Memory Verse

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6

Lesson

This week in The Gospel Project^® for Kids, our journey takes us to the town of Nazareth in Galilee. People had been waiting a long time for Jesus. Last week, kids learned the prophets told of Jesus’ coming hundreds of years before His birth. God was working out His plan to reconcile people to Himself.

In the Bible, God often used angels to communicate His message to people. Now Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus, each received a special visit from an angel to announce the birth of God’s promised Messiah. The angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary surprised her. God chose Mary to be the mother of His child. The angel’s message revealed much about this promised child.

The news that Jesus was coming into the world was good news because of why He was coming. An angel revealed Jesus’ purpose to Joseph in Matthew 1:21, “He will save His people from their sins.” The gospel is the good news of what God has done for us through Christ.

The announcement of Jesus’ birth is not the beginning of the gospel; God had been planning for this moment since before the beginning of time. (See Eph. 1:3-10.) The baby Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, as well as other prophecies of the coming Savior throughout the Old Testament. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled God’s plan of redemption that God planned from the beginning of time.