A Special Gift

TEXT: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38

Everybody likes to receive gifts. There's something so exciting about a big box wrapped in bright paper with a big bow on top. But not all gifts come wrapped up like that. Did you know that you were a gift?

God gave you to someone special. Lots of children have a mother and father to love and care for them. Others may have a grandma or grandpa, an aunt or uncle, or someone else who loves and takes care of them.

How excited your special people must have been when they learned you would be living with them! They probably told everyone they knew that you were coming. What good news! All of a sudden there were so many things they needed to think about.

They probably wondered if you would be a boy or a girl. Should they buy a dress or some overalls?

Names, names, names! What would be a good name for you?

Jill or Melissa are nice names for a girl. Kevin or Brian would be better for a boy. Your special people wanted you to have just the right one. After all, they needed to decide on a good name that would be just right for you.

What would you be like when you grew up? Would you like music? Would you like to draw? You might want to be a fireman, or a great cook, or a nurse, or a farmer, or a house painter. Oh, there were so many things you could be! What would you choose? But everyone had to wait to find the answers to these questions. What an exciting and fun time!

Let me tell you about another Baby, a very special Baby. He was God's special Gift to everyone—Jesus!

God chose Joseph and Mary to be Jesus' parents while He lived here on earth. God was careful to choose just the right people to care for His Son.

He sent an angel to tell them the exciting, good news! The angel said they would have a Son, so they knew ahead of time that their Baby would be a boy. The angel even told them that God had already chosen the name—Jesus. Joseph and Mary liked that name.

The most important thing the angel told them was that their Baby was God's Son. He would someday become the Savior of the world. That meant He would save people from their sins.

Mary was so excited that she took a long trip to tell her cousin, Elisabeth, all about her special Baby.

Today, we still share the good news of Jesus' birth. We celebrate His birthday every Christmas. It is a perfect time to tell others about God's Gift to the world.

Jesus was truly the very best Gift God could give.

PARENT'S CORNER

The theme of this unit is the Christmas story, and throughout the month we will be studying the story in step-by-step detail. This lesson tells how the angel appeared to Mary and Joseph, and revealed the awe-inspiring news that the Child born to them would be the Son of God.

As an activity for this week, let your child make an angel picture on a paper plate. Around the edge of the plate, help him print the words, "God's Angel Brought a Message." Cut out the center of the plate. Glue tissue paper on the back of the plate over the hole. Lightly paste the shape of an angel, cut from the same kind of tissue paper, in the center.

Tie a bow on the top for a hanger, and let your child place his creation in a window so the sun can shine through the tissue paper.