Julie in CA Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I'd love to do some readings/activities leading up to our celebration of Christmas. I'm having trouble finding materials to guide us through it. I need something that would be interesting to my teens, while still being *reverent and relevant* in building up towards celebration of Christ's birth. Thanks, Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 We do a Jesse Tree; I have this book (young child/adult devotions, not reformed but still pretty good ...) and I have several links in my delicious feed. I kinda do a mishmash of these things ... I made my "tree last year on a poster and then made stickers for the ornaments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsrevmeg Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 We also did a Jesse Tree last year. We made ornaments out of popsicle sticks, craft foam, or salt dough. My husband even got in on the crafting. Hubby read a passage to go along with what we were making. We also make a point to do things to help others during that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in WI Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 :bigear: Also, especially desired by us are books/materials that do not have images of Jesus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 books/materials that do not have images of Jesus. Amen, sister! That is sooooo hard to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetobehome Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Can I ask (politely) why no images? I have not heard of that before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 No pictures b/c you are dipping into the area of IMAGES of God.... this is in the commandments & some see it as icons or even possibility of worshiping the image (idols). To some, to have an image of Jesus (or God) is to make him common... to disrepect. It is also a dangerous slope of beginning to worship the picture or image... and not actually Christ. I know others will explain better. Hope I didn't stumble too much. It is rather awesome to read a book or watch a video where you never see the face of Christ... it is humbling, refreshing, and rather incredible. I wish I had better ways to describe it. We had videos from Ray Vanderlaan (sp?) and the entire series never should the face of Christ... it was an incredible experience and I saw how important it was. Hard to explain though. He is set apart in this manner... He is God... He is not common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Well, also because God in His infinite wisdom did not give us an image of Christ. In attempting to image Jesus, we would be, in essence, telling God that we knew better than He does what is good for us (since He specifically *didn't* give us a picture). I don't want my children (or myself, for that matter) to have a preconceived *false* picture of who God is. Personally, I view pictures of God as man's attempt to "humanize" God, which is more than a little irreverent. In thinking back to the Israelites, they felt they needed a material item to worship, ended up with a golden calf, and we all know how that turned out. When we create false ideas of who God is and what He looks like, we deceive both ourselves and others, and turn away from the *real* God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petepie2 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I'm going to refrain from contributing to the "images" part of this discussion and go back to the Advent part! We celebrate advent at home with an advent wreath and a jesse tree, and these things have truly made our Christmas Christ-focused over the last couple of years. Our Jesse Tree is made from a bare branch from the backyard stuck in a vase of sand. Our ornaments are made from construction paper and yarn. As the kids learn to draw, I'll let them made new ornaments in the future. We follow the Scripture reading suggestions given in the book "The Disciplines of a Godly Family" by Kent and Barbara Hughes. There are also many sources on the web. In essence, the Jesse Tree is like doing daily family devotions that walk through Scripture starting from creation to the birth of Christ....accompanied by a symbolic ornament. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want to make it. You can even buy Jesse Tree ornaments online if you want to go that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petepie2 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Oh, and I think we have used this as a source for our advent wreath readings: http://www.reformedworship.org/magazine/article.cfm?article_id=1329 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 This is an elementary age resource but I thought I'd add it for others who may peek into this thread. We read Jotham's Journey by Arnold Ytreeide last year and really loved it. I'm looking forward to checking out the other resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jami Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 We do indeed! At the very least we light an advent candle on our wreath each Sunday night of Advent, sing a hymn together, and have a reading related to the candle (Shepherds, Angels, Bethlehem, etc.). We've also done a Jesse tree in the past and may again. We have no problem with images of Jesus for instruction and in art works. Nor have any of the PCAs of which we've been members. I'm not sure which Reformed denominations hold to that interpretation of the 2nd commandment. I think I remember that J. I. Packer has some interesting things to say about it in "Knowing God". I love advent! The waiting, hoping, thinking of the wonder of the incarnation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petepie2 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Oh, one more thing. Sovereign Grace Music has a wonderful song called "Rejoice" on their Christmas album "Savior". I think it is a perfect advent song because it starts with creation and goes through the second coming of Christ (and part of advent is anticipating the second coming). I'm hoping our church will learn it this Christmas season. Here is a link to their site with the lyrics and a song sample. I think the whole CD is really good, but this is my favorite song. Anyway, I didn't know if it would be something that you could incorporate in your advent celebrations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I went to a neat party one time early in Fall where we put all the symbols for the Jesse Tree on slips of paper and each of us drew a paper. I can't remember, are there 12? Anyways, there was just enough of us. Then we had 3 or 4 weeks to each make 12 of whatever we drew out. I had Joseph's coat. So I went to the craft store and got little tiny hangers (they were in the doll clothes area) and some fabric that looked like colorful patchwork and made little coats. Then we all got together again and each got to share what we picked (it was a secret up to that point), what the story/verse is to go with it, and give each person one of what we made. It was SO special to see how each person creatively interpreted what they should make, and what materials they used. It'd be great for a mom's group, or Bunco group or something like that. I had also never even heard of a Jesse Tree before that, so it was really fun and inspiring to hear ideas of how those moms used this