Wildside 12.15.19

Wildside December 15, 2019

Angels Spoke to Mary and Joseph

Bible Passage: ;

Main Point: God chose Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why was Jesus born? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin.

Small Group opening

(10–15 minutes)

Large Group Bible study

(25–30 minutes)

Small Group activities

(25–30 minutes)

Leader BIBLE STUDY

People had been waiting a long time for Jesus. God hinted at His coming in the garden of Eden when He promised a seed to conquer the serpent. () The prophets told of His coming hundreds of years before His birth. God was working out His plan to bring His people back to Himself.

In the Bible, God sometimes used angels to communicate His message to people. Angels spoke to Abraham in . The Angel of the Lord spoke to Balaam in . Now Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus, each received a special visit from an angel to announce the birth of God’s promised Messiah.

The angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary surprised her. By His grace, God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus. The angel’s message revealed much about this promised child.

First, He would be great in both being and nature. He would be the Son of the Most High. Jesus is the Son of God, and the Lord God promised to give Him the throne of His father David. These words fulfilled the prophecy given to David in . He would reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom would have no end.

The good news that Jesus was coming into the world was good news because of why He was coming. An angel revealed Jesus’ purpose to Joseph in , “He will save His people from their sins.” The gospel is the good news of what God has done for us through Christ.

The announcement of Jesus’ birth is not the beginning of the gospel; God had been planning for this moment since before the beginning of time. (See .) Help the kids you teach understand that God’s plan has always been to save sinners and bring them back to Himself. Jesus, whose name means “Yahweh saves,” is the culmination of that plan.

The BIBLE Story

Angels Spoke to Mary and Joseph

;

One day, God sent an angel named Gabriel to a town called Nazareth. The angel went to visit a young virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a descendant of King David.

The angel said to Mary, “Rejoice! You have found favor with God. He is with you.” Mary was very afraid and puzzled. Why would God find favor with her? She had done nothing special.

“Do not be afraid,” the angel said. Then he told Mary that she was going to have a very special and unique baby, and they would call the baby Jesus, which means “the Lord saves.” The angel explained that the baby would be great—He would be God’s Son! He would even be a king—the king God had promised would come.

Mary asked the angel, “How can that happen? I am not married yet.”

The angel replied, “God will be the father of the baby. The baby will be God’s Son.”

Then the angel told Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God!” He said that Mary’s relative Elizabeth was pregnant, even though she was old and did not have any children.

“May everything happen just as you said,” Mary replied. Then the angel left her.

Mary hurried to her relative Elizabeth’s house. When she arrived, the baby inside Elizabeth leaped for joy! The Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and she said, “What an honor, Mary! Your baby will be blessed too!”

Mary was so happy. She praised God with a song about how great God is. Mary knew every family in the future would say she was blessed because God was going to do great things for her through Jesus. God was keeping His promise to bless the whole world through Jesus.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Then she went home.

Now Joseph found out Mary was going to have a baby, but Joseph knew it was not his baby—Mary and Joseph were not married yet! Joseph decided to quietly break his engagement with Mary so she would not be publicly disgraced.

Soon after Joseph thought these things, an angel appeared to him in a dream.

“Joseph!” the angel said. “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby she is carrying was put there by the Holy Spirit. Mary is going to have a son; name Him Jesus because He is going to save His people from their sins!”

This happened just like the prophet said it would: “See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel,” which is translated “God with us.”

When Joseph woke up, he did exactly as the angel commanded. He married Mary, and when she had a son, Joseph named Him Jesus.

Christ Connection: The baby Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, as well as other Old Testament prophecies, about the coming Savior. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled God’s plan of redemption that God planned from the beginning of the world.

Small Group Opening

Session Title: Angels Spoke to Mary and Joseph

Bible Passage: ;

Main Point: God chose Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why was Jesus born? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin.

Welcome time

Greet each kid as he or she arrives. Use this time to connect to your group and make sure each student is checked in.

As kids arrive, prompt them to think about Jesus’ parents.

Say • What kind of parents would you have picked for Jesus? Would they have been rich or had a big house? Today, we will hear about the earthly parents God chose for His Son, Jesus.

Table Wars

Transition to large group

Large Group LEADER

Session Title: Angels Spoke to Mary and Joseph

Bible Passage: ;

Main Point: God chose Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why was Jesus born? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin.

Leader • Hey, everybody! Have I got a story for you today! What types of stories do you like to hear? Do you like stories about battles? [Pause for response from kids.] What about kings and queens? [Pause.] Or a hunt for a treasure? [Pause.] Do you get excited when you read a story about heroes fighting villains?

Today we are going to read an exciting passage from the Bible. The hero, the One whom we needed to come to fight the greatest battle that has ever been, was finally coming.

All the stories that we have heard up until now have shown us that all the heroes who came before weren’t the One. All the stories of heroes in the Old Testament get us ready for the One hero we truly need.

Giant timeline (1 minute)

Today’s Bible story comes from the beginning of the New Testament. At the end of the Old Testament, God’s people were waiting for their Rescuer to come.

God had first mentioned His promised Rescuer back in the garden, right after Adam and Eve had sinned. For thousands of years, God’s people had been waiting. They had looked at judges and kings and prophets and wondered, Is this the One we have been waiting for? But it never was!

The last book of the Old Testament is Malachi, and after this prophet, God was quiet for 400 years! Can you imagine? The people did not hear from God for 400 years! Did they wonder if He had forgotten them? While the people waited, the Lord still remembered His promise.

