You want Christmas to be meaningful and memorable—and that’s the idea behind Our Family Christmas, a “memory-making devotional” for families with children elementary age and younger. In 28 thoughtful readings, you’ll see the true meaning of the holiday, and be encouraged to perform simple activities to enhance your enjoyment of Christmas. Activity ideas are provided, rounding out each of the devotionals on a different aspect of the Nativity story—from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, to Jesus’ swaddling clothes, to gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Relevant lyrics from carols and brief prayer starters are also provided, all set within beautifully designed pages.
You want Christmas to be meaningful and memorable—and that’s the idea behind Our Family Christmas, a “memory-making devotional” for families with children elementary age and younger. In 28 thoughtful readings, you’ll see the true meaning of the holiday, and be encouraged to perform simple activities to enhance your enjoyment of Christmas. Activity ideas are provided, rounding out each of the devotionals on a different aspect of the Nativity story—from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, to Jesus’ swaddling clothes, to gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Relevant lyrics from carols and brief prayer starters are also provided, all set within beautifully designed pages.
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Overview
You want Christmas to be meaningful and memorable—and that’s the idea behind Our Family Christmas, a “memory-making devotional” for families with children elementary age and younger. In 28 thoughtful readings, you’ll see the true meaning of the holiday, and be encouraged to perform simple activities to enhance your enjoyment of Christmas. Activity ideas are provided, rounding out each of the devotionals on a different aspect of the Nativity story—from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, to Jesus’ swaddling clothes, to gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Relevant lyrics from carols and brief prayer starters are also provided, all set within beautifully designed pages.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781624164934 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Barbour Publishing, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 160 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
November 28 Receiving and Giving
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus."
Luke 1:26–31 NIV
God gave His gift of pure love by allowing one of us to carry out His plan. Yes, Mary's character was impeccable and her willingness to serve greatly honorable, but perhaps what God saw most when He looked at His "highly favored" daughter was the depth of her love, pure as God's and out there for everyone to see. She chose to give the gift that only she could — bearing our Savior.
At Christmas and always, we learn from Mary how to live out loud our love for God. We can grab onto whatever God places before us and live a life that says, "God gives, I receive, and then I give back. Watch!"
Today we can touch our family members, friends, and even strangers with the simple and pure love of Christ. We can do what Mary did — trust that God has found something favorable within us that fits the special work He has for us. And because He loves with a pure love that supplies whatever we lack, we can live our love for Him out loud simply by doing what He asks. That's a gift we both receive from God and can return to Him at will and without fear. Because God still gives and receives, so can we.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the opportunity to follow Mary's example and love You out loud to those around us.
Activity
Help your children understand how simple loving God is — receiving His grace, following Him, and showing Him to others. As a family, decorate a greeting card for a faraway friend or put together a basket of candy for a lonely neighbor. Younger children may enjoy calling a family member on the phone and singing a carol. Remind your children that God is especially pleased when we love Him by loving others.
O Holy Night
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
Truly He taught us to love one another;
NOVEMBER 29 A Crown for Jesus
"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."
Luke 1:32–33 NASB
Jesus, who always was and always will be, makes His debut in human form one holy night — and the world is forever changed. The Babe born to live and die and live again is the ultimate circle, and His divinity and sovereignty reign forever in our hearts and in our world.
Christmas reminds us again of His eternal love and unshakable grasp on our lives. Gabriel was clear in His announcement so that we can be clear in our understanding — as constant as God's breath on the leaves of the trees and steady as His hand shoving waves to the shore, Jesus' living presence encircles us and makes Christmas live eternally in our hearts.
Part of our Christmas joy, and our every-other-day joy, too, comes in partnering with Jesus in His reign. He leads and we follow, to touch those we meet with a hand of friendship, a gift of forgiveness, the grace of understanding.
He is Son of the Most High — and because of His love, we become part of His kingdom. Because of His will, we become part of His reach to those around us. Before He was born of flesh, God created Him to meet our needs — and with Him we'll serve others, doing all we can to be the physical evidence of His unbroken love. It's our honor to share the gift of Christmas every day, never ending.
Prayer
Father, thank You for King Jesus who reigns over our whole world and our family, now and forever, and lets us serve with Him.
Activity
Make a crown with your children out of construction paper, craft sticks, pipe cleaners, or whatever you have. Use it for a tree topper, a table centerpiece, or package decoration. Explain to your children that Jesus' love is like the circle of a crown — no beginning and no end because it always was and always will be. His love and power last forever because God made Him that way.
Silent Night
Silent night, holy night,
Silent night, holy night,
Silent night, holy night,
Silent night, holy night,
NOVEMBER 30 Who Do You Trust?
