Bible heroes and villains series
Gather
Collect and display nativity sets and pictures, and baby things such as nappies, a baby’s bottle.
Introduce the theme
Mary was obedient even though God asked a lot of her.
Gathering activity
Invite the group to talk about all the things that a new baby needs, and pack up a bag of things you need. Talk about the difference a new baby makes. Maybe some of the children have baby siblings, or you might know someone with a small baby who would come and talk about what a big job it is to care for a baby.
Open the Word
Read Luke 1.26-38, the story of the angel coming to Mary.
Mary was a young woman with a good life. Mary was willing to be obedient, although it seemed God was asking a lot.
Respond
Get the message?
Play a game of whispered messages.
Invite the group to sit in a circle.
A leader should whisper a message to the person next to them, who then whispers it to the person next to them, and so on around the group.
Do the messages get around unadulterated, or do they get changed? To play the game well, you have to listen really carefully. We need to listen out for God’s messages; we might not get visited by an angel when God wants to tell us something.
A special message
Make clothes peg angels.
You will need: old-fashioned style clothes pins, which look like a person with a head and legs; shiny paper or coloured cloth; wool; paper doilies; scissors; glue.
To make an angel, the shiny paper or cloth should be wrapped around the ‘body’ of the peg. The wool or thread can be used to form hair and the doilies cut and stuck on to form wings.
As they are making their angels, talk with the group about how frightening the angel’s visit might have been for Mary, and what she must have thought and felt.
End with the closing prayer:
For the times when we have been less than heroic,
Lord we are sorry.
For the times we have not used our hero talents,
Lord we are sorry.
Give us the courage not to hide our potential
but to be generous,
not to dismiss others but to celebrate their gifts.
Encourage us to follow the example of ____ and have a go at being heroes.
Amen.
Session material on Bible heroes:
Session material on Bible heroes:
Material on Bible 'villains'