Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Clinton and I'm pleased that you've joined me for our lesson.

I'm here to help us with everything we are learning today.

Today's lesson is called "Christmas: Deeper Meanings," and it's from the unit, "Jesus: Why is He so important to Christians?" We will be thinking about how we can explain deeper meanings of the Christmas story for Christians.

Sometimes learning can be challenging and hard, but don't worry, that's why I'm here, and we are going to do our learning together really well.

We have some key words that are going to help us with our learning today, and we are going to do, "I say, you say." So we're gonna speak these keywords out loud so we get used to using them.

So I say "incarnation", you say.

I say "incarnation", you say.

An incarnation is a Christian belief that God became human in the person of Jesus.

I say "Christmas", you say.

I say "Christmas", you say.

And Christmas is a special festival for Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus.

I say "poor", you say.

I say "poor", you say.

And poor means being short of food or money or clothing or a home.

And our final word, I say "Nativity", you say.

I say Nativity, you say.

And Nativity is the birth stories of Jesus.

So we've got two learning cycles in our lesson today.

Learning cycle one: What deeper meanings can we find in the Nativity? Remember that a special word? It means the birth stories of Jesus.

And we find those in the Bible, Christian Holy Book.

And our second learning cycle is: What difference does the Nativity story make? So let's get started, what deeper meanings can we find in the Nativity? Aisha explains why stories are used in religious education.

"Stories can help us understand different worldviews.

In religious education, we listen to important stories and think about deeper meanings of these stories to different people.

We can also look at the difference these stories make to people today." Thank you, Aisha.

So in this lesson today, we will be using the Nativity story to better understand deeper meanings about the birth of Jesus.

This is Canon Ann Easter, and she works as an Anglican priest, that's the Church of England.

Now, she's visiting Jacob's class to talk about deeper meanings in the Nativity story.

Jacob asks her, "Why is Jesus' birth so special to Christians?" And Canon Ann Easter replies, "That's a really good question, Jacob.

Christians treasure the Nativity because it tells them that Jesus was more than just a beautiful baby." Ann tells us, "I believe that when Jesus was born as a human baby, He was also God.

Christians call this big idea that Jesus was human and God, the incarnation." Jacob asks her, "Why is the Nativity story still treasured by Christians, Ann? It happened such a long time ago." Well, Ann replies, "Even though it happened a long time ago, Jacob, it continues to have important meanings for Christians.

I believe the incarnation shows how God's son, Jesus, came to rescue us.

This is what I celebrate at Christmas." So I have a question for you: What does the word incarnation mean? Is it A, that God knows everything all the time, or B, that God became human in the person of Jesus, or C, that God is everywhere all at once.

Now, you might like to pause this video to give you a little bit of time to think about your answer or maybe even talk about it with a partner.

Welcome back, shall we find out what the answer is? What does the word "incarnation" mean? Was it A, B, or C? It's B, well done if you got that right.

God became human in the person of Jesus.

It's a long word, isn't it, incarnation? I hope you are beginning to understand it.

Now, Jacob is now talking with James, and James has a Christian worldview, and he attends a Roman Catholic Church.

"Who do you think Jesus was?" he asks.

And James answers, "For me, Jesus is the Son of God.

The Nativity story tells me that God loves us very much.

The incarnation of Jesus shows me the miracle of God's love." Now, Jacob is wondering if there are any other important deeper meanings from the Nativity story for Christians.

He's talking with Beth, who has a Christian worldview and attends a Free Church.

"What does the Nativity story mean to you, Beth?" And Beth answers, "It's an exciting story, Jacob.

For me, Jesus is the light of the world, something he calls himself when he's an adult.

The story is about hope as Jesus' coming brings God's light into the world." Now, I think you'll all remember this is a picture we saw earlier when we were talking to Canon Ann Easter.

So here's Jesus laid in the manger.

Do you remember? There was no room for him to stay in any houses or any inns, and they end up having the baby, do you remember, in somewhere where the animals lived, and He was laid in the manger? So there He is, looking all cosy and warm.

Beth continues, "The Nativity is an exciting story because Jesus's coming is good news.

