Lesson 1: The angel visits Zechariah.
Passage: Luke 1:5-25 - In the time of King Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah who was married to a woman named Elizabeth. They were very old and were childless because Elizabeth was unable to conceive. Once when Zechariah was serving God in the temple, he was visited by the angel Gabriel who gave him the news that Elizabeth would become pregnant with a son, who was to be named John, and who would be the one to prepare the way for the Lord. Zechariah didn’t believe the angel at first, and asked how he could be sure of it since he and his wife were so old. The angel responded that Zechariah would not be able to speak until the day it happened, since he didn’t believe in his words.
Big Idea: God makes the impossible possible.
For Teachers:
Lesson plan.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Have the children sit in a circle on the circle time rug. Welcome them to class and introduce yourselves.
Warm Up Activity: Silent Simon Says — Activity Leader
The kids have to watch the leader closely as they do different actions without speaking, and copy their moves. The leader can make it trickier by doing more than one action at a time. If time allows, kids can take turns being the leader.
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today we are starting a brand new series for Christmas.
Are you guys excited that Christmas is coming soon? What are you most excited about?
Today we’re going to learn about a guy named Zechariah… he was a priest, which means that he served God in the temple. The temple was the place where people went to worship God.
Well Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were also getting very old and they never had any children even though they wanted to. Then one day when Zechariah was in the temple, he was visited by an angel.
Let’s watch our video to find out more about his story…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Does anyone remember from the story what the angel Gabriel told Zechariah in the temple?
Do you think Zechariah was pretty surprised by that? Why?
What happened to Zechariah as a sign that what God said would come true?
Do you think that God can do anything, even something that seems impossible? Like what?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned today about Zechariah being visited by the angel Gabriel, and how the angel gave him amazing news - that his wife would be pregnant and have a baby even though it was impossible. Thank you that you are a God who can do anything, because nothing is too hard or impossible for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Zechariah + the Angel Cut Out — Activity Leader
Pre-cut pages will be available to be colored, folded, and glued by the kids. Additionally, there will be coloring pages available.
If a child is not interested in the activity, allow them to move to free play.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Have the children sit near the TV. Welcome them to class and introduce yourselves .
Warm Up Activity: Silent Simon Says — Activity Leader
The kids have to watch the leader closely as they do different actions without speaking, and copy their moves. The leader can make it trickier by doing more than one action at a time. If time allows, kids can take turns being the leader.
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today we are starting a brand new series for Christmas.
Are you guys excited that Christmas is coming soon? What are you most excited about?
Today we’re going to learn about a guy named Zechariah… he was a priest, which means he served God in the temple. The temple was the place where people went to worship God.
Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were also getting very old and they never had any children even though they wanted to. Then one day when Zechariah was in the temple, he was visited by an angel.
Let’s watch our video to find out more about his story…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Does anyone remember from the story what the angel Gabriel told Zechariah in the temple?
Do you think Zechariah was pretty surprised by that? Why?
What happened to Zechariah as a sign that what God said would come true?
Do you think that God can do anything, even something that seems impossible? Like what?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned today about Zechariah being visited by the angel Gabriel, and how the angel gave him amazing news - that his wife would be pregnant and have a baby even though it was impossible. Thank you that you are a God who can do anything, because nothing is too hard or impossible for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Zechariah + the Angel Cut Outs — Activity Leader
Pages will be available to be cut out, colored, folded, and glued by the kids. Additionally, there will be coloring pages available.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Welcome the kids to class and introduce yourselves.
Activity Leader: Silent Line Up Game — Activity Leader
In this team building exercise, a group of people are told that they will have one minute to line up in a particular order without speaking or making any noise.
They will then we told to line up according to certain criteria, such as shoe size, alphabetically by first/last name, by height, shirt colour, age, etc.
The leader should keep the instruction relatively vague and let the kids determine how to use the criteria and in which way the line should go.
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today we’re starting a brand new series for Advent, which is the countdown until Christmas!
Are you guys excited for Christmas? What are you most excited about?
In today’s story we’re going to be talking about a man named Zechariah. Has anyone heard about him before? Who was he?
Zechariah was a priest who served in God’s temple. He also had a wife named Elizabeth and both of them were getting pretty old. They never had any kids even though they wanted to, and now it was too late.
Well in the story we’ll hear about today, Zechariah was in the temple when he was visited by an angel named Gabriel who had some very surprising news for him and his wife Elizabeth.
Let’s watch the video to find out more…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
What was the news was that the angel Gabriel delivered to Zechariah in the temple? What was Zechariah’s reaction to it?
What ended up happening to Zechariah as a sign that what God said would truly happen?
What did the angel say was so special about Elizabeth and Zechariah’s baby?
Have you ever seen or heard of God doing amazing things that you might think was impossible? What was it?
What do you think are some things we can take away from this story?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned today about Zechariah’s visit from the angel Gabriel, and for the amazing news that his wife would have a baby, even though it was impossible. Not only that, but that baby would play an important role in the story of salvation by preparing the way for the Lord Jesus. Thank you that we know nothing is too hard or impossible for you, and we can trust you to fulfill your promises. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Code Breaker — Activity Leader
Kids solve the code breaker by cutting out the circles and view windows, and sticking them together with a paper fastener.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
For Parents:
Follow-up questions.
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
What was the big news that the angel told Zechariah?
What was so surprising about this news?
What did Zechariah think about that? Did he believe the angel?
What happened to Zechariah as a sign that God would keep God’s promise?
What do you think we can learn from this story about God?
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
What was the big news that the angel told Zechariah?
Why was that such big and surprising news?
What was Zechariah’s reaction to the angel’s message?
What was the sign that what God promised would come true?
What is something we can learn about God from the story?
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
What was the news that the angel Gabriel told to Zechariah?
What was so surprising about that news? How did Zechariah react?
What else was special about Zechariah and Elizabeth’s baby?
What are some things we learn about God from the story?
What does it have to do with the Christmas story as a whole?
