December 4: Joseph and Mary

*Today's gifts are the unbreakable nativity figurines of Joseph and Mary.

• Read Luke 1: 30-33.

"But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.'"

• Give your children the gifts to open.

• Explain how God's people were given promises about a king who would "reign in the house of Jacob forever." (This phrase is also found in Isaiah 9:7)

• Explain also how Old Testament prophets told of the birth of this King through special circumstances (by a virgin, Isaiah 7:14).

• Talk about the way God kept promises through the birth of Jesus. He kept his promise with Mary too.

• Think of a time when you knew God kept a promise to you (Duet. 31:6 will help).

• Pray with your family, thanking God for always keeping His promises.