Love

Imagine how you would feel if right after Christmas, your parents asked you to give your favorite new present to someone else? The present that you wanted more than any present. The exact present you had hoped for. The present you could not stop thinking about. And then, you had to give it away. That doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?

But think about what God did at Christmas. At Christmas, God sent His only son whom He loved and treasured and valued from heaven into this world. And He not only sent Him to earth, He sent Him to die. That is an amazing gift. God did that for one reason: He loves you. He wants you to know Him and have eternal life with Him, but the only way for that to happen was for Jesus to die for you so that your sins can be forgiven.

When we think about the fact that God sent His only Son Jesus into this world to die for us, it should remind us of ONE very important truth: God loves us very much. There is no greater love than giving up something you value for someone else. And God gave His son for us. THAT is love.

As you read these verses, think about what it teaches us about God, about Jesus, and about the way God shows His love.

Reading

(Links open in a new tab to the text in ESV)

Luke 1:57-66    |    Luke 1:67-80    |    John 3:16

Think about these truths:

1. Jesus came to deliver us.

2. Jesus came to bless us.

3. Jesus came to save us.

Discussion starters:

1. Why is it easy to share some things and hard to share other things? Why is it easier to share with some people than it is to share with others?

2. People use the word “love” a lot. They say, “I love chocolate. I love soccer. I love you.” Do they always mean the same thing? How is loving a person different from loving chocolate or soccer?

3. How do we know that God loves us?

Prayer point

Thank God for loving us so big that He sent Jesus to deliver us, bless us, and save us. Ask God to help you love others like He has loved you.

Songs

What Child Is This?
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us

Activity suggestions

As Advent comes to an end, we think on God’s great love expressed to us in Jesus. Celebrate the end of Advent and the arrival of Christmas by expressing love to one another with words, hugs, kisses, or all of the above.

DECEMBER 25 | CHRISTMAS DAY

The anticipation and joy you see in the face of your children now that the BIG day has finally arrived is reminiscent of the anticipation and joy fulfilled for Simeon and Anna when Mary and Joseph carried the Messiah King across the temple threshold.

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for Your people Israel.” – Luke 2:34

Choose today to celebrate the gift above all gifts—our Messiah King, the Lord Jesus Christ—and praise our Father in heaven for lavishing us with such abundance of love, grace, and mercy. Join in the chorus of heaven proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8).” Merry Christmas!

Advent Guide:  Week 1  |  Week 2  |  Week 3