Week 3 Advent Devotional - "Provision"
Opening Question (Option 1): If you had a thousand dollars to spend on a present for someone, who would you buy for and what would you buy them?
Opening Story (Option 2): Parents, take a few minutes to tell each child about the day they were born. Where was it? What was happening that day? How did you feel when you got to see them for the first time?
During our time together today, we are going to look at the place where Jesus was born. If one of us was going to plan where Jesus would be born, we would have probably picked Jerusalem because it was the capital city and the most important city in Israel. But, that's not the city God chose. Let's read a Scripture from the Old Testament that talks about what city God chose instead.
ASK: [younger children] What does it mean to be the "runt of the litter"? So what kind of city was Bethlehem?
ASK: [older children] What message do you think God was sending when he chose a small, insignificant city like Bethlehem for Jesus to be born in?
The enemy loves for us to feel too small for anyone to notice us. He especially loves to tell us that we are too small for God to care about us. But, that is not true. Even the city that Jesus was born in is sending a message, that He came for all of us because He loves all of us, right down to the tiniest of us.
He also knows every one of our needs, the big ones, and the tiny ones. He saw Joseph and Mary every moment that they were traveling to Bethlehem, and He was already preparing a place for Jesus to be born. It may have been just a dirty stable to some people, but to God, it was a safe place, away from the people who wanted to hurt baby Jesus (we're going to talk about that next week!), and it was exactly what Joseph and Mary needed.
ASK: What is something you need right now in your life that we need to pray about? It can be a physical need, or something your heart needs.
Close with prayer over your children. Parents, this is a great opportunity to emphasize to your children that God sees each of them individually and knows every bit of their hear needs. But, He still likes to hear our voices when we talk to Him. And He also likes to speak to us in return. Make sure you lead your kids in a time of listening as well as praying. You may want to play a worship song at this time and encourage your children to write down what they hear God saying to them (younger children can draw a picture of what God is saying) so they learn to treasure His voice.