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
Matthew 1:18–19 NIV
We can understand Joseph's concern, surprised by Mary's news of the Christ child's coming. Those around him might not believe Mary about her visit from the angel, and the best choice might seem to leave her quietly without facing the public doubt about the impending birth. But Joseph wasn't sure....
Sometimes we're faced with situations that pit us against what we believe and what the world might believe about us. That's when we remember the value of those who have always been honest with us and the value of our own honesty, too.
Mary's character made her a credible source of information. It's important that we work to build that same credibility with those around us every day. We do that by telling the truth, by being a good representative of Christ in all we do, by following through on our promises to those we love.
Family members learn to trust each other and friends learn to trust friends over time — it's a deeply satisfying gift from God. And we learn to be trustworthy because Jesus showed us how. He has never lied to us, abandoned us, tricked us, or led us the wrong way. Let us always value our trusted relationships and work every day to make them even better, especially at Christmas.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the gift of trust to share with each other and Christ. Please help us live all our relationships in trust.
Activity
Show your children several sets of two photos, one of a parent and one of a stranger, then one of a grandparent and one of a stranger, etc. Ask which person in each set of photos they would trust. Then do a simple exercise, such as close your eyes and tell a child that you trust her to give you a kiss on the cheek and explain that by being trustworthy in small areas, we gain trustworthiness in bigger ones.
Good King Wenceslas
Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen,
DECEMBER 1 His Faithful Guidance
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:20–21 NIV
Eager to help Joseph make his decision about marrying Mary, God chose to reveal His will in a dream. He may lead us the same way today — or, more often, He'll guide us with His Word, the teachings of Jesus, and the blessing of wisdom we acquire the more we learn about Him. It's His beautiful and strong gift of guidance that grows the more we rely on it.
Faithful as the earth's travels, God continues to reveal Himself to us through the simple and, especially, the scary times of our lives — allowing us to know Him better so that we'll hear His voice and learn to trust His will more securely every day, even without an angel in a dream. God showed us how Joseph trusted and followed Him so that we can, too.
May we always remember the gift of Christ, God's guiding Word come to life. May we study and cherish God's Word and humbly accept His guidance so that we'll know when He speaks to us. Trusting the Giver to impart to us no less than the best answer and the best route, we can put our feet in the prints He leaves in every moment and mix-up in our lives. We can go on to our great and unique purposes when we go with God. Christmas is our time to begin, or begin again, our reliance on this special gift of His guidance.
Prayer
Father, thank You for guiding us and helping us trust You as Joseph did.
Activity
For your family Bible or each child's Bible, make covers that say something like "Our Answers" or "The Gift of Guidance" and reinforce to your children how God's Word and the teachings of Jesus will always lead them and help them make good choices. Decorate the covers and place the Bibles under your Christmas tree or in another place of honor for the season.
Go, Tell It on the Mountain
Go, tell it on the mountain,
While shepherds kept their watching O'er silent flocks by night Behold throughout the heavens There shone a holy light.
The shepherds feared and trembled,
Down in a lowly manger The humble Christ was born And God sent us salvation That blessed Christmas morn.
DECEMBER 2 We Don't Have to Wait
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 NIV
Isaiah prophesied years before Jesus' physical birth, centuries before mere mortals could touch Him and see Him, millennia before our own Christmas celebrations — and it's all come true. Before computers could read and microwaves could cook, He was. And He always will be. That reminder comes again at Christmas each year — and when the security in our lives can feel as transient as a stock market's gains, the promise of His everlasting being is reassurance we grab onto and don't let go.
The Everlasting Father who lives in our hearts takes on the fears and trials of this life that only feel everlasting — the jagged struggles that bounce off our raw and bleeding hearts and threaten to knock us down, shatter our focus, and leave us whimpering and beat. But unlike Isaiah's listeners, we don't have to wait for our Wonderful Counselor to appear. He came to earth with Christmas and stays to love us always.
We trust Jesus is alive in our hearts, we see Him in the kindness of strangers, and we feel Him in the love of our family members. He is everywhere at once because we all need Him, and Christmas reminds us again that our Jesus will outlast everything — and knowing that, we know all we need to know.
Prayer
Father, thank You for our everlasting Jesus and His love and grace that never end.
Activity
Help your children understand the difference between things that are everlasting and things that aren't. Let each child name something that doesn't last — a movie, a tummy ache, a birthday cake, a flower, a scratch or bruise — these aren't everlasting. But a parent's love and our Father's love are, and no matter what, no matter where, Jesus lives and loves us forever.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
December 3 Present, Now and Forever
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
Matthew 1:22–23 NKJV
If God is with us in Jesus (and He is), then it follows that we're with Him. Let us not overlook His beautiful and generous gift of abiding with us, so much more than sharing the same space. God's gift of abiding means sharing our lives and making us a vessel to receive and pass on His grace and peace and courage and wisdom and love. It means we can be more like Him every day because He gives us Himself.
