents have slept together? And then would you have been created?
Jesus Himself would have never needed to be born in the flesh either. If sin never existed, there would be no reason for Him to bother. Matthew goes out of his way to mention all the unmentionables in Joseph's lineage. Tamar (who slept with her father-in-law by deception), Rahab (a prostitute), Ruth (from a despised race), Bathsheba (an adultress), and Jeconiah (who was cursed). If you want to read about the Curse of Jeconiah and the different explanations for the differences between Matthew's and Luke's genealogies the following article is a fascinating read - The Two Genealogies of Jesus, the Curse of Jeconiah, and the Royal Line of David posted on the website The Jesus Question.
So there are plenty of scandals in Jesus's family ancestry. He even wears the (assumed) shame of His own birth. People who did not believe Mary's virgin birth story assumed that Jesus was a bastard - Joseph's son conceived out of wedlock. And it's understandable. God had to send an angel to Joseph personally to convince him to continue past the betrothal and marry her. Until that point, Joseph had decided on divorce (a legal requirement of betrothals, unlike engagements today). He must have been so hurt by Mary's appearance of unfaithfulness.
If you are feeling the guilt of sexual sin in your own life or family history, take this record in Matthew as encouragement, and remember, none of us today would have been born without sin including Jesus.
I tried to think of a good song to include with this devotional - it seemed like a tough topic to find a song about. But God had it covered. This song popped up in my random Spotify feed that day, and although it was written as a love song, like a lot of love songs it can easily refer to God.
What do you think? Should you be grateful for sin because ultimately you wouldn't exist otherwise? I'd be intrigued to read your responses below in the comments.
Micah chapter 5 predicts the birth place of the Messiah - Bethlehem.
Memory Verse: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.” Micah 5:2.
.
Materials needed to create the Oh Little Town of Bethlehem quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet. I used red.
Betty Lukens Felt book 01 Bible Stories available at Koorong.
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Micah 5 - Learn about how Jesus fulfilled this Old Testament prophecy by being born in Bethlehem
Imaginative Play - Which of the animals is going to get to see Baby Jesus first?
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Bethlehem can mean "House of bread" in Hebrew. Here we have the bread from Heaven / bread of life (John 6:25-59) in a very impoverished 'house'. I guess when you see the Majesty of God, it shows off how wretched, poor, blind, naked and filthy our condition really is.
This prophecy is just one of over three hundred that Jesus fulfilled. The video below talks about the mathematical possibility of Jesus fulfilling just six of those, one being a 1 in 3968 chance of being born in Bethlehem.
In Isaiah chapter 9, a prediction of the Messiah's birth occurs.
Memory Verse: "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
Materials needed to create Unto Us a Son is Born quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet. I used mid blue.
purple ribbon scrap
felt scraps in white, gray, yellow, orange, straw, dark brown, mid brown, tan, and various purples
a yellow/gold shank button with a loop back - this is too accommodate the thickness of four layers of felt used on the star
my free template - which includes the extra pieces missing from A Felt Nativity Story by Stay at Home Educator as an added bonus! Most of them are untested, but I am confident they will work - I have made a few templates in my time.
From the felt nativity story template, I used Joseph's body for both Joseph and Mary. I used two of the wise men's clothes for them because they are easily able to be adapted to form pockets to enable cuddling of Baby Jesus. First cut out one of all the pieces and arrange them on your page to make sure they fit. You will need to adapt your pieces somewhat to be able to form a pocket with Mary and Joseph's clothes. I will try to explain adequately below.
Baby Jesus: sew down the pieces for baby Jesus in the order of face followed by swaddling onto a doubled layer white background. When you have gone around the saddling, sew around his head on the white felt. Cut around the edge leaving a white border around Baby Jesus' head.
Manger: sew down the pieces for the manger and straw in that order onto a sheet of felt the same colour as the manger. I used chocolate brown. Then cut it out. Pin it to the page and cut a length of purple ribbon for a blanket and melt the ends with a match to prevent fraying. Pin it in position so it will fold over baby Jesus and form a blanket. Unpin the manger and sew down the ribbon at the bottom edge where it won't be seen under the manger. Then re-position the manger and sew it down around the outside edge leaving the top straw side open to form a pocket for baby Jesus to sleep in.
Star of David Sun: first choose the size appropriate for your button and cut out one star and sew it down to the same yellow felt. Cut it out after sewing it down. Then cut out the corresponding sized circle out of orange felt and layer a piece of orange felt topped by the Star of David and the circle of orange felt on top of that.
