Advent: Week 1 - Prophecy Day 7

Advent Tree Ornament - Megaphone

• Click here to download my ornaments to print out yourself.
• If you have an advent wreath, light one candle while your do your Bible reading (we read it in the morning without the candle and then light the candle when we read it again at night with daddy.)

Bible Reading - Malach3:1 & Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 & Mark 1:1-11

Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.  And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.      Malachi 3

 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for for all her sins.  A voice cries: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.' ....... Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'  Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.    Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, 'Behold, I will send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,''  John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins......  Mark 1:1-4

Activity - Making Straight the Path

For this lesson, the kids pretended to be John the Baptist and 'make straight the path' for Jesus.  Isaiah talks about the valleys being lifted up and the mountains being made low, so I created a simple obstacle course down our hallway.  I had the kids try to go through it and asked if it was easy or hard to do.  Then I had Trevor pretend to be John the Baptist and clear the way for Jesus.  He got to pull all the stuff out of hallway.  Then I had him go through the hallway again, but of course this time there was nothing left in the hallway, so it was very easy!  Explain to your kids the symbolism of this as much as they can understand depending on their age.

Ready to start!

Climbing through the course!

Working hard clearing the way!

 You could do other fun things with this, like dress your child up like John the Baptist according to the description in Mark 1.  Have them do the obstacle course and clear the way dressed up!  If you have more than one child (old enough to speak well and understand reasonable instructions =) you could have one child stand at the end of the obstacle course and have the other child be the messenger. Whisper something to the 'messenger' and have him go through the course to tell the other child the message.  I did this with Trevor (not going through the obstacle course though) to show him what a messenger was since he didn't know.


Memory Verse - Matthew 1:22-23

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.

Vocab Words -

1. Prophet: a person who speaks for God (in this case, prophesying the coming of Christ.)
2. Immanuel (Emmanuel): God with us, referring to Jesus.
3. Bear: to bring forth or give birth
• I wasn't going to stress this part, but Trevor asked, so we talked about it =)
• We recounted how a baby grows in the mommy's belly and then comes out.  The 'coming out' is the bearing! 

Song - Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.


Explaining the song to a 3 year old:

Come Jesus and save Israel! They are sad and lonely, waiting for Jesus.  Be happy, Israel!  Jesus will come to you!


For printable advent ornaments and the list of verses for the whole month, click here.  For all of this weeks activities, click here.

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