This is the last in a series of previews of our family Advent devotionals. Advent starts in just a few days, so be sure to order your choice of devotionals for your family now! Today’s excerpt is from the popular, well-loved devotional Prepare Him Room by Marty Machowski.
Take a look inside the actual devotional for families and the Sunday School curriculum.
God’s Promise:
The Greatest Proof of All
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- driver’s license
- white paper
- colored pencils and crayons
- gift box and gift wrap and bow
- gift of your choice
WARM-UP
Prove It to Me
— Show your driver’s license to your family. Ask your children this question: How can I prove to someone that I am really __________ (insert your name). Let’s say a valuable package came to the post office and I went there to pick it up. How could I prove to the clerk it was really me and not someone else? (The answer of course is that you could pull out your identification to prove you are who you say you are.) Pass your driver’s license around and allow your children to see it.
— Next ask your children how God proves that he is who he says that he is. He doesn’t have a driver’s license to pull out and show. (God proves he is who he says he is by the things that he does. For example, God made the stars and they are so amazing that they testify to his glorious power. When God sent Moses to speak to Pharaoh, he told him to throw down his staff and it would become a snake. God said he would use this sign to prove he was God and that he had authority to command Pharoah.)
— Today we are going to learn about a very special sign God gave to prove something to a King named Ahaz.
READ THE BIBLE
Light the first and second Advent candles and then read the Scripture below.
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And [Isaiah] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:10–14)
PICTURE IT
King Ahaz was in trouble: an enemy army bearing down, ready to attack his country. God sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to calm his fears. Isaiah told Ahaz not to worry; God would protect him. To prove himself powerful enough to protect Ahaz, God told him to ask for a sign, for some proof. It could be anything as high as the stars. Imagine Ahaz saying to God, “If it is really true then spell my name with stars in the sky.” God would have spelled his name with stars.
Ahaz was afraid to ask God for a sign, he thought it was disrespectful. But God wanted to give Ahaz a sign. So God spoke through Isaiah and gave Ahaz the greatest sign that has ever been given: “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,” which means, “God with us.” Imagine that, a woman who knew no man, would give birth to a son, but not just any son, this special child would be God himself come down from heaven to earth, born as a baby.
While God did protect Ahaz from his enemies, Ahaz had no idea what the sign Isaiah brought to him meant. But today, looking back, we know that the virgin Isaiah spoke of was Mary and her Son was Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. Today we understand that God was giving a sign so that we could all believe God is who he says he is. Jesus proved that he was God, when, after dying on the cross, he rose again from the dead, just as he said.
TALK ABOUT IT
Show your family the baby Jesus figure from your manger set. Ask if they can remember the special name God gave Jesus before he was born that tells us he was God. (The name is Immanuel.)
Then ask, “What does the name Immanuel mean and why was the sign God gave Ahaz the greatest sign of all? (Immanuel means “God with us.” God’s word to Ahaz that he would send his son as a baby to earth is the greatest sign of God’s saving love. More than saving Ahaz from attack, God’s word to Ahaz pointed to a day when God would save us all through Jesus who grew up to die on the cross for our sins.)
PRAY TOGETHER
Thank God for sending us his only Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life for us and die on the cross to take our sins away.
SING TOGETHER
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Original words (vv. 1–2) by an unknown author, translated by John M. Neale (1851). Alt. and add. words (vv. 3–5) by Steve Cook and Bob Kauflin. Music: Veni Emmanuel, arranged by Thomas Helmore (1856).
VERSE 1
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
VERSE 2
O come, Thou Dayspring from on high
And cause Thy light on us to rise
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadow put to flight
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
VERSE 3
O come, O come, true prophet of the Lord
And turn the key to heaven’s door
Be Thou our comforter and guide
And lead us to the Father’s side
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall by His word our darkness dispel
VERSE 4
O come, our Great High Priest, and intercede
Thy sacrifice our only plea
The judgment we no longer fear
Thy precious blood has brought us near
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Has banished every fear of hell
VERSE 5
O Come, Thou King of nations bring
An end to all our suffering
Bid every pain and sorrow cease
And reign now as our Prince of Peace
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come again with us to dwell
© 2014 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)/Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Administration by Integrity Music.
ACTIVITY
A Christmas Gift
Christmas presents a wonderful opportunity to give a gift to someone in need. Think of a person or family you know that you don’t normally exchange gifts with but who is in need this Christmas season. Once you’ve identified the person or family, consider what gift would bless them.
Read John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Remember that Jesus Christ was a precious gift to all of us from God the Father. Use God’s generosity toward us to motivate you to be generous to another person or family in need. Then discuss as a family what gift you should give to them.
Purchase or make and wrap the gift. Make a card with the paper and colored pencils and crayons. Have each person in your family sign the card and then go together to deliver your gift. On your way home, thank God again for the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, and for the joy of giving, which allows us to imitate God’s kindness toward us.
Excerpt adapted from Prepare Him Room: Celebrating the Birth of Jesus Family Devotional by Marty Machowski ©2014 by Covenant Fellowship Church. May not be reproduced without prior written permission.
PREPARE HIM ROOM: CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF JESUS FAMILY DEVOTIONAL
Guide kids and their families into the heart of Christmas with this gospel-focused, four-week Advent curriculum. Prepare Him Room by children’s best-selling author Marty Machowski takes a biblical, theological approach to the Old Testament promises and New Testament fulfillment in Christ in a way kids can understand.
