Lesson 31 – Jesus’ birth

Sunday, 10 December 2023

SUNDAY MORNING EAGLES:

ROSTER:

Sunday 10 Dec 31 Jesus' birth Luke 1:26-38

9am Eagles Trish & Yvonne Lance

VENUE:

Kids Church (up to G5) meet in Classroom 2 - - - - - - - - →

Striders (G6 & G7) meet in Classroom 1 - - - - - - - - →

Eagles (G8 & above), order your drinks and go to the

classroom. The drinks are kept in the Kids Church Fridge.
Then go into church for WORSHIP (a few songs). When the
announcement appears on the screen, leave quietly,then meet your
Leaders in the Office Block for Eagles where they can enjoy their drinks.
Please try to start the lesson by the half hour (9.30am).
Thanks

LESSON OBJECTIVES:
WHAT: God used an unlikely person to bring Jesus the Savior into this world.

WHY: Like Mary, God is with your students and they are highly favored with a plan, a purpose,
and a mission for life.

HOW: Students will celebrate what Jesus’ birth means in their lives and will meditate on Mary’s
song of praise to consider God’s amazing love for each of us.

PRIMARY SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:26-38

CHECK-IN:
07:45 / Leaders and Assistants pray together. Get clipboard (scriptures and info slips) from
09:45 the Striders classroom. Be ready to greet the students as they arrive.

Take attendance registers and drinks orders as teenagers arrive. Give the orders
to whoever is on duty in Grounded Café and ask for the drinks to be ready by
8.20am/10.20am for collection).

Take the teenagers into the service for Worship (about 3 songs).

08:20 – 1. WELCOME & ADMIN (10 min.)

08:30 /
 Assistants:
10:20 –
10:30  Go to Grounded Café with the students to get their drinks. Encourage them to hurry to class.

Leaders:

 Go to your classrooms to receive the students as they arrive with their drinks.
 Introduce yourselves.
 Greet the old students by name. Welcome any new students and get to know them.
 Complete the attendance register. Take details & photos of new kids, if any.
 Check the birthday list; celebrate birthdays if any (See below).
 Hand out scriptures.

DECEMBER
First Name Last Name Birthday Grade
Antoni Bristow 12/05/2006 11
Ethan Fields 12/05/2006 11
Joshua Peringuey 12/05/2008 8
Bernhard Weich 12/10/2005 11
Kagren Theron 12/10/2008 9
Kayren Theron 12/10/2008 9
Jathan Haskell 12/15/2007 10
Ben Krensel 12/17/2008 9
Tinashe Mutengambiri 12/21/2009 8
Jessica Swanepoel 12/24/2009 8
Amy-Lee Landmesser 12/27/2005 12
Megan Mundell 12/28/2005 12
Nowa Van Wyk 12/30/2006 11
James Carrick 12/31/2008 9
08:30-08:40 / 10.30- 2. ADDRESS THE BIG GROUP (10 min.)
10:40

OPEN IN PRAYER (1 min)

 Ask a student to open in prayer.

 Ask everyone else to respond by saying Amen aloud at the end.

ANNOUNCEMENTS (1 min)

It’s school holidays coming up so we’ll be taking a break from Eagles and we’ll see you back here
in the new year. (No Eagles classes on 17, 24 or 31 Dec). Have a great holiday!

INTRODUCE THE NEW SERIES & THE BIBLE READING PLAN for 2023 (1 min)

SAY: We’re in the finishing our series called “A Year with Jesus”.

Hand out the Bible Reading Plan for 2023 to those who did not get one last term.
SAY: These are the scripture passages we’re reading and discussing each week.
Please read next week’s scripture in your Bibles at home.
SAY: Today, we’re talking about how Jesus’ birth was foretold.
ICE BREAKER (2 mins)
SAY: Before your group meets, gather a wide assortment of items from your home or
your meeting area. Be sure to choose some that could easily be used in the conversation
below, but also select items that might stretch students’ creativity and imagination .

ASK:
• What item did you each select, and why?
• Where in your life have you experienced God’s presence most?
• When have you found it easiest to see God working in your life? When has it been difficult?

SAY: Today we are going to look at passage of Scripture that talk’s about how Jesus’ life Earth
began—his birth. This may surprise you, but the more closely we examine these verses from the
Bible, the more we can see parallels with our own lives—truths about the way God wants to
interact with each of us and reveal his plan, purpose, and mission for our lives.

SCRIPTURE READING (5 mins)

Ask for a volunteer to read the passage. Read Luke 1:26-38

Afterwards, the reader says: “This is the word of the Lord.”

