There is a time for everything,
And a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
(Ecclesiastes 3)
Redeem Your Time in the New Year!
For the past year, take
All the suffering,
All the pain,
All the heartache,
All the rejection,
All the misunderstanding,
All the evil we encounter,
All the hatred directed at us,
All the malice we endure,
All the sadness,
All the tears,
All the sleepless nights,
All the fear,
All the doubt,
All the worry,
All the confusion,
All the perplexity,
All the sickness,
All the broken dreams,
And then add it all up, total it up to whatever fantastic sum it may come to. Multiply it a 1000 times and more.
Now place on the other side these things . . .
The Word of God,
The promises of God,
The love of God,
The power of God,
The plan of God,
The wisdom of God,
The kindness of God,
The sovereignty of God,
The grace of God,
And then add to that the death of the Son of God with its infinite transforming power toward us who believe, and then add to that the resurrection of the Son of God who came forth from the tomb undefeated, alive from the dead, holding the keys of death and Hell in his hand, who is now declared the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Factor all that in, and then add to it the indwelling Holy Spirit who is the down payment on all the promises of God and the guarantee of our salvation. Now put that sum on the other side of the ledger.
You do the figuring. Which is greater? Your sorrows or the vast and immeasurable promises of God, made in his Word, guaranteed by the Spirit, and purchased for us in the death and resurrection of our Lord?
With that in mind, the past year has been a very good year.
Next year promises to be just as good or even better.
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When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept.
When as a youth I waxed more bold, time strolled.
When I became a full-grown man, time ran.
When older still I daily grew, time flew.
Soon I shall find, in passing on, time gone.
O Christ! wilt Thou have saved me then?
~Henry Twells
What will you do in the coming New Year?
Will Team creep, stroll, run, fly or be gone?
You really don’t know how much time you have…
But whatever time, make it count for God!
Have faith in God for what he will do for the New Year in your life!
“Life is short. Eternity is significant.” ~Unknown
“Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” ~Philip Yancey
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I may never be as clever as my neighbor down the street.
I may never be as wealthy as some other people I’ll meet
I may never have the fame that other men may have
But I’ve just got to be successful as my little boy’s dad.
There are certain dreams I cherish that I’d like to see come true,
There are things I’d like to accomplish before my working days are through
But the task my heart is set on is no mere passing fad
I’ve just got to be successful as my little boy’s dad.
It’s the one job I dream of, the task I think of most
for if I fail my little boy I’ve nothing else to boast
For all the wealth and fame I’d gather, my fortune would be sad
if I fail to be successful as my little boy’s dad.
I may never come to glory, I may never gather gold
And men may count me as a failure as my business life is told
But if my little boy can just grow up godly then I’ll be glad
Then I’ll know I’ve been successful as my little boy’s dad.
Source Unknown
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The REAL Night Before Christmas
(By Parents)
‘Twas the night before Christmas
when all through the house
I searched for the tools
to hand to my spouse
Instructions were studied
and we were inspired,
in hopes we could manage
“Some Assembly Required.”
The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds,
while Dad and I faced the evening with dread:
a kitchen, two bikes, Barbie’s townhouse to boot!
And now, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!
We opened the boxes, my heart skipped a beat –
let no parts be missing or parts incomplete!
Too late for last-minute returns or replacement;
if we can’t get it right, it goes straight to the basement!
When what to my worrying eyes should appear
but 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,
With each part numbered and every slot named,
so if we failed, only we could be blamed.
More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,
all over the carpet they were scattered about.
“Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!
Slide on the seats, and staple the stair!
Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand.”
“Honey,” said hubby, “you just glued my hand.”
And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact
that all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact
to keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night
with “assembly required” till morning’s first light.
We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,
till our eyes, they went blurry; our fingers all hurt.
The coffee went cold and the night, it wore thin
before we attached the last rod and last pin.
Then laying the tools away in the chest,
we fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.
But I said to my husband just before I passed out,
“This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.
Tomorrow we’ll cheer, let the holiday ring,
and not run to the store for one single thing!
We did it! We did it! The toys are all set
for the perfect, most magical, Christmas, I bet!”
Then off to dreamland and sweet repose
I gratefully went, though I suppose
there’s something to say for those self-deluded-
I’d forgotten that BATTERIES are never included!
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I’m sure he must have been surprised
At where this road had taken him
‘Cause never in a million lives
Would he have dreamed of Bethlehem
And standing at the manger
He saw with his own eyes
The message from the angel come to life
And Joseph said
Why me
I’m just a simple man of trade
Why Him
With all the rulers in the world
Why here
Inside this stable filled with hay
Why her
She’s just an ordinary girl
Now I’m not one to second guess
What angels have to say
But this is such a strange way
To save the world
To think of how it could have been
If Jesus had come as He deserved
There would have been no Bethlehem
No lowly shepherds at His birth
But Joseph knew the reason
Love had to reach so far
And as he held the Savior in his arms
He must have thought
4 Him
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
Description
Just for fun. In this mad lib, you replace some of the words of the “Night Before Christmas” with words written by youth and chosen at random.
