As you begin this second session, welcome your kids with an air of expectancy—great things are about to happen! Greet them by name with a warm and friendly smile. As you go through the session, reinforce the habits and traditions you set last week. Then enjoy your time together as you share the love of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, with your group.

After welcoming the kids, introduce yourself again this week just to be sure that everyone knows your name too!

Use the following arrival activity to welcome your group:

Invite kids to play “Match and Snatch.” Ahead of time, print two sets of game cards. Show them one matching set of cards from the deck, pointing out that each card shows a way of sending a message to someone. Then shuffle the cards together and lay all of them face down, four rows across and four rows down. Divide the group into two teams and have each team stand on opposite sides of the playing area. Kids take turns turning over one card and then another to see if they can make a match. If so, the player snatches up the matching cards and holds them for his team. Then a player from the other team may take a turn. The team with the most matches wins. The winning team high-fives each other; the runner-up team low-fives each other. Have each team tell what the actual message of their matches might be.

Bridge to the story by telling the kids that today’s story has something to do with messages.

When you’re ready to begin your time of praise and prayer together, gather your group around you and take a few moments to share news with each other, asking kids if there is anything they are looking forward to or worried about. Once everyone has had the opportunity to share, bring their joys and concerns to God together in a simple prayer, beginning as follows:

Dear God, we’re so glad you are with us wherever we go and whatever we do. We’ve been talking about some of things that are happening in our lives, Lord, and we want to tell you about them too. . . .

Introduce the song “Amen” to your kids. Explain that like the song you learned together last time (and will be singing before your time together ends today!) this song is also about Jesus’ birthday. The part they’ll be learning today is easy—the word “Amen”! Sing it together once.

Conclude your praise and prayer time with an echo prayer. Ask kids to echo each sentence after you say it, including the amen. Begin with eyes closed and hands folded. Use simple sentences thanking God for bringing you together, for this time of worship, for this church, for each person, and asking that God will bless your time together. 

Invite someone to point to last week’s story symbol (hanging on the wall somewhere in your room). Ask kids to tell you what the symbol reminds them of and briefly review the highlights of that story together—the angel bringing God’s promise of a special baby to Zechariah and Elizabeth and that baby being born. Conclude that God kept that special promise. Show today’s story symbol—the angel. Wonder out loud what another story about an angel might be about. Leave the discussion brief and open-ended, so that kids are still wondering what the actual story will be.

Open your Bible to Luke 1. Tell kids that this true story follows right after last week’s story. Invite them to listen carefully because they are about to find out the story behind the angel symbol. Remind kids of the call and response you taught them last week and then use it together:

Storyteller: And now it’s time—
Listeners: for God’s big story!

The story follows:
It had been years since God’s great big, important promise of a Savior. Not just a few years—but a lot of years! God’s messenger Isaiah first announced that God would send the Messiah—Jesus—who would save people from their sins. The people told their kids about the promise, and then those kids told their kids and grandkids. Everyone waited. When would the promise come true?

I wonder what the people were thinking when the Savior still hadn’t been born and they’d been waiting so long. (Pause for responses.)

Of course God hadn’t forgotten the promise—God never forgets! One day God called his messenger, the angel Gabriel, and gave him the very important job of announcing that it was time—God was ready to send the Messiah. God gave Gabriel very specific instructions about how this would happen, and who he should talk to.

How do you think Gabriel, being an angel, felt about going to earth to bring this big, important news to a human? (Pause for responses.)

Gabriel went to the town of Nazareth, to the house of Mary, a young woman who was getting ready to marry Joseph. He found Mary alone in the house. Perhaps he took a deep breath because this was the big moment for the big announcement! Gabriel said, “Greetings, Mary. God really likes you and wants you to do something very special. The Lord is with you.”

I wonder what Mary thought when she saw the angel and heard his words. (Pause for responses.)

Gabriel could see that Mary was confused about what was happening and what he had said, so he continued, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, God is very happy with you. Soon God will send you a baby, and you will name him Jesus, a name that means ‘the Lord saves.’ He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will make him King, and he will rule forever.”

I wonder what Mary thought after hearing what the angel told her about God’s plans. (Pause for responses.)

You can believe that Mary’s mind was full of wondering questions. The most important thing she was wondering about at the moment was how she could have a baby when she wasn’t even married yet. And so she blurted out, “How can that be? A baby must have a father!”

Gabriel knew the answer to that question because God had explained it to him. “God will be his Father. The Holy Spirit will do this for you, because the baby will be God’s Son. God can do anything, Mary! Do you remember your cousin Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife? She’s so old—who would have thought that she could still have a baby? But God can make that happen too. God can surprise people in wonderful ways. Nothing is impossible for God!”

