Family " Advent Devotional

Transcription

1 REDEEMER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Family Advent Devotional 1

2 DearFamilies, IwanttoencourageyoutousethisAdventDevotionalwithyourfamilyduring thesenextseveralweeks.thisseasonisallaboutwaiting,longing,and anticipation.we,newyorkers,arenottypicallyfondofwaiting.wefrequently leanoverandpeerdownthesubwaytunnel,needingtoknowwhenthenext trainwillarrive.wehatetowait.wethinkwaitingisinherentlybad. HoweverScriptureisfullofwaiting:*! We wait for a Savior from heaven (Phil. 3:20) We wait for the revealing of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 1:7) We wait for the appearing of our God and Savior (Titus 2:13) We wait for his Son from heaven (1 Thess. 1:10) We wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus to eternal life (Jude 21) We wait for the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23) We wait for and hastening the coming of the day of God (2 Pet. 3:12) We wait for new heavens and a new earth (2 Pet. 3:13 We wait for the hope of righteousness (Gal. 5:5) The creation waits for the sons of God to be revealed (Rom. 8:19). 2 Our!anticipation!is!rooted!in!a!promise,!a!hope!that!is!to!be!fulfilled.! This!waiting!is!not!empty,!but!full!of!hope!in!the!coming!of!Christ.!! Waiting!is!good.!!It!encourages!us!to!be!mindful!of!our!longing,!of!our! desire!and!need!for!redemption.!!!! I!hope!you!will!use!this!guide!to!help!you!and!your!family!learn!and! talk!about!the!anticipation!that!christians!celebrate!during!this!season.! Merry Christmas, Dr. Brent Bounds, PhD 2

3 Week 1: December 1-7 Week 1: November 29 - December 5 Read Operation No More Tears! The Rescuer will come: prophecies from Isaiah 9, 11, 40, 50, 53, 55, 60 in The Jesus Storybook Bible, pages (or the equivalent story in your children s Bible). 1. What was Isaiah s job? Isaiah was a prophet, so his job was to listen to God and tell the people what God said. 2. Some of the things God told Isaiah were about the future. Isaiah lived about 700 years before Jesus, but he knew a lot about Jesus. What are some of the things Isaiah knew about the future and Jesus? That Jesus would be the Rescuer King who will come to earth and do many great amazing things, but then he will suffer and die. But he won t stay dead; God will make him alive again, and he will rescue his people and one day make the world perfect again. 3. Isaiah calls Jesus by many different names. 4 of those names are below but some of the vowels the A, E, I, O, and U s are missing. Fill in the missing vowels to get the names of Jesus. W_nd_rf_l Counselor M_ghty G_d Everlasting F_th_r Princ_ of Peac_ 4. What do those names make you feel about Jesus? How should you treat him? Love, worship, trust, etc. 5. The name Prince of Peace means that one day Jesus will bring peace and justice to the whole world. Until then Jesus asks us to love our neighbor, to act justly, and to bring peace where we can. How can we do that this Advent season? (One idea is to look for opportunities to serve as a family during the season of Advent. For example: prepare a meal and take it to a friend or neighbor in need; shop together for Christmas gifts to donate to those who can t afford them; serve together in a local shelter or nursing home; invite someone to spend Christmas with you who would otherwise be alone; etc.) SING O Come, O Come Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appears. Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! Ask your children to pick one of the names for Jesus they discovered today from Isaiah and then to pray, thanking God that Jesus is that name. Pray with them for His Toy Store (Hope for New York's outreach to provide toys to families in deep financial need during the Christmas season). 3

4 Week 2: December 8-14 Week 2: December 6-12 Read The Present: The story of SING Abraham and Isaac, from Genesis 22 in The Jesus Storybook Bible, pages Away in a manger, no crib for a bed (or the equivalent story in your The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet children s Bible). head The stars in the bright sky looked down where. He lay The little Lord Jesus a sleep on the hay. Fill in the missing letters. The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes 1. Abraham was willing to give God his But little Lord Jesus, no crying He only son whom he loved, why? makes I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky. Abraham trusted God and v _ d And stay by my side and the morning is God more than anything else. nigh Help your children to pray that they would love Jesus more than anything else. Pray with them for Redeemer and for all that God has generously provided in the past year and that God would graciously continue to sustain Redeemer s work and ministry. 2. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved. God also sacrificed someone he loved. It was the same sacrifice as Abraham. Who was it? God sacrificed his only Son, J. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay Close by me for ever and love me, I pray to Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care And take us to Heaven to live with Thee there 3. We read in the story that: like Isaac another Son [that is Jesus] would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. What was the wood this time? It was the c. 4. Abraham is asked to give up something he loves. Because Abraham loves God more than anything else he is willing to do it. Is that true for you? What do you find yourself wanting more than Jesus? 5. How can you learn to love God and trust God more than anything else? 4

5 Week 3: 3: December Week 3: December Read A Dream of Heaven: John sees into the future, from Revelation 1, 5, 21, 22 in The Jesus Storybook Bible, pages (or the equivalent story in your children s Bible). 1. Who wrote the last book of the Bible which describes what things will be like when Jesus returns? 2. One day, when Jesus returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Everything is going to be made new. This world will be our true, perfect home. God s people will live with God forever. Nothing will ever separate us from God again. Look at the letters below and remove the letters Q, X, and Z, then write the other letters in order to get a description of what this will be like: TEQARXXSSAQXDZZNEZSSXXDEZA QTHXLONQQELINEXSSZZZSIQCKNE SQSPXXAIZNFEQXXARQSXINZZ NO MORE _ SING Glory to the new born King, peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled! Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies; with th' angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem! Glory to the new born King! Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord; late in time behold him come, offspring of a virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th' incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Glory to the new born King! Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth. Glory to the new born King! Charles Wesley, 1739 Help your children to pray, thanking God that one day there will be no more tears or loneliness or sickness or pain or death or sin and that we will one day live with God forever in the new heaven and the new earth. Pray with them for all those who are still suffering and who have lost loved ones and homes as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Pray for those for whom Christmas is a difficult season. _ 3. How does this vision of the future kingdom and our future with God forever help us live in the world today? 5

6 Week 4: December Week 4: December Read He s Here!: The nativity, from Luke 1 2 in The Jesus Storybook Bible, pages (or the equivalent story in your children s Bible). 1. Instead of being born in a palace or a castle, where was King Jesus born? 2. What does the birth of Jesus show and teach us about God? 3. Why is the birth of Jesus a wonderful gift? 4. What does the name Immanuel mean? Unravel the letters to get the answer. GOD I H T W S U 5. Why is Immanuel a good name for Jesus? 6. If something is important to us, we like telling others about it. Can you talk about something important to you for 20 seconds? It can be anything at all. You can talk about a sport for 20 seconds or about us your family or your pet or your favorite toy or anything you like for 20 seconds. But you have to talk about your subject nonstop for 20 seconds. (Allow each child a chance to play this game). Can you talk about Jesus for 20 seconds? Again you can say anything you know about Jesus but you need to talk nonstop for 20 seconds. (Allow each child a chance to do this). Since Jesus is important to us, we should like telling others about him. Who can you tell about Jesus? SING Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love. Help your children to pray, thanking God for Jesus birth. Pray with them for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus birth in a meaningful way with friends and family this Christmas. 6