Our Father knows our flaws and shortcomings, but He loves us more than we can mess up. And so each Christmas we're reminded of His ability to do anything but turn away from us. We joyously celebrate our "God with us" Savior's birth because the gift never ends.
Though steady stars may be obscured by passing clouds, they are no less present and powerful. And even when we feel momentarily alone and alarmed by passing fears, our Immanuel gift is no less present and powerful. Christmas tells us that from one silent night to a forever future, we abide with the One who came for us and will not leave. And close in heart, we learn to be like Him, sharing grace and peace and courage and wisdom and love because He first gave it all to us.
Prayer
Father, thank You for Your greatest Gift, our Savior Jesus Christ, who abides with us. Please help us be more like You in every way, every day.
Activity
For each family member, draw and cut out a small heart from construction paper or a greeting card. Write on each one "God is with me" or "My Immanuel gift" or something similar. Be sure family members will have their hearts with them each day, in a wallet, lunchbox, favorite book, or other item. Remind your children that Jesus is always with them and Christmas is a beautiful time to remember and celebrate that gift of abiding even more.
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell O, come to us, abide with us Our Lord, Emmanuel Our Lord, Emmanuel
DECEMBER 4 Active Rest
"For nothing will be impossible with God." LUKE 1:37 NASB
The angel Gabriel reassures Mary that what appears quite impossible to her is simply a matter of will for God. And the reassurance continues for us today, because when we practice our trust, we can make Gabriel's statement ourselves in total confidence and rest. And that rest is a wonderful gift from God.
The gift of rest comes when we trust what we can't see because we trust that He sees us, and that's enough. And if that's true and possible, no confines will ever hold His will. We trust unseen and believe the Immanuel promise of "God with us" — the most important and impossible-looking blessing of all, that gives us rest like nothing else.
But this rest is no lazy or bored time of inactivity — no, it's just the opposite, because it means we're able to enjoy our lives and our families and all God's planned for us because we trust God has everything in His hands and knows exactly what He's doing with it all and with us every minute. We can dare to dream great dreams and follow the directions He gives us. We can do our part like Mary did and leave everything else to Him — and worry not one bit but rest instead, knowing our Father is in control, seeing all we can't and seeing us without fail. It's Christmas every day.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the opportunity to rest in our trust of Jesus who is always able to do the impossible because of who He is.
Activity
Help your children understand God's unlimited possibilities. Can you see inside a Christmas present? No, but God can. Can you listen to everyone's prayers at one time? No, but God can. Encourage your children to give their own examples of something they or a family member can't do but God can.
Behold the Great Creator Makes
Behold the great Creator makes Himself a house of clay,
This wonder struck the world amazed,
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Our Family Christmas Devotional"
by .
Copyright © 2010 Barbour Publishing, Inc..
Excerpted by permission of Barbour Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction: "O Come, All Ye Faithful," Your Family Together,
November 28: Receiving and Giving (Luke 1:26–31),
November 29: A Crown for Jesus (Luke 1:32–33),
November 30: Who Do You Trust? (Matthew 1:18–19),
December 1: His Faithful Guidance (Matthew 1:20–21),
December 2: We Don't Have to Wait (Isaiah 9:6),
December 3: Present, Now and Forever (Matthew 1:22–23),
December 4: Active Rest (Luke 1:37),
December 5: Worshipful Serving (Luke 1:46–49),
December 6: Prepared and Ready (Luke 2:1–3),
December 7: Home and Home Again (Luke 2:4–5),
December 8: Chosen Today (Isaiah 48:17),
December 9: Promises Now and Forever (2 Samuel 7:16),
December 10: Knowing What's Important (Luke 2:7),
December 11: A Manger Spoken For (Luke 2:6–7),
December 12: Wrapped in Focus (Luke 2:7),
December 13: Shepherding Us Now (Luke 2:8),
December 14: Unafraid (Luke 2:9),
December 15: Just for You (Luke 2:10–11),
December 16: Signs Everywhere (Luke 2:12),
December 17: Cattle Lowing, Us Loving (Isaiah 55:12),
December 18: Glory, Peace, and Me (Luke 2:13–14),
December 19: Choosing to Share (Luke 2:15–17),
December 20: Time Well Spent (Luke 2:18–19),
December 21: "This Way" (Matthew 2:1–2),
December 22: Free in Surrender (Matthew 2:3, 7–8),
December 23: Overjoyed (Matthew 2:9–10),
December 24: Giving Our Best (Matthew 2:11),
December 25: Our Breathing Gift of Grace (Ephesians 2:8),