Mary looked right into Gabriel’s eyes. Quietly and humbly she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen just as you have said.” Then Gabriel disappeared.

What do you think Mary did after the angel left? What would you have done? (Pause for responses.)

I wonder if it took her a long time to fall asleep that night and what kind of things she thought about. (Pause for responses.) 

Tell kids that you shared God’s story with them using words—now they get to tell it back to you using actions! Divide the group into two acting teams and have each team sit down in a different side of the room. One side of the room will represent Gabriel, and the other half will be Mary. Explain that as you retell the story, they should do the actions you describe without speaking. (You might also have them repeat any words after you.) Tell them that you will point to them when it’s time for them to act out their part. That will also be the signal for the other group to FREEZE into position until their turn comes again. Point out that they’ll need to listen carefully to find out what actions their group should do. (Be sure to pause as necessary to give kids time to do the actions appropriately.)

Point to the Gabriels:

Gabriel walked into Nazareth.
He stopped occasionally to look at shops he passed.
He may have scratched his chin now and then, thinking about the strange things people on earth have.
He probably shook his head a time or two, watching people and wondering what they were up to.
When he arrived at Mary’s house, he walked through the open door and took in a big breath—it was time for the big announcement!

Point to the Marys:

Mary was in the kitchen, putting away the dishes she had just washed and dried—
plates over on the table,
silverware in the tray under the water basin,
and glasses up on the high shelf.
She turned around to see an angel standing there. She was surprised!

Point to the Gabriels:
Gabriel took a step back. He held out his open hands to calm her. He spoke, slowly walking toward her. “Greetings, Mary. God is pleased with you. The Lord is with you.”

Point to the Marys:
Mary’s face showed surprise—and confusion—and fear.
She looked this way and that for a moment.

Point to the Gabriels:
Gabriel stepped back a few steps because he saw that Mary was troubled.
He held out his hands toward her as he said, “Mary, don’t be afraid. God has chosen you because he is pleased with you. You will have a baby and you will name him Jesus.”

Point to the Marys:
Mary looked at the angel, her face full of questions.
Her forehead was wrinkled in confusion and she held out her open hands.
She shrugged her shoulders and then blurted out, “How can this be? The baby needs a father and I’m not married.”

Point to the Gabriels:
Gabriel smiled because he knew the answer to that.
He walked right up to her and said, “The Holy Spirit will be with you. God will be the baby’s father.
Nothing is impossible with God!”

Point to the Marys:
Mary quietly said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen just as you say.”

Give yourselves a round of mimed applause—clapping without making a sound—for your efforts. 

Don’t let time escape today without spending a few minutes talking together about the good news of Jesus’ birth and what it means for us. Express to your group your own joy at the promise of Jesus’ birth—a promise that tells you how much God loves you.

Ask if anyone can recall the meaning of the name Jesus. Give your group a hint—Jesus’ name means what he came to earth to do. Pass out the bookmarks that you’ve printed out ahead of time (note that you need to print on both sides) and read the meaning there—“the Lord saves.” Give kids a few moments to decorate their bookmarks with coloring pencils or markers. Point out that the location of this month’s Memory Challenge is on the back of the card and encourage kids to tuck the card into that place in a Bible at home. (If you’re aware of any children who may not have a Bible at home, quietly arrange to get one for them.)

As kids finish their bookmarks, invite them to come up to you and say to each one, “Jesus came for you too, [name].” Then attach a colored sticker to each child’s shirt, explaining that it’s a mystery sticker—you’ll tell them more about it later. Once everyone has received a sticker, gather kids around you. Explain that the stickers are called “mystery stickers” because people might ask what they are for. When they do, tell them that it’s there to remind you to share some good news—that Jesus came to save them!

Be sure to save time to learn the Memory Challenge for this unit by singing the song “Joy” together. Before singing, ask if anyone can remember what the Memory Challenge verse you’re learning is about. (The angel’s message to the shepherds.) Show kids the Memory Challenge page they’ll be taking home today. Encourage them to decorate it and hang it up somewhere they’ll be sure to see it. Hold up the page so you can read the verse together and listen and sing along to “Joy.”

Close with a circle prayer. Have kids stand close together, interlocking arms with those on each side, and then folding their own hands in prayer. Point out that interlocking arms when we pray reminds us that we are linked together as members of God’s family. Offer a simple prayer thanking God for the promise that Mary will bring Jesus, God’s Son, into the world.

Before kids leave, distribute their Show and Share papers. Ask them if they can recall why the papers have that name. (They are for showing to someone at home and sharing the story.) Point out the “On the Way Home” activity on the front page. Challenge kids to invite others traveling home with them to participate in the activity, giving ideas about what things Mary would need to get to be ready for her baby boy to arrive. (If possible, set out a box of crayons and invite kids to take a crayon so they are ready to roll!)