ihope CHRISTMAS Devotions Ami Sandstrom Shroyer

ihope CHRISTMAS Devotions Ami Sandstrom Shroyer Breakdown of Each Lesson: This section sets the stage for each song and why it s important. This section looks at what should be center stage in the story. This section will provide some stories or thoughts to help the meaning of the song and Scripture move into life application for each student and leader. This section allows kids to talk with friends, leaders, within small groups, or with family members. This section challenges kids to play the role every day of their lives. Songs: A Little Hope Let s Go Christmas Medley Come and Listen I Lift My Hands No Ordinary Joe Holy, Holy You Are Jesus (I Am Yours) 1

A Little Hope Hey kids! Have you ever started a sentence with I hope? Since we are singing songs that are all about HOPE (and not the main character, Hope), let s take a really good look at what real hope is, where hope comes from, and how we can let the HOPE of the World take center stage not just in this musical and the main characters, but in our lives as well! 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NCV) May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father encourage you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us, and through his grace he gave us a good hope and encouragement that continues forever. Hope is that feeling of thinking you are about to get something great! You get excited. You can t stop thinking about it. Like when you hope that you will get your favorite Christmas present! Or maybe you hope that you have fun with your friends today. Maybe you hope that you ll do well on a test at school tomorrow. Or you might hope to be able to choose a great dessert after dinner. (You may actually hope that Mom doesn t make you eat your Brussels sprouts, or that if she does then you hope she ll remember that you ate every last one when she does her Christmas shopping, raising the possibility of actually GETTING that favorite present that you can t stop thinking about!) There are other times when we use the word hope in a more serious way. Have you ever had a bad day and hoped that tomorrow would be better? Have you ever needed someone to stand beside you, or put an arm around you, just to let you know that things are going to be okay? Jesus is the Hope of the World the One who is both The Greatest Gift, AND The Promise that things will get better someday! Let me explain: You understand how it feels to wait with excitement for a great Christmas present. You hope. Then your heart is filled with joy when you hold that gift because your hope became real and now it is yours! If Jesus is our HOPE, then that means that there is a feeling of looking forward to a great gift that turns into joy when you get to know him when you are his and he is yours! Through coming to earth as the Savior, He became the gift that makes I hope I can get to know God possible! You see, no matter how nice you are, how high your test scores, or even how many green veggies you eat, you and I could not possibly make right with a Holy and Perfect God all by ourselves. Before Jesus, we were hopeless. BUT! God gave us a gift that changed the world forever! Jesus was born! He showed us how to live. Then he took EVERYONE S sin and the punishment for all of those bad things, all on him, in order to give you and me God s Forever Life! By believing in Jesus, we can get to know God! What a gift! And we have a Promise! No matter what happens in our lives, even our worst days are so small when we know that we will live forever with God in a perfect and wonderful place, all because of Jesus! Our Hope is this; Jesus is with us today (The Gift) and we ll be with him forever (The Promise). Finish the sentence, I hope (It can be anything!) How does it feel when you get something you ve been hoping to receive? How does it feel when you don t? How did God give HOPE to the world through Jesus? What does that mean to you? The best action you can take today is to ask questions about why Jesus is our Hope. He is your Greatest Gift and your Perfect Promise. Think of a friend or a family member who is feeling hopeless. Ask Jesus to show you ways to share his great gift of hope to those in need We all need a little HOPE! 2

