WEEK : Celebrating , 1 K God’s greatest gift - 5 T H

DAY 2

Read Joshua 21:45

When you hear the word “promise” what do you think about? A promise is to follow through with what you say you will or will not do.

DAY 1 Finish the sentences below: I promise I will not say ______Read Isaiah 9:6 to my parent. I promise I will put away my ______for a whole week. I promise I will It’s the Christmas season! Only the most not leave my ______in the middle of my anticipated, most celebrated, most awesome bedroom floor. What’s easier? To make a promise month of the year! And while the presents and or to keep a promise? ______lights and decorations are nice; you know what this holiday is really all about? Christmas is about It’s so much easier to make a promise than to celebrating Jesus, God’s greatest gift. actually follow through and keep that promise. Lucky for us, God never messes this up. Long before Jesus was born in , God made a promise. You read it in today’s verse. As today’s verse reminds us, God kept all the About seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth, promises He made to His people, the Israelites. Isaiah (a prophet who spoke on behalf of God) Even when the Israelites turned their back on told us that a child would be born, that He would God and tried over and over again to do their be a mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince own thing. Still, God kept His promise and sent of Peace. His Son, Jesus. That’s why we can have hope. Not just at Christmas but every single day. God can be Now, thousands of years after God kept that trusted because God keeps His promises. promise, we celebrate Jesus’ birth. It’s a huge reminder to us that no matter what happens, God is completely trustworthy. We can have hope because God keeps His promises. We can have hope Think about the last promise you made. Did you because God keeps keep it? Why or why not? Spend some time thanking God for keeping His promises and ask Him to help His promises. you be a promise keeper too. DAY 3 DAY 4

Read Ezekiel 12:28 Read Jeremiah 23:5

When was the last time someone made a promise Today, create some salt dough ornaments to hang to you and that promise was broken? Can you on your to remind you of God’s think of an example? Sooner or later, everyone promises: breaks a promise because everyone, including

you, is imperfect. Everyone, including you, Salt Dough Recipe makes mistakes. INGREDIENTS 4 cups all-purpose flour But there is good news. God is not like us. He is 1 cup table salt completely perfect. There is no wrong or bad or 1 ½ cups warm water imperfect part of Him. He never messes up, says Cookie cutters A toothpick something He doesn’t mean, or “forgets.” When Paint or paint markers for decoration God makes a promise, you can trust that it’s as good Ribbon for hanging as done. Because God said He would send His one and only Son and because He did, you can trust Preheat the oven to 300° Fahrenheit. Stir together God, always. the flour and salt. Slowly add the water, stirring constantly. Knead the dough until soft, about Below is a secret message! Cross out all the letters five minutes. Place the dough between two large in the alphabet in order starting with the “A” at pieces of parchment paper. Roll out until 1/8 inch the beginning and ending with “Z”. Then write thick. the remaining letters in the blanks below in order to reveal the key truth from today’s verse. Use the cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Use the toothpick to write the words “HOPE,” “LOVE,” AEBVCEDREYFTGHHII “JOY” and “PEACE” on four separate ornaments. NJGKILSMANYOWPIQL Poke a hole in the top of every ornament for RLSCTOUMVEWTXRYUZE. hanging. Transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Bake for one hour. “______.” Once cooled, decorate the “HOPE” ornament

and other blank ornaments with paint or paint Answer: Everything I say will come true. come will say I Everything Answer: markers. Thread ribbon through the top and hang on the tree. Save the “LOVE,” “JOY” and “PEACE” ornaments to decorate in the weeks to come.

Download the free Parent Cue App AVAILABLE FOR IOS AND ANDROID DEVICES WEEK Christmas: Celebrating Jesus, 2 K God’s greatest gift - 5 T H

