Make Printable hand puppets to use for telling small children about the Christmas story! Immediate printout and then cut each puppet from the paper. Done quickly with no prep time, which makes it a perfect little project for the busy Christmas Advent season. If you are having Advent devotions, this is a wonderful activity for…
advent
Inspiring New Children’s Album
It is always challenging to find good music made especially for children. Whether it is too saccharine, or nerve wracking for parents, or insipid, so many things made just for kids might make them bored or you ready to stop your ears. That will not happen with the inspiring album full of lovely lyrics, innovative…
Humbly Welcome the King of Kings
It is nearly Christmas Day, when we hear the old story again, of how Christ entered this world so humbly. But what of us? We are ushered into the presence of the King of Kings when we worship before Jesus. Whenever we pray, enter a church service, or give thanks for a meal, He is…
Is Happiness the Same as Joy?
It seems as though words so closely linked as “joy” and “happiness” would become interchangeable in our minds. Perhaps seeing the difference as degree, but are we causing some emotional confusion when we make happiness and joy so alike? Pursuing happiness is a major activity, and we like to say “whatever makes you happy” as…
Learning about God is a Joy
When people are afraid they won’t be accepted they avoid contact. This especially happens when people consider getting to know God. Avoiding God can range from keeping a static view that was handed to them from someone else (a person or an institution) all the way down the spectrum to simply believing there is no…
Candle of Joy Compilation
For an Advent wreath, this is the pink candle, or the “Candle of Joy”. We move closer to the celebration of Christmas, and we may make a choice to concentrate on the joyful aspects of the season. Choosing Joy This is easier, the more we consider the great riches of Heaven that was given us…
Preparing for Joy
Promises to David, Foretelling Christ’s Kingship 2 Samuel 7:14-16 “I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away…
Opening Christmas Thoughts
Gifts and giving have taken center stage during Advent. We buy and wrap, we put some coins into the charity buckets, but what if we opened Christ-centered thoughts each day? What if we delivered them to family and friends, wrapped in thoughtful phrases and decorated with ribbons of our time and attention? It is rather…
Unexpected Places
You must admit that God chooses some unexpected places to show up. Bethlehem might have seemed unpromising enough; but in the stable of the local Inn? No one would have guessed that. Then there was the continuation of Ruth’s life and the ancestral line of the Messiah; the place for her to meet her husband…
Give the Gift of Peace
On Day 11 We are midway through the week’s emphasis on peace. Is it a matter of feeling peaceful or making peace? We aim for both, although they may not coincide as often as we wish. It is like that line “Why can’t we all just get along?” We wish for peacefulness for ourselves without…