Let s Go! We all love birthdays! They make us so happy because it s fun to celebrate our friends, and it is fun to be celebrated. When Jesus was born, it was the most special birthday of all time, and even today, the whole world celebrates. Let s find out a few reasons why For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV) The world was changed forever by the birth of Jesus. Before Jesus was born, God would talk to His people through men (and women) called prophets. These people were devoted. They lived obedient lives, and they were kind of like the spokesmen, getting special messages from God to pass on to the people. All through the years, these prophets were giving clues about a Savior, a Rescuer, who was going to be born someday and then something happened. For about four hundred years, God got very, very quiet and the dark world longed to hear God speak to them again. Isaiah talked a lot about this very special Holy One who would be born, and Isaiah was not the only messenger. There were over three hundred prophecies, or clues, that Jesus fulfilled when he came to the earth! In other words, the things that were said about this super-special Savior REALLY happened!!! Over 300 questions now had The Answer! God had not only broken the years of silence, but God created a way through Jesus for everyone who believes to be able to connect directly to Him. Never before and never again was a baby given so much attention think about it! Hundreds of clues about what he would be like, angels who filled the sky with singing, a bright star that appeared in the heavens all for this very special Child! Your mom and dad, and mine, put thought into what they would name us. In fact, you and I have names that mean special things. But Jesus? Now HE had the most spectacular list of names, and every single one of them is just a small way of speaking about who he is and what very special gifts He carries in him: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Comforter, Redeemer, Son of God, Light of the World Did you know that Jesus has over two hundred names??? And every single one of them shows us something about his love. SO LET S GO! Let s see if we can find out more about this Jesus! The more you and I discover, the more we will know him. The more we know him, the more we will know The Father. The more we know God, the more we will realize how much we need Him and how HUGE and how WONDERFUL is His Great Big LOVE! When you sing, Happy Birthday to a friend, how does it make your friend feel? Do you like to hear people say your name? What makes you feel celebrated? Can you think of other names used to describe Jesus? What does that say about his love? As you celebrate Christmas this year, celebrate Jesus! His presence gave the world the best presents. So make a list of as many names used to describe Jesus, and then praise him for being who he is! Every day of the year, He is right with you The Way when you need guidance, The Light when you need to make wise choices, Truth when you have questions. And the more you carry his Name, the more you become like him, and you will make much of his Love to others. Then YOU will be a gift to HIM! 3

Christmas Medley From The Top I love to sing Christmas carols; in fact, I could sing them all year long! This medley has three of my favorites, and they are a lot more fun to sing when you understand them! So let s take a moment to break down some of the meaning behind these well-loved songs that people sing every Christmas. Philippians 2:9-11 (NLT) Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. God exalted Jesus because He was with God from the very beginning, he accomplished everything to bring glory to God while he was on the earth, and he is and always will be the King above every other king, president, or leader of this world. You and I can adore Jesus today, or we can wait until some time in the future, but either way, there will come a day when EVERYONE will bow down and adore the name of Jesus! He s absolutely THAT SPECIAL!!! The word Noël is a beautiful French word that means Christmas, so when we sing the first song in the medley, we are singing all about the very night that Jesus was born, and it is much more beautiful to sing, Noël, Noël, Noël, Noël rather than Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas right? (Try it. It s pretty funny!) But no matter how you like to sing it, it was a most beautiful and most holy night one that deserves your worship! Next, we encourage all of our friends around us with, O come, let us adore him! We are inviting people who are full of faith in Christ to come together joyfully and with highest excitement triumphant, like a royal King has just entered the room! Come, and behold him, born the King of angels. In other words, Come with me! Look at him! This baby is even king over the angels! Come on! Let s admire him with all of our love. He is the Christ, and he came to save us! Finally, we sing out with biggest JOY as to the whole wide world announcing to everyone and everything that The Lord is come! Let Earth receive her King! Wouldn t it be great if the whole earth paid attention enough so that every single heart would make room for Jesus? Did you know that Jesus is also called The Word? And it s not just a nickname. God used The Word to create all of heaven, earth, the world, and everything in it! Yep! Jesus will get the praise from all that he created, so Let heaven and nature sing! and let s join in, giving him our praise with JOY today, making room in our hearts with JOY today, and letting King Jesus have his triumphant place of honor today! From the first Noël to the Christmas we are celebrating now, Jesus was, is, and will always be the One who loves to hear you sing to him! Yes, we CAN break out the Christmas music year-round! What are some of your favorite Christmas carols? Why? Does anyone in your family have a favorite Christmas song? What is it? Find lyrics to the other verses of these three Christmas songs and ask someone to help you understand what they are saying. You will find some rich and wonderful meaning. See if you can write a Christmas song of your very own! Then, if you are comfortable, share it with a friend. Have fun! 4

