Luke 3

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Book of Luke: Chapter 3

John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-6)

John the Baptist anticipated a messiah who would be greater than himself. John is portrayed as the forerunner of Jesus who prepares the people for Jesus' ministry. John baptised Jesus and was beheaded by Herod.

Road Sign talk

Sermon given on Luke 3:1-6, where John the Baptist talks about making the way straight to the Lord.
Talk uses roadsigns as a visual prompt.
What you'll need:

Road Sign Talk
A3 Road Signs -- print out and laminate if needed, or use in a powerpoint.

Road Sign Quiz

What you need:

Road sign images on a powerpoint, or printable bookmarks for each person (depending on whether you have a projector or not!)
The Road Answer sheet

This quiz was done in the middle of the Road Sign talk, based on Luke 3:1-6, which looked at how we could make the road straight for children to come to know God.

A journey to Jesus

What you need:

Several obstacles to make a simple obstacle course
3 lollies to put at the end of the course as prizes

What you do:
Create a simple obstacle course, but keep a clear path down the middle from the beginning of the course to the end. Make sure the beginning and end are clearly marked.

Invite 3 people to come up and go from the start to the finish. (note- have the second and third people turn their backs to the course so that they can’t see what the people ahead of them have done). Some people might choose to go through and around the obstacles, others might go straight from one end to the other.

Say something like: When roads are built, the engineers who design them work really hard to make the roads as easy as possible to drive on. They work so that the mountain roads aren’t too steep. Sometimes if the mountain is too high and rocky, workers might build a tunnel straight through the mountain to make driving easier. Instead of scarey, wild turns, engineers smooth the roads as much as possible so that they’re mostly straight. In our course, there was both a twisted obstacle way to go and a simple, straightforward way to go. Some people chose to go through the obstacles, others went straight to the prize. (if that’s the case)

In our Bible reading today, we heard about John the Baptist helping people get ready for Jesus’ coming. Can you think of some ways that we get ready for Christmas? (allow answers- buying gifts, going to church, lighting Advent candles, putting up the Christmas tree, etc). Those are good answers and you’re right. December is a really busy time for most of us with all the getting ready that we do! Some of it’s really important and maybe some of it isn’t so important, but it’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement of the season.

In our Bible story today, John is a bit like a road engineer. He wants it to be easy for people to get to Jesus, so he reminds them about what’s really important. John the Baptist was living in the desert. He was helping people get their hearts ready, not their houses or their clothes or anything like that. He wanted people to be able to recognize Jesus when he arrived and to know that Jesus was coming to offer them love and forgiveness. By helping people open their hearts to Jesus and his love and forgiveness, John the Baptist was making a straight, easy road for people to follow.

Today it’s the same. We are asked to spend time getting ready for Jesus, opening our hearts to him and being excited that he’s in our lives. Sometimes with all the busyness and craziness in our lives- especially in December, it can feel like we’re on a steep and wildly curvy mountain road, but it doesn’t have to be like that. We can take the straight and gentle path to Christmas.

Making it easier for children

Sometimes, without even thinking about it, we can put obstacles in the way of our children coming to Jesus. We can expect a certain kind of behaviour or a certain way of dressing. Perhaps we have an expectation that children will sit quietly or speak kindly to each other. These are all good things, but they don’t necessarily have anything to do with our children’s relationship with God. This week, let’s make it easy for the children in our care to get to know Jesus, by allowing them to come just as they are to a God who loves them, just as they are.

Interactive journey prayers

What you need:

A notice board (or other board that can accommodate push pins) — the larger the better (note: if you have a large congregation or group having a number of smaller boards could be helpful, or use 2 or more balls of wool)
A large ball of wool - any colour
Push pins

What you do:

Put the board on a table at a height that everyone can reach. Use a step stool or chair that smaller children will be able to stand on if necessary.
Explain what the prayer activity is (see below) and say something like, “as you move the wool on the board, think about the journey that you are on towards Christmas and welcoming Jesus.”
Start by putting a tack through the beginning of the wool. Pass the ball to the next person and allow them to stretch out a bit of wool and put a tack down to hold the wool in place (there will now be a straight line).
Continue passing the wool to each member of the group of congregation. The lines can be long or short. They can double back.
When everyone has finished, conclude the prayer time by thanking God for the journey that each person is on, and asking God to help us keep our hearts open to him during this time of preparation and anticipation.

Memory Verse

In the desert someone is shouting, “Get the road ready for the Lord!” Luke 3:4
What you need:

14 trucks cut out
Black felt or permanent marker, crayons, scissors

What you do:

Photocopy four pages of trucks
Write one word on each truck using the black felt or permanent marker
Cut them out (older children can cut out their own)
Give each child 1 or more trucks to colour. Explain that the word should still be visible through the crayon
Invite the children to come forward with their trucks and work to put the memory verse together.
Practice saying the memory verse together.

Note: For large groups, divide the children and give each group their own set of trucks. For younger children use “Get the road ready for the Lord” Luke 3:4. You may like to try this using toy cars too!