4 Devotions to Accompany the God s Promise Came True Children s Activity

Transcription

1 4 Devotions to Accompany the God s Promise Came True Children s Activity Enclosed are four FREE, reproducible devotions, written to accompany the God s Promise Came True Children s Activity. Each devotion also includes a brief Faith Home. You may make as many copies of the devotions as you would like for use in your own organization or congregation and for distribution to the families you serve. Here are some ways to use them... Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. Luke 2:14 Read a classroom devotion each week in Sunday school, as part of worship time in your Christian day school, as part of devotion time in your midweek Bible club, or during the Sunday morning children s sermon. Send home the family devotion for that week. Give the activity and copies of all four Faith Home to your families during a family activity time four weeks before Christmas. Encourage them to use one devotion each week as they prepare to celebrate Christmas. Host a Mom s Day Out or other community event. Use the classroom devotions to tell the story of Christmas to all the children who attend. Then give each family a Countdown to Christmas Activity and a set of the four Faith Home devotions for use in the weeks leading up to Christmas. However you choose to use the God s Promise Came True Activity, we pray that it will draw many individuals and families closer to their Savior, Jesus, during the Advent and Christmas seasons. May our Lord continue to bless all the work you do for his people! 2017 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. #GPT17DF Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.

2 Week 1 God s Promise to Mary Each day this week, set aside a special family time to light a Christmas candle (or one of the blue or purple candles on your Advent wreath). As you do, say these words together: God s promise to send a Savior came true. Jesus was born for me and for you! At the beginning of the week, affix the Mary sticker to the area inside the wreath and remind one another that God makes BIG promises to us and he keeps all of them! He will not disappoint us. During the week, add each day s ornament sticker to your wreath as you count down the days until Christmas. Once you peel away the ornament sticker, read the suggested Bible passage revealed behind it. Then do the family activity suggested for that day (found on the back of the sheet). Before you blow out your candle, read this verse or recite it together: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. Luke 2: CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible. Week 2 God s Promise to Joseph Each day this week, set aside a special family time to light a Christmas candle. (If you are using an Advent wreath, light two of the blue (or purple) candles. As you do, say these words together: God s promise to send a Savior came true. Jesus was born for me and for you! At the beginning of the week, affix the Joseph sticker to the area inside the wreath. Remind one another that we cannot buy God s forgiveness and love. He promises these things to us for free. They are his gifts to us in Jesus. During the week, add each day s ornament sticker to your wreath as you count down the days until Christmas. Once you peel away the ornament sticker, read the suggested Bible passage revealed behind it. Then do the family activity suggested for that day (found on the back of the sheet). Before you blow out your candle, read this verse or recite it together: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. Luke 2: CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.

3 Week 3 Angels Announce the Promise Fulfilled Each day this week, set aside a special family time to light a Christmas candle. If you are using an Advent wreath, light two blue (or purple) candles and the pink one. As you do, say these words together: God s promise to send a Savior came true. Jesus was born for me and for you! At the beginning of the week, affix the shepherd boy sticker to the area inside the wreath. Remind one another that God sent Jesus to be our Savior, just as he had promised. Jesus was the very first Christmas gift, and Jesus is the very best Christmas gift. During the week, add each day s ornament sticker to your wreath as you count down the days until Christmas. Once you peel away the ornament sticker, read the suggested Bible passage revealed behind it. Then do the family activity suggested for that day (found on the back of the sheet). It won t be long now! Christmas is coming soon! Before you blow out your candle, read this or recite it together: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. Luke 2: CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible. Week 4 Jesus, Our Promised Savior Each day this week, set aside a special family time to light a Christmas candle. If you are using an Advent wreath, light all four candles. As you do, say these words together: God s promise to send a Savior came true. Jesus was born for me and for you! At the beginning of the week, affix the Jesus sticker to the area inside the wreath. Remind one another that God sent Jesus to be our Savior, just as he had promised. God kept that promise and now we know that he keeps all his other promises, too. Talk about what some of those promises are. (If you need help, you might read these Bible verses: 1 John 1:9; Matthew 28:20.) During the week, add each day s ornament sticker to your wreath as you count down the days until Christmas. Once you peel away the ornament sticker, read the suggested Bible passage revealed behind it. Then do the family activity suggested for that day (found on the back of the sheet). Christmas will be here in just a few days! Get ready to sing, pray, and praise God for keeping his promises! Before you blow out your candle, read this verse or recite it together: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. Luke 2: CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.