Sew down the circle. Sew the appropriate sized button hole onto a scrap piece of felt so you can mark with sewing pins on your sun where to start your button hole.
Sew a buttonhole the appropriate size for your button in the middle of your star and open it up with a seam ripper.
Then cut out the star by cutting the bottom orange layer by following the circle shape at the top. Fold back the yellow star points as you cut around so you don't cut them off. Hand sew the shank button to your page. Button on the sun.
Mary: Use a few of your pieces to line up Mary again, and sew down the back of her head covering and then her body on top. The photo is to show the positioning - not which sections to sew down.
Sew down the two purple pieces onto a white sheet of felt. Position the body piece template over the top and use it to cut out the shape of her dress. Then trim the section of white from around the shoulder area and continue down along the purple to the bottom edge. See below.
Pin the dress on top and sew matching your thread to the white and purple sections. Stop at the spot where the purple cuts across Mary's chest to form a pocket opening so Mary can cuddle baby Jesus.
Next sew down Mary's head and hair. Sew her front head covering down onto the same white sheet of felt it was cut from so it is double thickness. Cut it out and then sew it down along the outside edge.
Joseph: When cutting out Joseph's clothes, cut off one shoulder from the Y shaped pattern pieces. When you cut out the pieces out of felt, extend the length of the pieces you cut off from the Y shape so they extend underneath the other and into the pocket.
Position and sew the back of Joseph's head covering, followed by his body. Then sew down the extended shoulder pieces the go underneath Joseph's outer robe into the pocket. Sew down his head and hair.
Similar to Mary, sew down the two purple pieces on top of each other onto a grey sheet of felt. Position the body piece template over the top and use it to cut out the shape of his robe. Then trim the section of grey from around the shoulder area and continue down along the purple to the bottom edge. Pin the robe on top of his body and sew matching your thread to the grey and purple sections. Stop at a spot a little below where the purple cuts across Joseph's chest to form a pocket opening so he can cuddle baby Jesus too. Why is it always Mary that gets all the cuddles? I'm sure Joseph tried to be a good Step-Dad and gave Jesus plenty of cuddles.
Lastly, Sew down the front of his head covering onto another gray sheet of felt to double it up so it is strong. Then cut it out and position it, sewing only along the outer edge.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Intermediate.
However - A Felt Nativity Story board by Stay at Home Educator is easy! I included the missing pieces in my free template above.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Isaiah 9 - This page tells about how God told Isaiah about the birth of the Messiah around 500 years before the fact - He came from Royal lineage as predicted
Imaginative Play - The baby can have cuddles with Mummy and Daddy, wear His crown/halo, and sleep in His royal-blanky bed
Tucking - Tuck baby Jesus into his manger-bed and tack the blanket in over the top
Buttoning - Button and un-button the sun
Shapes - Learn the shape of a Star of David and sun
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Isaiah prophesied Jesus birth around 600-700 years before the event.
Jesus is the sun of righteousness mentioned in this chapter. I made a Star of David shaped sun that can be buttoned on and off the page - and can be used as an impromptu crown or halo on Jesus' head.
This quiet book page features a lot of purple - because the government will be on His shoulders and that is the Royal colour. I gave Jesus a purple blanket for the same reason. It kinda annoys me when they picture Him in prickly hay. As if his Mama wouldn't put a blanky down first!!
Both Mary and Joseph are descendants of King David (government) - although Joseph was a descendant through the line of Jeconiah and therefore not eligible to be a forebear of the Messiah. I will write about that in another devotional, however.
Which brings me to the next part of this devotional... hidden information regarding the virgin birth.
There are countless fascinating things to discover when you start studying the Bible. You might be frightened that you will learn everything there is to know, but you are quite safe to believe you will never get to that stage. The Holy Spirit has inspired so many secret layers of meaning (that probably the original writers did not even realize they were hiding in the writing) that we will never run out of learning.
There are two ways of writing the Hebrew letter mem - 'M' in English. they are called an open mem and a closed mem, referring to the gap or no gap formed in the letter when writing it. Correct Hebrew grammar rules that the closed mem is only ever used at the end of a word. Theses rules are followed everywhere in the Bible except in one word in a passage in Isaiah 9. If you are curious as to why the rule is broken here and how that is significant to the prophecy of Jesus' virgin birth, please read this article from JewishRoots.net and even if you don't read the whole article - make sure you follow the link in the article to a two and a bit page PDF entitled The Mystery of the Closed Mem by Daniel Botkin. It is large writing and an easy read, and WELL worth it!
For unto us A Child is Born - Handel's Messiah
Tahlia had fun pretending to conduct the orchestra and choir for this clip!!
