Week Three: The Nativity

Nativity scenes and Christmas pageants abound annually as Christmas approaches. Such traditions date back to the early centuries of the Christian church, and they help Christians focus on the story that is central to the celebration of Christmas: the arrival of God as a human infant.

This week we focus on that story and some of the key components of Jesus' birth. We will discover that, even in the way in which this infant arrived, God was teaching us about His purpose for us in sending His one and only son - and of the sacrifice that Son one day would make on our behalf.

To download this week's lesson notes, click here.

God Bless You and Merry Christmas!

Matt

Week Two: Celebrating Advent

This Sunday will be the third of the four Sundays of the Advent season, and we will take the opportunity to explore the purpose of Advent celebrations and how to use Advent to help our families focus on the magnitude and life-changing significance of the first coming of Jesus, and His eventual second coming.

If you'd like a copy of this week's lesson notes, they can be downloaded here.

God bless you and Merry Christmas!

Matt

St. Nick, Advent, and the Nativity

This Sunday opens a brief, three-week Christmas study for our class. The series is titled: St. Nick, Advent, and the Nativity. The series centers around the traditions, themes, and rituals of Christmas and how, as believers, we can observe them through and reconcile them with a Biblical Worldview.

The date of our first lesson in the series (December 6) actually is celebrated in many Christian circles as a very special holiday. December 6 is St. Nicholas Day. Yes, THAT St. Nicholas. The one we know more commonly today as Santa Claus. Santa Claus is based partially on Christian principles and the example of a great Christian man. Today most Christians hold special childhood memories associated with the anticipation of Santa's arrival on Christmas Eve. And they would like very much to offer these same joyous holiday memories to their own children. But they are also rightly concerned about linking Santa Claus, who is now little more than a mythical figure, with the reality of the baby Jesus who was born in Bethlehem of Judea. They have good reason to fear they may weaken the validity of the Christmas story by mixing it with fantasy. What are Christians to do with Santa Claus?

That will be our study this week. To view this week's lesson notes, you can download them by clicking here.

God Bless You.

Matt