J is for Jesus is part of the Bible Alphabet series. I decided on the annunciation story for the letter J because we were so close to Christmas. It followed on from ‘I is for Immanuel’ really well.

The story is found in Lukes Gospel 1:26-33.

To tell the story : Before you begin tell the children that there is something for them to say part way through the story. Get them to repeat ‘don’t be afraid’ a couple of times.

Long, long ago in a town that looked like this…

In a house that looked like this…

there lived a lady who was having a busy day. She was cleaning, she was dusting ..(do the actions for these tasks and ask the children to join in) when she had a big surprise (look surprised) . A big, strong messenger from God had been sent to speak to her. We call God’s big, strong messengers angels. The lady was frightened. She had never seen an angel before.

What did he say? (Are you ready? remember the words we practiced at the beginning) He said, ‘Don’t be afraid’. ‘You have been chosen by God to have a very special baby. He will be a king forever and you will give him the name Jesus.’

The lady’s name was Mary. She was going to have a special baby and call him Jesus.

J is for Jesus, the special King sent by God.

For the figures of Mary and the angel I used items from an old Early Learning Nativity. (This is similar from Happy Land ) and introduced them from a story bag at the appropriate time in the story. The pictures of Nazareth and the house are flannelgraph backgrounds. These were on a board one over the other. After using the first, flip over to the second.