Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor! It means that we can know him personally and not just know about him, so we can trust him to listen to our problems and guide us in the right direction. We know that Jesus is listening because the Bible tells us to pray to him about things that worry us.

Key Verse

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

– Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

Lesson

Advent Intro

Explain to the kids that we’re going into Advent season. Advent means ‘arrival’. When a mommy has a baby in her tummy/in her womb and the time starts getting closer for the baby to arrive everyone gets excited for a new little baby, and some of you might have experienced that with a little brother or sister! Advent is like the arrival of that baby. Advent is a word to describe Christmas because we’re celebrating the arrival of Jesus Christ!

The nation of Israel waited a long time for the Messiah. One of their prophets named Isaiah wrote this special description of the Christ that was to come. Listen carefully to the names that he gives:

Read Isaiah 9:6

Today we’re going to focus on the first name that was given: Wonderful Counselor.

A brief definition

A counselor is someone who can hear your problems and give you wise advice on how to deal with that problem. A counselor requires wisdom because they need to be able to understand the problem and understand how to fix it! In the old days the king of the land was supposed to be able to give really wise counsel. If somebody had a problem, they would come to the king and he would tell them how to fix it.

I’m going to tell you guys a story and you tell me who you think the counselor is in the story.

Milo’s Confusion

Props: A ball, ceramic cup or piece of crockery that you’re willing to break, super glue

Start off holding the ball in your hands while you tell the story. Have the breakable item nearby on a stool or a table.

Little Milo was playing in his grandmother’s dining room. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to play with the ball in the house, but he really was just passing through with it and thought that he would see if he could spin the ball on his finger all the way through the dining room. He got it going pretty good but just then – pretend to lose control of the ball and knock down the breakable item.

Oh no! Milo broke one of his grandmother’s very special vases. He had a big problem and he didn’t know what to do. He gathered up the pieces and hid them in his backpack and took them with him to the basketball court.

Milo met his friends at the park said to them: “Oh man, I’m going to be in such big trouble. I just accidentally broke my grandmother’s special vase and I’m not sure what to do about it!” There were three kids and this is what they said:

The first gave this advice: “Throw away the broken vase and if your grandmother asks about it just lie and say that you don’t know what happened to it.”

The second one said: “Stick the vase together with glue and hope that your grandmother doesn’t notice.”

The third one said: “You should just run away from home and find a new grandma.”

Milo was so confused! These boys were all giving him advice but none of it sounded like very wise counsel. Milo walked away feeling very sad. He didn’t even want to play a single game. All the things his friends had said sounded very bad. Just then old Mr. Sullivan came walking by and said: “Milo, why are looking so sad?”

Milo explained to Mr. Sullivan what happened and he told Mr. Sullivan about how the advice that he got from the boys at the park had confused him. Mr. Sullivan smiled and said: “Milo, there are some things that Jesus doesn’t want you to be confused about. In life we’re going to get good counsel and bad counsel. The Lord will always give you good counsel. When we seek Jesus, we become wise because he is the Wonderful Counselor! Make sure the counsel you are getting is always lined up with what Jesus would say to you in the Bible!”

“So, how do I know what to do Mr Sullivan?”

“Milo, do you believe that your grandmother loves you?”

“I sure do Mr. Sullivan!”

“And, you know that playing with the ball in the house was wrong?”

“Yes, I know”, Milo said with his head hung low.

“Well, don’t you think that what you really need is your grandmother’s forgiveness?”

“I’d really like that”, said Milo.

“Jesus, would want you to be honest with your grandma about what happened. That way you wouldn’t need to feel guilty about it anymore, even if there was a consequence, like being grounded.”

“That’s true Mr Sullivan, I’m going to talk to her as soon as I get home and tell her I’m sorry!”

“Before you go”, said Mr. Sullivan, “Remember that Jesus is also ready to forgive you. You can pray right now and ask Jesus to forgive you.”

Milo prayed with Mr. Sullivan and already felt much better about what he had done. He also felt a lot more courageous and went straight home to speak to his grandmother about what he had done!

Application

Who do you think the counselor was in this story? Mr. Sullivan was a very good counselor to Milo. He reminded Milo about Jesus, and the wisdom of trusting him.

Jesus Christ’s position as our Wonderful Counselor means we can know him personally and not just know about him (Ephesians 1:17). That means we can trust him to listen to our problems and guide us in the right direction (Proverbs 3:6). We know that Jesus is listening because the Bible tells us to pray to him about our worries (Philippians 4:6; James 1:5). So, let’s pray!

Prayer: Thank God that he knows absolutely everything, and that his wisdom is more wonderful than we could imagine! Thank him that he’s prepared to share his wisdom with us through his son Jesus. Pray that each of the children would receive wisdom from God in their knowledge of him.

Review Questions

  • Why do we call Christmas time Advent?
  • Which prophet spoke about Jesus as the Wonderful Counselor?
  • What does Wonderful Counselor mean?
  • How did Milo know that his friend’s counsel was wrong?
  • Why is Jesus wiser than anyone?
  • How do we talk to Jesus?

 

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