I celebrate this every year at Christmas.

Jesus is God's gift to the world, bringing light and hope for all people." Thank you, Beth.

I have another question for you.

Is this true or false, true or false? "The incarnation of Jesus tells Christians of God's love." Hmm, I think if you pause this video, it'll give you some time to think about your answer and maybe even talk to somebody else about it.

Welcome back.

So the incarnation of Jesus tells Christians of God's love, is that true or false, what do you think? Shall we see? It's true, well done if you got that right, why? The incarnation of Jesus tells Christians that God wanted to come and be with them on Earth because He loves them and He wanted to rescue them.

So Jacob says, "Three different Christians have given me three different answers.

I wonder what's similar and different." Hmm, what's similar and different about what they've said? I wonder if you've got some answers to that.

So Ann said that she believes through the incarnation, Jesus came to rescue people.

James said that the incarnation shows God's love.

And Beth taught, didn't she, about the incarnation bringing God's light and hope into the world.

So Jun and Laura are wondering if all Christians believe the same about the deeper meanings of the Nativity story.

Hmm, Jun says, "I think they all agree on one answer." Laura says, "I think they all agree it's an important story, but they understand the story in different ways." Can you help Laura to explain the different ways the story is understood by different Christians? And you could use the three people that we have met, Canon Ann Easter, James, and Beth.

Pause this video whilst you talk or maybe you want to write with a partner or on your own, and come back to me when you finish doing this piece of work.

Welcome back.

Now, you were asked to help Laura to explain the different ways the Nativity story is understood by different Christians because Jun hadn't quite understood that Christians understand the same story in different ways.

So your answer may have looked like this: Canon Ann Easter says, "The Nativity story tells us about the incarnation, how Jesus was both God and human, and came to rescue people." James says that, "The Nativity story tells us how much God loves us that He sent His son Jesus to the world." And Beth tells us, "The Nativity story tells us that Jesus is the light of the world.

His coming brings hope to the world." Well done if you had any of these answers and helped Laura to explain to Jun how Christians understand the Nativity in different ways.

Well done, I'm really proud of your thinking and your work.

Let's go on to learning cycle two: What difference does the Nativity story make? Well, Beth explains why the Nativity story is important for her and her family.

"We start getting ready for Christmas about four weeks before it takes place.

We have a candle I light every day to count down the days to Christmas." Oh, I really like that idea, a candle that you light every day.

And Beth tells us "It's called an Advent candle.

It helps me to focus on the truth that Jesus is the light of the world, helping me to remember the Nativity story." Now I wonder what Beth's candle looks like.

Ah, there it is, okay.

So I can see you light the candle and you let it burn to the number of each day.

So I suppose you let it burn for number one, and when number one's disappeared, the next day you let it burn to number two, et cetera, all the way day 25 when it's Christmas day.

"One of the things we do on Christmas day after we've been to church is to open presents for one another as a family.

It reminds me that Jesus was God's gift to the world, a gift showing God's love, light, and hope." That's lovely, Beth, I wonder if you know anybody who celebrates Christmas, and I wonder what they do.

Do they do the same as Beth or do they do something different? Ah, and there's a very nicely wrapped present.

I love a present, I dunno about you, I get very excited about what might be inside.

So I have a question for you: What does Beth's family use to get ready for Christmas? Is it A, B, or C? You might like to pause video to give you some time to think about your answer or to talk about your answer with a partner.

Welcome back, shall we see what the right answer is? Did you choose C? Hopefully you did.

Yes, Beth uses an Advent candle to get ready for Christmas.

Now, here's Brother Sam, and he has a Christian worldview and is an Anglican Franciscan monk.

And he lives in a house, in a home, with other monks.

"My friary, the home where I live, has been here since 1760." Gosh, that home's been there for a really long time.

"And it has always tried to help those in need.

We feed about 50 people a day from our home and we have an open house so anyone can come in and be with us." Wow, that's a lot of work, isn't it? Feeding 50 people a day.

Ooh, I'm thinking that would take quite a lot of food and quite a lot of time.

