Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
Memory
Verse:
“For
unto you is born this day in the city of
Concepts:
Objectives:
1. Older children will locate the scripture passages in their
Bibles. Younger children will learn that the story is in Matthew. All will hear
the story told.
2. The children will play a quiz game to reinforce the
details of the story.
3. Through discussion, the children will relate the story
to their lives and the concepts above.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1. Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. Make sure the children
are wearing name-tags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge.
Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week who
may not know you.
2.
Open with a brief
prayer (optional, as they have just prayed in Great Hall).
3. Explain the purpose of this workshop. Today we’re going to hear the story of
Jesus’ birth from Joseph’s point of view. Listen closely because then we’ll
play a game where you have to know the details of the story.
Scripture/Bible Story:
1.
Grades 1-2 will not
use Bibles, but do open yours to show them where the story is. For grades 3-5,
make sure everybody has a Bible. The shepherds will have extra Bibles. Help the students to find the book of Matthew.
(Get the shepherds to go around the room and help with this.)
2.
If necessary,
review the organization of the Bible. The Bible is divided into two big parts, the
Old and New Testaments. Each part is made up of books, which are divided into
chapters and verses. Have them figure out whether Matthew is in Old or New
Testament (it’s about Jesus so it’s in NEW Testament). Show them that if they
open their Bible in the middle, they’ll usually land in the book of Psalms in
the OT. Point out that the book name is at the top of each page. After finding
Psalms, if they then take the pages on the right side and divide them in half,
they’ll land somewhere near the beginning of the New Testament. Remind them
that the first book of the NT is Matthew.
After
they’ve found Matthew, help them find chapter 1, then verse 18. Some of the
children will confuse chapters and verses. Show them that chapter numbers are
the big ones, and also are at top of every page.
3.
Explain: “Now I’m
going to read a version of the Bible story we just looked up in Matthew. When
you hear the word ‘up,’ get on your feet! When you hear ‘down,’ sit down.” (Alternatively,
you can tell them to raise and lower their hands.)
A young woman named Mary was engaged to marry a man
named Joseph. Joseph traced his ancestry in a long line all the way down from King David’s family. But
before Mary and Joseph lived together, Mary up
and found out that she was going to have a baby. Joseph felt down in the dumps about this news
because he was not the father of the child, and he was up against a problem. He was an upright
man and it would disgrace him to marry Mary under the circumstances, but he
was also downright kind and did not
want to embarrass her by stirring up a
fuss. So Joseph made up his mind to
quietly call off the marriage.
Then one night, Joseph lay down and went to sleep. In a dream, an angel from God came up to him and said, “Joseph, the baby
Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit.
So calm down. Don’t
be afraid to marry her. She will have a son, and it’s up to you to name him Jesus. He will save his people from their
sins.”
This fulfilled God’s promise that had come down from the prophet who had said, “a
virgin will have a son, and he will be called Immanuel, which means “God is
with us.”
When the sun came up,
Joseph woke up. He did what the angel
said, down to the last detail. He and
Mary were soon married. When the time was up,
the baby was born, and Joseph named him Jesus.
Application:
1.
Divide the class into several teams of three to five players (you might
call them the Angels, the Prophets, etc.). The teams will take turns spinning
the game wheel and answering questions about the scripture. Have the shepherd
keep score on the white board.
2.
Line the teams up and let the first person in line for the team spin and
answer a question. Let him consult his team if needed, but he is the only one
who can give the answer. If he answers correctly, award his team the number of
points he spun for. No points for a wrong answer.
Grades 1-2: Use the multiple-choice
answers provided with the questions.
Grades 3-5: Give the team a chance to
answer the question, but offer multiple choices if they’re stumped.
3.
After his turn, the player goes to the end of his team’s line. Go to the
next team and continue until everyone has had a turn. Use the answers to
emphasize the concepts at the beginning of the lesson plan.
4. Alternatives:
Reflection Time: (10:30)
Gather the children in a
circle and discuss:
Joseph first decided to call
off the marriage, and then he changed his mind. I wonder if it was easy for him
to decide to marry Mary after all? Probably
not…but he trusted that the angel was bringing a message from God, and he
obeyed. God works through ordinary people like Joseph who are obedient. God
also works through us when we obey and try to do what God wants us to do.