4 Week 1: God s Promise to Mary Getting Started For the first devotion, plan to light a special candle as a Christmas devotion candle. (If you will be using an Advent wreath, light the first candle a blue or purple one.) Bring a small, plastic toy with you, wrapping it attractively in a large gift box with a bow. Prepare a toy catalog or advertising circular featuring toys. Create a description of your toy that wildly exaggerates what it is like, what it can do, and the fun kids will have playing with it. Tape your description to a catalog page and be prepared to read the ad to your group as though it belongs in the catalog. Bookmark Luke 1:32 33 in your Bible so you can find it quickly during the devotion. Introduction This time of year, lots of kids like to look through catalogs and ads like this one. Some kids like to look online, too. When you do that, what are you looking for? (Accept reasonable answers. We look for toys we might like to receive from Mom, Dad, or grandparents. We may also look for ideas of gifts to give siblings or friends.) This catalog has a gift I would really have wanted when I was your age. Listen! (Read the exaggerated description you have created.) What do you think? Wouldn t that be a great Christmas gift? I really think so! In fact, I ordered one for us and wrapped it up. It s not Christmas yet, but I think it would be okay to open just one gift today. Do you want to? (Build the group s excitement as time will allow. Then have a volunteer or two unwrap the trinket and give it to you.) Is there anything else in that box? (Nothing.) Are you sure? Well, this (sigh) is really disappointing! I can t think of a time when I was more disappointed! Is this toy (hold it up) anything like the advertisement I just read to you?! The promises in the ad were BIG promises. Did the toy company keep those BIG promises? Not at all! Getting to the Heart Long, long ago, the first people sinned. They disobeyed God. God had made them and he cared for them. In fact, he loved them very much. But they disobeyed him. Their sin ruined the beautiful home God had given them the Garden of Eden. But God did not stop loving them. He could have, but he didn t. Instead, he made a BIG promise the first promise of a Savior from sin. After that, again and again, God made even more promises, even bigger promises, about the Savior and what he would do. For many centuries, God sent prophets who wrote down more and more promises about the coming Savior who would wash away our sins.

5 Then, one day, the angel Gabriel came to a little town called Nazareth to see a young woman. Who knows her name? Yes, it was Mary. Gabriel had come from God to make more BIG promises about the Savior. While I read, listen for some of those promises. (Read Luke 1:32 33.) Mary would be Jesus mother. What BIG promises about Jesus did you hear? (Accept volunteer responses.) Yes, Mary s Baby would be a great king the King of Love. He would be God s Son. He would rule his people, forgiving and protecting them forever! He would suffer and die in our place. He would make us friends of God, members of God s very own family! Those are BIG promises. Did God keep all the BIG, BIG promises he made? Or were his people disappointed? God kept every one of his BIG promises! Jesus was the very first Christmas gift. Jesus is the very best Christmas gift. He is our Savior and we receive every one of God s other BIG, BIG promises because of Jesus. Those who trust in Jesus need never, ever be disappointed! Taking It Home (Show the children the God s Promise Came True activity. Point out the family activity ideas and the stickers with numbers.) What shape is this wreath? Yes, it is round. The wreaths that decorate our homes during Christmas are round, too. They have no beginning and no end. That s like God s love for YOU! That love was always yours, is always yours, in Jesus. That love never began, and it will never end. God has always loved you and he will always love you! In the coming four weeks, we will use a wreath like this as we get ready for Jesus birthday. This week, for example, you will add the Mary sticker to the space inside your wreath. (Demonstrate.) Then, you can add a sticker ornament to your wreath each day, read the Bible passage you find behind the sticker, and do the family activity one passage, sticker, and activity for each day in December until we meet next time. Pray: God, our heavenly Father, we thank you for keeping every one of your BIG promises, especially the promise to send a Savior. Thank you that, by faith in Jesus, every one of our sins is forgiven and you are our forever friend. In Jesus name. Amen CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. #GPT17DF

