Scripture: Matthew 1 and Luke 1:25-56
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn God had a plan for the Messiah to come to earth from the very beginning.
- Students will learn Jesus fulfilled many prophecies in the Old Testament including his genealogy.
- Students will learn God wants us to be excited Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins.
- Students will learn how to create poems and songs with rhyming schemes.
Guiding Question: Why should we celebrate God?
Materials: Paper, pencils
Procedure: Review the story of Jesus coming from the scriptures above. Explain that God had a plan for Jesus to come and save us from our sins and that prophecies were made by people called prophets well before Jesus came to earth. These prophets talked about a savior coming to save us from our sins and foretold much of Jesus’ life. Jesus fulfilled many prophecies about His life and His genealogy (explain genealogy depending on age/background experience of students). Remind students that God loves when we rejoice and celebrate Him for the good things he has done for us and given us in our life. God blesses us daily and we should always find reasons to celebrate Him even in difficult times.
Introduce the activity. Explain that Mary sang a song of praise and joy when she was pregnant with Jesus. Have the students write a song or poem about something they are excited or happy about. Have the students practice with different rhyme schemes such as ABAB or ABAB CDCD. Provide an example if needed. More information on rhyme schemes: https://literarydevices.net/rhyme-scheme/
Additional Questions: How can students identify rhyme schemes?
Supplemental Activity: Have students look through/listen to songs sung in your congregation and point out rhyme schemes in the songs.