Hi Kids!
Last week, we learned about Jesus’ mother, Mary, and how she found out she will carry and give birth to the son of God through the angel, Gabriel. Today, we learn about the story of Jesus’ birth from Joseph’s (Jesus’ father) perspective as we continue our celebration of Advent.
Last week, we watched the first half of the video below describing Mary. If you watched the video last week, you can skip ahead to 1:40 to see how Joseph reacted to the news of his future son.
This Sunday, we celebrate the meaning of joy. We continue to prepare joyfully for the celebration of the announcement of Jesus’ birth to Joseph, his earthly father. From the story we just watched, it didn’t seem Joseph was filled with very much joy at first when he learned of Mary’s pregnancy. The angel in Joseph’s dream, however, changed his mind. Joseph knew he was being sent a message from God. Because this message was from God, Joseph knew it was truthful, and his feelings of uncertainty turned to joy.
It’s hard sometimes to do something that may be uncomfortable to you because of your faith. Joseph was uncomfortable at the idea of marrying Mary, but because of his faith in God, Joseph ended up doing the right thing and stayed with her. God sometimes asks us to do things that are a little unexpected and hard to do. It’s okay to struggle with those things, as Joseph did before he ultimately decided to find joy in becoming Jesus’ earthly father. Always trust in God. You may be surprised to find joy in doing something that at first made you feel uncomfortable.
For today’s activity, we will be making an angel ornament to help us remember the angelic messenger who came to Joseph to tell him of Jesus’ birth.
You’ll need:
- Tape
- Metallic pipe cleaners
- Glue
- Construction paper
- Decorations such as glitter, sequins, stickers etc.
- Craft pompoms
Instructions:
Step 1. Take one coffee filter and half a pipe cleaner. Fold the coffee filter in half and twist the pipe cleaner to create a halo with a stem. Tape the stem of the pipe cleaner to the front of the coffee filter.
Step 2. Take the second coffee filter and fold it in half and then in half again. Glue this folded coffee filter on top of the halo stem so that the halo is directly above the point of the coffee filter.
Step 3. Glue a pompom beneath the halo to form the angel’s head. You can glue the construction paper book (as shown below) beneath the pompom to form a choir angel.
Step 4. Decorate the angel’s wings and robe as you like with glitter, stickers or sequins.
