A Night like No Other

Transcription

1 Host a Mom s Day Out or other community event. Use the devotions and Activity Sticks to tell the story of Christmas to all the children who attend. Then give each family a set of the A Night like No Other devotions, Activity Sticks, and Faith Home conversation starters to take with them as they leave. Regardless of how you use these materials, we pray that the message and activities will draw many individuals and families closer to their Savior, Jesus, as they prepare for Christmas during this joyful season. May our Lord continue to bless all the work you do for his people! 2014 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. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible. A Night like No Other Devotions to Accompany the A Night like No Other Activity Sticks For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 Enclosed are four FREE reproducible devotions, written to accompany the A Night like No Other Activity Sticks (Item #NLN4AK). They come with four Faith Home conversation starters for children in your ministry to take home to their families to enrich their preparation for Christmas. You may make as many copies as you would like for use in your own organization or congregation. Here are some ways to use them... Present one devotion each week in Sunday school, as part of worship time in your Christian day school, as part of worship time during midweek Bible club, or during the Sunday morning children s sermon. Send the Faith Home pieces with the children as they leave each day. Give one set of four A Night like No Other devotions and Activity Sticks to each family during a family activity or Advent fair four weeks before Christmas. Encourage families to use one devotion and the matching Faith Home conversation starter piece each week as, together, they prepare to celebrate Christmas.

2 Devotion 1: God s Christmas Promises Familiarize yourself with today s devotion. Mark your Bible at Luke 1:26 33 so you can find it quickly during your message. Plan to use a children s Bible if you can. Punch the 12 Activity Sticks out and place them in a cup for easy selecting you will also use this to show the children how they can store the sticks when they get home. Think about how to distribute the Activity Sticks and this week s family devotion. You will send all the sticks and the Faith Home page for Week 1 with the children as they leave today. If your group is large, ask a volunteer to help distributing these pieces. As you begin, hide the Activity Sticks nearby. Hold your Bible or have it nearby. Warmly greet the children and invite them to sit down near you. What s a promise? Have you ever made a promise? Did you keep it? (Let volunteers answer briefly.) People make all kinds of promises. We keep some of our promises. We break some of our promises. Sometimes we break a promise because we forget. Sometimes we break a promise because we just can t keep it. Maybe we re sick or something else gets in the way. Sometimes we break a promise because we didn t really mean the promise when we made it. Today s reading from God s Book contains a promise. It s a promise like no other promise. Listen and then be ready to tell me what that promise is. (Read Luke 1:26 33.) What was the promise? (That Mary would have a baby. She was to name the baby Jesus. ) Who made the promise? (The angel Gabriel, speaking for God.) That s right! The Bible says, The angel Gabriel was sent from God (Luke 1:26). And did God mean this promise? Did he keep this promise? Yes, he did! At Christmastime, we remember God s promise to send a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. He is a Savior like no other! In love, Baby Jesus came to earth. In love, Jesus grew up and died on the cross to take away our sins. In love and power, Jesus rose from the dead. Now, our sins are gone. In love, God promised to save us and he kept that promise! At Christmastime, we pray prayers of thanks and praise to God for his love. God promises to hear those prayers. Do you suppose he keeps that promise? Yes, he does! I want each of you to take these sticks home today. You can stand them all up in a cup and keep them on the kitchen counter or the table where you eat. Every day, someone in your family can pull one stick out of the cup and read the activity that way, everyone can get ready for Christmas together. (Show the sticks that you placed in the cup and demonstrate pulling out a stick and finding the heart activity.) Can you see the words here, with little hearts next to them? The hearts remind us of God s love for us. The heart activities suggest ways we can pray at Christmastime, especially ways we can praise and thank God for sending Jesus a Savior like no other! Give each child a set of the A Night like No Other Activity Sticks and a copy of Faith Home for Week 1. Encourage them to use the Activity Sticks at home this week especially the sticks with the hearts on them as they think about Jesus coming to save us 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. Pullout Reproducible Page * * * A Night like No Other Activity Kit * * * Pullout Reproducible Page 1

