Skip to main content

Celebrating Advent - December 24

By



Sing: Silent Night

Reading: Luke 2:15-21

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Summary (for your preparation): Awe and wonder are really the themes of this section. The shepherds naturally respond to the invitation of the angels (tough to see them passing this one up). When they get there and tell of their story, those who heard it are filled with wonder. Perhaps the high point of this section unfold in Mary's response, she treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

What a story. It is amazing to think that God is starting this whole thing with the most regular and insignificant of people. God has come into the world. If anything, this is one last plea to let the wonder of his wisdom and mercy and love of God register in our hearts...if we will do as Mary did and treasure these thing, pondering in our own hearts.

Teaching Tip: Consider that none of these people involved in the story had the New Testament to read. Thus, they were each putting their stories together and each of their stories were confirming what they had heard separately from one another. For them, they were coming to a greater realization    of what God was doing and who Jesus was. Help your children to understand that what is obvious to us wasn't to them. If we are being honest, maybe we ourselves think we understand who Jesus is better than we really do, especially if our hearts lack a sense of wonder and amazement at what this child will be. 

Questions/Responses:

The shepherds were invited to go see Jesus. Did they go? Would you go? Yes, they responded with excitement and went and found Jesus

 What did the shepherds tell Mary and Joseph? They told them about being visited by the angels and what the angels told them about Jesus

 What was the response of Mary and Joseph? They were filled with wonder and Mary treasured these things in her heart. 

 Remember, all of these people didn't have a New Testament Bible to read, so they were just discovering what God was doing with Jesus. Do you think we have things we can learn from them as they were learning for the first time? Yes, we always have new things to learn about who Jesus is and how amazing God's wisdom is. Overtime we read this story we should treat it like it is our first time hearing it, this is to protect ourselves from pride and thinking that we know everything there is to know about who Jesus really is!

 Think back over all of your readings and discussion. What is one new way God helped you to understand him and worship him this Christmas?

Prayer and Ending

Prayer: Father in heaven, thank you for this amazing story and for your amazing work in bringing Jesus into this world. Please guard us against the pride of thinking we know everything there is to know about Jesus. Help us to enter into the wonder of this story as if it were the first time, just like the shepherds and Joseph and Mary. May your people treasure these things up and ponder them in their hearts so that they would be filled with worship for you this Christmas. AMEN

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vendi...
Post a Comment
Read more