1) Introduce yourself: your name and what it means!
Today we're going to learn about how Jesus was born, and about what his name means.
READ MATTHEW 1:18-25:
18 This is how Jesus Christ was born. His mother's name was Mary. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. Then she discovered that she was pregnant. This happened before they started to live together. It was the Holy Spirit that caused this to happen to her. 19 Joseph was a good man. He wanted to do what was right. He did not want her to become ashamed in front of people. So he decided to stop their marriage secretly.[d] 20 He thought about what he should do. Then an angel came from the Lord God to see him. The angel came to Joseph while he was dreaming. The angel said, ‘Joseph, you who are from the family of King David, take Mary home as your wife. Do not be afraid to do that. The baby that is growing inside her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 Mary's baby will be a boy. He will save his people from their sins.[e] Because of that, you must give him the name “Jesus”.’22 The Lord God had given a message about this to one of his prophets long ago. Now that message would become true. 23 The prophet had said, ‘A young woman who has never had sex will have a baby boy. People will call her son Immanuel.’ This name means ‘God is with us’.
24 Then Joseph woke up from his sleep. He did what God's angel had said to him. He married Mary and he took her to his home. 25 Joseph did not have sex with Mary until after the baby boy was born. He said that the boy's name should be Jesus.
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Reflection Questions:
2a) What was the relationship between Mary and Joseph at the start of this story?
b) How do you think Joseph felt when he heard that Mary was pregnant? Was it his child? What did he think had happened?
c) What did he plan to do? Why did he decide to break the engagement privately? What might happen to Mary if he broke the engagement publicly?
3a) But what had really happened? Who was the father of Mary's baby?
b) What else do we know about this baby? What else did the angel say about the baby?
c) Why did Joseph need to call the baby 'Jesus'?
d) What other name would the baby have? What does that mean?
4a) 'God is with us' and 'he will save his people from their sins' – what does this tell us about this baby? (who he is and why he was born)
b) How do you feel about the idea of God being with us? How would you feel if you met God? Why do you think God decided to come to earth as a baby?
c) What is sin? Why do people need to be saved from their sins? How would this baby save people from their sins? How do you feel about the idea of Jesus saving you from sin?
5a) V22, why did all this happen? This prophet had spoken about this baby about 700 years earlier. For 700 years the Jewish people had been waiting for this baby! How do you think Mary and Joseph felt when they heard the baby was going to come to them?
b) God had promised the people this baby would be born, but they had to wait 700 years for the baby to come. What does this teach us about God and his promises? (He keeps them, but maybe we have to wait!)
6a) How long do babies stay as babies? What happens to them after that? That's what happened to Jesus too! At Christmas many people get excited about the baby Jesus being born, but they don't think about Jesus growing up and becoming a man – why do you think this is?
b) But even before Jesus was born, the angel talked about what he would do when he became an adult.
Why do you think this is?
c) Will you celebrate Christmas this year? Why? Will you celebrate just the birth of a baby? Or will you celebrate the reason why the baby was born? Will you celebrate because in Jesus God is with us? Will you celebrate because Jesus has saved you from your sins?
