“My favorite part of the Christmas program is afterwards, when we get to open gifts!” Her eyes danced with anticipation, though our program was still weeks away.

At first, I was a little disappointed. Why wasn’t the child more excited about the songs and the message of Jesus in the program we had been practicing week after week? And what gift could we give that would not disappoint her expectations, I wondered. But then I realized the deeper meaning of her anticipation.

One of my most memorable gifts from a Sunday school teacher was a box packed full of Barbie doll clothes, meticulously crafted on my teacher’s sewing machine—one box for each of the four young girls in our class. Though as a child I may not have consciously realized it, the gift was not only meaningful for the hours of delight it brought me. Like a gift from a parent or loved one, it was meaningful because the present was symbolic of presence. The present was a tangible connection to a person who cared about me enough to choose or create a gift just for me.

The greater gift my teacher gave, which can’t be measured, is the truth of God’s Word—seeds sprinkled and watered on countless little hearts year after year. Through her love for children and the gifts God had given her, the Scriptures came alive in the classroom as we took turns placing the flannelgraph figures on the handmade board, or as we curiously peeked into the shoebox diorama to discover a hidden object, or through years of Christmas programs, retelling the story of the Savior King born for you and me.

In an affluent society where many people have an abundance of things, it seems more difficult to find the perfect gift. But our material wealth can mask our spiritual need. While temporally rich, we may be spiritually impoverished. God knows the poverty of our hearts, and He gives the perfect gift—the gift of Jesus. The gift of the baby in a manger is more than a symbol of God’s presence. The gift is God Himself—Immanuel, God with us. He who was the culmination of the anticipation of Simeon and Anna in the temple, whose eyes had seen the salvation of the Lord (Luke 2:25-38), He it is who satisfies our longing like no other gift could. He exceeds all expectations of presents, coming down to us in the flesh as Love Incarnate. Celebrating Christmas reminds us of God’s loving presence. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

The goal of our Christmas programs and of giving gifts to the children is that they would see His salvation—that their deepest heart longings will be filled in the gift of Jesus and that God Immanuel will stay with them forever.

(The teacher in this article who invested decades into the lives of children went home to be with Jesus in 2025. Some of her great-grandchildren are now in our Sunday school, being taught the same timeless Bible truths she taught me. This article is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Helen Knutson as an encouragement to all Bible teachers who are the presence of Christ in the lives of God’s children.)

Marian Christopherson
AFLC Parish Education Director

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