Sunday School Gathering after Worship

After worship on 10/3 parents, children, Sunday School teachers and other members gathered for lunch followed by a Bible discussion led by Pastor Gwyneth on the upcoming Christmas Unit which will focus on the story of the magi called "Christmas Around the World" while the kids watched a movie. Andy described the 5 centers for this unit, as well as preliminary plans for the pageant. It was a great time! You can view a few more pictures in the Sunday School Gathering Photo Album.

Bible Discussion
    Adults learned some interesting things together on the story of the magi from Matthew 2:1-12. This story is typically read for Epiphany, the 12 day after Christmas, usually celebrated on the first Sunday of January. For most of church history, Epiphany was the primary day of celebration, second only to Easter. Only in the last few hundred years has the birth of Jesus had any significance in the Church. That's really great for the kids to learn about Epiphany! You can view a sermon poem, "Daughter of a Wise Man" by Pastor Gwyneth here.
    So who were the magi? They were astrologers from the east, so they were Gentiles, not Jews. They followed a star to Bethlehem which they took to be a divine revelation, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus.  Despite the popular hymn "We Three Kings" we don't actually know how many magi there were, only that there were three gifts. These typically symbolize the kingship, deity and sacrificial ministry of Jesus.
   Why would God reveal the birth of the Messiah to foreigners? This was an early indication that the Gospel of Jesus was expanding to include all the world, signifying the extension of salvation to the Gentiles. This is the primary meaning of Epiphany and why it is so important in the Church.
    We also learned how the Magi are mentioned in other parts of Scripture, for instance in the book of Daniel. In fact Daniel was made a chief of the magi, and due to jealousy he was thrown by his peers into the lion's den, which he miraculously survived.