But the Wise Men won’t arrive in Bethlehem until January 6—the “Twelfth Day of Christmas” and the day the church traditionally celebrates the visit of the Magi and their worship of the Christ Child. In liturgical churches, this is called Epiphany. In some churches the  season lasts until Ash Wednesday. The word “Epiphany” refers to God’s appearance to live with us as one of us, and the season marks the many ways Jesus revealed Himself as the Son of God.

That’s why I want to scream! I want to keep Christmas in the present.

My parents celebrated Epiphany, and it was a blessing. As a child, I would receive a small gift—some fun, but useful item like a cute pair of socks. As I got older, the gifts morphed into a Christmas tree ornament or some other decoration for the following year’s Christmas celebration. As I look back at the traditions and those little reminders of God’s love in Jesus, I realize that they strengthened my faith-relationship with Him.

So on Wednesday,  I will again celebrate Epiphany by sharing a little reminder of God’s Gift with my husband and our three sons and their wives.  

How about you? How might you celebrate “Christmas Present”—Epiphany? Surprise someone! For Christians, Christmas is never over!

The kits were easy to assemble and the children loved the experience of “creating” their own nativity set, especially since they have read and learned so much about Jesus’ birth this month. 

Traditionally, the Christmas season in liturgical churches starts on Christmas Day and extends into January, culminating with Epiphany on January 6, so it is not too late to use the nativity kits.

Christmas Day will soon come and go, but we will have some winter vacation days at home with our children before they must go back to school.  This craft would be an excellent activity for one of winter’s cold and snowy days at home! 

Enjoy your families and may God grant you all a blessed and Merry Christmas!

Introduction

In just a few days we will celebrate Christmas. For most of us, Christmas is more than just one day; it is an entire season filled with so many different sights and sounds and memories. Just about everyone seems to have favorite foods, activities, and family traditions. For most of us, Christmas is a time of joy, excitement, and anticipation. Take a moment and think about some of the things that make Christmas special for you.

 (Pause—if time allows you might invite a few people to share with the group.)

One of the many traditions Christians have is gift giving. Many of us spend hours planning what we will give and anticipating what we will receive. Giving and receiving gifts is one way we show our love for one another. And yet, if I were to ask you to tell me one gift you received or even gave last Christmas, could you do it? Perhaps a few of you could, but by now most of those gifts have been forgotten, used up, or broken.

Getting to the Heart

Remembering what we received last year can be a challenge, but there is one gift that we cannot forget; indeed, it is the very reason we celebrate!

The whole idea of gift-giving began in the heart of the One who made us. In the beginning God created the world and everything in it out of pure love for us. He created Adam and Eve and all living things. When he was finished, “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

But as we know, it didn’t stay good. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and since then, each one of us has done the same. Our sin separates us from God. The sin in our hearts leads us to commit all kinds of sins that hurt us and those around us. Our sin breaks God’s heart. Yet, because of his great love for us, God devised a plan to save us from the punishment we deserved, a plan to bring us back to himself.

Isn’t it interesting to know God created us with the full knowledge that our sin would mean the death of his Son? Right from the start God knew the sacrifice he would have to make, and yet he did it anyway. Why? Because “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and from all eternity, he intended to share his love with us. God’s great love came to us as a Gift, the Gift of a tiny Baby born more than 2,000 years ago!

That first Christmas was so unlike the holiday we celebrate today. There were no sparkly lights, no warm food, no parties, and no tinsel or glitter. Instead, a man and woman, a group of shepherds, some barn animals, and one carol—the praise chorus offered by the angels—heralded the Gift, the baby Jesus. It is amazing to think that God would be so quiet about the event he had been planning since before the creation!

It is difficult to understand why God chose to send Jesus the way he did, but maybe the answer can come from what the angels said. As the shepherds watched their flocks out in the dark field that night, suddenly the sky lit up, and “the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).

The message was for “all people,” but it was also a very personal, individual Gift. God could have shared the news with the whole world at once. Instead, he sent his messengers to a lonely field outside of Bethlehem, to a group of lowly shepherds. Those shepherds believed the message and went to see the baby. There, beside the tiny manger, they received the Gift of Jesus! Afterward, they went on to share the Gift with all the people they met, one by one.

Taking It Home

The Gift of Jesus is for you! Jesus came as a baby for you with the expressed purpose to save you from your sin. Perhaps the best known verse in the Bible is John 3:16:

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

You may know that verse from memory, but today, right now, I want you make sure you know it not only in your head, but also in your heart. I want you to know that it is for you! If you were the only person on earth, the only person in need of God’s forgiveness and salvation, he still would have made the sacrifice. He would have sent his Son for just one, for just you. Jesus would have gone through all of that pain and suffering just for you and only for you.

In fact, while he was on the cross, bearing your sin, he thought of you! He stayed on the cross out of love for you! He died for you, and he rose again to give life to you! Now that is a gift worth remembering!

This devotion is adapted from This Gift Is for You © 2005 CTA, Inc. You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #122209. © 2009 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026-1205. www.CTAinc.com.