But obviously that's what Sam and his fellow monks feel that they should be doing.

"In the Bible story, we see that God tells the shepherds about Jesus' birth before anyone else.

Back in the day, shepherds weren't well off.

In fact, they were often very poor and they had a hard job.

But these were the people who heard the angels first.

The Nativity story tells me that God is interested in poor people, they matter to Him." That's true, in the Nativity story, after the birth of Jesus, the first people the angels talk to are the shepherds, and then they go to visit Jesus in Bethlehem.

Thanks, Sam.

Let's check on what you remember.

For Brother Sam, the Nativity story shows, A: that God is interested in the rich, B: that God is interested in the poor, or C: that God is interested in angels.

Hmm, I wonder which one it is.

You might like to pause this video while you think about your answer or talk about it with a partner.

Welcome back.

Shall we see what the correct answer was? It was B, that God is interested in the poor.

Very well done if you got that right, excellent.

Now, this is Kateryna, and she has a Christian worldview, and she attends a Roman Catholic Church.

Kateryna says, "I'm very pleased to be living in the UK.

I came from Ukraine to live here when it was very unsafe for me to live there any longer.

I had to leave so much of my home and my clothes back in Ukraine as we had to leave so quickly.

It was very sad.

Christmas for me is a wonderful festival." So I'm wondering why she thinks Christmas is so wonderful.

Shall we find out? Kateryna continues, "At Christmas, I read the Nativity story quite a few times.

I like reading it because it gives me so much hope.

Jesus was born into a poor family who, like me, were refugees at one point in their lives.

God looked after them, and I know that God has looked after me.

I'm very grateful for the ways in which people here have been kind to me.

The fact that Jesus in His life was like me is very special." So you can see Kateryna finds a lot of meaning, doesn't she, in the Nativity story, and actually it makes a difference to her life because she feels that she can relate and feels that God cares, and is looking out for her through people and through His love.

So I have a question for you.

Is this true or false, true or false? "Jesus was born as a king into a rich family." So you might like to pause this video to think about your answer or to talk with a partner or in a group.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

So should we find out the answer? Jesus is born as a king into a rich family, is that true or false? It's false, of course, why? Christians believe Jesus was born to be a king, but His family were poor.

He's not born in a palace, but in a stable, surrounded by animals.

His bed was a manger, a place where animals fed.

So here is an Advent candle and some symbols connected to Christmas.

So we've got this symbol for hope, we've got this symbol of hearts for love, and we've got some hands shaking for rescue.

And these are all ideas that we've heard from different people in learning about the deeper meanings of the Nativity.

So can you choose which symbol you want to draw onto the candle and explain why that symbol is important for Christians in the Nativity story? So you might like to pause this video to give you time to do your drawing and to think about your explanation, and I'll see you when you've done that.

Welcome back.

So here's my candle.

We were asked to choose a symbol that you want to draw on the candle, and explain why that symbol is important for Christians in the Nativity story.

So your answer might look like this: "I chose to put the symbol of a heart on my Advent candle.

This is because the Nativity story for Christians is all about how much God loves people that He sent His son Jesus to the Earth to rescue them." I wonder what your candle looks like, and what explanation you gave for putting your symbol on.

But if you've got that done, really well done.

I'm so proud of your thinking, your drawing, and your hard work, well done.

So we've got to the end of our lesson.

Let's look at the things that we've learnt.

The story of Christmas asserts that Jesus was both a human being and the Son of God.

Christians would say, "This is a miracle, it's impossible logically," but they believe that's true.

And this is called the incarnation, do you remember that big keyword, incarnation? And the incarnation shows God's love for people in the world.

He came to rescue them.

And the Bible describes Jesus as the light of the world because He came to bring hope and understanding to human beings, mainly about God's love and God's teachings.

And many Christians understand the Nativity story as showing that God is interested in poor people.

Well, that's the end of our lesson.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I hope you've enjoyed our lesson and that you've learned lots of great things about the deeper meanings we find in the Christmas story.

So I'm going to say goodbye now, and I hope to see you again, goodbye.