Gainsville Baptist Church

The Birth of Christ Foretold (What will he be like?)
Songs: O Little Town of Bethlehem/ Away in a Manger

This week our readings from Scripture focus on the nature of the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem. By nature we mean, what was he like. We are still looking at readings from the Old Testament that were given and written long before Jesus was born, but the prophecies foretold exactly what Jesus would be like.

If you spend much time thinking on the complexity of this Christ child, you will find yourself mind-boggled. We cannot comprehend it all. How can this baby be both God and man? How can he be both a servant and the King of Kings?

As you read the advent passages this week, spend time thinking about the characteristics of Jesus that the passages foretold. Think about and discuss with your family why Jesus had to be all of those things. Why he came in humble circumstances? Why did he have to suffer? How is he a king? And as you do this, you will find yourself moved to worship more fully.

Questions for Discussion:
As you reflect on this week’s Bible passages, here are some suggested questions that might help you reflect on and talk about these things with your family and others.

1) Why do you think so many people in the New Testament days failed to recognize Jesus as THE Messiah?
2) How was Jesus a suffering servant? In what way is he a conquering king?
3) How did the birth of Jesus change the flow of human history? How did it change your life?
4) How might the place (size of town, etc) of the birth of Jesus be significant?

Bible Readings:
Sunday: The Chosen One (Isaiah 42:1-4)
Monday: A Servant Who Brings Salvation (Isaiah 49:1-7)
Tuesday: A Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:1-12)
Wednesday: God’s Spirit is Upon Him (Isaiah 61:1-3)
Thursday: A Righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:5-6)
Friday: A Ruler over Israel (Micah 5:2)
Saturday: Your King is Coming (Zechariah 9:9-10)

Some of the questions and readings are adapted from Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration published by NavPress, © 1989.

The Promise of a Messiah
Songs: O Come, O Come Immanuel / Jesus Loves Me

This week begins our Advent Celebration. As you begin your times of reading, sharing, and reflection, spend some time thinking about the reason that Jesus came to Earth. To understand this, we have to go all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There we see the origin of the curse of sin and the separation from God that came as a result of sin. This sin nature and separation spread to all mankind; thus, a remedy was needed.

Even from the garden we began to hear the ringing of a promised one that would come and make things right (Genesis 3:15). The rest of the Bible shows the unfolding of this promised one; the great Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord. The verses we read this week should cause us to reflect on our need of this savior and what it must have been like to wait for his coming. Think about it. We look backwards at his coming, but the people in the Old Testament time were waiting for that day to arrive.

As you reflect on this week’s Bible passages, here are some suggested questions that might help you reflect on and talk about these things with your family and others.
1) Why did Jesus come to Earth anyway?
2) What do you think it would have been like to be waiting for the messiah’s arrival?
(Messiah means the promised and expected deliverer or the “promised one”)
3) How do you think we view Jesus differently from the people of the Old Testament times? 4) How much darkness does it take to overcome light? How much light does it take to overcome darkness?

Bible Readings:
Sunday: The Creation of Man (Genesis 1:26-31)
Monday: The Fall of Man (Genesis 3:1-24)
Tuesday: The First Promise of Redemption (Genesis 3:15)
Wednesday: A Prophet Will Come (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)
Thursday: A Virgin with Child (Isaiah 7:10-14)
Friday: A Child Will be Born (Isaiah 9:2-6)
Saturday: A Righteous Judge (Isaiah 11:1-5)

Some of the questions and readings are adapted from Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration published by NavPress, © 1989.

During the Christmas season we celebrate the coming of our Lord in human flesh and look forward to his second coming. And yet how many of us, once the holiday has passed, often feel that we scarcely celebrated the birth of the Christ child in the midst of the busyness? For this reason, we’re providing you with a tool to help you lead your home to worship and celebrate Christ this season. In successive weeks during the season of Advent, we’ll post a guide with suggested Scripture readings and thoughts to help shape your family worship time.

Suggested format:
1. Leader: privately read the explanation of what each Advent week anticipates.
2. If you like, begin some of the daily gatherings by singing together one of the songs which accompanies the week. (Song lyrics may be found on the internet, or copied from a hymnal.)
3. Read together the Scripture passage for each day.
4. Use some of the suggested questions to help your home reflect further on Christ and his coming to earth.
5. Close in prayer, anticipating the coming of our Lord.

We hope these readings will serve as helpful tools in your walk with Christ and aid you as you seek to lead your home to worship our Incarnate Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4–5).