DAY 2

Read Luke 1:38 DAY 1 When the appeared to Mary, she probably had a lot of questions. Yet even with all her Read Luke 1:30-31 questions, she still said, “I serve the Lord. May it happen to me just as you said it would.” What would you do if suddenly an angel from heaven appeared to you with a special message Talk about faith. Mary trusted God. Why? Because from God? Would you run? Would you stand God made Mary. God loved Mary. And God’s plan there frozen, unsure what to say? for her was awesome. Just like Mary, God has a plan for you. God made you. He loves you. And We know Mary was probably scared because the you can have joy because God has a plan you. angel told her not to be afraid. God had a very special plan, just for her. She would have a baby. Fill in the blanks below and write down what But not just any baby. Mary had been chosen to you hope to be doing/or what you hope your life be the mother of Jesus, our Savior. will be like at that age. Then spend some time thanking God for His plans for you. God’s plan for Mary was a plan she never could have dreamed up on her own. What a reason Five years from now, I will be ______years old. I to have joy! The same is true for you. An angel hope that ______probably won’t show up in your bedroom but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have a 10 years from now, I will be ______years old. I hope specific plan and purpose just for you. You can that ______have joy because God has a plan for you. 15 years from now, I will be ______years old. I hope One way you can be sure you don’t miss God’s that ______plan is to start praying a simple prayer like this: “God, I believe You have a plan for me and I don’t want to miss it. Help me to follow You today. In Jesus’ name, amen.” DAY 4

DAY 3 Read Psalm 32:8

Have you ever played “Follow the Leader”? Or Read Psalm 33:11 “Simon Says”? What’s your favorite role? To the be leader or the follower? From the very beginning, God had a plan. When God created the whole world, He knew that His The truth is, we could choose to be the boss or the creation would turn away from Him and that sin leader. But wouldn’t it be so much better to follow would separate people from God. So, God sent someone who will always lead us in the right His only Son, Jesus. Jesus suffered and died to direction? Wouldn’t it be wiser to follow someone take the punishment for sin but death couldn’t who has the best plan and knows exactly how stop Him! Jesus rose again to make a way so that things will turn out? anyone who believes in Him would never be separated from God again. When we choose to trust in God, when we take His advice, He will guide us and show us the way That’s a big plan. And there may be parts of that to go. And He will watch over us with love all plan that seem confusing to you. But as you grow along the way. We can trust God always. in faith, you’ll see that God’s plans are good. God loves you with a perfect, never stopping, always Decorate the front of your “JOY” ornament (from constant love. He showed His love for you on that last week) with paint, run some ribbon through the first Christmas when He sent Jesus. And that hole and hang it on the Christmas tree. Point out the should fill you with joy! ornament to your family and tell them that you can have joy because God has a plan for you. All of the consonants from today’s verse are missing! Can you fill them in?

“____ u ______e ______a ______o ______e ____ o ______a ______i ______You can have joy ____ o ____ e ____ e ____. ______a ______e ____ a ______o ____ o because God has a ____ i ______a ______o ____ plan for you. a ______i ____ e.” ______a ______33:11

Download the free Parent Cue App AVAILABLE FOR IOS AND ANDROID DEVICES WEEK Christmas: Celebrating Jesus, 3 K God’s greatest gift - 5 T H

DAY 1

Read Luke 2:6-7

Grab a piece of paper and pretend for a second that DAY 2 you are the king of a very large kingdom. What would your throne room, or royal playroom look like? Draw it on the page. Read Galatians 4:4

If you have a nativity at home, go stand near it and Have you ever read the book Goldilocks and the hold up your picture. Spot any differences? Three Bears? Goldilocks breaks into the bear’s house and tries their porridge, their chairs, and When Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, they even their beds until she finds one that is “just couldn’t find a place stay. So they ended up rooming right.” with animals. And it was there that Jesus, our Savior, was born. The surroundings were so humble that the Remember last week when we talked about how King of all Kings wasn’t placed in a beautifully carved God had a big plan to rescue us? How He knew crib. Instead, this precious gift to the whole world was from the very beginning that He would send His nestled into an animal feed box. only Son as our Savior? When the time was “just right” God sent Jesus as a baby, the greatest gift Jesus didn’t come as a king to rule over us. Jesus ever. God sent His Son at the chosen time because came as one of us so that He could save us. Set He loved us that much. the baby Jesus from your nativity on top of your drawing. Then spend a few minutes thanking God Write this week’s bottom line on an index card for loving you so much that He would send His only (God loved us so much that He gave us a Savior.) Son to save you. and place it next to your favorite . Thank God for sending Jesus at just the right time because of His love for you.

