Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus_Family Bible Time

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1_Prophecy Fulfilled in JesusThe birth and birthplace of Jesus were prophesied hundreds of years before they actually became fact. God promised that these things would happen and they did – exactly the way He promised. God always keeps His word. We can depend on God.

Scripture References: Isaiah 9:6-7

Suggested Emphasis: Keep your word. People should be able to depend on us doing what we say we will do.

Group Share Time

Tell about a promise that you or someone you know has made.  Was the promise kept or not?  What happened when the promise was kept or not kept?  How could the outcome could have been different?

Story from the Bible

An adult or young reader can read the words below as the slides are shown.

  1. Cover Slide: Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus
    Long ago, God made a wonderful and exciting promise to the world. Someday he would send his own Son to the earth. His name would be Jesus Christ. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God promised that it would happen!
  2. God used a special way to tell the world about his wonderful promise. How do you think he told the world? Over the internet? By television? No, such things hadn’t even been invented then. God told men who wrote down what they heard from him.
    One of these men was Abram (later called Abraham). A very, very long time ago God told Abraham that he would become a father and then his son would become a father of many children, and then his children would grow up and have children. This would happen many times so that he would have many descendants. As many descendants as stars in the sky! One of those descendants would be very special. He would bless the whole world. Who do you think that descendant might be? That’s right-Jesus!
  3. Sometimes God gave his messages to prophets. A prophet is someone who has a special message from God. God would tell the prophet things and the prophet would tell the people. Some prophets also wrote down God’s messages and these are part of the Bible. (Hold up your Bible and show the Old Testament.)
    Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God told a prophet named Isaiah that a great ruler would someday come. God even told Isaiah that the ruler would first be a child and what kind of mother he would have.
    Who do you think that baby will be? That’s right-Jesus! Isn’t that amazing! God knew that this would happen hundreds of years ago!
  4. Later on God spoke to another prophet.  His name was Micah.  God told Micah the name of the city town where the baby would be born.  He told Micah that the special person who was coming would be born in the town of Bethlehem.
    Who do you think that the special person would be?  That’s right-Jesus!
  5. Finally, when the time was very close, God sent an angel to tell a young woman named Mary that she was going to have a baby.  
  6. The angel also came to Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, while he was sleeping.  The angel told Joseph to marry Mary and be a father to her baby.  
  7. God sent all of these messages before Jesus was even born.  God promised over and over that he would send Jesus. And guess what.  God kept every one of his promises.  
    • Jesus was Abram’s great, great, great…..grandson-just like God had promised.
    • Jesus was be a special child born to a special mother.  Just like God told Isaiah.
    • Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem.  Just like God told Micah.
    • Mary had a baby and named him Jesus.  Just like the angel said.
    • Joseph married Mary and took care of Jesus.  Just like the angel told him to.
  8. All of these promises were recorded in the Bible.  The messages have been saved for hundreds of years. Now we can read the messages in our very own Bible. We are thankful that we have God’s Word, the Bible, to tell us about Jesus.  God always keeps his promises!

Verse(s) to Think About

A child will be born to us.
God will give a son to us.
He will be responsible for leading the people.
His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God,
Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 (ICB)

These two things cannot change. God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. Hebrews 6:18 (ICB)

Choose Activities and Learn Together

Select activities that suit your family or group.  Consider ages and abilities and how to involve everyone present in at least one of the activities.

  • AT HOME: If you have family photo albums look up pictures from “the olden days” and share what was know then in comparison to what is known now.  How is it different?  Talk about how amazing it was that God told the prophets these things so long before they actually happened.  Read Hebrews 1:1-4
  • AT HOME: Collect calenders or appointment diaries and talk about plans that were made well in advance.  Read Romans 1:1-4
  • EXPLORE: Search online or in magazines for “predictions” or horoscopes.  Point out the general nature and mistakes.  Compare this with true prophecies from God.  They are 100% correct every time.
  • IN THE WORD: Use the inductive Bible study method to explore Isaiah 9:6.  Worksheet to print on either letter size (USA) or A4 size paper.
  • IN THE WORD: Read Hebrews 6:16-20 and talk about how hope relates to God’s promises.
  • IN THE WORD: Pair up or gather in small mixed-age groups and use a Bible to look up Scriptures which prophesied the coming of Jesus:
  • GAME/ACTIVITY: Play a few rounds of “heads or tails”.  Toss a coin and predict which side it will land on: “Heads” (most coins have a face on one side) or Tails (the other side of the coin).   Talk about how we can make predictions but God can actually know far in advance.  God told the prophets about Jesus coming to earth many years before he was born.
  • CREATIVE: Create a timeline showing the above prophecies about Jesus.
  • CREATIVE: Write the word “PROMISE” on a large piece of paper.  Young children can either draw stars or stick star stickers around the word.  Older children or adults could do the same but fill the space by writing out some of God’s promises.
  • LIFE APPLICATION: Knowing that God keeps his promises allow adults and children to share promises that they would like to make or keep.  Guide younger children in making reasonable and meaningful promises that can be fulfilled in a short time (I will put my toys away tonight, for example)
  • LITTLE ONES: This is a great time to play with baby dolls.  Alternatively, make an angel craft or draw pictures of angels.  Talk about the angel telling Mary she was going to have a baby.
  • FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Place a variety of items on a table but cover each item so that no one can see it.  Before serving ask everyone to guess what it is.  Provide clues if you wish.  Talk about prophecy and the fact that God knows things will happen long before we do.  He does not need clues and he is right every time.

Song Suggestions:

Singing does not have to be a performance.  Don’t take yourself too seriously.  In the privacy of your own home or within a small group allow yourself to just be genuine and enjoy the experience together.

Singing songs yourself is more reliable than viewing them online.  If you are viewing published videos online on forums such as YouTube be sure and preview them first to make sure there are not unhelpful advertisements.  To avoid long pauses due to internet speed issues play the song through once before you begin and then hold it paused and ready to go at the beginning of the song.

Additional Mission Bible Class Resources

Scriptures quoted from the International Children’s Bible®, copyright ©1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson. Used by permission.