Advent adventure #1

Your mission: Head out together as a family to do a little Christmas shopping.*

Oh joy! may not be the first thought that springs to mind at the prospect of shopping with the kids. But there is a helpful lesson at the heart of this mission. And here’s something to sweeten the deal: do just a "little" Christmas shopping – as little as you like. But try to choose a shopping center that’s very busy, and somewhere where you’ll need to wait in a lineup for at least a little while.

When you return home: Read Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-25, then Luke 2:1-7.

Discussion guide:

  • Did the store/mall/town center seem busy to you?

  • Did you like being among all the hustle and bustle?

  • Did you like waiting in a lineup to be served?How did it make you feel?

  • When you are in a crowd of strangers, do you feel special – or not very special at all?

  • Are you wondering what all this has to do with the birth of Jesus? Let’s find out!

In Our Bible reading we see the Roman ruler ordered a census – a count of all the people in the Roman Empire. The census meant Mary and Joseph couldn’t stay in their hometown to have their baby. Instead, they had to travel to the town of Bethlehem. In Bible times, traveling on foot or by donkey, the trip would have taken somewhere between four days to a week. That’s a long and very tiring journey for anyone, but especially tiring for a woman expecting a baby.

And when Mary and Joseph finally reached Bethlehem, it was no place to kick back and relax. Most likely, the whole town was bustling with activity. People were rushing here and there, buying extra food, cleaning house and making room for relatives who would be coming to stay during the census. No one paid any attention to Mary and Joseph – they were just one more weary couple straggling into town.

God was in the midst of this business was preparing a special welcome for His Son, but not the kind of welcome Mary or Joseph imagined. In any busy time we can miss the most important parts of what's going on. This season what can you do to remember Jesus during this time? What moments in the next few weeks can be used as reminders of Jesus. 

[Talk about some of the fun events and activities your family is looking forward to this Christmas, then close in prayer.]

* The second Advent adventure also takes place at a shopping center. If you'd rather not return to the shopping mall a second time, make the treasure hunt from the second Advent adventure part of your shopping trip in week number one. You can talk about the treasure hunt during your Bible reading in week two.