A Seek-and-Find Book for ADVENT

A Seek-and-Find Book for ADVENT C om C r m ea t u Sa n iv e i m ca pl ti e on s Child WIshatThis? Daily Devotions, Rhymes and Seek-and-Find Picture Puzzles

W hat Child Is This? An Advent Book of Hide and Seek Written by Arden Mead and David Mead Photography Designs by Lucy Bartelt Photography by King Schoenfeld CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS for the PARISH Fenton, Missouri 3

Introduction Let us go now even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. That s what the shepherds said to each other on a hill near Bethlehem thousands of years ago. But what was the thing they went to see? It was a child, of course. And not just any child. It was a child whose birth we celebrate even now, all these many years later. What child is this? I think you may already know the answer to that question. It s no secret that the child we seek each Advent season is Jesus, the Son of God. He was born a baby just like you were, to show the whole world just how much God loves us, as much as a parent loves a newborn child. But like many small things, that baby was not easy to find. How would the shepherds know what child to look for? They had some help straight from heaven. The angels told them where to look and what to look for, a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. As you seek that child in this book, you ll have help too. There are many other children in God s storybook, the Bible. They may be small and sometimes overlooked, but these children and their stories help to point the way to the baby Savior. In each of the pictures in this book, two special items are hidden. These items each represent a child in the Bible. Other children are hidden in every picture as well, as reminders that you are part of God s story too. Each day you will: read the Scripture passages and devotion find the object for that day hidden in the picture (that object is shown in bold type) find the children hidden in each picture. As you look forward to Christmas and all of the holiday fun and celebration, take time to read and sing and seek along with the little hidden children of the Bible as they tell God s great big story of salvation. And in the end you re sure to see A baby born for you, for me. It s something you don t want to miss. Then you will know What child is this? 5

Day 1 Cain...Genesis 4:1-8 What child is this who was the first, The babe of Eve and Adam, Who tilled the land for grain by hand Outside the Garden of Eden? This, this is Adam s son. Through him we see what sin has done. Cain, Cain, the jealous one, The babe of Eve and Adam. The very first baby born in the Bible was the son of Adam and Eve. They named him Cain. You would think Cain would be happy to be the very first person born, and that he was able to grow grain and have something to eat. But no Cain got jealous of his younger brother Abel. God warned Cain to be careful that sin, like an animal (a tiger maybe, or a bear or a snake) was lurking at the door, ready to spring. The Lord was being very kind to Cain (the way the Lord is very kind to us), trying to keep something terrible from happening, something everyone would be sorry about. But Cain didn t listen to the Lord the way we sometimes don t listen when someone tries to give us good advice. And as a result, something terrible did happen. Sin leads to death, the Bible tells us, and the very first child born in the world shows us how terribly true that is. Day 2 Abel...Genesis 4:9-12 What child is this and where s he gone That God has come to find him, Whose brother, Cain, cannot explain This dear one lying beside him? Look, look a lamb you ll see That Abel cared for tenderly. Hear, hear the sad, sad cry. This brother needed keeping. Can you find the lamb in this picture? That is what Cain s brother, Abel, brought to sacrifice to the Lord. In the Bible, one of the favorite sacrifices is a lamb. It was lamb s blood that the Children of Israel painted on their doorposts so the angel of death would pass over them, for example. God arranged it so that, since the lamb died, the people didn t have to. But now look! Abel is lying dead in the field. Cain has put him to death. O Cain, that is not the way God wants it! God is willing to accept the blood of a lamb instead. Is that why Jesus is called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? On the cross his blood was shed to take our sins away. If the story has to begin with Abel s blood, it s a good thing it can end with the blood of Jesus. 6 Count the mittens. Count snowflakes. How many snowmen did we make?

Day 3 Seth...Genesis 4:25-26 What child is this whose mother calls A gift which God had granted, Who grew and grew, to start anew The promise God had planted? Seth, Seth, our story goes, And like a plant, God s family grows. Wait, wait! The time will come. God planned it from the beginning. You turn the page in this book after the sad thing you read about on the last page and look, God is so kind to people that he is willing to start over again. A new child is born, a new gift from God. In fact, as the baby s mother Eve explained, the name Seth means given. (It s not the only name with a meaning like that. Did you know that the name Dora also means a gift? Theodore means a gift of God so does Dorothy. Say them both out loud to hear that they are really the same name, only in different directions.) Isn t it wonderful that the Lord God is always giving us new gifts? Every season you can look outside and see new plants growing, a sign that God keeps giving gifts. A new sister or brother in your family is a gift from God too... and so are you! Day 4 Isaac...Genesis 21:1-8 What child is this whose daddy dear, Though old, and tired, and feeble, Was filled with glee that he should be The father of God s people? Look, look and see what joy! An old man holds his laughing boy. This child of Abraham: The promised baby, Isaac. If the name Seth means gift, the name Isaac means laughter. When the Lord told old Abraham that his wife, Sarah, was going to have a baby, Sarah overheard that conversation and started to laugh. I m too old to have a baby, she was thinking. By the time Isaac was born, Abraham was laughing too, happy that God had given them a child although they were old enough to be grandparents, even great-grandparents. Were your parents happy when you were born? What about your grandparents? Many years after Sarah and Abraham, when John the Baptist was about to be born, the angel Gabriel told the old man who was to be John s father: You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 8 Find a duck, a boy on a swing, A baseball and a tiny king.

W hat Child Is This? An Advent Book of Hide and Seek Open this book and take a peek At children playing hide-and-seek Amid the snow and winter lights And many lovely Christmas sights. But there are other things as well To seek and find, I m glad to tell, Like baskets, ladders, fish and bread, A sling, a stone, an empty bed. These little symbols we can find Are hidden here to help remind Of children in God s holy book. They tell the tale; so take a look. And in the end you re sure to see A baby born for you, for me. It s something you don t want to miss. Then you will know What child is this? CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS for the PARISH Fenton, Missouri DYB