Family Devotional: A Star is Born - Star of Bethlehem
Focus this week:
To learn that God provided a star to declare the way to Jesus.
Pray for your family and your time together:
Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can pray together as a family and study your word to learn more about Jesus. We ask you to help us focus on Jesus this Christmastime and look for ways to show others the way to Jesus. Help us to always show your lovingkindness to our family, friends, and neighbors during this busy month. Please help us to pray with and for one another often and we will always give you thanks and honor for your son, Jesus.
Focal Bible Passage:
Matthew 2: 1-12
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:
“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2
Introduction:
In today’s Scripture passage, you will read about the wise men who followed a special star to find Jesus. Notice together the uniqueness of the star and where it stopped. Notice together the response of the wise men, who traveled a long and perhaps difficult journey, upon finding the Christ child. Read today’s focal passage together and discuss it using the provided guide. Read Matthew 2:1-2 then think together about the lengths to which God went to show us the way to Jesus. Toward the end of each Bringing it to Life Activity, work on the memory verse in a meaningful way for your children. For preschoolers you can ask them to learn, “(We) saw his star … and have come to worship him.” For children you can use the entire verse.
Family Devotional: A Star is Born
Focal Bible Passage:
Matthew 2: 1-12
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 number. Children and teens can help read the verses or listen for key words.
Before you read today’s passage, ask each family member to recall a time he or she saw stars in the sky. You may want to wait for a clear night to look at the evening sky together.
Wise Men Visit the King: A Plan to Follow
Ask someone in your family to read Matthew 2: 1- 8 or take turns reading the verses. Read the passage again this time asking different family members to stand up then sit back down when they hear the words “star” and “Bethlehem.” Think back together about seeing stars in the sky and mention ships’ captains and travelers overland used to primarily use stars to help them find their way on long journeys. It was God’s GPS before everyone had Waze and Google Maps to help them find their way from town to town. The wise men observed a new and special star in the sky and followed it to Jerusalem where they visited King Herod.
Ask someone in your family to read verse 2 again. What a powerful question followed by a powerful statement to be made in front of the King! “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” Then, we “have come to worship him.” This upset the king and he tried to trick the wisemen into helping him find Jesus so he could try to make sure Jesus would not be any kind of king!
Wise Men Visit the King: A Purpose for their Visit
Look at verse 9. The star the wisemen had seen began leading them to Jesus. The star stopped above a house almost five miles away from where they had visited King Herod. They were now in Bethlehem. Your older children will enjoy knowing Jesus and his family had moved from the stable or cave where Jesus was born to a house. As soon as they entered the house the Bible says they fell to their knees, worshiped Jesus and presented him with gifts fit for a king! Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were expensive gifts for a child! The wisemen had followed a special star to a special city to visit a special child and give him special gifts! The wisemen had a purpose for visiting Jesus. They went to see Jesus to worship him! Think together as a family about making a point to worship Jesus and think of all the different places you can worship him. Cut out a large star shape from a paper sack, poster board or wrapping paper and work together to make a list of different places and ways you can each worship Jesus. Alternately, you could print out a calendar for December and use star sticker each day next to a name of someone you think needs to hear about Jesus. Pray together and thank God for providing the special star to lead the wisemen to Jesus so they could help the world recognized Jesus as God’s son. Thank God for the ways he leads us to Jesus to worship him.
Application:
Younger Preschoolers:
Remind your young preschooler that God put a special star high above to travel through the sky to help the wise men find Jesus.
Activity: Lead your child in singing the following song to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Twinkle, twinkle up above, lead us to God’s only Son. | Help us follow and obey, everything that Jesus says. | Twinkly, twinkle up above, lead us to God’s only Son.
Lead your child to open and close his hands like a flashing motion and move his hands above his head while singing. Sing the song at different speeds and at different volumes. Pray together and thank God for the special star that showed the wise men how to find Jesus. Say Jesus is God’s son and at Christmastime we celebrate that Jesus came to earth and loves us so much.