3 Devotion 2: Good News for You This Christmas Familiarize yourself with today s devotion. Mark your Bible at Luke 2:1 14 so you can find it quickly during your presentation. Plan to use a children s Bible if you can. As before, have the Activity Sticks in a cup for easy selecting you will also use this to show the children how they can store the sticks when they get home. If some children did not receive a set of A Night like No Other Activity Sticks last time, have some available to give them. You will send the Faith Home page for Week 2 with the children as they leave today. If your group is large, ask a volunteer to help. Hold your Bible or have it nearby. Warmly greet the children and invite them to sit down near you. Think about the news your moms and dads read in the newspaper or online or watch on TV. Is it usually good news or bad news? (Let volunteers respond.) Sometimes there s good news, if your team won the big game or someone you know is getting an award. But most of the time, the news focuses on wars and robberies and earthquakes disasters! It s bad news. I want you to listen while I read Luke 2:1 14. Then you can tell me if this is good news or bad news. (Read the text.) It was a night like no other! The sky split open and angels came to earth! I bet those shepherds were scared at least, at first. Did the angel have bad news or good news for the shepherds? Yes, it was good news. What was that good news? Yes, Baby Jesus had been born. The angels sang, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14)! It was the first Christmas, and Jesus was the Savior whom God was sending. We know this is true because God s Book, the Bible, says so. The Bible has both bad news and good news. It tells us that we have sinned and that we deserve to be punished for our sins. That s very bad news, isn t it? But the Bible also tells us that God loves us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus on the very first Christmas. Baby Jesus grew up, and then one day he died on the cross to take our sins away. That s good news, very good news! It s good news like no other! It s the best news of all! The Activity Sticks I gave you last time can help you and your family get ready for Christmas. Some of these sticks have little crosses on them. Those activities suggest Bible verses and stories you can read to learn more about the Good News of Christmas and about Jesus, God s Gift to us. Jesus is a Christmas gift like no other! If any children did not receive a set of the A Night like No Other Activity Sticks last time, distribute the sticks now. Explain how to place them in a cup for easy selection, and how to use them once a day so everyone in the family can talk about Jesus birth together. Give everyone a copy of this week s Faith Home. Encourage them to pay particular attention to the Activity Sticks with crosses on them as their families read and learn more about Jesus coming to save us 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. 2 Pullout Reproducible Page * * * A Night like No Other Activity Kit * * * Pullout Reproducible Page

4 Devotion 3: Joy! Joy! Joy! Familiarize yourself with today s devotion. Mark your Bible at Luke 2:8 14 so you can find it quickly during your presentation. Plan to use a children s Bible if you can. As before, have the Activity Sticks in a cup for easy selecting you will also use this to show the children how they can store the sticks when they get home. If some children did not receive a set of A Night like No Other Activity Sticks last time, have some available to give them. You will send the Faith Home page for Week 3 with the children as they leave today. If your group is large, ask a volunteer to help. Hold your Bible or have it nearby. Warmly greet the children and invite them to sit down near you. For many people, Christmastime is a time for lots of fun things. People bake and decorate cookies. People put up decorations in their homes and sometimes in their yards. People go to parties and concerts. What is the most fun part of Christmas for you? (Let volunteers respond.) At Christmas, we hear the word joy a lot. Fun and joy are alike in some ways. But they are different in some important ways, too. I am going to read part of the Bible story from last time. I want you to listen for the word joy and see if you can figure out what it means. (Read Luke 2:8 14.) Did the shepherds have Christmas cookies? Did the shepherds have a Christmas tree? Did the shepherds hang wreaths on their front door or sing Jingle Bells? No, they did none of these fun things. But did the shepherds have Christmas joy? Yes! Yes, they did! Just like the angels said. Listen: I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people (Luke 2:10). The good news the angels shared filled the shepherds hearts with joy! The Savior whom God had promised long, long ago had come to take away their sins! That was very, very good news joyful news! So how about us? Could we have Christmas joy even if we didn t have cookies and candy canes? Even if we didn t have a Christmas tree or get any presents? Yes, we could! Presents, parties, and cookies make Christmas fun. But the good news that God sent Jesus to be our Savior makes Christmas a celebration like no other. That good news brings joy that never ends. The Activity Sticks you have received can help you and your family experience the joy God wants you to have this Christmas. The sticks for this week have little Christmas trees on them. They suggest many faith and fun activities you can do to celebrate Christmas and to help others celebrate it too. God gives us both joy and fun at Christmastime. I m glad about that, aren t you? If any children did not receive a set of the A Night like No Other Activity Sticks last time, distribute the sticks now. Explain how to place them in a cup for easy selection, and how to use them once a day so everyone in the family can talk about Jesus birth together. Give everyone a copy of this week s Faith Home. Encourage them to pay particular attention to the Activity Sticks with Christmas trees on them as their families have fun and grow in joy together 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. Pullout Reproducible Page * * * A Night like No Other Activity Kit * * * Pullout Reproducible Page 3