Everyone responds: “Thanks be to God.”
SAY: Let’s dig into this passage of Scripture to see what we can learn from it
08:40 / 10:40 3. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS (20 min.)

5 mins 1. God used a teenager to birth the Saviour of the World.

ASK:
• When have you been asked to do something that was unexpected—and
was beyond what you thought you could handle? What did you learn from
the experience?
• What does Jesus’ unique conception and birth say about who God is?
• One of the ways Jesus is described in the Bible is “Immanuel,” a Hebrew
word that means “God is with us.” How have you experienced “God with
• you” in your life
•
SAY: Mary was an unexpected choice to carry and birth Jesus. But God wanted to
communicate a message about how he sees us as his children. Scripture says Mary
was “highly favored” by God, and you are, too! You weren’t chosen as one of Jesus’
earthly parents, but if you’re a follower of Christ, you have the opportunity to share
the good news of Jesus to the people around you—and God has a plan, a purpose, and
a mission for your life

5 mins 2. Mary responded with obedient attitude

ASK:
• What do you find most amazing or surprising or encouraging about Mary’s
• response to the angel’s message? Why?
• Mary ultimately said she was the Lord’s servant. What do you think it
• means to be God’s servant?
• When have you experienced the rewards of obedience to God?
• Talk about what obedience means for you—how is God calling you to obey
in some area of your life?

SAY: One of the greatest miracles in the Bible was the birth
of Jesus—but this miracle needed Mary’s obedience. She had faith and trust in
what God promised her. She cared more about obedience to God than about her
reputation or whether other people would believe what the angel had told her.
Our obedient attitude is a way of demonstrating our trust and faith in God’s plan,
purpose, and mission for our lives.

5 mins 3. Jesus birth demonstrated God’s power

ASK:
• What are specific ways you have seen God’s power demonstrated in your
life and in other people’s lives?
• The angel Gabriel told Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God”—what
does that mean for your life, too?
• What else does this passage reveal about God’s power and about who
Jesus would be to this world and to us?

SAY: The angel told Mary that she wasn’t the only person to experience the
miraculous—her relative Elizabeth was pregnant, even though she was considered too
old to have a child. For God, human limitations are no limitations at all.
5 mins APPLICATION

As you ask the following questions, make a note of at least one prayer point
per person and get the group to pray for each other.

ASK:
• Where do you most want or need to experience God in your life right now?
Pray together that you would experience Immanuel right now.

• What step of obedience is God asking you to take? How can we encourage
one another toward lives of more consistent obedience?

• How can you make this familiar Scripture become fresh and alive and
engaging?
(Ask: Can we pray for that?)

CLOSE IN PRAYER

Encourage your students to each pray for at least one other person, and they may also
pray for themselves, of course.

09:00 / ALL LEADERS & ASSISTANTS:

11:00
 Please tidy up and pack away after your class.
 Please leave attendance registers in the Striders cupboard in Classroom 1.

THANKS FOR SERVING AT PVC!

PRE-READING FOR LEADERS AND ASSISTANTS:

LESSON OVERVIEW:

Jesus’ birth reveals the unlikely way God became flesh into the world.

The lesson will give your students a look into Mary’s role in the miraculous birth of the Christ child and
how we have the opportunity to respond to God’s call in our lives with faith-filled obedience.

TEACHING PREP:

Read Luke 1:26-38.

“Favored.” “The Lord is with you.” “Don’t be afraid.” Through an angelic messenger, God delivered
these words to Mary when he invited her into the great story of redemption and salvation by carrying
Jesus in her womb. Mary’s response was initially confusion and concern—for very understandable
reasons. Still, she listened to the angel and responded in faith by saying, “I am the Lord’s servant.”

Even though she did not understand the full magnitude of what she was saying yes to and even though
nothing like this had ever happened before, Mary trusted God. And she believed that all things are
possible with God. Mary received the truth the angel spoke about her identity and believed that what
was said would come true.

As you prepare to lead your group this week, what words do you need respoken into your identity?
Spend a moment before God focusing on your identity and recommitting yourself as his servant as you
lead your students.

During your conversation with your group this week, may your faith be emboldened by Mary’s example
of faith. Receive the truth that God has spoken to you about who you are and what you’re called to do
in this world. And guide your students toward a similar understanding of purpose for their lives, too.

Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)

Jesus Birth Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name
was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with
you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the
angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give
birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s
descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your
relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her
sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.