I wonder why Matthew thought
it was important to tell what the prophet had said a long time ago? He wanted to show that God planned from the
beginning to bring Jesus into the world to save the world.
Jesus has many important
names. The one in our story today is …. Emmanuel
… and it means… God is with us. Through
Jesus, we can know God.
Our memory verse tells two
other names for Jesus. Let’s say the memory verse together: For unto you is born this day in the city of
Journals: ¨At 10:35 a.m. pass out the journal pages and ask the
shepherds to pass out pencils/markers. Optional: Give the children a sticker or
some other memento to paste in their journal as a reminder of the workshop. Read
the prompt out loud and offer suggestions if needed. If they don’t know how to
spell a word, write it on the white board. Those who finish early can turn the
page over and do the activity on the back.
At 10:45 ask the students to close their journals and sit quietly.
Encourage the children to bring an offering next week. Remind them that it will go to the
Christmas Joy Offering. Presbyterians all over the country give to this
offering every Christmas. The money helps retired church workers, and it
supports eight Presbyterian colleges.
Prayer:
Close with a brief prayer.
Suggestion: God, thank you for sending
Jesus to the world so we could know you. Help us to be obedient to you like
Joseph. Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help collect Bibles, pencils, etc.
When the room is tidy, dismiss the class.
Extra Activity:
Grades 3-5:
If you have time, play a few rounds of "who can find the passage first."
Call out verses for the students to search and read when they find them -- do
this in pairs if you wish. Use these passages that tell other parts of Jesus’ birth
story:
Luke
1: 26-28
Matthew
2: 13-15
Luke
2: 1-7
Teacher preparation in advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the
Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
2. Prepare opening and closing prayers.
3.
Display the
memory verse in the room (don’t use the white board, as you need it for
scorekeeping).
4.
GAME WHEEL: The
game wheel is kept in the main room of the
Supply List
Extra Bibles
Dry-erase marker (in supply
bin)
Game Wheel
Questions for game
Pencils (in supply bin; the
shepherds also have pencils)
Journal pages
References
The Birth Narrative from St. Elmo’s Choir:
Skills and Games Workshop.
http://rotation.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=1206067121&f=6846088121&m=9846088121
Storytelling ideas:
http://www.dennisdewey.org/Dennis8.htm
Game
Questions
What family was Joseph
descended from?
Family of King David
Family of Abraham
Family of Jesus
When Mary found out that she
was expecting a baby, were she and Joseph married?
No, they were engaged to be married.
When Joseph found out that
Mary was expecting a baby, what did he first decide to do?
Go ahead and marry her anyway
Quietly call off the marriage
Ask an angel for advice
Why did Joseph plan to do it
quietly?
He did not want to be
embarrassed
An angel told him not to make
a scene
He did not want to embarrass Mary
Who appeared to Joseph in a
dream?
An angel
A prophet
A wise man
The angel told Joseph that
Mary’s baby came from ….
The Holy Spirit
Royal ancestry
What did the angel tell Joseph to do about Mary?
Quietly call off the marriage
Take her to
Marry her
What did the angel tell
Joseph to name their child?
Jesus
Matthew
Emmanuel
What did the angel say Jesus would
do in his life?
Turn water into wine
Die and rise from the grave
Save people from
their sins
Matthew says all these events
made a promise from whom come true?
God
King David
Abraham
Who does Matthew say had told
the promise from God?
His mother
A prophet a long
time ago. (Matthew wanted to show that Jesus’ birth was part of God’s plan for
the world.)
King Herod
What had the prophet said the
baby would be called?
Jesus
Son of God
Emmanuel. (This is one of the many names that Jesus is
called. Some of Jesus’ other names are Son of God, Son of the Most High, Son of
David, Christ the Lord, Son of Man, the Messiah.)
What does Emmanuel mean?
Son of God
Prince of Peace
God is with us. (Jesus came into the world to reveal
God to us.)
When Joseph woke up, what did
he do that was different from what he had planned to do?
Marry Mary. (He obeyed the angel, who was a messenger
from God.)
Go back to sleep
Get on to
What did Joseph name the
baby?
Emmanuel
Jesus. (He obeyed the angel, who was a messenger from
God.)
Matthew
Which book of the Bible is
this story from?
Mark
Luke
Matthew. (Other stories about Jesus’ birth are in
Luke.)