The Church calendar begins with the season of Advent four weeks before Christmas. It is a time of anticipation and preparing for perfection.It is a time of expectancy and hope. It not only looks back to Jesus’ first coming, but also anxiously awaits his second to make all things new.
Advent Devotional Week One-Hope
An Advent Reading And Silent Night performed by Tim & Nicole
Sofa Sunday School-This is Advent-Manger Tales
LESSON SNAPSHOT
BOTTOM LINE:
God wants the world to know Jesus has come.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn how an angel told Mary and Joseph about the baby Jesus.
KEY PASSAGE:
Luke 1:26-38 & Matthew 1:18-24, Angel Visitations
MEMORY VERSE:
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:11 (NIV)
SUMMARY:
Doug was with Mary and Joseph for the long trip from Galilee to Bethlehem. Along the way, he hears them tell the story of some very special angel visits proclaiming the birth of a Savior.
OBJECT LESSON
ITEMS NEEDED:
Christmas cards
Something is coming. You all have seen the signs. There are lights in the trees. There are decorations hanging from streetlights. The colors red and green are everywhere, and songs we only hear one time a year are playing on the radio.
You can see the change happening in every store you visit. There are trees with lights, red and green decorations, and three times as many toys as any other time of the year are on the shelf.
You can even see it in the greeting card store. Half the store is now taken up with cards created for one special day because more people send cards at Christmas than any other time of the year.
Cards like these will be hitting your mailbox soon. They serve as reminders that we have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who love us very much. But my hope is that they also remind us that we have a Savior who loved us enough to come to Earth and save us.
God sent an angel to share the good news that Jesus was coming that very first Christmas. This year, as we send and receive Christmas cards, let’s remind ourselves, and our family, why we celebrate the season. God has sent his son to be the Savior of the world.
CRAFT ACTIVITY
Let the kids cut out a donkey from brown construction paper (templates can be found online by searching for “free donkey template.”) Punch a hole in the donkey’s back and he can become a Christmas ornament!
GAME
Sermon on the Mount-part 7-Where is Your Treasure?
We really do stand between two worlds. The world as we presently know it, and the one that has yet to be fully realized. In this part of Jesus sermon he confronts our divided loyalties with the question about where our treasure is.
Sofa Sunday School-Psalm 138
Psalm 138
Of David.
1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your unfailing love and your faithfulness.
Object Lesson
ITEMS NEEDED:
A bag full of jelly beans
Begin this lesson by holding up the bag of jelly beans and asking if any kids can guess how many jelly are in the bag?
There’s an actual number of jelly beans in this bag. I don’t know the number myself, but if we wanted to find that number, we could rip open the bag and count them. I doubt we could get very far. These are jelly beans, not marbles, and it wouldn’t be long before we went from counting jelly beans to enjoying them.
That’s exactly what happens when we start to count the things God has done for us. When we start to count God’s blessings, we eventually lose count. We stop thinking about numbers and we start thinking about just how loved we are. God sent his son Jesus to die for us, and God has given us countless blessings on top of that. He’s given us families, friends, the beauty of nature, awesome music, and so much more.
God loves us, and he made this amazing world filled with blessings to show us we are loved. Let’s love God back by counting our blessings and thanking him every day for all of these reminders that he loves us. God’s love, as well as a good way to work your way out of a sour mood. Next time you’re feeling down, count your blessings. See how high you can count before you break into praise for all God has done.
Memory Verse
Sermon on the Mount part 6-Integrity in Our Worship
Having just completed his section on the law, Jesus now turns to authenticity or integrity in our worship practices; addressing the practical matters of giving alms to the needy, prayer & fasting.
Sofa Sunday School-Luke 19, The Story of Zacchaeus
Thankfulness
BOTTOM LINE:
We can thank God by giving back.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will think of one way they can show thanks to God by giving this week.
KEY PASSAGE:
Luke 19:1-10, The Story of Zacchaeus
MEMORY VERSE:
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” 1 Chronicles 16:8 (NIV)
SUMMARY:
God can use us to share his love with others by showing them what he has done for us. We can thank God by giving of our time and our gifts.
Sermon On The Mount part 5-Loving Your Enemies
Jesus wraps up the law section of his sermon with a teaching about non violent resistance to evil hoping to illustrate to his disciples the “how to’s” of what they must do to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.
Sofa Sunday School-Thankfulness-The Sinful Woman Washes Jesus Feet- Luke 7
LESSON SNAPSHOT
BOTTOM LINE:
Be thankful for Jesus.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will be able to share what Jesus did to save them from sin.
KEY PASSAGE:
Luke 7:36-50, A woman anoints Jesus’ feet.
MEMORY VERSE:
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” 1 Chronicles 16:8 (NIV)
SUMMARY:
God sent his son, Jesus, to die for our sins. We can thank God for his amazing love and for wanting a relationship with us.
OBJECT LESSON
ITEMS NEEDED:
A box of leftovers
Show the kids what you have in the box. Ask if they can tell what restaurant it is from. Ask them what their favorite restaurants are and if they ever bring home leftovers.
I could have left this food at the restaurant. It wasn’t a complete meal anymore, and
in truth, it will never taste as good as it did when I first got the food. So why did I ask for a leftover box? Two reasons. First, it’s wasteful to just let the restaurant throw the food away. But also… I love this meal! This is good food, and I didn’t want to let it go to waste.
God could have tossed mankind out like leftovers. After Adam and Eve broke the rules and sin entered the world, God’s creation was ruined. It would never be the same. Why would God want to hold on to something so broken?
For the same reason I kept this food; God loves us. He loves us way more than anyone ever loved a plate of food. He loved us enough to sacrifice his son Jesus for our sake.
Jesus is the greatest gift ever offered and the greatest gift you will ever receive. We need to thank God every day for the wonderful gift he has given us in Jesus.