Before I forget...I want to mention another favorite Advent/Christmas tradition of ours...I collect nativity scenes and have quite a few. As I unpack them to set them up all over the house at the beginning of Advent, I hide all the baby Jesus' so that all my nativity scenes seem to be missing the MOST important person. It's funny to me that adults typically don't ask me about it but Thomas always does several times..."Where's Jesus?" And that, of course, is the point! I explain that we are WAITING for Jesus's birth on Christmas Day. Then on Christmas morning, we give Thomas the baby Jesus to put in the first nativity scene he'll come to. That nativity scene will have a mismatched baby Jesus and he'll find the right nativity scene for it and on and on until the last nativity scene in the room with the Christmas tree (and of course the presents)! It is great fun and gets the focus on Christ first thing on Christmas morning....
December 18
“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.” Habakkuk 2:1
Today’s symbol: Watchtower
Ideas to do and talk about:
*I didn’t find a children’s story about Habakkuk, but this brief article
http://www.gofbw.com/news.asp?ID=7468 for adults was helpful to me and will help me explain the watchtower ornament.
*In the book of Isaiah (62:6), God says, “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance take no rest.” This was often the role of prophet to stand and watch for the Lord and to never be silent in trying to bring others to repentance. I believe this is the role of parents—to stand and watch for the Lord and never be silent in bringing their children to Him.
*Advent is about waiting and watching….Waiting for Christmas Day but more importantly watching for The Coming again of Jesus Christ. Talk about waiting. What is hard about waiting? Can anything make waiting easier?
*This reminds me of a prayer from the Compline service in the Book of Common Prayer:
Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.
*Remember to color the watchtower ornament and hang it!
December 19
“But you, O Bethlehem, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth…” Micah 5:2,3a
Today’s symbol: City Wall
Ideas to do and talk about:
*All this waiting and watching has brought us to Bethlehem…the city Ruth and Naomi returned to and found the kinsman redeemer Boaz, the city of David as St. Luke tells us in Luke 2, and the city the prophet Micah says from which will come a “ruler in Israel whose origin is from old, from ancient days…”(see verse above).
*Talk about Bethlehem—it wasn’t an important place according to the world’s standards. The prophet Micah said it was “too little to be among the clans of Judah” yet the Lord saw it fit that Jesus would be born there. The Lord doesn’t judge according to the world’s standards.
*We will be going to A Night in Bethlehem at a local church on Sunday so hopefully that will give us a peek into life in Bethlehem at the time Jesus was born.
*Color the city wall. We might give add the classic dome that’s in every illustration of Bethlehem I’ve seen.
December 20
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.’” Luke 1:41-44
Today’s symbol: Mother and child
Ideas to do and talk about:
*I found the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah in The Little Boys Bible Storybook and it focuses primarily on Zechariah. The Bible for Children website has this story of John and you can stop reading after the slide about baby John being named (save the rest for tomorrow!): http://www.m1914.org/PDFs/english/A%20Man%20Sent%20From%20God%20English.pdf
*Talk about what it would be like to have your voice taken away like Zechariah. The Little Boys Bible Storybook has a brief application section after this story entitled, “A man of God is sometimes quiet.” We might have to start playing the “Zechariah game” (a new form of quiet mouse!) so we can practice this virtue :)
*Color the mother and child ornament and thank God for Elizabeth’s faith and hospitality to Mary. Thank God for the ministry of motherhood…
No comments:
Post a Comment