Come and Listen The words to this song are truly from my heart to yours. Aunt Mo may be talking to the girls, but really, this is my hope for YOU. We can learn so much from the people found in the Christmas Story. They responded with immediate surrender when God called them, and that s what I hope you will do too. Come and see what God has done, the amazing things he has done for people. ~ Psalm 66:5 (NCV) Children, come and listen to me. I will teach you to worship the Lord. ~ Psalm 34:11 (NCV) Did you learn how to bake cookies while standing right next to Grandma? Have you ever sat close to your mom to read a new book? Did your dad stand with his arms around you to teach you how to ride your bike or how to swing a baseball bat? Does your teacher at school ever need you and your friends to gather in around her to look closely at an object during a science experiment? Sometimes in order to learn something new, we have to get upclose and personal to the one who is teaching us. The Great God of the Universe used a small group of very special people to gather us in and teach us. We re going to take a closer look at some of those people, but before we do, I want to give you a challenge. It s easy to get caught up in the loud sounds and lights, the bells, and activities of Christmastime. So stop. Stop and listen closely to what God did in these men and women who took themselves off of the center stage of their own personal stories in order to allow a baby in a manger to be the main attraction. You will learn by their examples that God has the same power to do great things today in the people who will put His story before their own. A Great and Powerful God wanted all of us to draw close, and not be afraid. A baby was born and who is afraid of a baby? Can you imagine what it might have been like to look into the eyes of God through a tiny infant King? Most people did not expect God to show up in that humble way. The people who recognized Him in those little newborn eyes were the people whom He would use to change the world! In fact, by looking in, you ll see how you can draw nearer to your Heavenly Father too. It s like when your best friend has a secret to tell you. What do they do? They draw you in closer. Allow the LORD to invite you in, listen and learn of His Personal plan, and then go! Share His Great News! This news was never meant to remain a secret! Tell each other about a time when someone stood close beside you to help you. Have you ever held a little baby? What was that like? Why do you think that God would come to the earth as a baby? If you were to write a story for your life with you in the center, what might it be like? How might that story change if your story became a small part of God s BIG Story? As you are rehearsing, learning these songs and practicing your parts, be sure that you really, really stop and listen to the Story. God wants more than anything else to become personal to you and He just may have something extra-special to teach you. ihope you will be listening. 5

I Lift My Hands Mary has captured the hearts and respect of people for over two thousand years! It amazes us all to think that someone so young could be chosen by God to bring His Salvation into the whole world for all time. Let s look at some of the things that made Mary special Please read Mary s Story in Luke 1:26-38. And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. ~ verse 35 (NKJV) Mary is known today as Mother of Jesus, Divine Mother, Blessed Mary, Mother Mary to name a few. But I can t imagine that she EVER believed that her life would lead to that kind of fame! She was only around fourteen years old when the angel Gabriel brought her the announcement that God was going to use her life to bring Jesus, God s Holy Son, into the world to be the Savior. She must have been terrified! And yet, she walked into this purpose with a great sense of peace. Why? She knew that God was with her. She knew that she could trust Him. And so she listened. Mary knew that she needed to fully surrender, and then the Holy Spirit would use her simple life to bring about Jesus. Then Jesus would make much of His Father, to bring people back to God. There is a pattern there for every one of us to follow: A yielded life can be used by the Holy Spirit to make much of Jesus, who will then bring others to The Father. Mary set such a beautiful example for you and for me. And the same Holy Spirit Who came upon her will fill your heart with power and strength in order to help YOU make the most of Jesus in this world, too! I hope that this song captures some of what Mary may have had moving inside when she agreed to be completely used by God. I hope that you will be able to grab a hold of some of these thoughts and phrases, too, and sing them from your heart. As you do, open yourself to be used by God. You will not be asked to do exactly what Mary did, but you can be used in miraculous ways every day! Think about the things that you know you can t do on your own. Maybe there is a fear that you need to overcome, or a friend who has hurt you who needs your forgiveness and friendship. Maybe you have a hard time with a brother or sister and don t know how to hold your tongue from saying mean things! Maybe there is a subject at school that you are struggling with, or a bad habit that you know is very hard to break. The things that keep us from becoming more like Jesus are all areas in need of a miracle! Whatever it is in your life that needs a miracle, seek God like Mary did; ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and then walk it through to action His power in you will make the most of Jesus (you will become a better reflection of Christ), and then Jesus will use your life to point others to The Father s Love! Mary was willing to commit fully, with all of her heart, to the Lord. So let s VOW Let s listen to God s Word, and then follow! Brainstorming Session What might have been going on in Mary s mind while she listened to the angel? How would the world be different if Mary had not listened? How do you think she felt knowing that God would be with her? Think of at least ONE area in your life that you need God s help. ASK the Holy Spirit to help you with it, and trust that as you listen to God s Word and follow, that God is with you, and He will help you! 6

