For our second week of the Christmas Family Devotional for 2023, you'll begin again with a time of thanking God for His goodness and faithfulness as well as for all He has done in your life. It's a great discipline to practice as you continue on in your life! Our world would love to remove a heart of gratefulness from us as well as teach us we must rely on ourselves to have a life that is rich and meaningful. God's ways are different! As His children, our primary goal is to bless Him and bring Him glory. Hearts are more open this time of years. Ours should be open to Him daily.
Time of Praise
Read Psalm 100 together.
What does it mean to know the Lord is God?
How can we enter into His gates and His courts?
Lead children in statements of praise. Remind them that we praise God even when we don’t feel good.
Time of Confession
Read Hebrews 4:12-16 together.
Initiate a discussion so children understand that sin is not always a visible action. It also involves what we say and what we think. We can sin in our hearts with rebellion and defiance as well.
Lead the children to pray with an emphasis on confessing the sins of their hearts, (envy or resentment, etc.), or the sin of knowing what God says to do but not taking action.
Time of Thanksgiving
Read Philippians 4:12-13 together.
Discuss the connection between gratefulness and contentedness.
Talk about the things kids are thankful for that are not material goods. You might have them talk about the traits of their family members and friends for which they are thankful.
Lead children to pray by beginning the prayer time. Keep your prayers simple and easy to understand. Encourage kids to talk to God with whatever is on their hearts. Steer them to thanksgiving with your prayers.
We will see you again on December 21 for the final installment of this year's Christmas devotional. Bless. you!
(Copyright Mark Taft.)
No comments:
Post a Comment