Zechariah & Elizabeth
This story is about God answering prayer.
The child will learn that:-
- God answers prayer.
- Prayers are answered in God’s time, not ours.
Bible Story Reference: Luke 1: 5-25
Memory Verse:
Luke 1:13 (NIV)
But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.
Opening Activity
- Ask the child about their families. Discuss with them about babies in their families or extended families. A new baby always brings joy into a family.
- Ask the child to think of something they would really like. Can they explain why they would like it? The couple in today’s story felt a little bit like that; they wanted a baby!
Bible Story
- Zechariah and Elizabeth really would have loved to have a child. As they grew older many of their friends had little families but they were still alone. How do you think they felt? What would Zechariah and Elizabeth have missed about not having children? Let the child make suggestions based on their own context/culture) (Luke 1: 5-7)
- They decided to pray to God about it. They knew that God could answer prayer! (Luke 1: 13) Mention that we can pray about any problem we may have.
- God heard their prayer and sent an angel to meet with Zechariah when he was working in the Temple. How do you think Zechariah felt when the angel appeared? The angel told him not to be afraid and then shared the good news that Elizabeth was going to have a son and his name had to be John. (Luke 1: 8-11)
- Zechariah could not believe the news that had been told him. He thought that he and Elizabeth were far too old to have a baby. The angel told him that because he didn’t believe the message from God, he would be unable to speak until their baby son was born. (Luke 1: 18-20)
- We can learn an important lesson from Zechariah … when we pray we must believe that God will answer our prayers.
Questions
Ask the child the following questions as a means of revising the story.
- Who was Zechariah married to?
- What did they really want?
- Who did Zechariah and Elizabeth pray to?
- Who came to meet Zechariah in the Temple?
- How did Zechariah feel when the angel appeared to him?
- What was the message from the angel?
- What happened to Zechariah because he didn’t believe the message?
- When we pray, what important thing should we do?
Prayer
Thank You God for always answering my prayers.
Songs
Crafts
John Is Promised
What You Need
- Two different colours of paper
- stapler
- scissors
- marker
Steps
- Hold the first paper lengthwise, fold the bottom edge about 2 inches from the top.
- Staple two or three staples on each side, forming a pocket.
- Cut out 9 cards from the other piece of paper so that they can fit into the pocket you have created.
- Write “Luke 1:5-25” at the very top of the pocket.
- Write “What the angel named Gabriel said to Zacharias” in the middle of the bottom portion of the pocket.
- Card # 1: Write “Don’t be afraid!” Zachariah’s prayer had been heard. They would have a baby boy!”
- Card #2: Write “Name the baby boy John.”
- Card #3: Write “Zacharias would have much joy. Many people would be happy because John was born.”
- Card #4: Write “John would be great in God’s sight.”
- Card #5: Write “John was not to drink wine or strong drink.”
- Card #6: Write “John would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before he was born.”
- Card #7: Write “Because of John, many of the children of God would be turned to God.”
- Card #8: Write “John would have Elijah’s spirit and power.”
- Card #9: Write “John would make the people prepared for the Lord.”
- Turn pocket over and write on the back: “You cannot talk until these things are done.”
- Place cards in pocket.
- See how many cards you remember before taking the cards out of the pocket.
