For to us a child is born…And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

A couple of years ago I was looking over the curriculum for the upcoming Sunday’s lesson and groaned. The theme was on peace, the Prince of Peace to be specific. But the curriculum was complicated, boring, and anything but kid-friendly. I knew there was no way I’d hold the attention of a couple hundred elementary kids with that. So I kept the theme, reworked the lesson, and came up with this silly introduction.

It was a hit! Months later, the kids still remembered the main point. I think that’s because it gave them something tangible to help them understand what the Prince of Peace means. I think your kids will love it too.

All you need is…a chair, something to serve as a scepter, something to serve as a cape (e.g. towel), a block of cheese (or if you’re lucky enough, a cheese head hat), a Bible, and the story below.

The more drama you use to read or tell the story the better!

[With great drama, invite your child to sit in the chair, then drape the towel around them, hand them a scepter with a flourish and say…]

PART ONE – THE PRINCE OF CHEESE

ONCE UPON A TIME there was a prince (princess) [pause for dramatic effect]—of cheese! [Hand them the block of cheese or place the cheese head on their head]. The prince ruled over the land of cheese. The land was filled with cheese–white cheese, yellow cheese, brown cheese. Holey cheese, creamy cheese, sweet cheese, and even stinky cheese.

People drooled just thinking about the taste of the prince’s cheese and longed just for one bite. It was creamy, it was tangy, it was delicious!

All the cheese in the land belonged to the Prince of Cheese. Since he was kind and generous, he gave his cheese to everyone who asked, rich and poor, old and young.

One day a Trickster of Cheese came to the land of cheese. He began telling lies about the Prince and his cheese. “This so-called prince isn’t really a prince; I am!” he said. “His cheese is not real; mine is.”

And the Trickster of Cheese started to give people fake cheese. It looked like cheese, it smelled like cheese but kind of tasted like cheese. But not exactly. But they tried it once. They tried it again and again and again. And soon people forgot what real cheese tasted like. They had been tricked by the Trickster of Cheese.

Who would remind them that the Trickster’s cheese was fake? Who would remind them of the real Prince of Cheese and his real cheese?

[after the next section, have your child create their own ending to the story]

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PART TWO – THE PRINCE OF PEACE

This silly story of the Prince of Cheese isn’t a real story, of course. It’s a pretend story but it’s like a true story in God’s Word, the Bible.

The book of Isaiah says that Jesus…will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, PRINCE OF PEACE (Read Isaiah 9:6). Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is the only one who can give real peace. He is kind; he  generous. He gives peace to everyone who believes in Jesus and asks for it.

Because of Jesus, we can have peace with God, peace with each other, and peace and quiet inside our hearts even when everything outside is going wrong.

But there’s a trickster named Satan, the devil. “Jesus is not the real Prince of Peace; I am,” he says. “His peace is not real; mine is. In fact, we don’t need Jesus for peace.” Satan hands out fake peace, things that make you feel good but never seem to last.

Satan can’t give…peace with God, peace with others, and Satan cannot give us peace and quiet inside our hearts even when everything is going wrong. His peace is fake.

There can’t be real peace, whether it’s true world peace or inside-your-heart peace, without Jesus because he is the Prince of Peace.