Advent Family Faith Formation – Dec 18
Join us each week of Advent to celebrate hope, peace, joy & love as we await the birth of Jesus!
Pick from watching our Welcome Videos, Worship Together, Reading the Bible, Talk About It, Family Activities, Pray Together and Bless Each Other – or do them all!
Welcome Video
Worship Together
Share in some faith practices of worship together!
Shine a Light: Light a candle or light 4 candles on your Advent wreath. Today we light the candle of LOVE.
Sing Together:
Come and see, come and see, light the candle of LOVE with me.
Come and be, come and be, be a light of LOVE
sing the song again with hope, peace, joy and love
Offering: November and December children’s offerings will go to ELCA Good Gifts.
Pray together: Give thanks for three things and/or recite the Lord’s Prayer together
Read the Bible Together
Read this week’s God’s Great Story in the children’s Bible for you child’s age.
Frolic Bible – Jesus is Born / Spark Story Bible Mary Visits Elizabeth / Luke 1:39-47
Talk About It!
Have fun asking question for all your family members!
Talk About It: What were some of the feelings that Elizabeth (an old woman) and Mary (a young, unmarried woman) might have experienced during their pregnancies? How did they feel when they saw each other and spent three months together? Were they always calm and happy? Of course not! They were tired, surprised, excited, confused, overjoyed, anxious, and probably grumpy sometimes, too. Your feelings and your body’s reactions are always changing, but God’s love for you doesn’t change, no matter what you are feeling.
Dig Deeper: Try Activity 2 below. Why do you suppose the heart is associated with love? Do we process feelings with our brains or our hearts?
Family Activity
Pick activities to do together! Supplies are provided in our Monthly At-Home Kits you picked up at our drive thru events or ask to have delivered to your home.
Activity 1: Paper Strip Christmas Trees Cut paper into strips of different lengths. Glue the strips down to another piece of paper to create a unique Christmas tree. Add Bible verses about love (Luke 6:27, John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 13:4, 1 John 4:7) or Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:23, Psalms 72:17, Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2:11, etc)
Activity 2: Human Heart I used an online tutorial to draw the heart I showed in my video. Use this tutorial to draw a human heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmbtFyXm_EQ Then cover the human heart with a paper “Valentine” heart or surround it with the familiar, easy-to-draw heart shape.
Activity 3: Advent At-Home Activities: email renee@nativitychurch.org for a copy.
Pray Together
“Dear God, you are love. You made me with love. You sent Jesus with love. I love you, God. Amen.”
Bless Each Other
At the end of your time, give each other a special blessing to remember one of God’s promises.
Hold up 4 fingers and say “thanks for giving me LOVE!”