The Nativity

OBJECTIVE

Explain to the children the Gospel (the Good News) is the fulfillment of many prophecies that came in the Old Testament. Starting from Genesis to Micah, all the scriptures point to the coming of the Savior to save all who believe in Him. God loved us and sent us His only begotten Son.

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 5 Minutes

Option 1

What was the best news you ever received? (receiving good grades, getting a new baby sibling, a great present, etc.)

How did it make you feel? What made this better than the other good news in your life?

Option 2

Either use a puppet or ask the children questions

  • Puppet- What do you think about Jesus coming to earth, did he really come?
  • Servant - I believe so, Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the City of David as promised
  • P - What do you mean as promised?
  • S - God promised Adam & Eve since they were cast out of Paradise, He will send a Savior to overcome death and save us. He also sent many prophets to tell us about His coming and how he will come.
  • P - Oh really, I didn't know about the prophets before?
  • S - Hang in here and listen to the lesson you will know all about it

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 10 Minutes

See references in table below

Memory Verse

"But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you." (1 Thess 3:6)

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 10 Minutes

  • God promised that one day a Savior (the Seed of the Woman) would come to set everything right again between God and us.
  • From then on, all through the years, God kept telling us that He was going to send the Savior through many prophets. God's promises about the Savior were written down in the Bible. These are recorded in the Old Testament by prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah & Micah.
  • God wanted us to know that He loves us and that He was going to send His Son, who would be the Savior of the whole world from sin.
  • Jesus is the Son of God When St. Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel to tell her that she would conceive and have a baby, who would be the Promised Savior, she didn't understand and she asked the angel how this would be since she was a virgin.
  • And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35
  • When St. Mary learned that God wanted her to be the mother of the Savior, who was to be named Jesus, she agreed to let this happen. She said to the angel, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord Let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:38. Her great faith and humility made her the perfect mother for the Son of God.
  • St. Mary understood that her baby, Jesus, would be the Son of God, because Archangel Gabriel told her that and also because she studied the Old testament and knows all the prophecies about the coming Messiah.
  • The Gospel is the Good news (Evangelion) where we see the joy of our salvation. Throughout the Bible, those who followed the true God had hardships in their life (think about Moses and the Israeilites, David the Prophet, etc). Their trust in God's promises allowed them to not lose their faith,
  • When Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem, He fulfilled God's promise to send the Savior. The good news of His birth spread everywhere.
  • When Jesus grew up and started His ministry (at about age 30) He often referred to Himself as "the Son of Man." He is the only member of the Trinity that was born from a woman and became human. He saved all mankind from sin and the darkness that were living in.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 5 Minutes

Was Christ fully human and fully Divine while He was incarnate on Earth? Does that mean He was hungry / thirsty / tired? Why did He go through those things even though He is God?

LIFE APPLICATION (Action) - 5 Minutes

The Holy Bible Old Testament and New Testament is one book promising of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament fulfilling this promise. This is all because our God wanted to save us and bring us all with Him. Let us stay close to Him and praise Him for caring for us and loving us. Here is a quote from St. Basil about God's love for us and in return we can do the same for others as He did for us.

ACTIVITY - 5 Minutes

Either give the children the table below as homework to bring back next week or let them research it during the lesson if the time allows. Emphasize these are some of the prophecies in the Old Testament and they were written several hundred years before Christ's birth with Isaiah being 700 years before Christ.

PARENTS CORNER

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like - St. Basil