A Christmas Story:
Series Overview
Christmas is such a crazy time. Students are busy dreaming about what they want to get, and parents are shopping frantically for what they want to give. We all become consumed with malls and wrapping paper. It’s a Wonderful Life and How the Grinch Stole Christmas play on TV and Santa Clause poses for pictures with every excited (and screaming) child. At church we tell the story about shepherds, angels and a manger, but so often the significance of the story is lost because it seems like just one more holiday tradition. Or we’ve heard it so much that we don’t hear it anymore. Our upcoming series is going to tell the Christmas Story—but in a slightly different way.
Session One (Sunday December 5)
Everyone has a vision for their lives. We dream of the type of home we’ll live in, the car we’ll drive, the job we want, the love we desire or the family we’ll have. And even if we wouldn’t dare share those things with someone else, deep within us we hope that life will turn out one way . . . even if we’re at the same time skeptical it won’t. But sometimes the life we envision is different than the one we actually have . . . okay, most of the time. So how do we react when life doesn’t turn out the way we hoped? And more importantly, what do we do with Jesus, because as wonderful as He is, He steps into our lives and makes things messy. He leads us down paths we never thought we would go. He asks us to do things we don’t always want to do. And even with all that, somehow life still turns out even better than we dreamed.
Session One Parent Cue: What are some events in your life that turned out differently than you hoped? Looking back, did things work out better than you expected at the time?
Session Two (Sunday December 12)
It’s so easy for something to capture our sense of wonder, especially during the Christmas season. For some of us, there is that one thing we would love to unwrap. Whether it’s the latest cell phone, wide screen TV or money for a shopping spree, there is one thing that makes our heart skip a beat with anticipation wondering if this Christmas it will happen. Simeon lived his whole life with that type of anticipation. His life was consumed by one thing, but it was really the only thing that mattered.
Session Two Parent Cue: What would your life looked if the one consuming thing behind every action and every word was Jesus?
Session Three (Sunday December 19)
It’s the easiest thing in the world to do, and that’s probably why so many of us are guilty of doing it. God gives us something--a talent, a provision, a relationship--we take it, make big plans for it, then somehow forget all about Him. In the act of serving God, sometimes we completely miss Him. Sometimes our big God becomes very small in our lives. Perhaps that’s why God chose Mary, someone who was very aware of what little she had to offer, to provide the gift that the world so desperately needed. Mary is remembered not only for what she did, but for why she did it--simply to honor God’s request.
Session Three Parent Cue: Have you ever had a moment when you felt like God asked you to do something specific? How did you respond?