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Celebrating Advent - December 7

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Sing: Joy To The World

Reading: Luke 1:14-17
And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Summary: The angel of the Lord had good news for Zechariah: they were going to have a baby. More importantly, this child was going to play a special role: he was going to prepare God's people for the arrival of Jesus.

Teaching Tip: The questions aren responses are only meant to be a guideline. You might find some of them more helpful than others. The goal of your devotions is to engage your child with truth of God's Word in order for them to understand it and apply it. For some answers your children may need a little help but you should still try to challenge them to think for themselves and form answers based on the Bible. Keep pointing them to the Bible!

Questions/Responses:

Have you ever been to a concert? A concert always begins with a different band and after they are finished, the band that you paid to see comes on. The band that comes on first are called the "openers" and then after they are done it is time for the "headliners." Even though the openers are usually forgotten they play an important part: they get everyone prepared for the headliners so that when it is their turn the audience is all ready for the main show. John the Baptist and Jesus are a little bit like this. John the Baptist is like the opener and Jesus is the headliner.

The very last sentence in verse 17 tells us what John's role will be. What is it? To make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

 What are some ways that John the Baptist is described? Many will rejoice at his birth, he will be great before the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit...

 What are some of the things John the Baptist will actually do? Turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, go before him [Jesus] in the Spirit/power of Elijah (John is the greatest prophet), turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, turn the hearts of the disobedient to God's wisdom...

 It is so important that Jesus is coming to the earth that God sent someone great like John the Baptist to prepare people!

Think of the song "Joy to the World." How does this song talk about getting ready for Jesus? Joy to the world the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room...

The song "Joy to the World" is like a prayer. What is it praying for? That people will receive Jesus and make room for him to be king of our lives. 

 As we think about John the Baptist and the arrival of Jesus this Christmas, how should we respond? Christmas reminds us that Jesus is returning again and we should make him king of our hearts so that we will always be ready for him. 

Prayer and Ending

Suggested Prayer: Father in heaven, thank you for helping us to see how special the arrival of Jesus was by sending someone as great as John the Baptist to prepare people to receive Jesus. We pray that our hearts would consider your arrival and how that points us to your return. Help us to live our whole lives, not just at Christmastime, ready for the return of Jesus. AMEN

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