6 Week 2: God s Promise to Joseph Getting Started Be ready to light the Christmas candle you used last week. Or plan to light two blue (or purple) candles on an Advent wreath. Bring a clear jar or a piggy bank filled with change. Bookmark Matthew 1:21 in your Bible so you can find it quickly during the devotion. Introduction Do any of you have a jar or a piggy bank like this one? What s it for? Why do people save money? Do you save money? (Accept reasonable answers.) This is my Christmas savings jar. I m saving up so I can buy (my wife/brother/friend) a special gift. I have been saving for a long time. I hope I can save enough before Christmas comes! Getting to the Heart Here s a question I ve been thinking about, though. Can anyone save enough money to buy the gift of forgiveness? Let s say you got really angry at your mom. You got so angry that you said very mean, angry words to her and about her. How many dollars, quarters, and dimes would you have to give her before she would say, I forgive you and hug you again? (Lead the children to realize that forgiveness is a gift that money can t buy.) We can t save enough to buy our parents forgiveness, can we? Let s say you didn t do your math homework all week. How many dollars, quarters, and dimes would you have to give your teacher before he or she would say, I forgive you. You don t have to make up your work? (Lead the children to realize that forgiveness is a gift that money can t buy.) We can t save enough to buy our teacher s forgiveness, can we? Suppose someone disobeys God. Suppose we curse or forget to pray or hurt our brother or copy someone else s homework instead of doing it ourselves. Suppose we think hateful thoughts or say mean words. How many dollars, quarters, and dimes would we have to give God before he would say, I forgive you. Your sins are gone? (Lead the children to realize that forgiveness is a gift that money can t buy.) We can never, never save enough to buy God s forgiveness. Not all the money in the world would be enough to save us! God made many wonderful promises to his people, promises to save them. Who remembers some promises we talked about last time? What did God promise Mary through the angel Gabriel?

7 God also made a wonderful promise to Joseph, Jesus earthly father. Listen as I read. Do you hear the promise about saving? (Read Matthew 1:21.) God promised that Jesus would save his people from their sins. What are sins? What are sins kids sometimes commit? Jesus was the Savior that God promised Joseph he would send. Did Jesus save up money to buy God s forgiveness? No! How did Jesus save us? Yes, he died on the cross and came alive again on the first Easter morning. Now, our sins are gone. They are washed away. God forgives us and calls us his children because of Jesus! We can never buy forgiveness, but God gives us this gift for free because of all Jesus did for us! Taking It Home This week, you will add the Joseph sticker to the space inside your wreath. (Demonstrate.) Then, you can add a sticker ornament to your wreath each day, read the Bible passage you find behind the sticker, and do the family activity one passage, sticker, and activity for each day in December until we meet next time. Pray: Dear Jesus, please make our hearts truly thankful for the gift of forgiveness you won for us. Especially at Christmastime and then throughout the year, may our lives show how thankful we are for the love we have received. Amen CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. #GPT17DF

8 Week 3: Angels Announce the Promise Fulfilled Getting Started Be ready to light the Christmas candle you used last week. Or plan to light two blue (or purple) candles and the pink candle on an Advent wreath. Bring a variety of gift-wrapping supplies bows, boxes, gift tags, ribbons, tape, wrapping paper. Also have several strips of clean, soft cloth and a baby doll hidden, but easily available. The cloths should be 3 4 inches wide and inches long. You will use these to demonstrate the swaddling clothes in which Mary wrapped the infant Jesus. Bookmark Luke 2:8 14 in your Bible. Introduction (Call attention to the giftwrap supplies.) This time of year, many of us have a lot of bows, ribbons, tape, and more around the house. What s it all for? (Accept reasonable answers offered by volunteers. Then demonstrate as you continue:) Yes, we put presents in boxes like this and wrap them in wrapping paper like this. Sometimes we put a bow like this on top. Why do we do that? (We want the gifts we give others to look beautiful. It shows care and love for the person receiving the gift.) Getting to the Heart When it came time for God to keep his promise to send a Savior for us, Baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus was the very first Christmas gift. Jesus is the very best Christmas gift! Listen as I read part of that story to you. Listen for the part that tells how that very best gift was wrapped. (Read Luke 2:8 14.) What did you hear about wrapping? Yes, Mary wrapped Baby Jesus. Did Mary use bows and wrapping paper like these? No. What did she use? (Accept answers drawn from the Bible version you just read.) Mary wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth like these. (Show the samples you brought.) In that land, all newborn babies were swaddled or wrapped up tightly in clothes like these. (Demonstrate with the baby doll as you explain.) The wrappings kept the babies warm and helped them sleep. Swaddling also helped the babies feel safe. Baby Jesus, our Savior, was born just as God had promised. That was good news! It was joyful news! God had kept his promise to Mary and Joseph. Baby Jesus was God s gift to them. And Jesus birth was good news for many, many, many other people too. It was such good news that even the angels burst out of heaven, shouting praises to God! The angels told the shepherds the good news. And then the shepherds went to find Baby Jesus all wrapped up, tight and warm and safe, lying in a manger just as the angels had said. Baby Jesus was God s gift to the shepherds.