Scripture quotations are from the King James or Authorized Version of the Bible.

Joy should be everywhere, shouldn’t it? Digging out from all the December craziness, we realize Christmas isn’t just a special day on the calendar. We’re journeying to Bethlehem in faith to kneel in awe and adoration at the little baby feet of the world’s Savior, Jesus Christ. We celebrate God’s gift of love, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, his gift that brings joy from heaven to earth. Jesus brings joy for the world—for everyone, everywhere. 

Jesus brings joy and blessings abound—enough for everyone! Maybe joy comes to you in new memories you create with relatives from out of town, in an unexpected bonus you receive at work, or in an extra measure of the Christmas spirit you feel in your heart.

Still, even with joy surrounding us, some of us  experience the “merry side of Christmas,” only to slide quickly into despair. Our fa’s are strong early in the season, but before long, our la’s fall flat. Some of us find our joy crumpled up like a pile of discarded post-Christmas wrapping paper.

Are you lip-syncing both the fa’s and the la’s, hoping others don’t notice your struggle to smile? Certainly, not everyone agrees that it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Christmastime can be a highly charged, emotional time. So many variables toy with our level of joy. Think about it . . .

• Some dread their first Christmas without someone they loved, while others anticipate their first Christmas with someone they love.
• Some receive a helpful end-of-the-year financial windfall, while others find themselves falling more and more into debt with no help in sight.
• Some find the season invigorating, while others find it nerve-racking.
• Some couples celebrate their first Christmas as husband and wife, while others experience their first as ex-husband and ex-wife.
• Some come to life, surrounded with people, while others come to deal with loneliness, even when surrounded by people.
• Some feel overly blessed, while others feel overly stressed.

As we come to adore our Savior, each of us brings blessings as well as burdens to the manger. So let’s pause in our journey to the manger to notice the people around us. We’re traveling together, and it’s important to realize we all travel by faith. We come, only because the divine Child first journeyed from heaven to earth. His birth, death, and resurrection conquers loneliness, anxiety, stress, and all our other burdens.

 Jesus’ gift isn’t necessarily a jump-up-and-down joy, although it certainly can be that. It’s primarily a joy that settles deep in our hearts. It’s a joyful, contented peace. This divine present comes with Jesus’ presence.

Jesus brings joy to the world. He also brings joy for the world. He knows our world is filled with sin and its accompanying heartache, pain, and grief. But let there be no doubt that he’s also intimately aware of every breath you take, every word you speak, and every situation you face. And he’s aware of your need for joy. So he wraps his miraculous joy within his gifts of forgiveness, help, and hope. It’s true! Jesus brings joy for the world—for everyone, everywhere.

Come and receive. Come and worship.

Come and go . . . sharing his gifts.

Editor’s note: Several Joy for the World gifts are available from CTA this Christmas. Get yours before they’re gone!

© 2007 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for ruse within a church or other Christian organization.

 The Scripture quotation is from the King James or Authorized Version.

Just as we adults can feel bombarded by the materialism of our society at this time of year so, too, can our children. They can so easily be drawn into the glitter and bright lights of the shopping season, deceived by ads designed to help them confuse “What I truly need” with “What I really, really want.”

As Christian adults and children, we believe a relationship with Jesus fills our deepest need. We know that his love for us is the one gift that truly lasts forever. Together, we remind one another of this—in church, in our families, in our circle of friends. For example: 

• During this Advent season, we sing songs focused on God’s gift of a Savior.
• We plan ways to do kind things for those around us.
• Maybe you remember the practice of putting a handful of hay or a single straw in a small ”manger” when you do something helpful for someone else during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Children still love that practice! It works!
• In my class, we always plan a “Happy Birthday, Jesus” party as well.

CTA has been an enormous help to me, both as a mother and a teacher, in helping children keep the main things the main things during the Christmas season. I encourage you to check out CTA’s Christmas crafts and gifts for children.

This time of year, many of us give gifts. In fact, most of us probably give more gifts at Christmastime than at any other time of the year. Gift giving has its own protocol. If we fail to follow it, that failure can lead to some uncomfortable moments—for us, for our friends, or for both!

For example, we don’t want to embarrass someone by giving them a gift when they have not planned to get anything for us. On the other hand, we don’t want to be caught empty-handed when a friend rings our doorbell, brightly wrapped gifts for every member of our family piled high in her arms. Some people I know (maybe some of you, too?) buy an extra generic gift or two to keep gift wrapped in a dresser drawer for just such an emergency!

Another thing. We want the gifts we give someone else to cost roughly what we imagine they will spend on us. It wouldn’t do to give someone a box of candy and then receive in return that antique baseball card we have been looking for since 1981 that sells for $815 on eBay!

And finally, as the Emily Post Institute makes clear, we would never, ever, ever try to “re-gift” a present we have received, unless we can be 210% certain that the person who gave it to us will never find out.

