The next morning all the kids were up early! This was the day that they would get to see the Grand Canyon! They could hardly wait! Soon breakfast was done, and they were standing in line for a shuttle bus that would take them into the park.
They saw some incredible views as they traveled to some of the closer parts of the canyon.
They had a picnic lunch in the canyon. After lunch the kids scattered around the picnic area and took pictures of the canyon and selfies with the canyon in the background. It was a lot of fun, but the kids were careful not to go too far from the picnic area. A short time later the Leader yelled, “Hey kids, come here! I’ve got an announcement!” The kids came running, they wanted to hear what the Leader was going to tell them.
The Leader told the kids that instead of gathering around the campfire that night to talk about the canyon and learn about God, they were going to take some time right now and have their talk while they were still in the canyon!
The Leader asked the kids what they thought about the canyon. The kids said that the canyon was awesome and made them feel close to God. The Leader told them some fact about the canyon; it is 277 miles long, it averages 4,000 feet deep, and is 18 miles wide at its widest point. The colorful layers of rock in the canyon are called sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock is formed by layers of sediment laid down by water. The Grand Canyon is evidence of the great flood of Noah’s time, the layers of rock contain many fossils of sea creatures. One of the kids even said that she could imagine God appearing in that magnificent canyon in all His glory and majesty!
The Leader agreed that the canyon could help a person feel really close to God, but he pointed out that usually God does not use awesome places when He chooses to contact people. The Leader opened his Bible to Luke 2:8-14 and read:
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel assured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others – the armies heaven – praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
The Leader told the kids that the pasture where the sheep were grazing was not an awesome place like the Grand Canyon, but when the angels of God showed up, the glory of the Lord changed that plain pasture into the most awesome place on earth! The announcement that the angels made, changed the world for the rest of time! Jesus, the Savior, had been born! Jesus was both God and human, and he would grow up, live a perfect life, and one day would die on the cross to pay for our sins, and rise from the dead three days later to live forever!
The Grand Canyon is awesome, but it cannot compare with the plainest part of the earth when it is filled with God’s glory! This Christmas let’s remember God’s great announcement on that night so long ago and thank God for sending His Son to earth so that we could be saved from our sins!