December FACT

 

Hello and welcome to December F@CT. We are getting really excited about Christmas now. Are you?

The Three Kings Advent-ure

This week we've started following the three kings for our very own online Advent Calendar as they make their way to find Jesus. Have you seen where they've already been?

Today they are going to catch the bus!

Come back each day and find out where they've travelled to.

Oh look! That's a big present. Do you think I should open it now or wait for Christmas?

It doesn't look like I'm very good at waiting for Christmas. What would Christmas look like if we didn't wait? Do you think it might look a bit like this?

Do you have an Advent calendar? Advent is a special time of year and it's all about waiting for a special arrival. 

People were waiting for Jesus for hundreds of years - imagine how big their Advent calendars would have been!

Prophets in the Old Testament told everyone that Jesus was coming. 700 years before Jesus was born, Micah said the Messiah (or God's chosen one) would be born in Bethlehem and Isaiah said he would be from the family of King David.

Jesus is called "The Light of the World" and before he came we were in darkness.

Isaiah was talking about the coming of Jesus when he said

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light.

They lived in a land of shadows,

but now light is shining on them.

Isaiah 9 : 2

Advent is a time of waiting for that light but for us we know who is coming on Christmas Day.

Have you played Hide and Seek recently? Maybe our waiting in Advent is like the time when you are hiding in a dark place waiting to be found. Do you stay still and quiet? You know it's going to be funny when the light shines on you because you've been found. In our house, when someone is found after hiding for a long time, there is laughing and chatting.

We are waiting in the dark in Advent, waiting for the light of Christmas Day. When that light shines we are so happy that Jesus has come!

Activity

Maybe you could have a game of Hide and Seek today. When you are waiting in a dark place you can remember what we have been talking about today. 

Have fun!

We've got a fantastic Chat Mat for you to colour and chat about with your family.

You can download it here

Prayer

Let's take a moment to be still and quiet. We can thank God that He sent Jesus to be the Light of the world. 

You can use your own words or you can use these words to help you. 

Dear God,

Thank you for the light you created.

Thank you that you saw your beautiful world needed another kind of light.

Thank you that you sent Jesus to be that light to the world.

Please help us to be lights to those around us.

Amen

We've got a Christmas song to listen to and join in with today. Let's listen together as we praise God for that glorious night.

We hope you've had fun celebrating Advent with us today. Pop back every day and you can see where the Three Kings have been on their travels. 

We would normally be getting ready for our Christmas Eve Christingle service and the good news is that we are getting ready but this year all the fun of the service will be online. We are packing up Christingle kits so that every household can join in and make one together during the online service on Christmas Eve. 

If you would like to book a Christingle pack, you can click here.