Getting to the Heart

God gives gifts at Christmastime, too, just like we do. (And throughout the year as well, of course!) But He stands our gift-giving rules right on their heads. He ignores the rules about “not giving more than you will receive.” He never warehouses generic blessings to have in stock in case He receives an unexpected gift. No, He gives and gives and gives and keeps on giving to those of us who live on earth, to people totally undeserving of those gifts—people totally incapable of “payback.”

We certainly have not earned our heavenly Father’s generosity. In fact, we have often defied His commands. We have, in selfishness, taken advantage of His goodness and sometimes even presumed on His mercy. Our heavenly Father knew we would do this. Still, He gave His most priceless possession to us anyway—His only Son, our Savior, Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 9:15, Paul writes, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Let me set these words in context. Paul’s exclamation follows a “thank-you note” of sorts. At a time when the believers in Jerusalem had faced a serious lack of food, clothing, and other life necessities, the church in Corinth had come through for them—and had come through generously. So as Paul wrote about other matters, he also tucked in a paragraph of special thanks. Keep in mind that he himself had helped to organize the help drive in the first place.

The apostle doesn’t stop with a simple “thank you” though. He also wants his readers to know many people will praise God for their generosity. He wants them to know that the Jerusalem Christians will, in turn, pray for them. (Just imagine how surprising this sounded in that time and culture: Jews praying for Gentiles, Gentiles supporting Jews!)

Finally, Paul adds that the generosity of the believers in Corinth wasn’t something they dreamed up on their own or something they accomplished out of their own holy intentions. Rather, it came about almost incidentally as God’s love overflowed into their lives. Their generosity was created by the brimming-over, more-than-abundant grace of God at work in their hearts. It resulted from all the many gifts God had given, especially the gift of Jesus, the Savior, and His cross, the fountain from whom all blessings flow. That’s when Paul exclaims, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

God’s good gifts—especially the gift of Jesus—defy description. One dictionary defines indescribable as referring to “a thing of untellable splendor.” Doesn’t that fit just perfectly? The forgiveness of sins, peace with God, the hope that defeats even death itself—these are things of “untellable splendor.” And all of them—all of them—came down to earth at Christmas when love came down—wrapped in the swaddling cloths of Bethlehem’s baby boy! Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

We celebrate that gift, especially at Christmas time! We sing! We praise! We act in love toward our co-workers, toward others in our family, and with our neighbors and friends.

Even better, this is one gift we can “re-gift,” worry free! In fact, the Holy Spirit urges us to give this gift away generously, to give it to others as we share our Lord’s unbelievable love with everyone around us. Miracle of miracles, the more we share God’s indescribable gift, the more we have for ourselves. The more we give it away, the more brightly and warmly His love burns in our hearts, despite the winter chill outside. What an indescribable gift!

We can never pay that gift back. We can never compensate the Gift Giver, and so, we “pay it forward.” We pass it on to everyone around us, to those in need of the Good News Jesus has brought into our own lives.

The Scripture quotation is from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

© 2008 CTA, Inc. Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted only to the original purchaser and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale.

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While we do these things, though, we can also prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. What a precious gift God sent to us! As I reflect on this, I wonder how one does best prepare for our Savior? How do we get ready to celebrate his coming to live among us to save us for all eternity? The gift is so big!

Considering that gift and Christ’s holy life, I think about being holy—like Jesus—in my day to day life. I ask that he keep my heart open to him and that he show me how to be his hands and feet for all those whose lives my life touches. This is my way of keeping my life simple and keeping Jesus as the center. Jesus is the one thing that really matters.

 One of my kindergarten students recently visited Disney World. She returned with a gift for me. Her mother told me, “She searched for days looking for the perfect gift for you. You have really touched her heart.” It was so humbling to realize that Jesus really is working through me, despite the commotion and busyness of life!

 Jesus is working through you, too! May he touch many hearts through each of our lives this Christmas season!

The Christmas Story Pen is a meaningful gift all your students will find intriguing and fun–and for only 99 cents each when you buy a dozen! You might even buy two for each student and help them learn to use the second one to share the Good News of Jesus’ birth with a friend.

Want to know more? Check  out the video description!

 CTA has helped make this event easier and more meaningful. In fact, that’s what CTA does best!

For example, consider the Christ the Savior is Born downloadable video. The video provides a great foundation for a children’s Christmas program—on Christmas Eve or a Sunday leading up to Christmas.

At our preschool, we show the video and add in an Advent Cheer, the reading of Luke 2:1-20 by the preschool staff, and a song like Away in the Manger. We conclude with a blessing and an invitation for everyone to join us for the cookie reception!

As everyone leaves the service, consider giving  them a keepsake reminder. We’ve done that for several years.  This year you might consider giving each child (and siblings in the audience) a copy of the book on which the video is based. The book comes complete with notes for parents about ways to talk about Christmas in their family. Children will enjoy having parents read the story many times over in coming weeks and years. 

Surprise older children who attend with both a Christ the Savior Is Born book and a pencil from the Value Pack and give adults in attendance a Christ the Savior Is Born magnet  or ornament reminder. All at a price preschools can afford!