The group boarded the train and returned to Williams Arizona where they had left the Ugly Little Blue Bus. The Leader checked the weather forecast and found that the weather was supposed to be clear and sunny for the next few days! They headed east on Route 66 and went back to Flagstaff Arizona because they were going to visit the Lowell Observatory!
When they got to the Observatory, they took a tour until it got dark. They learned that the original telescope is a 24-inch refractor telescope, named the Clark Telescope, was built in 1896 and it still works! This telescope is now used for public education, and the kids got to look through this telescope and see things in outer space.
The other famous telescope at this observatory is the Pluto Dicovery Telescope. This telescope was used in 1930 to discover the Dwarf Planet Pluto!
In the evening, the kids got to use the Open Deck Observatory. This outdoor patio has six telescopes that the public can use to view planets and stars.
The kids had to stand in line for a chance to look through the eyepiece of some of these telescopes, but some of these telescopes were hooked up to large screens so that everyone could view the images at the same time.
It was a wonderful evening, but by the time they got to their campground, it was too late to talk about it. So, the next morning right after breakfast, the Leader had the group gather around the picnic tables and they talked about the wonderful things they had seen at the Lowell Observatory!
The Leader then opened his Bible to Mathew 2:1-12 and read:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi (wisemen) from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Micah 5:2,4) Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Leader explained to the kids that the Wise Men did not arrive the night that Jesus was born, they came later. Some people believe that it was 12 days later, some believe that it was almost two years later. The Bible does not tell us how old Jesus was when the Wise Men came, all it tells us is that Jesus and his family were still living in Bethlehem and they now lived in a house, not in the stable where He was born.
The Wise Men had studied the Old Testament of the Bible and they knew that Son of God (Jesus) was going to be born soon. They searched the sky each night to look for a sign that Jesus had been born. They did not have the big telescopes like the group saw at the Observatory, but one night there was a special star in the sky that had not been visible before, they knew that this was the sign that Jesus had been born, so they followed the star and started their journey to find baby Jesus.
When they found Jesus, they first worshipped Him and then they gave Him gifts. The Leader told the kids that all Christians (believers in Jesus who have asked for forgiveness) should still do the same thing as the Wise Men. We should each spend time in worship and give Jesus gifts.
There are many ways to show worship to Jesus, sometimes we worship with a group of believers at Church and sometimes we worship Jesus all by ourselves. We can show worship by:
- Music: making music that glorifies Jesus (singing or playing an instrument)
- Prayer: not just asking for things, but also being thankful for Jesus and all He has done for us!
- Reading the Bible
- Listening to teaching about Jesus
- Giving: sharing the money that God has given us by giving some of it back to the Church and other Christian organizations that teach people about Jesus
Most of us do not have expensive gifts like the Wise Men brought, but that does not matter. Any talent or ability that you have can be turned into a gift to Jesus. Some examples of gifts we can give to Jesus are:
- Helping others
- Encouraging others
- Doing your schoolwork well (do it as if Jesus were your teacher)
- Playing sports with an attitude and sportsmanship that Jesus would be proud of
- Practicing a musical instrument so you can play well for Jesus
- Loving all the people that Jesus brings into your life
The Leader told the kids that when we give a gift to Jesus, He blesses us with far more than we give to Him! In the Bible in Luke 6:38 Jesus says:
Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.