LEADER PREPARATION
Lesson Summary:

Note: These lessons are designed to be 30 minutes long. If your club time is shorter than this, we encourage you to be prayerful about parts of this lesson to put more or less emphasis on. If limited on time, we urge you to prioritize Tool Time and summarize Dig In, as Tool Time is what prepares you for sharing the Gospel. As always, let the Holy Spirit guide your leadership.

Generation after generation, God’s people waited for a Savior, but when He came, He was not what they expected. Jesus came as a vulnerable and powerless baby, not as a military or political powerhouse. Jesus showed us that we do not have to climb up to God because he came to make His home with us.

Main Point
The life of Jesus unexpectedly changed the whole world.

Team Roles

Host: This Student Leader will lead the Start Up section of the lesson, helping create a fun environment, making everyone feel welcome and included.
Speaker: This student leader will guide the group in growing deeper in their faith by reading and reflecting on passages of scripture. They will then connect the content to the group’s daily lives by asking practical questions and leading the conversation.
Other Roles: Promo, Welcome, and Follow Up.

Scripture References

• Luke 1:46-55

Materials Needed

• 4 Cell Phones
• Roll(s) of Plastic Wrap
• Several Sticky Notes
• Prayer Cards

(7 minutes)
Say: Welcome to First Priority. As we kick off our new month, let’s review the Mission and Vision of First Priority.

• Mission: To take the Hope of Christ to every student.
• Vision: Students Reach Students.

Welcome everyone and be sure to get the names of any new friends.

Icebreaker Game: Wait For It
Materials Needed: 4 Cell Phones / Rolls of Plastic Wrap / Several Sticky Notes

Game Preparation: Ask the group for four volunteers who love their cell phones. Wrap each of their phones into large balls of plastic wrap. Place a sticky note on each ball, numbering 1-4.

Instructions: Ask the owners of the phones to stand in front of the group. Explain that they will be racing to unwrap their phones as quickly as possible. The twist is that each individual will start at a different time. The student start times are listed below. The winner of this game is the first student to completely unwrap their phone.

• Student One will start as soon as you say, “Go!”
• Student Two will start five seconds later.
• Student Three will start five seconds after student two.
• Student Four will start five seconds after student three. (Between each start, be sure to repeat the phrase, “Wait for it!”)

(5 minutes)
Ask: When have you waited for something, but, when it came, it wasn’t what you expected? (Take a few moments for students to share.)

Say: Waiting, especially when it is for something life-changing like driving or graduation, can be hard. Every day can seem like forever, like life is on pause. Then, when whatever it is finally arrives, if it’s different from what we expected, we get disappointed

Imagine for a moment what it felt like for God’s people to wait for the Messiah. It wasn’t just months or even years that passed without an answer, it was generations. For generations, they were under enemy rule, waiting for God to send a rescuer. They thought that the Messiah would be a conquering king, a rebel warrior – someone who would free them from Rome’s oppression.

Instead, Jesus was born, the son of a peasant girl named Mary. The whole scenario was unexpected.

Rather than a royal, dignified warrior-king, there was a baby, born in a barn to an unmarried mother and worshiped by grimy shepherds. Jesus’ arrival completely flipped expectations upside down, and Mary was the first to recognize just how wonderful that was. Check out the song she sang when the angel told her the news that she would give birth to the Messiah.

Read Scripture:
“And Mary 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. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” (Luke 1:46-55)

Say: Filled with the Spirit, Mary recognized that God was doing a new thing. The Kingdom the Messiah was bringing would be one where the humble are lifted up and the proud are scattered;

where the hungry are satisfied by God while the comfortable are sent away because they don’t see their need for Him. In Jesus, God was coming into the world to remake His home among us – and His home was different from the dysfunctional mess humans had made.