Then suddenly, the New Testament began. God not only sent another prophet, He sent angels to deliver messages about His coming Son! Jesus was going to be born! The Rescuer was coming!

Now the question we have to ask ourselves is, Why did Jesus have to be born? Why did we need a rescuer to come? What did we need to be rescued from? [Allow kids to respond.] Let’s listen to the story to find out!

Tell the Bible story

Open your Bible to and . Let’s watch the Bible story video “Angels Spoke to Mary and Joseph.”

Leader • Why was Jesus born? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin.

Since Adam and Eve first ate the fruit in the garden of Eden, sin came into the world and broke everything! It broke us. Our hearts, which were made to worship God, were full of sin instead. Every person since Adam and Eve has been born a sinner. We needed Jesus to come to save us from our sin. Let’s see if you can answer these questions.

Ask the following review questions:

Why was Jesus born? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin.

Where did Mary and Joseph live when they found out they would be the parents of Jesus? (Nazareth, )

What was the name of the angel sent to talk to Mary? (Gabriel, )

According to Gabriel, why should Mary not be afraid? (She had found favor with God, )

Besides Mary, who else was having a baby? (her cousin Elizabeth, )

What did Elizabeth’s baby do when Mary arrived at the house? (The baby leaped in her womb, )

Why did Joseph not break his engagement with Mary? (An angel told him in a dream that the baby was from God, )

Why did the angel say the baby should be named Jesus? (because He would save His people from their sins, )

What is another name for Jesus and what does it mean? (He is also called Immanuel, which means “God is with us” ; )

Key passage

Show the key passage. Lead the boys and girls to read together.

Leader • We needed a Rescuer to save us from our sins. At the perfect time, God sent His Son into the world. Jesus was the Rescuer whom God had promised to send.

Demonstrate hand motions for key words to help them memorize the first part of the verse. Examples:

the time—Point to your wrist (where a watch would be worn).

completion—Place the palms of your hands together in front of you.

sent—Extend arm and point index finger.

born of a woman—Curve arm out from belly (as if pregnant).

Leader • Great! We will work on the rest of our key passage next week.

Discussion starter video

Leader • If you could choose to eat any flavor of cupcake, which would you choose? Check this out.

Show the “Unit 5, Session 1” discussion starter video. Guide kids to discuss how God chose Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

Leader • How do you think Mary and Joseph felt about being chosen? Why do you think God chose them? If God were to choose you to do something difficult, how would you respond?

Pray

Invite kids to pray before dismissing to small groups.

Leader • Father, we thank You that You always had a plan to save us from our sin. From the beginning, You promised to send a rescuer. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus. Thank You that You always keep Your promises. We love You, Lord! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Dismiss to small groups

Small Group LEADER

Session Title: Angels Spoke to Mary and Joseph

Bible Passage: ;

Main Point: God chose Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why was Jesus born? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin.

Key passage activity

Write the words of the key passage on pieces of paper and then have students make paper wads. Look up the key passage. Recite the key passage together two times.

Say • We are going to have a snowball fight! When I say “go,” you will throw your snowballs into the air. Then pick up one and throw it again. When I say “stop,” everyone will pick up one snowball. (I know this is will a little crazy, but worth it, if it will help students learn the verse. Remind them, they are throwing the balls up in the air, not at each other.)

Say “Go!” to start the snowball fight. After a couple of throws say, “Stop!” and direct each kid to pick up one snowball.

Say • Read your snowball and line up to put our key passage together in the right order.

Give kids time to line up and then recite the key passage together again as a group.

Bible story review

Distribute Bibles and instruct kids to open them to and also .

Say • The birth of Jesus is recorded in two of the Gospels, so we will use both the Book of Luke and the Book of Matthew to learn about Jesus’ birth. Who wants to volunteer to be Mary, Joseph, Gabriel, and Elizabeth?

Choose one kid to read and guide the volunteers to act out the story as it is read aloud.

Then choose another kid to read while volunteers continue to act out. Continue this pattern with the rest of the story: ; .

Say • In the Bible story today, we saw that God chose Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

To review further you can play a game of Who said that?

Form two teams. Read one of the following statements. The first player or team to correctly identify who might have spoken those words gets a point.

I recommend having students rotate around the table and the student sitting next to you, on each side, is the only one allowed to answer. Then switch after each question. The team with the most points wins.

“Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby she is carrying was put there by the Holy Spirit.” (Gabriel)

“What an honor, Mary! Your baby will be blessed too!”(Elizabeth)

“Nothing will be impossible with God!” (Gabriel)

“How can that happen? I am not married yet.” (Mary)

“The baby will be God’s Son.” (Gabriel)

“I belong to God. May everything happen just as you said.”(Mary)

“I will marry Mary.” (Joseph)

“Mary is going to have a son; name Him Jesus because He is going to save His people from their sins!” (Gabriel)

“I will go stay with my relative Elizabeth for three months.” (Mary)

“Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son.” (Gabriel)

Say • God sent His special messenger, Gabriel, to deliver amazing news to Mary and Joseph. God chose Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

prayer

Give each kid his prayer card and a pencil. Review the big picture question and answer.

Say • Why was Jesus born? Jesus was born to rescue us from sin. Think about a way that you have sinned against God in the past few days. [Allow time for kids to think.]

The Bible tells us that before God even created this world, He planned to send Jesus to rescue us from sin. The Bible describes sin as being a master over us. Before Jesus sets us free, we are slaves to sin.

Have them write out requests on their cards and then close in prayer.