What you need
Word Categories
What to do
Notes:
Variation
Each youth must stand up when their name is called until a new name is called and if any actions are called out they must act out those actions.
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Modified with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the PLACE IN HOUSE
Not a creature was stirring, not even a ANIMAL;
The THINGS were hung by the FURNITURE with care,
In hopes that NAME soon would be there;
The youth were all nestled all snug in a FURNITURE
While visions of THINGS danced in their heads;
And NAME in a CLOTHING, and NAME in a CLOTHING,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s ACTION VERB,
When out on the PLACE IN A HOUSE there arose such a SOUND,
NAME sprang from the PLACE IN HOUSE to see what was the matter.
When, what to my ADJECTIVE, BODY PART should appear,
But a miniature VEHICLE, and eight tiny ANIMALs,
With a little ADJECTIVE driver, so ADJECTIVE and ADJECTIVE,
I knew in a moment it must be NAME.
More rapid than ANIMALs his/her coursers they came,
And s/he SOUND-ed, and SOUND-ed, and called them by name;
“Now, NAME! now, NAME! now, NAME and Vixen!
On, NAME! on, NAME! on, NAME and Blitzen!
As I drew in my BODY PART and was ACTION-VERBed around,
Down the FURNITURE NAME came with a bound.
S/He was dressed all in CLOTHING, from his/her BODY-PART to his/her BODY-PART,
And his/her CLOTHING was all tarnished with THINGS and soot;
A bundle of THINGS s/he had flung on his/her BODY PART,
And s/he looked like a peddler just opening his/her pack.
His/her BODY PART — how they ADJECTIVE! his/her BODY PART how ADJECTIVE!
His/her BODY PART were like THINGS, his/her BODY PART like a cherry!
s/He had a broad BODY PART and a little ADJECTIVE belly,
That shook, when s/he ACTION-VERB like a bowlful of THINGS.
S/He was ADJECTIVE and ADJECTIVE a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him/her, in spite of myself;
S/He spoke not a word, but went straight to his/her work,
And filled all the CLOTHING; then ACTION with a jerk,
And laying his/her BODYPART aside of his/her nose,
And giving a nod, up the FURNITURE s/he ACTION VERBed;
S/He sprang to his/her VEHICLE, to his/her TEAM gave a SOUND,
And away they all flew like the SOUND of an ANIMAL.
But I heard him/her SOUND, ere s/he ACTION VERB out of sight,
“ADJECTIVE Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”
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Description
Throughout the Bible God gave more than 300 prophecies that foretold the coming of Christ and what he would do. Looking back now, it’s easy to tell how to connect all the references together to get a picture of the birth of Christ. Use this connect-the-dots object lesson as a discussion starter to discuss some of the primary prophecies related to the birth of Christ being fulfilled.
Materials
Activity
Applications
Doing a connect-the-dots puzzle is a little like what happened with the birth of Christ.
As you’re explaining, start connecting the dots of the puzzle.
The same thing happens to many people today
Discussion
Here are some of the dots of the puzzle and how they connected together in the birth of Christ.
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Christmas Activity Description
The first Christmas tree ornaments were fruits, nuts, sweets, marzipan cookies and even communion wafers cut into various shapes. Decorations made of gold foil and paper were also added. The tree itself, an evergreen, was a reminder of everlasting life. A star or angel at the top reminded people of the Christmas story. Lights symbolised that the Light had come into the world. Often hard cookies (like gingerbread) would be baked in the shape of fruits, stars, hearts, angels and bells.
We don’t know who was the first to use the Christmas tree to tell others about Christ, but history does record the story of Saint Boniface. This German man traveled across germany telling people about Jesus using a Fir tree. It is said he used a fir tree because the branches pointed to heaven from which baby Jesus came to earth and that he decorated it with fruits and nuts to remind people that God provided for them.
Throughout the ages, many of the early ornaments reflected various aspects of the Christmas Story as found in the Bible. In the late 1800’s glass balls and special handcrafted ornaments began to appear. Homemade ornaments were also popular and paper snowflakes and paper chains are still used today. But regardless of what ornaments adorned the Christmas tree, the original intention was for the ornaments to reflect the Christmas Season and Christ.
Today, trees are not the only things that are decorated. Your life should reflect not the Christmas Season, but the Christian Savior.
Christmas is a time to remember the greatest gift – that God so loved the world that he sent his son, that a Savior was born. We are thankful for Jesus. And this Christmas we also want to thank God for sending you, for the gifts he has given the world through you.
“Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” ~1 Peter 3:3-4 ESV
Some youth have decorated their lives with kindness. Others with generosity. Some of your lives are decorated with peace, encouragement, joy, and love. So in this activity, we want to celebrate the gifts God has given the world through each and every youth. Our next activity is going to help us to do that.
What you need
Preparation
What to Do: Stage 1
What to Do: Stage 2
At this stage, groups will have the cards from those people who are not in their group. Instead of adding to the card, they will each be given a Christmas Ornament to decorate.
Variations
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Saw the Social Network Christmas last year, but it is too good not to share it with others again. So… What if Jesus were born in the age of Facebook and Social Media?
Christmas Collection