9 As the shepherds went back to their sheep, they told everyone they met that God had kept his promise. Baby Jesus, the Savior, was born! Those people told other people, and those people told more people. Finally, someone told me and someone told you! Christ the Savior is born! Our Savior has come! Baby Jesus is God s gift to me and to you all wrapped up and lying in the manger. Jesus our Savior is the very best Christmas gift of all. Because of Jesus, we are forgiven. We are God s children. God s love holds us close to him and keeps us safe forever. God kept his BIG, BIG, very best promise to send our Savior! Taking It Home This week, you will add the shepherd boy sticker to the space inside your wreath. Then, you can add a sticker ornament to your wreath each day, read the Bible passage you find behind the sticker, and do the family activity one passage, sticker, and activity for each day in December until we meet next time. Pray: Thank you, God, for all your gifts, especially for keeping your promise to send your Son to be our Savior, the very best Gift of all! In his name we pray. Amen CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. #GPT17DF

10 Week 4: Jesus, Our Promised Savior Getting Started Be ready to light the Christmas candle you have been using in the past few weeks. If you are using an Advent wreath, light all four candles. Read and adapt the scenarios in the introduction below so that they fit the experiences of as many of the children in your group as possible. Bookmark 2 Corinthians 1:20 and 1 John 4:7 11 in your Bible so you can find it quickly during the devotion. You will read only a portion of 2 Corinthians 1:20. See below. Introduction To start, let s play the Yes or No Game. If your answer is yes, give me a thumbs-up. (Demonstrate.) If your answer is no, give me a thumbs-down. (Demonstrate.) Your friend promises you can come for a sleepover this weekend. You really, really want to go. When you meet at school on Thursday, you say, May I come? What answer do you hope your friend will give? (Thumbs-up for yes.) Your teacher promises you can take the class geckos over Christmas break. You really, really want to take care of them. The last day of school before break, you ask your teacher, Do I get to take the geckos home today? What answer do you hope your teacher will give? (Thumbsup for yes.) The coach for your team promises you will get to start on Saturday. You are really, really excited. You see Coach just as you enter the locker room. So you ask, Do I get to start today? What answer do you hope your coach will give? (Thumbs-up for yes.) You want a yes (two thumbs-up) for all those promises, right? Getting to the Heart Keep that in mind while I read a verse to you from the Bible. See if you can figure out what it means. (Read 2 Corinthians 1:20. Regardless of the Bible version you use, read the words that remind us that God keeps his promises.) In the past few weeks, we have been talking about God keeping his great BIG promise to send Jesus to be our Savior. For a long, long, long, LONG time, God s people prayed, Dear God, keep your promise. And God did. God said, Yes! It s time for the Savior to be born. Because God kept that BIG promise, we know he will keep all his other promises, too! Those promises are all YES because of Jesus. God has promised to forgive our sins (1 John 1:9). So when we pray, Dear Lord, I have sinned. Please forgive me, what is God s answer? (Thumbs-up for yes.)

11 God has promised to be with us in trouble (Psalm 91:15). So when we pray, I m in trouble. Please be with me, Lord, and help me, what is God s answer? (Thumbs-up for yes.) God has promised to be our forever friend (Psalm 25:14). So when we pray, God, I need a friend today when I take the math test, or when we pray, God, I am going to the doctor today and you re my best Friend. Please come along to help me stay calm, what is God s answer? (Thumbs-up for yes.) Because God kept his promise to send the Savior, we can be sure he will keep all his other promises to us, too. That is very, very good news! We want everyone to hear and know and believe this good news at Christmastime and throughout the year. Because of all Jesus has, in love, done for us, we also want to be kind and good and loving to others just as Jesus is kind and good and loving to us. Listen! (Read 1 John 4:7 11.) Taking It Home This week, you will add the Jesus sticker to the space inside your wreath. Then, you can add a sticker ornament to your wreath each day, read the Bible passage you find behind the sticker, and do the family activity one passage, sticker, and activity for each day until Christmas. Pray: Thank you, God, for keeping every one of your promises, especially your promise to send our Savior, Jesus. Please help everyone here to show your love and speak about that love during Christmas and all year round. In Jesus name we pray. Amen CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. #GPT17DF