Six months after Elisabeth became pregnant as announced to Zechariah the high priest, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to leave heaven and go to the territory in Israel called Galilee to a city named Nazareth. He was sent to a young lady who was a virgin espoused or engaged to be married. The person she was getting ready to marry was a man named Joseph. He was a descendant of King David, which is important because the promised Messiah was to be a descendent of King David as well. This virgin’s name was Mary.

The angel Gabriel came to her, and said, “Behold, you are highly favoured of God and the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.”

And when Mary saw the angel Gabriel, she was troubled or scared over what he had said. She thought in her mind about the greeting and wondered what it could mean. It is not a normal thing to have an angel visit let alone declare the blessings of God.

Then the angel said to Mary, “Fear not Mary because you have found favour with God. You have been chosen for a special purpose. You shall conceive in your womb a child and give birth to a son. And you shall call Him by the name of JESUS. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest.” Being the Son of the Highest is another way to reverently say that Jesus would be the Son of God the Father. “And the Lord God shall give to Him the throne of His father David. And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will not end.”

Now when Gabriel spoke of Jesus being great, having a throne, reigning over the house of Jacob, and having a kingdom that would not end, Gabriel was referring to beyond the time that Mary would see. Jesus one day would be great, sit on a throne, ruling over the house of Jacob, and have a kingdom that would not end.

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be? How can I conceive a child? I am not married yet and have stayed true to my vows. It is not physically possible for me to conceive!”

The angel Gabriel answered her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Then, the Holy Thing, which shall be born from you, shall be called the Son of God. And, also, you should know that your cousin Elisabeth has also conceived a son in her old age. In fact, she is in the sixth month of her pregnancy and yet she used to be called barren. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to what you have said.”

And the angel departed from her.

PARENTS: Young children love repetition and so they will love to hear this story over and over again. We did our best to include something for all ages so where necessary, please assist your child or adjust it to make it more their level.

Luke 1:28-29 “And the angel [Gabriel] came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.”

MATCHING: For each item in the first column, write in the letter for the description from the second column.

___ 1. David ___ 2. Elisabeth ___ 3. Gabriel ___ 4. Galilee ___ 5. Joseph ___ 6. Mary ___ 7. Nazareth

A. What is the name of the city where the virgin lived? B. What is the name of the territory where the virgin lived? C. Who is the cousin of the virgin? D. Who is the relative that Jesus is to be a descendent of? E. Who is the virgin? F. Who was sent from God with a message? G. Who was the virgin espoused (engaged) to?

[Answers to January 2002 matching: 1=C, 2=G, 3=D, 4=E, 5=F, 6=B, 7=A]

CRYPTIC: Each letter represents a different letter to make a real word. Replace the letter consistently in each word to reveal the verse being quoted. (Hint - the verse is from the cover story.)

Z Y X	W Z V U	T Z S X,	R Q P N O X	M P Q	P Z Y X W Z S X
__ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
N L	M P Q	O N V X;	R Q	S M	K Y M N
__ __	__ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __	__ __	__ __ __ __
.
.
W Q	Z J J N V X S Y I		M N	M P U	H N V X.	Z Y X
__ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __		__ __	__ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __
.
.
M P Q	Z Y I Q O	X Q G Z V M Q X		L V N W	P Q V.
__ __ __	__ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __		__ __ __ __	__ __ __

[Answers to January 2002 cryptic: Each letter in the puzzle stood the place of a real letter as follows: Z=A, Y=N, X=D, W=T, V=H, U=E, T=R, S=P, R=U, Q=O, P=I, O=M, N=G, M=L, L=F, K=S, J=C. The Bible verse was: Luke 1:11 “And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.”.]

UNSCRAMBLE: Rearrange the letters in the following words to reveal the Bible word. (Hint - the words are from the verses in the cover story.)

A B E G I L R	A A E H N R T Z	D E E O P S S U
__ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
A D D I V	C C E E I N O V	A A D D H I M N
__ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
A D E F O R U V	E G H H I S T	Y M R A
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __
.
.
E H J O P S	G I I N R V	A E E G I L L
__ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __

[Answers to January 2002 unscramble: Row 1- HEROD, PRIEST, INCENSE, PRAYING; Row 2 - ANGEL, SPIRIT, HEARTS, DUMB; Row 3 - BECKONED, SPEAK, POWER, GLADNESS; Row 4 - ALTAR, TEMPLE, BARREN, JUDAEA.]

APPLICATIONS FROM THE COVER STORY: When the angel Gabriel was sent, he went immediately and without question. He knew God would not lead Him astray, and he had respect for God. This teaches that children need to trust in parents and have respect for them. However, it also teaches that the parents need to show worthiness of respect and trust. Fibbing or fooling around with some form of lying takes away from implicit trust.

The fact that Mary was a virgin shows her commitment to being honorable and in subject to God’s will. Though a child is to be subject to parents in the Lord (Ephesians 6:1), ultimately it is subjection to God’s will.

Receiving the salutation of being highly favoured and blessed for a chosen purpose is not reserved for certain people. We all are chosen for a purpose (1 Peter 2:9). It is important to know that we are not alive to see what we can get out of life but to know the purpose of God and to do it no matter how unimportant we may think it is.

Gabriel told Mary, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” These words may echo in the ears of everyone. When we know the purpose of God in our life and see the obstacles in the way, we may trust that God will make a way for His will to be done for nothing is impossible with God. Why? “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).

And when Mary told Gabriel that she was willing despite the challenges it would create, she put the will of God before every earthly concern, before every family member, before every critical eye, before everything. This teaches that when we see something in the Bible that is truth but hardly a Christian does it today, we ought to do it without concern of what others may say.

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