Over the past two years, the older primary aged children have been working on an Advent Christmas project. They have been making Jesse Tree ornaments for their own Jesse Trees.
The Jesse Tree is a medieval motif which potrays the prophetic promise that from the stump of Jesse and new shoot would grow. The Jesse Tree depicts the descendants and sometimes even ancestors of Jesse to recognize their fulfillment in the true Son of David, Jesus.
Here is an example of a Jesse Tree taken from a 12th Century codex held in the library of the Lambeth Palace.
The Jesse Tree Ornament Project is coupled with Rooted in Christ so that students hear and see the single story of the gospel. The ornaments themselves are hung each day in Advent in much the way an Advent Calendar works. Each ornament signifies a specific Old Testament event, theme, or person which points to the coming of Messiah, the Christ.
Because we were unable to continue our project through the pandemic, children will be meeting each week instead of monthly as before. This will allow the children to catch up and finish their ornaments by Christmas.
For those unable to attend on Sunday morning, both the teaching time and the instruction on how to make the ornament will be videoed and posted online each week. You may pick up a packet from the church office the week prior to that week’s lesson, just let Pinkney Greene or Jennifer Edwards know that you are wanting one.
Here is this week’s lesson and the instructions for making the Moses and Ten Commandments Jesse Tree Ornament.
A link for this week’s lesson and questions may be found HERE.
A link for instructions on how to make a Jesse Tree ornament may be found HERE.