Advent: Love and Christmas Week Four
Bible Verse
<strong>“</strong>They were thrilled and excited to see the star. When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him.” CEV Matthew 2:10-11
The four weeks leading up to Christmas are a special time for God's people to join in anticipation of Christ's birth. This time is called Advent.
Please click here if you would like complete instructions on the Advent candles.
Light the fourth Advent candle: love. This week, you will also light the candles from the previous weeks (hope, peace, and joy).
Have someone say, “This is the fourth week of Advent. We light the candles of hope, peace, and joy from the weeks before. Today, we light the candle of love.” Have someone light the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love.
Christmas Day
Light the white pillar candle that represents Christ, the light of the world, on Christmas. Light the candles from the previous weeks also (hope, peace, joy, and love).
Have someone say, “Today is Christmas. We celebrate Christ coming to the world and light the Christ candle. We also light the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love.”
Dig Deeper
Talk about the devotion Christmas Love for God's Global Family. You might use the prayer at the end of the devotion together.
To learn more about the wise men and explore what love means in the Bible, read Matthew 2:1-12.
Ask these questions: “What do you picture when you think about ‘God’s family’? What does it mean when we talk about ‘being God’s children’ or ‘being brothers and sisters in Christ’”? Allow each family member to answer the questions, and then discuss what love means to them. After the sharing time, say, “Let’s find ways to show our love in Jesus to everyone we meet this week.”
- Share these Gifts of Kindness ideas and explore some ways you can give other people love:
Make a thank you sign for sanitation workers.
Set the table for dinner.
Tell someone why they are special to you.
Make a thank you card for your librarian.
Write an encouraging letter to someone in prison.
Make a family member’s bed.
Write a letter to try to help someone who is the victim of injustice.
Bring cookies to the church or school custodian.
Video chat with some faraway friends.
Listen to (or even sing!) a family favorite Christmas carol about love like “Away in a Manger.” You can listen to an Advent playlist on Spotify. We also love "Waiting Songs" by Rain for Roots.
We pray that this practice of participating in Advent gives your family a deep sense of anticipation for Christmas. May God bless you during this special season.
Want to do a deep dive? Check out Family Fire's article How to Love Well at Christmas
Ron VandenBurg
Senior Producer of Children’s Ministry at ReFrame Ministries
Ron VandenBurg joined the ReFrame Ministries team in 2014. He plans and develops projects specifically for the spiritual formation of children. Before coming to ReFrame, Ron taught middle-school for 27 years. Ron completed a M. Ed. degree in Teaching, Learning and Development at Brock University. Ron and Rachel have three fantastic adult children and one grandchild and reside in Ontario.
