For you to discuss and engage in the spiritual life of your children here is what we looked at this week at Calvary Family Ministry.
Topic:
The Christmas story: Angels appear to shepherds (Luke 2)
Synopsis:
Angels appeared to shepherds working in a field. They gave them the good news that Jesus, the one who would bring their salvation, was born.
Talking Point:
In the midst of the upheaval of the national census, some shepherds were keeping guard of their sheep in a field near Bethlehem. To them, it was a normal night. Perhaps they had already been counted in the census and they were now getting back to the usual routine of life under Roman rule.
In those days, shepherds were reviled in the nation of Israel, an attitude which stemmed from Egyptians’ hatred of sheep and goats, and those who looked after them. During the 400 years that Israel had spent in Egypt this hatred had become a strong social construct amongst the Jews which still persisted about 1,500 years later.
God chose this group of hated people, these men on the fringes of society who were not allowed to hold judicial positions or act as witnesses, these men who were considered untrustworthy and untouchable, to be the first to receive the news of salvation.
God’s special messenger angel, and the host of heaven with him, appeared first in the darkness of an unimportant field, to an outcast people. There the angels declared to the shepherds that their Saviour – and the Saviour of the world – had been born, and pointed the way to Him.
God still offers salvation to the outcasts of the world, He is not out of the reach of any of us, and His word and His messengers still point the way today.
Questions to discuss with your child:
Q: Why did Jesus come?
A: Jesus came to save us from our sins.
Discuss: Jesus came to the unwanted first.
Key Unit Passage:
Matthew 1:21
Next Week:
The Christmas story: The shepherds visit Jesus (Luke 2)
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