Tree during the season to make the stories come alive for their family. Of course, now I want my kids to take part in making the ornaments, but they were too little to participate at the time. Wouldn't this be a neat project for a Keeper's group or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Well, also because God in His infinite wisdom did not give us an image of Christ.In attempting to image Jesus, we would be, in essence, telling God that we knew better than He does what is good for us (since He specifically *didn't* give us a picture). I don't want my children (or myself, for that matter) to have a preconceived *false* picture of who God is. Personally, I view pictures of God as man's attempt to "humanize" God, which is more than a little irreverent. In thinking back to the Israelites, they felt they needed a material item to worship, ended up with a golden calf, and we all know how that turned out. When we create false ideas of who God is and what He looks like, we deceive both ourselves and others, and turn away from the *real* God. I don't understand what you mean. Jesus certainly had an "image" as he was physically real and walked on earth. People saw him and he was human, as well as he was God. It's true that God never describes Jesus physically in the Bible outside of Isaiah 53:2b "He has no stately form or majesty, That we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him." Anyway, back to the OP: We did Jotham's Journey last year and dd has already asked to read Bartholomew's Passage this year. I'm toying with doing a Jesse Tree. We've done that in the past and always enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabeline Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 http://www.childministry.com/ You might like these resouces. They are reformed and do not have any images of Christ. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petepie2 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Can someone give more info on "Jotham's Journey" and the related books? I've never heard of this book. For what ages is it appropriate? I have a 5.5 and a 3.5 yrd old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calandalsmom Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Can someone give more info on "Jotham's Journey" and the related books? I've never heard of this book. For what ages is it appropriate? I have a 5.5 and a 3.5 yrd old. probably a little intense for those ages- great for the 8-10 set is my estimation but YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 probably a little intense for those ages- great for the 8-10 set is my estimation but YMMV. I read it to my dd last year, who was 10 at the time and there were parts that were a bit much for her. I think littles would have a hard time with the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in WI Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Can I ask (politely) why no images? I have not heard of that before. We believe that images of God or Jesus are a violation of the second commandment as described in the Westminster Shorter Catechism questions 49-52 or Westminster Larger Catechism questions 107-110. Further info can also be found here: http://www.apuritansmind.com/ChristianWalk/McMahonSeeingJesusMisplacedFaith.htm) http://www.childministry.com/ You might like these resouces. They are reformed and do not have any images of Christ. HTH! Oh, and I think we have used this as a source for our advent wreath readings: http://www.reformedworship.org/magazine/article.cfm?article_id=1329 Thanks, I'll check these out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 (edited) We read Jotham's Journey last Christmas to a 6yo and 9yo. They did fine with it. There are some harsh events in it and just about every reading ends with an emotional cliff-hanger. Some scary themes would be Jotham's being separated from his parents, wild animals, slave driver who beats people, sword fights, perceived death of a friend. It was an amazing book though. Reading it every night for four weeks just made Christmas and the whole Redemption story come alive for us. Each night's reading has the story part and then a short reflection on Advent. Often Old Testament prophetic verses are referenced. It tells you which candles to light, etc. The readings are daily and last right up through Christmas morning. Each reading is about 3-5 pages long and has very few illustrations. We've bought Bartholomew's Passage and I'm hoping it will be as wonderful at Jotham's Journey was. Edited November 4, 2009 by Daisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 We do Advent in church (we're Presbyterian) and at home we do the Jesse Tree. I love the Jesse Tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate CA Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I'd love to do some readings/activities leading up to our celebration of Christmas. I'm having trouble finding materials to guide us through it. I need something that would be interesting to my teens, while still being *reverent and relevant* in building up towards celebration of Christ's birth.Thanks, Julie We used this last year: http://www.amazon.com/Handels-Messiah-Family-Advent-Reader/dp/0802455743 It does have a few artwork-related pictures of Christ, but it is a read-aloud kind of thing and would be up to you to show your dc the paintings. While we don't use any images of Christ in worship, we do study famous works of art that depict Christ. These are the kinds of things included. We have also used the Jotham's Journey and the other two in the series with great success. They are not "Reformed" in the sense that you are probably talking about, but they are stories set in the time of Christ's birth so it is a little different than something like the Messiah's Family Advent Reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 We made a Jesse Tree last year - I like the basic idea, but I don't care for the book that we got with it "The Advent Jesse Tree" by Lambert. It was OK, I suppose, but I didn't care for the overly simplistic, moralistic lessons designed for the children. Also, one ornament was the Christ Child, which you would want to avoid. We do an advent wreath every year. My favorite book for family Advent/Christmas devotions is Christmas Spirit by Wilbur and Grant http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Spirit-Joyous-Stories-Traditions/dp/1581822049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257276300&sr=8-1 It has prayers, poems, songs, devotional daily/weekly scripture readings, stories, and traditional recipes - for Advent through Epiphany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 I don't understand what you mean. Jesus certainly had an "image" as he was physically real and walked on earth. People saw him and he was human, as well as he was God. It's true that God never describes Jesus physically in the Bible outside of Isaiah 53:2b "He has no stately form or majesty, That we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him." That is exactly the point. Jesus obviously had an "image", but God just as obviously did not leave us a portrayal of that image. God gave us the Bible and very intentionally did *not* give us anything specific regarding the appearance of Jesus in His fleshly form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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