No Ordinary Joe Mary gets a lot of attention in the Christmas Story. Joseph? Not so much. However, this ordinary Joe showed us some extraordinary ways to make the most of Jesus through an ordinary life. Read about Joseph s dream and what the angel said to him in Matthew 1:18-25. While Joseph thought about these things, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, descendant of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."~ Verses 20-21 (NCV) Remember when I told you about the secret clues for which Jesus would be The Answer? Clues that had been revealed through the prophets hundreds of years before he was born? Well, with God CHOOSING Joseph to be Mary s husband, Joseph became part of those special clue solutions too! Joseph was a descendent of David and that means that King David (whom you may remember for killing the giant Goliath with a rock in a slingshot) was his Great, Great, Great, Great (say this 14 times, take a deep breath, say it fourteen more times, and then you ll be there!) Grandfather!!! Why is this so impressive (other than the fact that you can say great so many times without falling on the floor)? This is AMAZING, because it shows God s care and love for every detail in the lives of ordinary people! Joseph, a man who wanted to be a good carpenter, get married, love his wife, and raise a loving family, was a grandchild of King David, and he was the RIGHT grandson at JUST the right time to fulfill ancient prophecy that would point to God s Holy Son! THAT is no ordinary Joe! Joseph was so much more than an on-looker to some fantastic miracle in Mary, whom he loved. Joseph had been written into God s Story too, many, many years before the angel gave him some EXTRAORDINAY instructions! We don t know a lot more about Joseph. But what we DO know is just so good! He gave up his ideas for his life and family and SUBMITTED right away to God s plans for them! Even though following God would even bring out people who would make fun of him and not understand, He chose God! For the rest of his days with Jesus, Joseph must have been a great dad AND an eager listener, too. He helped Jesus grow up, and yet, Jesus must have continued to show Joseph how to be an extraordinary man! You may want to be a carpenter, an artist, a singer, or an athlete. You may want to be a teacher, a doctor, a veterinarian, or a pilot. Whatever it is that you dream about doing, if you will follow the example of Joseph and SUBMIT, then a SUPER-EXTRAORDINARY God can use YOU an ordinary kid in EXTRAORDINARY ways! God knew his name, the days and time when Joseph would live, and just how many greats there would be to find him in the family line! God knows YOUR name. He knows everything about YOU, and He knows exactly where to find you, and he has so many greats for you. Let Him show you how to walk, jump, and go where He leads, as you BOW SUBMIT to God s Word! What are some things that stand out to you about Joseph and his response to the angel? Can you name some ways that Joseph was ordinary? Extraordinary? What does it mean for you to submit, like Joseph did, to the plans God has for you? Think about the things you love to do. Do them with all of your heart, and then BOW Submit to God s Word, and watch Him begin to give your ordinary, simple life some new and extraordinary purposes! 7

