Mary and Joseph

Passages

Familiarize yourself with this passage

Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25
One day, while Mary was at home, the angel Gabriel came to her with a message from God.  She was going to have a baby and she was to name him Jesus, because he would save the people from their sins.  Mary was confused.  “How can this be,” she asked “because I am a virgin?”  The angel told her that with God, all things are possible.  Mary believed the angel and she became pregnant by a miracle from God.
Joseph was engaged to Mary.  He found out that Mary was pregnant, and he knew the baby was not his, so he decided he would break up with Mary.  Before Joseph could do this, an angel came to him in a dream and told him that the baby inside Mary was from God.  The angel told Joseph that he should still get married to Mary, and so he did.  When baby Jesus was born, he had a physical mom and dad, both of whom loved God.

Object Lesson

Before you tell the story, have the children open their bibles to Matthew 1:1-16. This is the genealogical record of Jesus. It shows how Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, was a descendant of King David. Have the children read through the verses, perhaps one small section at a time, and see how many of the names they recognize. Explain to the children that this genealogy is important because the Bible say that the Messiah, Jesus, would be a descendant of Kind David, and this record shows us that he was.

Memory Verse

Luke 1:30-31
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”

Jesus Connection

This is the first time in the Bible that we see the name of Jesus mentioned.  The angel Gabriel tells Mary, “you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31) Names are important in the Bible, and if we look at the name of Jesus, we see that it means ‘Savior’. This is a fitting name for the one who would one day die in our place to save us from our sins.

Songs:

Peace Like a River

1st verse:
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river in my soul (In my soul!)
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Peace like a river in my soul (In my soul!)

2nd verse:
(Joy like a fountain)

3rd verse:
(Love like the ocean)

4th verse:
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Joy like a fountain
I’ve got Love like the ocean in my soul (In my soul!)
I’ve got Peace like a river
I’ve got Joy like a fountain
I’ve got Love like the ocean in my soul (In my soul!)

Game/Activity

Wheel of Fortune (verse memory game)

Supplies needed:
• The wheel
o Template with wheel and arrow
o Paper brad
• Dry erase board/chalk board
• Dry erase marker/chalk
• The Bible verse
• Coins (or beans, or buttons)
Directions:
1. Assemble the wheel by cutting it out of the template and fastening the arrow with a paper brad. For more stability you may wish to glue the wheel to a piece of cardboard or print it on thick paper.
2. In the same fashion as Hang Man, draw lines on the board to correspond to the letters and words from the Bible verse. You may add the numbers from the reference, or leave out the reference all together.
3. Divide the class into three teams.
4. Starting with the first team, have them spin the wheel and guess a letter. If the team guesses a correct letter, fill it in on the board. Give the team the number of coins their earned in respect to the number of letters that they found on the board. (ie: They spin 4 and guess the letter T. There are 7 Ts in this verse so they would get 28 coins.)
5. After the first team has one spin, pass the wheel to the next team.  Repeat this process until all the letters in the verse have been discovered.
6. The team with the most coins at the end wins!

Craft

Angel Craft:

Supplies needed:
• Angel template
• Scissors
• Pom-poms
• Colors
• Decorating supplies (glitter, gems, sequence, pipe cleaners…)
• Tape
• glue
Directions:
1. Give each child and angel template and scissors. Cut out the angel.
2. While the angel is flat, decorate one side of the paper using colors and other decorating supplies that are available.
3. Twist the paper into a cone shape so that the cone is held together by the cuts that were made near the wings. You may wish to secure the wings with a piece of tape.
4. Have the children choose a pom-pom as the head of their angel and glue it in place on the tip of the cone
5. Optional: Using a small section of pipe cleaner, bend a circle and glue in place on top of the pom-pom as a halo.

Family Tree

*This is a good craft for older, school aged children.
Supplies Needed:
• White paper
• Colored pencils
• Regular pencils
Directions:
1. Have the children draw a picture of their family tree, going back as far as they can remember. Have them start with their name at the bottom and work their way up the tree the further into their family history they go.
2. Encourage the children to take their tree home and talk to their parents about more names they can add to the tree. You may even ask them to bring it back next week to share with the class if they were able to add any more names.

Coloring Page: