Family Devotions to Accompany the Nativity Window Gel Set

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1 2010, 2011 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. The Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible. Family Devotions to Accompany the Nativity Window Gel Set Enclosed are four FREE reproducible devotions, written to accompany the Nativity Window Gel Set. You may make as many copies of the devotions as you would like for use in your own organization or congregation. Here are some ways to use them... Give one devotion each week in Sunday school, as part of worship time in your Christian day school, as part of devotions for midweek school, or during the Sunday morning children s sermon. Give a set of gel figures and all four devotions 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 devotions to tell the story of Christmas to all the children who attend. Then give each family a set of gel figures and their own set of devotions to take home. However you choose to use the Nativity Window Gel Set, we pray that it will draw many individuals and families closer to their Savior, Jesus, during the Advent-Christmas season. May our Lord continue to empower all the work you do for his people!

2 Devotion One: Mary Read Luke 1: Introduction Sheena s 13th birthday was just around the corner. Her sister and brother wanted to have a surprise birthday party for her. Just think what fun that would be! Sheena was about to become a teenager! But Mom said no. Why? Because Sheena hates surprises! Do you know anyone like that? Today s Bible reading tells us about someone who received a surprise. Nine months before Jesus was born, God surprised Mary. It was a very, very big surprise! The surprise wasn t a birthday party; it was a birth! The Best Surprise Ever It started out like any ordinary day, but on that day Mary received a surprise visit from the angel Gabriel. His visit changed Mary s day from ordinary to extraordinary! It s not every day an angel drops by in person for a visit, after all. Gabriel was a messenger from God, and he had amazing news for Mary. Gabriel told Mary she would become pregnant and give birth to a son. Mary was to name her baby Jesus. That name means Savior. What a surprise! It may have been the most extraordinary surprise ever. God promised Mary she would be the mother of the world s Savior, Jesus! Wow! What news! Do you know how Mary responded to that surprising news? She said, Be it unto me according to thy word (Luke 1:38). That s a surprising answer, an amazing answer, from a young woman of faith! She trusted her heavenly Father and his plans for her his plans for the world. God had everything planned perfectly. Jesus birth would take place in the little town of Bethlehem. Jesus would grow up in Nazareth. He would minister to people publicly for about three years before being crucified. And he would rise from the dead three days later. Yes, God planned that Jesus would do each of these things for us! Now, everyone who believes in Jesus as the Savior has forgiveness of sins now and eternal life some day in heaven. That news may not surprise you. You may have heard it many times. Pray, though, that you ll never grow tired of hearing it! We don t deserve God s love. We don t deserve his forgiveness. We don t deserve his presence and help in our lives. But God surprises us with his goodness and grace. And what a wonderful surprise! Jesus loves us so much he gave his life for us! Surprised? It s the best news ever! Taking It Home God chose Mary to play a very special role in his plan to rescue the world from sin, death, and the devil. God has chosen us to have a special part in his plan, too. Jesus did the saving, but he wants us to do the telling! We get to tell the world about all God s gifts of love. Does it surprise you to know God wants to use you? Talk together in your family about some ways God has used you in the past. Then discuss some of the ways he might work through you in the future. Put the Mary and Joseph gel figures on a window or on your refrigerator where everyone in the house can see them.

3 Pray Together Heavenly Father, thank you for giving Mary such faith! Thank you that she welcomed the opportunity to be your special servant. Work in us through the Holy Spirit so that we have the same kind of faith-filled hearts. Then give us many opportunities to share your surprising love in what we do and say. You ve given us the very best Christmas gifts we could ever receive, Lord! Thank you! Amen. 2010, 2011 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. The Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.

