DAY 23

GOD'S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:11

PAUSE
One night a long time ago, there was a group of shepherds sitting out in a field, taking care of their sheep. Being a shepherd was not a job that most people wanted. Most people stayed away from shepherds. They thought of Shepherds as “lowly” which means that they weren’t as good as everyone else. God had a really big surprise to share with people everywhere. His son, Jesus, had been born! The Shepherds who were thought of as lowly were the first people to hear God’s amazing news!

It was night, and the only light the shepherds had were the stars in the sky and maybe a small lantern. Suddenly, the sky was full of light and an angel appeared! The angel knew the shepherds were frightened so he told them that there was no reason to be scared. Then the angel told them that God’s son, Jesus, had been born in Bethlehem and that they should go find him. They would know it was Jesus because the baby would be wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. After the angel shared the news, the whole sky lit up with a choir of angels who were singing and praising God and celebrating that the baby Jesus had been born! The shepherds were excited that God had shared this news with them, and they wanted to go find Jesus, so they immediately left the sheep to search.  And after they found him, they worshiped him.  They then went to tell everyone the whole story, so that all people could worship the baby Jesus.

DISCUSSION

  • What is being shown to us when it’s the shepherds who were the first to hear of Jesus’ birth? 

  • If God valued shepherds enough to announce Jesus’ birth to them, who are the people you could value that the world doesn’t? 

  • Why do we tend to look down on certain kinds of people?

PRAY
Dear God, thank you for making all people special, even me! Thank you for sending Jesus as the Savior for everyone and for sharing Your news with the Shepherds. Amen.

FAMILY ACTIVITY
Go outside once it is dark and look up into the sky.  Imagine what it was like for the shepherds to sit in a field with only the stars for light until the angel appeared.