Welcome everyone to Large Group worship! Introduce the Connect Question Connect Question: What is one thing you use every day? (examples: shoes, toothbrush) Turn to the person next to you and share with them your answer!

We have a new Remember Verse starting this week! Let’s see what it says and say it together! Read the verse as a group and then maybe a second time for the kids. Give praise to the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to his people and purchased their freedom. Luke 1:68

WORSHIP TIME

Select six kids who are strong readers, and give them each a gift box. Have them keep the box closed until they’re called upon. God is our provider. He does this because He loves us very much! Long ago in The Big God Story, God promised He would send His Son, Jesus, into the world to be our Savior, Redeemer, and King. Remember how Israel asked for a king in last week’s part of The Big God Story?

Well, today we’ll hear how God provided just what those people needed—and us, too—by sending Jesus to earth. Before we go further, let’s ask God to teach us more about Him today. Lead children in a Prayer of Release. Tech: Cue Timeline Video & Slide after prayer.

Last week we heard how, after 400 years of waiting, God spoke through an angel to a priest named Zechariah. God told Zechariah that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son. Their son, John (also known as John the Baptist), would prepare the way for Jesus, the promised Redeemer. And by announcing the birth of John, God showed that His promise to provide the Redeemer was coming true!

Not long after Zechariah saw an angel, a messenger angel told a young woman she would have a baby. This part of The Big God Story starts in Luke 1:26. Have children open their Bibles to Luke 1:26. It begins with a young woman named Mary. Mary was a teenager when she was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. One day God sent an angel named Gabriel to speak to Mary.

Tech: Cue Luke 1:28 slide. Instruct the child with box 1 to open it, stand, and read the verse inside. Ask children to follow in their Bibles. Child reads: The angel greeted her and said, “The Lord has given you special favor. He is with you!” (Luke 1:28). Thank the child and ask them to be seated.

Wow! An angel gave this amazing greeting to Mary! What do you think that was like for her? Encourage the kids to answer. Those are some good thoughts! Well, when the angel spoke to Mary, she felt afraid. Why would an angel visit her of all people?

Instruct the child with box 2 to open it and read the verse inside. Tech: Cue Luke 1:30–33 slides. Child reads: “So the angel said to her Do not be afraid, Mary, God is very pleased with you. You will give birth to a son. You must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a King. He will rule forever over his peopl, who came from Jacob’s family. His Kingdom will never end.” Thank the child and ask them to be seated.

Do you remember talking last week about how God prepared the way for His Son, Jesus, to be born and that God told His people He would give them a king? Allow the children to respond. Through Mary, God kept His promise to provide the Redeemer and King!

From the very beginning of The Big God Story, when sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, God promised He would send the Redeemer to rescue His people and bring them back into relationship with Him. Mary was going to be the mother of the Redeemer!

Mary wondered how this could happen. How would God provide this? So the angel told her that the Holy Spirit would make it possible, and it would be a miracle! Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, who was thought to be too old to have a child, would also have a baby!

Instruct the child volunteer with box 3 to open it and read the verse inside as the children listen. Tech: Cue Luke 1:37 slide. Child reads: “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). Thank the child and ask her to be seated. Nothing from God fails because God always keeps His word. He is always able to provide for His people.

Instruct the child with box 4 to open it and read the verse inside. Tech: Cue Luke 1:38 slide. Child reads: “I serve the Lord,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me just as you said it would.” Then the angel left her. Thank the child and ask them to be seated. Mary was willing to do whatever God called her to do. She trusted the Lord would provide for her and for His people in this time.

Then, Mary went to Elizabeth’s house to tell her the good news. As soon as Mary enter Elizabeth’s home and said hello, the baby inside Elizabeth leaped. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, said … Instruct the child with box 5 to open it and read the verse inside as the children listen. Tech: Cue Luke 1:42, 45 slide. Ask the children to follow in their Bibles.

Child reads: In a loud voice she called out, “God has blessed you more than other women. And blessed is the child you will have! You are a woman God has blessed. You have believed that what the Lord has said to you will be done!” (vv. 42, 45). Thank the child and ask him to be seated. Elizabeth instantly recognized that God was with Mary.

After Mary met with Elizabeth, she sang praises to God. Instruct the child with box 6 to pull out the musical instruments. Mary praised God for allowing her to carry the Messiah. She praised Him for His work throughout all of history. The Lord kept His promises and provided for His people. Tech: Cue Worship Response Slide

God loved His people so much that He wanted to send them the Redeemer and bring them back into a restored relationship with Him. Because of God’s great love for His people, He provided Jesus as a King and Redeemer, to save us from our sins and rule over us, and He provided what Mary needed to be Jesus’ mother. The story of Jesus is just beginning. Come back next week as we hear about the night Jesus, our promised savior, was born.

Because He loves us so much, God kept His promise to send His Son, Jesus. He provided for Mary, as she would be the mother of His Son. The Bible tells us that God will provide. He sent the Redeemer! Let’s read together some of the ways God provides to remind us how much He loves us! Tech: Cue Verse slides. Encourage kids to read them aloud as they appear.

God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. –John 3:16 The L ORD is good. When people are in trouble, they can go to him for safety. He takes good care of those who trust in him.-Nahum 1:7

My God will meet all your needs. He will meet them in keeping with his wonderful riches. These riches come to you because you belong to Christ Jesus.-Philippians 4:19 Teach people who are rich not to be proud. Tell them not to put their hope in riches. Wealth is so uncertain. Teach those who are rich to put their hope in God. He gives us everything to enjoy. -1 Timothy 6:17

After hearing these verses, think about what word or phrase you noticed about God providing? What do you need God to provide for you today? Around the room are boards for you to write or draw on. When you’re ready, you can add your response about what you want to say to God or how you want to praise Him today…

Close in prayer. Release the group to explore the boards around the room. Have small group leaders move around the room with kids, to help or pray with them. After they’ve had some time, release them by grade.