Older Preschoolers:
Activity: Follow That Star!!* Using a child’s nativity set, set apart Mary and Joseph and work with your preschooler to make a cut out of a toddler Jesus. Let your child select one of the wisemen to follow your star. You can cut a large star from card stock or a thick paper sack. Ask your child to remind you what the wisemen were interested in following to find the child who had been born a king. (a star moving through the sky) Say that you will take the star and your child will follow you to find the Christ child. Hold your star high and move about your family room or home using different motions and speeds until you arrive at the place where Jesus is located with Mary and Joseph. Remark that God placed a very special star in the sky to guide the wise men to find Jesus. Say that God helped people write the Bible so we can learn about Jesus today. Say a prayer thanking God for sending a special star to show the wisemen where to find Jesus and thank God for giving us the Bible to teach us about Jesus today.
*For a preliminary activity, make a simple drawing of a child to represent a toddler Jesus. You may choose to guide your preschooler to make the star to use in your activity. Provide crayons or washable markers and glitter glue or foil to glue onto a cut out of a star. If you do not have a child’s nativity set, you can cut cardboard tubes to different sizes and draw faces on them and let your child decorate the outfits for the magi, Mary, Joseph, and young Jesus using crayons or fabric scraps.
Younger Children:
Ask your children what God used to guide the wisemen to young Jesus. (A special star)
Activity: Ask your child to select three things of hers that she views as very special. Gather those items then hide them from your child while she is not looking. Cut out a star shape to cover the head of your flashlight and use tape to secure it to the cover. Alternately you can draw a star shape in the bottom of a cupcake wrapper and cut out the star shape then cover the top of the flashlight with the cupcake wrapper and tape the edges down. (It works either way!) Turn the lights down low and use a flashlight to guide your child to find the three special items. Remark that God provided a special star to help the wisemen find God’s one and only son so the world would know he had arrived and so we could all worship him. Let your child have a turn at being the star to guide the family to other special things in your home.
Older Children:
Follow the Star Messages
Activity: Make a Christmas message declaring the good news of Jesus. Whether you are reading this near Christmastime or any other time of the year, it’s always a good time to tell others about Jesus! Encourage and assist your child as needed in making a fun online Christmas card or short video message that incorporates this week’s memory verse. Talk about posting it on appropriate sites and sending it to family and friends. If you prefer to go media-free, then help your child make door hangers to share with your neighbors. Use the memory verse and include a thoughtful note saying your child wishes her family, friends, and neighbors the best Christmas ever! (Or the best week ever, depending on when you are reading this!) Encourage your child to incorporate a bright star in her design. Thank God for sending a special star to show the wisemen the way to Bethlehem and to remind us of his love for us in sending his son Jesus to earth.
Middle School:
The birth of Jesus was the most important birth in all of human history. In fact, the entire history of the world had been leading up to that point in which God would send His Son to save sinners. After the birth of Jesus, God used supernatural means in order to lead people to see and experience Jesus. That leadership from God was an incredible gift of grace. The wise men, the shepherds, and all of those who have experienced Jesus are recipients of a gift that they did not deserve.
Have you ever reflected on the fact that you should have been wandering in the wilderness of lost-ness but God led you to see and experience the truth of Jesus? This reflection should lead us to praise God and worship God in every area of our life. Because of this gift of grace, we devote our whole lives to serving Him!
High School:
“I saw the light, I saw the light, no more darkness, no more night.” Those lyrics are from an old gospel song that reflects the truth that you and I (and all true Christ-followers) have experienced the same thing as the wise men. We have been led by the light of God to see and experience the goodness of the truth of Jesus. “God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were busy living in sinful darkness, God sent Jesus and called us to the light of Christ. What incredible news!
Have you been led by the light of God to see the goodness of Christ? What evidence of that truth could be seen by others in your life? If your life was muted and only your actions could be seen, would there be evidence of you being led to your Savior and living for him?