UNTO US Merry Christmas Kidnect families! I hope you are having a great time getting ready for Christmas time. In the middle of your hustle and bustle, here is a tool you might use to pause briefly, and help your child focus on the true meaning of the holiday. Our Advent devotions are based on the songs we will be using during our Family Christmas Eve service at 10am. We hope you can join us. Blessings this Christmas season. –The Kidnect Staff

Opening Prayer God, we are amazed that you love ordinary, normal, people like us. It doesn’t matter if we’re the smartest, the best-looking, the wealthiest, or the one with the most friends. You love us no matter what, and you want to use ordinary people like us to accomplish your incredible, amazing, extraordinary plan. We love you and we worship you, God! In Jesus name, amen.

Play “Ends of the Earth” You can use the gift CD that Kidnect sent out, or play it directly from your computer or phone by going to www.unto-us.org.

Bible Verse With your children helping you, open your bible to Micah 5:2 and read it with your children. Younger Kids: “Out of Bethlehem will come one who will be ruler over Israel.” – Micah 5:2

Older Kids: “But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.” – Micah 5:2

Now let’s all read it together. Say it with me! (Lead the children in repeating the verse. For younger children, break the verse up into smaller chunks and have them repeat after you.)

Great job! Now I’m going to say the verse and you fill in the blanks: Out of (Bethlehem) will come one who will be (ruler) over (Israel.)

But you, (Bethlehem,) though you are (small) among the clans of (Judah,) out of you will (come) for me one who will be (ruler) over (Israel.)

Bethlehem...Bethlehem...it seems like somebody important was born in Bethlehem...can you remember who was born in Bethlehem?

Now you might think that if God chose Bethlehem for his son’s birthplace it must have been a pretty amazing place, right? But God doesn’t always do things the way we expect. In fact, Bethlehem was just an ordinary town – a small town! But God loves using ordinary towns like Bethlehem and ordinary people like Mary and Joseph to accomplish his amazing purposes.

This seems like a good place to bring up our Big Idea for today:

The BIG Idea Younger Kids: God can use anyone to do special things. Older Kids: God can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

What if God had put you in charge of planning the birth of Jesus? What if you were the one who had to pick the place he would be born, who his mother would be, and who his father on earth would be? Where would you start?

“Who would you pick for Jesus mom? What about your mom?

God didn’t pick a queen or a princess to be Jesus’ mom. He picked an ordinary girl from a poor family in a poor town. Can you remember her name? (Allow the kids to respond.)

Mary wasn’t someone important in other people’s eyes, but you know, God doesn’t seem to care much about what other people think. He knew that Mary loved God, and she was willing to do what God asked her to do. And that was the most important thing of all.

So God sent an angel to tell Mary the good news: she would be the mother of God’s son, and she should name him Jesus. The angel told Mary that Jesus’ kingdom would go on forever. The promise that God had made to send the Messiah – the message he gave to Isaiah hundreds of years before – was coming true!

“What about Jesus’ dad? Who would you pick?”

God also sent an angel to tell the good news to Jesus’ dad on earth. God picked a lowly carpenter with calloused, dirty hands to be Jesus’ dad on earth. Can you remember his name? (Allow the kids to respond.)

Joseph also wasn’t important in other people’s eyes, but you know, God knew that Joseph loved God, and he was willing to do what God asked him to do. And that was the most important thing of all.

Looking on the inside “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7

Prayer “God, we are so grateful that we don’t have to be super special for you to love us. You love us all the same! And we’re grateful that we don’t have to be super talented or important to be a part of your incredible, amazing, extraordinary plan. We love you. We’re ready to do whatever you ask us to do.”

In Jesus’ name, amen. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!