4 Devotion Two: Baby Jesus Read Isaiah 9:2 6. Introduction Think about something special someone has done for you. Think about something special you have done for someone else. It s fun to love others and do special things for them, isn t it? But no one ever did anything more special than what Jesus did for us! Getting to the Heart Jesus was born for us! The Bible says, For unto us a child is born (Isaiah 9:6)! Let s think about those words for a moment. God himself became a human baby, a child born for sinners. That s us! We needed that child, named Jesus, to be born because we need forgiveness for our sins. That s one of the reasons Jesus left heaven and came to earth to live the sinless, perfect life we could not live. Now, God counts Jesus perfect obedience toward our lives. Our record in heaven is perfect all because of Jesus. A child is born for those doomed to die. That s us! By our sins, we had earned God s punishment. We deserved to die, to spend eternity away from God and apart from his love. But Jesus took all our sins upon himself, carrying them to the cross. He let himself be crucified instead of us. He never sinned, but he died a sinner s death! He died in our place. He did it all for us! Then he rose from the dead, destroying death s power. Now, those who believe in Jesus will live forever with God in heaven all because of Jesus. A child is born for all who need hope. That s us! We needed that child named Jesus to be born, because at times things in this world can look hopeless and sad. With the birth of Jesus came the good news of hope and of God s perfect help with all our troubles and problems. Here on earth, we almost always face challenges and difficulties. But because Jesus is our friend, we know he is always at work to turn our bad news to good. He s always working with our best interests in mind. He can turn any situation from hopeless to hopeful. Jesus was born in what looked like an awful situation. Mary and Joseph were alone. They had to stay in an animal shelter. The few visitors who came to see Baby Jesus were stinky ol shepherds! It looked bad, but God was at work in it to bring about the best news ever. Jesus birth changed the world! Jesus life changed the world! Jesus death and resurrection changed the world! Jesus came into a hopeless looking world to bring us the gift of hope. Now we can have joy no matter what happens all because of Jesus. A child is born for us. His name is Jesus. He changed the world. He changes our world still today. We need Jesus. We need his forgiveness, his love, and his gift of heaven. We need his promises. We need his help, his presence, and his hope. We are needy people. That s why Jesus came to earth. He did it all for us! What a Savior! What a friend! What a love he shares with us! Thank you, Jesus! Taking It Home The most important part of the gel display is the piece with Baby Jesus in the manger. You can put it on your window or affix it to your fridge, near Mary and Joseph.

5 Pray Together Lord Jesus, you have done so much for us. Listen now as we thank you for many of those things... (Take turns sharing prayers of thanksgiving. These can be simple go around the circle, each naming one thing Jesus has done for which you are thankful. Or your prayers can be more elaborate each person praying a few sentences from the heart.) 2010, 2011 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. The Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.

6 Devotion Three: Shepherds & Angels Read Luke 2:8 18. Introduction Look at this angel. (Show the angel from the gel set.) How do we know it s an angel? (Likely, children will mention the angel s wings.) What part did angels play in the very first Christmas? (Let everyone speculate, but save the answer until later in the devotion.) Getting to the Heart Very often, artists depict angels with wings, but the Bible never mentions angel wings. It does tell us that angels are spirits. (See Hebrews 1:14.) This means angels are real beings, that they have a mind and a will, but no physical body. However, angels do sometimes take on human form, especially when they bring God s messages to people on earth. That s one of the jobs angels perform. They are God s messengers. For example, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to deliver God s message that she would be the mother of the Savior. Do you know of other times angels delivered God s messages to people on earth? (Let children comment.) The Christmas story includes several appearances by angels. A whole sky full of angels told the shepherds the good news that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Angels also appeared at the empty tomb of Jesus on Easter morning. The Bible says the angels looked like young men. They brought a wonderful message that first Easter day. Jesus was risen from the dead! He had conquered sin and death for us. (See Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4.) Although Scripture doesn t describe angels with wings, artists draw angels this way to illustrate a very important truth about the holy angels. God s angels always and quickly obey him. They fly just as fast as they can to deliver his messages to earth just like Gabriel did when he brought good news to Mary and just like the Easter angels did after Jesus resurrection. Artists often depict Christmas angels blowing trumpets. None of the Christmas accounts in the Bible talk about trumpets. But artists include trumpets to remind us of the wonderful, joyous, powerful message the angels brought to earth that very first Christmas night! Listen to those words one more time. (Reread Luke 2:11 14.) That s a message to share! A message to share everywhere! And that s just what the shepherds did! Listen again! (Reread Luke 2:16 18.) The angels message was the best news those shepherds had ever heard! So they told everyone they met what they had seen and heard. Taking It Home So what does this mean for us today? What does it mean during this whole Christmas season? We have heard the great, good news the angels shouted that night to sleepy shepherds on the Judean hillside. We have come to know the Savior the shepherds saw. We believe Jesus is our Savior from sin and the Savior of the world. This week, add the lamb and angel figures to your picture on a window or refrigerator. Remember that like the angels and the shepherds, we know God s deep love love that never ends. That love makes it possible for us to love other people. This love isn t a sweet feeling. It s doing what s best for the other person, whether we feel like it or not. That kind of love goes on and on, even after Christmas ends. It s God s kind of year-round, all-the-time love.