5 Devotion 4: Tell the Good News! Share the Great Joy! Familiarize yourself with today s devotion. Mark your Bible at Luke 2:15 20 so you can find it quickly during your presentation. Plan to use a children s Bible if you can. As before, have the Activity Sticks in a cup for easy selecting you will also use this to show the children how they can store the sticks when they get home. If some children have not yet received a set of the A Night like No Other Activity Sticks, have some available to give them. You will send the Faith Home page for Week 4 with the children as they leave today. If your group is large, ask a volunteer to help. Hold your Bible or have it nearby. Warmly greet the children and invite them to sit down near you. Do you like to share? Sometimes when we share, we have less. For example, suppose I have two Christmas cookies. If I share with (name one of the children), I have only one cookie. Who can think of another example? (Let a volunteer suggest another scenario.) Sometimes, though, when we share, we have more instead of less. Listen and see if you can figure out what I mean. (Read Luke 2:15 20.) What did the shepherds share? Yes, they shared the good news that the Savior had been born. As they shared that good news, they themselves grew more and more joyful! Instead of having less joy, they had more joy. The Bible says, The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen (Luke 2:20). At Christmastime, we can be especially tempted to be selfish. We can be tempted to want all the cookies and all the presents for ourselves. We can be tempted to believe that if we share, we ll have less. Selfishness is sin. When we are selfish, we always have less less joy, less peace, and a less happy Christmas than God our heavenly Father wants us to have. Jesus came to earth to earn forgiveness for our selfishness. He came to change our selfish hearts into sharing hearts. He came so we could have more joy, not less a joy like no other, a joy that lasts forever! How do we get that joy? By trusting Jesus to forgive us. By believing he will give us everything we really need. And by asking him to take away our selfishness and make us want to share. The Activity Sticks you have received can help everyone in your family get ready for Christmas. The sticks for this week have little stars on them. They suggest many ways you can share all kinds of things especially Jesus love this Christmas. As you share your joy, it grows. So by sharing joy, you have not less, but more of it! If any children did not receive a set of the A Night like No Other Activity Sticks last time, distribute the sticks now. Explain how to place them in a cup for easy selection, and how to use them once a day so everyone in the family can talk about Jesus birth together. Give everyone a copy of this week s Faith Home. Encourage them to pay particular attention to the Activity Sticks with stars on them as their families shine the light of Jesus love in their communities 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. #GNJ3DF 4 Pullout Reproducible Page * * * A Night like No Other Activity Kit * * * Pullout Reproducible Page

6 Faith Home What promises have we made to each other in our family? What promises have we kept? What promises have we broken? Why do people make promises? Why do we sometimes break them? What promises does God make to us? What promises has he kept? God keeps all his promises to us. At Christmastime, we especially remember God s promise to send us a Savior to rescue us from sin. It is a promise like no other promise! Jesus is that Savior. He is a Savior like no other! Why are you glad God kept that promise? particular attention to the heart activities, which encourage you to pray, praise, and thank God for keeping his promise to send the Savior, Jesus. Also sometime this week, read the promise God made to Mary in Luke 1: Faith Home What bad news have you heard about this week? What good news? Read Luke 2:1 14. How do you suppose the shepherds felt when the angels first appeared? I ll bet they were afraid! At first, it must have felt as though some very bad news was on its way. But the angel had very good news instead! What was that good news? Baby Jesus came to earth on the first Christmas. He came to be the shepherds Savior and our Savior, too. The Bible tells us so. This week s Activity Sticks have little crosses on them. The cross symbol reminds us of what Jesus did to save us. Jesus is a Savior like no other! particular attention to the cross activities, which encourage you to read verses from the Bible that tell God s great, good news! Faith Home At Christmastime, people often use the word joy. What do you think that word means? How is joy different from fun? We have fun together at Christmastime. What things are the most fun for you? We also have joy at Christmastime and all year through, because we know Jesus as our family s best Friend and Savior. How does that joy change and bless our family? At Christmastime, God gives us both joy and fun. That s how good God is! He is a God and Savior like no other! particular attention to the Christmas tree fun activities, which encourage you to share the joy that faith in Jesus brings. Also sometime this week, take time to read Luke 2:8 14 and talk about the joy God gave the shepherds. Faith Home Christmas is a time for sharing. When is sharing hard for you? Jesus came to earth on the first Christmas in part because all of us are sometimes selfish. Jesus was selfless, not selfish. He died on the cross so that all our sins could be forgiven, even sins of selfishness. Jesus loves us with a love like no other love! When we share Jesus love, we end up with more not less more joy, more peace, more confident trust that God cares for us. Sharing Jesus love brings a joy like no other joy! particular attention to the star activities, which encourage you to share Jesus love with others in all kinds of ways. Also sometime this week, read Luke 2:15 20 and talk about the joy the shepherds shared on the very first Christmas.