‘Worship Fully’ Childrens Lesson on Mary and Elizabeth

BIG IDEA: I CAN PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD FULLY

AIM: The ‘Worship Fully’ Childrens Lesson on Mary and Elizabeth is a simple session that encourages children to think about what it means to praise and worship God and how they can do it in their daily lives.

SONG IDEAS:

1. ‘Joy to the World’ by Bethel Kids
2. ‘O Holy Night’ by Bethel Kids
3. ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel’ by Bethel Kids

GAME IDEAS:

1. Gurgle Christmas Tune. Children take turns to gurgle a Christmas tune with some water. The other children must try to guess what song they are gurgling. The winning team is the team to have the most songs guessed correctly during the time period.
2. Christmas Music Guess. Play the first few seconds of each Christmas song or carol and ask the children in teams to write down what they think they are. The children with the most correct answers are the winners.
3. Christmas Carol Battle. Hand a list of Christmas songs and carols to each team. Give them a few minutes to memorize as many as they can. Take away the list and then have the children take turns in their team to sing the first ten seconds of their song. During the ten seconds the other team must prepare to sing their own. Keep doing this until one team cannot sing anymore. The team that sang last is the winning team.

Alternatively play some Christmas music as you play one of these fun Christmas group games.

SET the Scene:

Read Luke 1:39-56. In this passage Mary has heard the news that she is to give birth to the Son of God. She goes to visit Elizabeth, who is also pregnant with the baby John the Baptist.

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) MARY DIDN’T HOLD BACK

Use the clip from the movie Sister Act as a cue to show how sometimes we hold back, but God wants us to give everything that we have in praise and worship to Him.

Say: Mary didn’t hold back her praise of God. She sang out everything she wanted to say and all that she was feeling. She said “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. From now on, all people will say that I am blessed, because the Powerful One has done great things for me.” Luke 1:46-49. Mary knew all that God had done for her. She knew He was her Saviour and that He had done mighty things for her. 

Mary gave God all she had in praise because she was celebrating all that God had done for her. She didn’t hold anything back as she sang. She sang out about the person God is and all he has done. We can only give our all and sing to God if we know who He is and what He has done. A football fan can’t sing out the name of their favorite football star if they don’t know his name or what he has done for the team. It’s exactly the same with us; do we know all that Jesus has done for us and who he really is? Do we know that He is God; the Son of God and that he lived a perfect life and died a perfect death for us. Do we know that He rose from the dead? Can we celebrate the things He has done in our lives? We can only do this when we truly know Him and have experienced His love, joy and peace.

Mary sings “My soul praises the Lord” – it was within her to praise! She needed to tell God all the good things about Him! She wanted to praise Him and speak of His goodness. She wanted everyone to know the kind of God she served. How about you? Do you want to praise your God? Do you want everyone to know about Him?

SEARCH the Scriptures:

There are many places all over the Bible where it speaks of people singing in their praises of God! Below are just some of those places. Challenge your kids to see who can find the songs first and read them out. Have some candy or chocolate on hand to give to the children who find the passages first.

The song of Moses and Miriam (Exodus 15:1–18, 21)

The song of wells in the wilderness (Nu 21:17–18)

Song of Moses and Joshua (Deuteronomy 31:19–22, 30, 32:1–43)

Deborah and Baruk (Judges 5)

David’s Victory (1 Sa 18:7)

Song of David’s Deliverance (2 Samuel 22, Ps 18)

Jehoshophat’s Battle song (2 Ch 20:21)

The whole Book of the Songs of Solomon!

…. and many more!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Use the infographic with older children to discuss what it means to sing to God.

1. Have you ever sang in praise and worship to God? What did it feel like?
2. Why do we praise and worship God?
3. Why is God worth praising?
4. How can you praise and worship God every day?

SENSE How You Feel:

How does it feel to sing in praise?

1. Create a musical instrument using cups, tape, rice and stickers and encourage the children to shake them in praise.
2. Create musical note finger print pictures. Children make a finger print with paint or ink pads and then add a stick to make a music note… they could use their designs to make cards or wrapping paper for Christmas.
3. Have children make a rap, song or poem up on their own or in teams as praise and worship

SEEK God:

Encourage the children to enter in to the song ‘O Come Let Us Adore Him’ by Hillsong. If your kids aren’t used to praise and worship, you may want to give them an opportunity to listen to the song once through before you sing it together, or teach them the chorus before you play the song so that they can join in.

Prayer: Father God, help me not to hold back in my praise and worship of You. Help me to give you all that I’ve got and to praise and worship You fully. Amen.