For young people

• Discuss how you would prepare for a journey of many hundreds of miles in that part of the world in the first century. Think about needing to find water and food and places to stay. Contrast that with how we travel to far off places for holidays with internet pre-booking of flights, car hire and hotels. Invite the group to think of the cost and then think of what it costs to seek out Jesus in our own time.
• Look again at the time involved and consider what was happening to Mary, Joseph and Jesus in all this time. It's most likely that these travellers arrived a long time after Jesus was born. Was Joseph working as a carpenter in Bethlehem? Did he have family to stay with eventually? Aim to help the group consider the realities of the situation – not the Christmas card picture.
• The travellers saw, and wondered about what they saw. They travelled and asked questions. Ask the group if there are ways in which they think their understanding of Jesus and the Jesus way of life has changed over the last year or two. Are there things that have come up that have made them question the Christian faith and are they still wondering or have they found helpful answers? Have an example of your own to help the discussion.
• Can you find someone in the church or your community who has a story to tell about exploring the Christian faith and how they found what they now believe is the truth? Encourage the group to listen and think and then ask questions of this person after they have told about their search.

14–16s

• If you used the letters at the beginning, get them out again and start with GODISNOWHERE arrangement. Ask the group what it says. What ways of dividing the letters in this order make phrases that they believe are true? (GOD IS NOW; GOD IS HERE.) What other phrases can they make that express some truth for them? Ask the questions WHERE IS GOD and WHO IS GOD and ask the group to answer them from this passage and for us in these days.
• Talk about who was missing the point in this story. To start the conversation, suggest these ways of reading more into the story: The travellers followed the star and it was leading them to Bethlehem but they assumed it must mean Jerusalem, the capital. The advisers must have seen the star and they had all the books but they missed the point of it. The King must have known the prophecies and could have recognised God was doing something amazing but he just saw it as a threat.
• See if the group thinks there are times when the leaders of the Church miss the points that people outside the Church can spot when it comes to thinking about God. Are there rules and customs in organised Christianity that seem to miss the point of what it's all about?
• Ask questions to get people thinking what was the point of the gifts. Did the gold make Mary and Joseph rich? Did the myrrh get kept for Jesus burial? Did they use the frankincense when they prayed to God? What gifts did your group get last week that they are wondering what to do with? What have they used up already or even broken or lost? Can they remember every gift and who gave it? Can they remember what every important member of their family bought for them? What gifts do we want to bring to God today? What gifts would we ask for from God today and would we really know what to do with them if we were given them?