Family Devotional: A Star is Born — Prepare The Way For The Lord!
Focus this week:
To make a plan, after reading God’s word, to celebrate Jesus at Christmastime and to point others to Jesus all year long.
Pray for your family and your time together:
Dear God, thank you so much for our family. Thank you that we can read your word together and focus on Jesus in a special way this month. Thank you for those people in our lives who have pointed us to Jesus. Help us to follow him and to point others to him as often as possible.
Focal Bible Passage:
John 3:27-36
Big Idea:
Not only did God send his son Jesus to earth to die for our sins and to show us how to live, but God also pointed the way to Jesus for all to see. Some were pointed by a bright star in the sky, some were pointed by John the Baptizer then later by Jesus’ disciples (helpers). Today people are pointed to Jesus by God’s word and the witness of Christians who share the good news of Jesus with their friends, family, acquaintances, and even strangers. God wants us to discover Jesus and then share him with other people, too.
Memory Verse:
“And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” Luke 1:76
Introduction:
Ask your children what they think of when they hear the words star or super star. Something shiny in the sky? Someone like a rock star? A person who is well known and respected in his or her field of work or is world renowned for special athletic abilities? Today’s Scripture focus is about John the Baptizer. Not a bright star shining in the sky but a star of sorts of his day. Just as God put a star in the sky to guide the wisemen to Jesus, he put a prophet on earth to “prepare the way for the Lord.” (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, and Luke 1:76)
Family Devotional: A Star is Born
Focal Bible Passage:
John 3:27-36
As you prepare to read the Scriptures today, involve as many family members as possible. Young preschoolers can find a Bible in your house and bring it to your meeting place. Older preschoolers can use a pre-placed bookmark to find today’s passage and point to the chapter or key words.
In today’s Scripture, the men following John the Baptizer were concerned that so many people were following Jesus instead of John. John responds by emphasizing that he was indeed sent ahead of Jesus to tell others and that Jesus’ success was due to God’s desire for people to follow Jesus. Divide the verses in today’s focal passage up into two or four verse segments and give different family members reading assignments. When you finish reading, ask your family members what verses seem like ones they might like to memorize or underline in your Bibles. John 3:31and 36 are all simple for children to memorize. Read verse 31 and ask who is the one who comes from above? Who is the one who comes from heaven and is above all? (Jesus) Ask younger children what it means to be above all. Of course, talking about heaven leads children to think of something up above the world but above also means in authority over or more important than. Help your children to notice the meanings of these phrases.
Ask someone to reread verse 36. Here is the main message John the Baptizer was sent ahead to share with the world. Jesus is God’s son and believing in him, accepting his gift of dying for our sins, is what leads to eternal life. John the Baptizer was a star to the early Christians … He showed the way to Jesus. Spend some time as a family thinking about who you can lead to Jesus during this special month of focusing on Jesus! Cut out a large star shape and hang it somewhere prominent in your home this week. Invite family members to add names of people you can pray for and tell about Jesus this month.
Application:
Younger Preschoolers:
Print the word Jesus in large letters on different colors of paper and tape them at your child’s eye level around your home. Invite your preschooler to take turns leading and following in a game of follow the leader as you make your way to the different Jesus signs. Give hints to help guide your child to find the name Jesus all around your house. Conclude by going to a Bible in your home. Open the Bible to a picture of Jesus or today’s Scripture and point to the word “Son.” Mention John the Baptizer helped lead people to know and follow Jesus just like you took turns and gave hints to find the Jesus signs around your house. Pray thanking God that so many people follow and obey Jesus and ask God to help each of you follow and obey Jesus, too.
Older Preschoolers:
Follow the Leader
Activity: Play a game of follow the leader. Before the game starts, print “Jesus” on a piece of paper and use it as a marker for Luke 1:76 in your child’s Bible. Put the Bible in a gift bag and hide it somewhere in your home. Take your child through different motions and movements for follow the leader and give her a chance to be the leader as well. Conclude by having your child follow you to the hidden gift bag and ask her to open the Bible to the marked spot. Read the verse aloud and say that just like you led her to the Bible, John the Baptizer led people to learn about and know Jesus is God’s son.
Younger Children:
Follow the Way Scavenger Hunt
Activity: Select a small gift type item and wrap it in tissue paper and attach a copy of this week’s verse on the outside. Select five or six locations for your scavenger hunt then put them in order and make a clue to find each subsequent spot. Your child will read the first clue to find the next clue at the second location and so on until the final location and gift are discovered. Set the boundaries and make a few clues which require your child to look up specific verses to find a key word to finish out a clue. Incorporate your Christmas traditions and decorations in as many clues as possible to help your child find his way to solving the final clue and receive a gift. Talk about the difficulty of solving the clues and finding the final gift. Mention that unlike a scavenger hunt that requires solving clues, God sent John the Baptizer to point people directly to Jesus! Now we have God’s word and the testimony of believers to point us straight to Jesus! Pray together thanking God for sending Jesus and ask God to help each of you point as many people directly to Jesus as possible throughout the coming new year!
Older Children:
Follow the Way Scavenger Hunt
Activity: Use the same activity for younger children but invite your older child to help make the scavenger hunt clues for other family members. Go ahead and make a separate hunt for your pre-teen so he can enjoy the activity from both perspectives. Talk about the difficulty of solving the clues and finding the final gift. Mention that unlike a scavenger hunt that requires solving clues, God sent John the Baptizer to point people directly to Jesus! Now we have God’s word and the testimony of believers to point us straight to Jesus! Pray together thanking God for sending Jesus and ask God to help each of you point as many people directly to Jesus as possible throughout the year!
Middle School:
John the Baptizer was an interesting person and served a very important role in the coming of Jesus. While he was a mountain man of sorts, (reflected by his camel hair clothes and his diet of grasshoppers and honey) he set the stage for the coming of Jesus. He understood that his role was to point others to the Messiah who had come as the fulfillment of God’s promises. He understood that his life was not about himself, but was to point to someone who was much greater than he!
We get the truth of John the Baptizer backwards, don’t we? We often live as if our life is all wrapped up in what is best for us. We often act as if the goal to our life is to find our own happiness and contentment through what we can accomplish in our own power. In this way, we can be encouraged to live more like John. What actions or attitudes in your life need to be changed in order to reflect a perspective that your life is all about Jesus and not about your own selfish desires?
High School:
John was an oddity in his culture. He was weird. Yes, part of that came from the fact that we lived out in the wilderness, wore camel skins for clothes, and ate a diet that consisted of grasshoppers and honey. But, the odder feature about John was the perspective he had on his own life. He had a God-given perspective that led John to live his life so that others would see the truth of Jesus as the coming of the Messiah. John’s statement, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” reveals his perspective on shining the light on the person and work of Jesus.
Have you ever been led to pray a prayer that God would lead you to decrease in thinking and reflecting about yourself and produce within you an increased thought and reflection of Jesus? What would your life look like if you had the perspective of John that your goal was to increase focus on the person and work of Jesus? What priorities would be different? What changes would this perspective produce in how you choose to spend your time?