As my mother-in-law approaches her 95^th Christmas, I was wondering what gift to give her.  As you can imagine she has everything she wants.  Besides, her lifetime of accumulated possessions were pared down when she moved from her house to her aged care room.  She does not need clutter!

My husband will pick her up from the home on Christmas Eve and bring her to our house where the family will gather in the Dutch tradition.  Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be there.  Conversation and laughter will twinkle brighter than the lights on the Christmas Tree.  I realized I do not have to worry about buying her a thing.  The gift of time in each other’s company is the best present we could give her!

This realization got me thinking about a lesson I wrote for Christmas a few years ago.  When Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday, I was asked to run a morning Kid’s Church program.  I had not expected it.  I’d never before been in a Church that did not close the Kid’s Church for Christmas.  What to do?  Then I remembered a friend who opened her home every Christmas Eve to people who were alone.  She called it her Happy Birthday Jesus party and her family and guests, gathered around a Christmas fruit cake with candles in the top, would sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

A Happy Birthday Jesus party was something I’d never done before but I knew it would be fun for the children and a very different take on Christmas.  So I set to work planning the morning.  It was a great success.  The lesson talks about Jesus being the best present ever given but goes on to explain that Jesus grew up.  He died and rose again.  He’s now King Jesus and lives in Heaven.  So what present could a heavenly King possibly want?  The answer is inside a present.  Children take turns to come up and peer in.  They look into a mirror!  They are the best present Jesus could ever receive.  The lesson is called Happy Birthday Jesus.  It’s on the Cooee Kid’s Ministry website.

Visit:  https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Happy-Birthday-Jesus.pdf

Over a year ago I began the Cooee Kid’s Ministry You Tube Channel.  Last week I was looking for Christmas content.  I have to find enough free footage to produce a video and that’s not always easy.  But it turns out there is a lot of footage of children’s birthday parties, so with a little tweaking turning the lesson into a script, I was able to make a video and published it on the channel.

It’s summer in Australia.  After working in the yard, my husband came inside for lunch and he checked his You Tube account for something to watch while he cooled down.  The Cooee Kid’s Ministry channel came up and there was the Happy Birthday Jesus thumbnail.  And the video had over 400 views!  The video clearly explains the gospel and how much Jesus wants everyone in Heaven with Him.  Knowing that it had been watched hundreds of times, and still climbing, felt like Christmas arrived early.

You can find it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g39pfg4KuWU

I pray these free resources will assist you in your ministry to children.  Or to anyone.  Cooee Kid’s Ministry lessons are being shared by chaplains in an aged care facility because they are clear and  simple for elders to understand.  (There’s another pressie right there.)

God bless you and have a blessed Christmas,

Deb Wassenberg