The free lesson plan is about the God’s promises to Mary concerning the birth of Jesus. This story says some very important things about who Jesus will be. It also has a strong focus on the power of God. A key quote from this passage is “Nothing will be impossible for God.”
This lesson was first prepared with a broadly graded kids church in mind, but you could easily adapt it for use in Sunday School or other ministry settings. The items requires are very simple and should be easy to prepare. Many churches have already used this as a Christmas Bible lesson for their kids.
Bible Passage: Luke 1:26-45
Bible Story Title: The Birth of Jesus Foretold
Target Age Group: Kindergarten – 5th Grade
Target Time Frame: 25 minutes
Original Teaching Context: Children’s Church
Learning Objectives: After this lesson children will demonstrate…
- Knowledge of the key people and events in this passage … by retelling the story back to the teacher at the end of the session.
- Understanding of what is special about Jesus … by explaining in their own words two very special things they learned about Jesus from this story.
- Understanding that “Nothing will be impossible for God”… by identifying real life situations where they could apply this principle to trust in God.
Target Age: Kindergarten – 5th
Items Needed:
- Marked Bible: Read Luke 1:26-45. Prepare the copy in advance by highlighting the significant points to emphasize and underlining items that will need additional explanation.
- Visual Aids: Pictures of Joseph, Mary, Gabriel, Zechariah, and Elizabeth.
- Papers: Write the following statements on individual sheets of paper. Tape them to the wall behind where you will be teaching:
- Can Elizabeth have a baby when she is very old?
- Can Jesus be born without a human father?
- A person is very sick and the doctors don’t know how to help.
- Someone’s dad needs a new job.
- A child does not have any friends at school.
- Parents want to get divorced.
- A friend does not want to follow Jesus.
- A war in Iraq that no one knows how to win.
Teaching Plan: Birth of Jesus Foretold
Hook:
Share a personal story about a time when you learned to trust God in a difficult situation. Example: I had to trust God when I was looking for a job. Explain to the children that our story today will show that nothing is too hard for God.
Book:
Use pictures to introduce only the names of the key people in the story. Ask the children to listen carefully so they can tell you more about these people after the story: Joseph, Mary, Gabriel, Zechariah, and Elizabeth. Show the pictures but only say the names of the person for now.
Before the story ask the children to explain what a “King” does. Then ask them to explain what a “Son” does. Ask them to listen carefully to the story to see how these two words are used to tell us why Jesus is very special.
Read (and summarize) Luke 1:26-45. (Read with emotion and pause often to engage the children with the reading.) During the telling of the story reinforce the two special things about Jesus:
- He is God’s own Son
- He is the Forever King promised in the OT
After the story show the pictures the children and ask for the person’s name and what they learned about them from the story.
Ask the group to retell the story to the teacher at the end of the presentation. Use the pictures to prompt them. “OK, good and what happened next?“
- Optional: If time permits this can be acted out by calling on five volunteers: Gabriel, Joseph, Mary, Zechariah, and Elizabeth.
Ask for volunteers to explain in their own words two very special things they learned about Jesus from this story.
Look:
Point to the papers with the “situation statements” that you taped to the wall. Remind the children “Nothing will be impossible with God.” Ask them to think about which situation will be too hard for God. Read the statements.
Call on a child to come forward and remove one “situation statement” that is not too hard for God. Repeat with additional children until all the statements are gone. Then ask the children to repeat with you “Nothing will be impossible with God.”
Took:
Ask for volunteers to identify real life situations where they could apply this principle “Nothing will be impossible with God.”
Closing: Lead the children in prayer
Wait there’s more . . . You can browse all of our printable Christmas Lessons and coloring pages. Our free materials are perfect to use in your church, home, or school. There is no charge and you are welcome to copy as many as you like.