Holy, Holy Several others set the example of how to respond to God s Living Word. The Shepherds, the Wise Men, and Hosts of Angels all did something NOW and we can too! To read about the Great News to the shepherds, go to Luke 2:8-20. To read about the Wise Men, go to Matthew 2. How do you respond when you are doing something you love (like playing a video game, reading a good book, or talking with a friend) and your mom asks you to stop what you are doing in order to help her? Do you obey right away? Or do you say something like, Hold on Mom. Just a minute. The Shepherds were freaked out by a host of singing angels in the sky! After they calmed down and listened to what God was asking of them, their response went into immediate ACTION! They had a NOW response to God. The Wise Men played quite a role in this Story, even though their call to see The Christ Child was later when Jesus was already a toddler. Their response was still a NOW response, and was a very important one that kept the sneaky King Herod from finding Jesus! It doesn t matter if a person is rich or poor, simple or brilliant, weak or strong. When God makes His Love known, it is important to run after Him and NOW! One more group has been playing an important servant-role to all of these people The Angels. The wonderful thing about angels is that they knew the day would come to make these announcements of The Messiah, and NOW they just couldn t contain their JOY! Imagine how every one of these messages and responses would have been different if the angels had not been ON IT! Their IMMEDIATE actions to communicate peace and excitement on behalf of God to the people set the stage for God s Plan to come to pass. They acted right away, and their JOY flooded the heavens and the earth, making a glorious soundtrack to the Greatest Story of God s Love! This Story is not over. Every day, people are being asked to live NOW faith in order to make God s Love known to others. And every day, there are angels around the throne of God, continuing the soundtrack of the Heavens, singing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; who was, and is, and is to come. ~ Revelation 4:8 So join the Soundtrack with your voice and your actions! Pray for daily opportunities to hear what God wants you to do to be a part of the Story, and then live NOW! Try not to respond with, Hold on God. Just a minute. The worship is rolling and His Love is waiting on the other side of every NOW choice! When my kids hesitate to obey right away, they don t realize that the thing that they are putting off usually has a great blessing waiting to reward them for first-time obedience. If I have the ability to do good things for my children whom I love, imagine how much GREATER a love our Heavenly Father has for those who choose to obey and follow Him with immediate action! NOW faith! Can you think of times when you put off things that you were being asked to do? Have you ever been rewarded for doing something right away? Are you more like the Shepherds, the Wise Men, or the Angels? How can you follow their example and serve God today? NOW Live out God s Word! As you read the Bible, God will give you ideas on how He wants you to live TODAY. Think of something that you can do before you go to bed tonight that will show Him that you love Him! When you wake up ask God, What can I do for You TODAY? 8

You Are Jesus (I Am Yours) Okay kids! Now we get to put this whole thing together! Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God's great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you. ~ 1 Peter 1:3-4 (NCV) After taking a closer look at the characters God used to bring Jesus into the world, it s easy to say, WOW! What a story! Hope learned that she needed to make her personal story small so that her little i could magnify the Great HOPE of the World. That is a lesson that will change every one of our lives if we, too, will consider our lives a small part of His, and our names in support of the Famous One, Jesus. As a result, we can be a part of the WOW hope that God s Love brings. Do you remember when you made a list of things that you hope to get? Will any of those things last forever? Jesus was born so that you could be born again into the Forever Family of God. It s kind of like a dead toy with a new battery, only now, the new battery has made the toy real! You entered into a new hope that is alive and one that will never fade away! It is a hope that is not based on STUFF that you accumulate, awards for great achievements, or trophies for winning tough competitions. This HOPE is found in knowing that through Jesus, you have LIFE, and this LIFE is the relational connection between your spirit and the Spirit of God God who made you, knows everything about you, and loves you! What God has in store for all of His children will be found in His Heavenly Kingdom. We have the opportunity to live our lives here, guided by the Light of His Word, being filled daily with the Life that comes from His Son. And In Jesus, we are loved with an everlasting forever-love. Even when we face struggles with our own friends and family, he reaches us and then he teaches us how to share God s love with others. But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God. ~ 1 John 1:12 (NCV) In Jesus, you have a New Life and a forever place in God s Family. No one else could have provided that hope. In the manger at Christmas, many clues received The Answer. On The Cross, all sin received the punishment. From an empty tomb, death was defeated and forever Hope was brought to life! And in you and in me, this New Life has the power to reach others who need Jesus, too. VOW choose to listen to God s Word! BOW choose to submit to God s Word! NOW choose to live out God s Word! WOW choose Jesus, now and forever! Have you ever wanted to be famous? What does it mean to live with a little i? How can you use your life to tell the Story of God s Love? Think about this: WOW Through faith in Jesus I am included in God s family, now and forever! 9