4th Sunday of Advent - God Is With Us - December 18, 2022

Bible Study “Fourth Sunday of Advent –  God Is With Us”

Share:  Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.

 

Advent invites us to risk pushing on through the world’s weariness to expectant hope.  Something’s coming we proclaim! Immanuel: God With Us in the form of an infant. We celebrate what happened 2000 years ago while we look to the promise that Jesus will come again.  We are also called, as we live in this parenthesis time, to look for messages God continues to send: what has happened, and will happen again, is also happening now: right here.

Isaiah knew this day would come: a young woman and a baby — Emmanuel — God With Us. God chooses to dwell in the womb of a woman. A messenger is sent to assure Mary’s fiancé that he should stay with her and help her raise their son. Could it be that this message, God With Us, is not just about what happened then or just what will happen in the future? Could we risk believing: God IS With Us – Now?

 

Opening Prayer:  Thank you, God, for messages that sometimes come in dreams. Amen.   

 

We have a story about someone who had “cold feet” — had second thoughts about something.

 

Please open your Bibles to Matthew 1:18-25 and read or read the scriptures below.

Matthew 1:18-25 

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

 

Questions: (Answers at the bottom of the page)

  • When Joseph said “yes” to the angel, how do you think he understood fitting into God’s plan?
  • What do you think Joseph’s “yes” to the angel — agreeing to get married to Mary and share with her in raising Jesus — added to Jesus’ life?
  • How do you think Jesus was prepared for the work he would do?    

 

Click here for the young learner’s lesson

 

Videos (Click on url)

Discover Jesus – The Birth of Jesus Christ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4vjoNoEWyU

Overview: Matthew 1-13 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dv4-n6OYGI

 

Activities:

ToothPick Stable Art – Use a recipe card or a 3 x 5 card.  Glue toothpicks in the shape of a stable and roof over the stable (big enough to cover half the card).  Glue lima beans upright (vertical) for Mary and Joseph.  Glue a little black eye pea at the top of each lima bean for the heads and one with the little dark spot on top on the ground between Mary and Joseph and it will look like a little manager with baby Jesus in it.  Then write JESUS IS HIS NAME or JESUS IS SALVATION, over the top of the toothpick stable

 

Gifts To Wrap – Wrap a small piece of candy or some other small gift and give it to someone who needs encouragement.  Write “Jesus is the Best Gift” or “The Real Meaning of Christmas is Jesus Coming to Earth to Give Us Eternal Life” on a slip of paper and place it inside the gift.

Advent WreathHopefully you completed your Advent Wreath and you lit the first purple candle of hope or prophesy, the second purple candle of Peace, and the third candle which is Joy or Shepherds (pink candle).  Light the fourth purple candle which is Peace or Angel.  It reminds us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.  It announces Jesus’ mission on earth to love and unite all people, bringing them closer to God.  May we prepare for the coming of Christ into our lives and our world with hope, peace, joy, and love.

25 Days of Christmas Activities

 

Jesus Is Coming to Town Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/jesus_is_coming_to_town_crossword.htm?fromSermonId=362 

Jesus Is Coming to Town Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/jesus_is_coming_to_town_decoder.htm?fromSermonId=362

God Is With Us Maze:

Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/4535038/god-is-with-us/

 

Prayer:  Thank you, God, for the messengers you send us. Amen.      

 

 

  • When Joseph said “yes” to the angel, how do we think he understood fitting into God’s plan? (He had an important part to play, he was needed; he was loved by God.)
  • What do you think Joseph’s “yes” to the angel — agreeing to get married to Mary and share with her in raising Jesus — added to Jesus’ life? (He grew up in a house where both parents shared in raising him, and his daddy taught him how to be a carpenter.)
  • How do you think Jesus was prepared for the work he would do? (Jesus must have studied the Hebrew Bible for he knew it very well.)