7 We show that love to others. We also tell them about that love not our love, but God s love in sending Jesus so that our sins can be forgiven and so that we can live with him now and forever in heaven someday. Pray Together Thank you, Lord, for the holy angels who brought the wonderful news of Jesus birth to the shepherds. Thank you for the shepherds who told that news to many people. Teach us to show your love and to speak about that love to the people around us day by day. Amen. 2010, 2011 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. The Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.

8 Devotion Four: Star Read Matthew 2:1 11. Introduction Who or what is the real Star of Christmas? a) Santa Claus b) The gifts c) The Christmas tree d) None of the above Christians celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ, the world s Savior. We ve been talking about that in the weeks leading up to our Christmas celebration. But while we know this and talk about it, sometimes we let other things take first place in our hearts. We forget about the most important Christmas gift Jesus. He s truly the Star of Christmas. The Star of Christmas A star is born... The birth of Jesus is a fascinating story. It happened so simply, yet so miraculously. Jesus had a humble birth; yet angels filled the sky to announce it to the shepherds. Who would have guessed the world s Savior would be born this way? No matter how many times we ve heard it before, that story still amazes and thrills us. Just think, God came to earth as a human baby to save his sinful human children from our sins! A rising star... Some time after Jesus was born, Wise Men came from a far-off land to see and worship the newborn King Jesus. By the time they arrived, Joseph had moved his little family to a house in Bethlehem. How did the Wise Men know where to go? What brought them to Jesus? A star showed them the way! The Wise Men traveled a long way, following the special star God had placed in the sky. At first, they stopped in the city of Jerusalem the capital city. They asked King Herod for directions. Surely, Israel s king would know the way to the newborn Savior-King! But King Herod didn t know! He gathered his own wise advisors. Where would the Savior-King be born? Do you know where they found the answer? In the Old Testament! Almost 700 years earlier, the prophet Micah had talked about Bethlehem and the ruler who would be born there. (See Micah 5:2.) That ancient prophecy sent the Wise Men off to Bethlehem! The star guided them and soon they found the house where Jesus lived with Mary and Joseph. They worshiped Baby Jesus. They also presented valuable gifts gold, incense, and myrrh. They knew that Jesus was the world s true Savior-King. The bright Morning Star... The Christmas star led the Wise Men to Jesus. But did you know that in the Bible, Jesus calls himself the Morning Star? You can find that in the Bible s last chapter Revelation 22:16. Thousands of years earlier, even before the prophet Micah, another prophet told about a star who would come out of Israel. (See Numbers 24:17.) God s people knew that this star would be their Savior. Jesus is that star. He is the bright Morning Star who came to save us. We could say that God s plan to save us all started in a little town of Bethlehem, but actually, God s plan of salvation began before he made the world! It began before Adam and Eve sinned. God has always loved us! So, at just the right

9 time, God sent his Son, Jesus, into the world. He s our Savior, the bright Morning Star, and he deserves our eternal worship and praise! Taking It Home Now we can add the last gel piece to our window or refrigerator the Christmas star! Let s put it above Jesus manger. It can remind us that Jesus is the Star of Christmas, our eternal Savior! Pray Together Lord Jesus, you are the bright Morning Star! Your love amazes us. We worship you! Teach us to show our love for you in everything we do and everything we say. Amen. 2010, 2011 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. The Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.