God loved us so much that He gave us a Savior. DAY 4

DAY 3 Read John 3:17

Our verse from yesterday (John 3:16) is probably one you’ve heard before. But today’s verse is super Read John 3:16 important too. Read John 3:17 one more time. Why did God send His Son into the world? Was it to show His mighty power? Was it to remind us God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge that He’s the one in charge and that we all have the world. He sent Jesus to save us, to fix the to do what He says? Nope. separation between us and God because of our sin. God sent Jesus for one big reason. Love. God loved the world—every single person—so much Grab your “LOVE” ornament from week one and that He did what people who love do. He gave decorate the front. Run some ribbon through the the most precious and perfect gift, His only Son, top and add it to your Christmas tree. Every time Jesus. When we believe or put our trust in Jesus, you see it, pause and thank God for sending Jesus we will not perish or be separated from God! God because He loves you. loved us so much that He gave us a Savior.

Go on a heart search. Pay attention to shapes around you to see if you can spot some hearts. For instance, did you know that when you cut through the center of a strawberry, its center looks a little bit like a heart? You might find heart shaped clouds in the sky, or heart shaped leaves on the ground. Every time you see a heart remember that God loves you so much that He sent Jesus.

Download the free Parent Cue App AVAILABLE FOR IOS AND ANDROID DEVICES WEEK Christmas: Celebrating Jesus, 4 K God’s greatest gift - 5 T H

DAY 2

DAY 1 Read Luke 2:16-20

What did the shepherds do as soon as they heard Read Luke 2:8-12 about Jesus’ birth? They left that field and headed Imagine a group of smelly shepherds, out in a straight to see for themselves! And what did they field, watching over their sheep. Some may have find? Everything the angel said was true. They been asleep. Some may have been counting sheep saw Jesus lying in the manger. And they knew in an attempt to go to sleep. But sleep wasn’t that He was the one they’d been waiting for. It was on the agenda this special night. Because God such good news that they immediately started was about to send an angel to make a very big telling everyone about it. announcement. If Jesus had been born today with all the “Do not be afraid,” the angel said. “I bring you technology available to us, there would be so good news for all people . . . a Savior has been born many ways to tell people all about it. In the space to you.” That “you” included those shepherds. below, write out all the ways you could share the “You” included all the people in the sleepy town good news about Jesus (we’ve listed a few ideas to of Bethlehem. “You” includes, well, you. help you get started):

God sent Jesus as a gift for every one of us. Jesus Send someone a text message. Type up an email brought peace. He made a way for us to have a to send to all your friends and family relationship with God forever! ______Find an adult and ask him or her following questions: ______1. When do you first remember hearing the Christmas story about Jesus? Who told you? Ask God to help you tell others the good news 2. Why do you think God sent an angel to tell a about Jesus, just like the shepherds did on that bunch of everyday shepherds about Jesus’ birth first Christmas. Remember, God’s peace is for instead of someone else with more power or everyone and He wants us to share this good news influence? with the people around us. 3. If Jesus had been born today (in 2020), who do you think the angel would have told first? DAY 3 DAY 4

Read John 14:27 Read John 16:33

When you hear the word “peace” what do you Do you ever wonder why you seem to fight with think about? Write down your definition of peace your siblings so much? Chances are you’ve been below: spending a lot of time with your brothers or ______sisters lately. And the more time you spend with ______each other, the more opportunities you have to get on each other’s nerves. ______

But peace is possible, even when you’re fighting Some would say that peace is the absence of with your brother. Why? Because of Jesus. Jesus arguments or disagreements. Others would say reminds us that even though we will have trouble that peace means no war or fighting. Others define in this world (like those fights with your sister) it’s peace as a feeling of calm or quiet. okay, because He is bigger and stronger than any of the yucky stuff we might face. Jesus came to make things right between us and God. He came to make a way for us to be a part of Grab your “PEACE” ornament from week one. God’s family. That’s why we celebrate Christmas! Decorate the front with paint and run some Because God sent His only Son so that we could ribbon through the top. Instead of packing this have peace forever. ornament away with the rest of your decorations, hang this one up in your room all year. Every time Have you ever watched a baby sleeping? There is you face trouble (like a fight with your brother or a something so calm and peaceful about a sleeping super bad day), remember the PEACE, deep down baby. Head back over to your nativity and look at that you have because of your relationship with the baby Jesus figure sleeping away. Spend some Jesus. Ask God to help you tell others about Jesus time thanking God for sending His only Son to too because God’s peace is for everyone. bring you peace forever.

God’s peace is for everyone.

Download the free Parent Cue App AVAILABLE FOR IOS AND ANDROID DEVICES