My Gift to You - Christmas Journey Event

I've been writing About the Children's Department for almost three years - thank you so much for taking time in your busy day to read my blog! I sincerely appreciate each of you, so I thought I'd offer a free Christmas resource to you which you could use in your church!

In the years I served as a Children’s Ministry Director and as a consultant for churches, over and over I heard about, and had to deal with, one of the biggest questions in Children’s Ministry; how do we get parents to become involved in helping their children understand and live God’s Word? It is one of the joys and privileges of being a parent that we are the ones who God has given the “job” of teaching children about Him; but when parents think, “This why we bring our children to church” what can we do to help, encourage and equip parents to take on this vital role?

Bible Journeys is a tool for us to use to help parents learn by doing! The Christmas Bible Journey provides parents the opportunity to work with their children on a portion of a special event for the families in their church and community as they serve alongside their children; either by participating in preparing for the event or in presenting the event! Beyond this, as families work through their event’s stations time is included for families to sit together and talk about what they are learning and how it would look for it to be lived out in their everyday lives! As we model for parents “how” to teach their children they will understand they really can make this a part of their family’s every day life! Parents will experience it really isn’t so hard to understand and live God’s Word with their children!

The church used to be the center of community activities and get-togethers. Perhaps we now have the opportunity for our churches to once again provide opportunities for families to get together, have fun and meet others while learning and serving as a family! These events allow church families to serve and learn together while reaching out and inviting community families to join the fun!

Christmas is one of the primary times all year when Christians and churches celebrate; with good reason! God’s gift of Grace is what Christmas is all about! Too often, even in our churches, it can be too easy to get caught up in the “commercial” Christmas and end up missing why we celebrate this special time. Christmas Journey is an ideal opportunity for churches to involve families in ministering to one another as they learn together about God’s gift of Grace!

Christmas Journey is an event with four stations families “journey” through to discover what Christmas is all about. They will learn about the real angels in the true account of Christmas by learning about the special message the angel Gabriel brought to Mary. They will find out about the choir of angels which sang praises to God and the shepherds who heard about God’s gift of Grace in the Hills around Bethlehem. In the stable families will learn how Immanuel means “God with us” and how Jesus came to really be “God with us”! In the party room families will celebrate God’s amazing Grace and give to others as they wrap gifts for needy families. Each station involves families in learning, activity and discussion so this isn’t just another “event”, but rather an opportunity for everyone to learn about God’s gift of Grace and how it changes our everyday lives!

I am happy to offer you the Christmas Journey as a gift from me to you. If you would like a free copy, just email me - lyndafreemanatcd@gmail.com and I will email it back to you - you are welcome to use it in your ministry. (You will have to make the reproducibles mentioned in the Journey)

Thank you for reading About the Children's Department!