Supernatural Christmas! Lesson 1/3 - Even Before Mary and Joseph
So many supernatural things happened around the birth of Jesus. It’s like God rolled up His sleeves and a bunch of miracles fell out of them! Just like we like to make a nice gift look really nice, too, with pretty ribbons and paper, God’s gift of Jesus to our world was the very best He had to give, but then He made the gift look beautiful, too, with all the miracles He did, just to make it special!
Now, I bet you think you know the whole story of Christmas… you know, the shepherds, the wisemen, Mary and Joseph, you’ve probably heard it all! But I bet you’ve never noticed just how supernatural it all really was.
Around the birth of Jesus, there are at least 16 notable miracles! To help notice them all, we’ve made up some paper Christmas ornaments (one for each supernatural miracle) that you can print off, cut out, and put up on a small tree as you discover all the supernatural things that make up the Christmas story. Today we’re looking at the first 5 miracles.
Supernatural Christmas Ornaments
Supernatural Christmas Verses - print these off to be read along with each ornament
Lesson 1: Elizabeth and Zacharias and Mary
You can watch a video of this lesson here: A Super Christmas Episode 1
Here is also a printable version of this lesson outline: Supernatural Christmas Lesson 1 Outline (Please note: this lesson outline looks at the first NINE supernatural miracles.)
Did you know the Christmas story didn’t just start with Mary and Joseph? We’re going to look at what happened even before that! We’re going to look at Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, who we know became the mother of John the Baptist.
Elizabeth and her husband, Zacharias, lived the right way for God their whole lives. They got married and kept hoping to have a baby, but that never happened. And then time passed and Zacharias and Elizabeth got very old, and having a baby would have been impossible.
One day, while Zacharias was doing his job as a priest at the temple, an angel showed up! (Luke 1:11 - supernatural miracle #1)
The angel told Zacharias that his wife, Elizabeth, would finally have a baby. Zacharias wasn’t sure he should believe the angel, so the angel said as a sign, Zacharias would not be able to speak until the baby was born. (Luke 1:20 - supernatural miracle #2) If you followed our series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you’ll know this sign would have involved working of miracles: something really impossible happening for God!
Luke 1:24 goes on to say that after Zacharias was finished his duties at the temple, he went home and Elizabeth did conceive and became pregnant! Elizabeth didn’t have a baby their whole married life, which probably meant something didn’t quite work with either Zacharias or Elizabeth in their bodies. So in order for Elizabeth to get pregnant, gifts of healings had to happen. Also, the fact that an old woman got pregnant is another example of working of miracles! Supernatural miracle #3!
In Luke 1:26, we have supernatural miracle #4 with another angel appearance. This time it’s for Mary. Gabriel shows up!
Gabriel then tells Mary she’s going to have a baby, as a virgin! The Holy Spirit would overshadow her and God Himself would be born from her womb. Here is the most supernatural miracle of all: God came from the heavenly realm and became a human, just like you and me. Supernatural miracle #5.
Gabriel then tells her that Elizabeth is now expecting a baby, too. Our story will pick up here next time as Mary decides to go and visit Elizabeth…
Other Activities:
Here’s a small printable booklet for your kids to fill in and colour. I picked this free file up somewhere over the last eight years, I just can’t remember where! It includes a wordsearch, crossword, and some lists they can fill out: Christmas Notebook
Here’s a link to a free Advent Colouring Book through sundayschool.store. I have used quite a few of these colouring sheets over the years… Advent Coloring Book (FREE) 25-pages PDF Download
Thank you for teaching your children the truths of God and His kingdom. Be blessed as you go through these lessons on the Supernatural Christmas! As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or for further lesson supports. Also, if your child prays the salvation prayer along with Super Tim in the video, I’d love to know!
Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year,
Mara