Christmas Vacation - Week 2
Grab your sandals, sunblock, and swim gear because it’s time for a Christmas Vacation! We’ll be making sand angels and roasting chestnuts around an open bonfire on our tropical getaway. You’ve never experienced Christmas like this! In this five-week series, our families will focus on the birth of Jesus and the way God had been planning things from the very beginning. We’ll see how God sent Jesus for a reason, learn to trust God’s timing, and see how Jesus is why we celebrate because Jesus is God’s gift to the world.
BIG IDEA: We can trust God’s timing.
BIBLE: Luke 1:5–25; 2 Peter 3:8–15
MEMORY VERSE
Elementary: "The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." John 1:9 (NIV)
Toddler Twist: "Jesus brings light to the world! John 1:9
WATCH:
Preschool- teaching video
Elementary- teaching video
SONG: Celebrate and Light of the World
DISCIPLE:
Play a round of charades by having each family member take turns acting out clues. Create a list of words using characters from the Bible story (angel, Zechariah, Elizabeth, baby) and words related to a tropical Christmas (beach, island, palm tree, waves, surfing, sun).
* Whisper the word or provide images for non-readers.
Say: It’s really tough trying to communicate without being able to speak if that’s what we’re used to. Just imagine — Zechariah had to do this for nine months while he waited for baby John to be born!
Of course, this doesn’t mean that anytime we don’t believe something about God right away, we will go through what Zechariah did. But it seems this might have been what Zechariah needed to experience in order to fully accept God’s promise. Once the baby was born and Zechariah could speak again, I bet he was speechless anyway.
How incredible that God allowed John to come into the world, but even more incredible that John would prepare the world for the savior, Jesus? We can trust God’s timing.
Pray: "God, we know that we get impatient waiting for you sometimes, but remind us that your timing is perfect, so we can trust that always. Thank you for patiently waiting for us as we learn and grow each day. Remind us that we are a part of a bigger story. Thank you for including us in that bigger story. Amen"