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Read Day 1 of The Adventure of Christmas, a new family devotional for Advent from Ed Drew, Founder of Faith in Kids. These simple 10-minute family devotions, with graphic-novel-style illustrations, explore the Gospel accounts of the first Christmas in an engaging way, and will help families keep Christ at the heart of their celebrations.
We can trust what we read, because Luke spoke to those who met Jesus and then wrote down exactly what happened.
Pray: Dear Father, thank you that we can get ready for Christmas by hearing what really happened during that first Christmas. Amen.
What is the most amazing thing you have ever seen with your own eyes?
Link: Today we’re going to see that Luke spoke to those who saw what happened that first Christmas. He wrote down exactly what they told him.
Where are we in the Bible? This is the very start of Luke’s true story of Jesus’ life. Luke starts by explaining how he wrote his Gospel and why. He’s writing to an important friend (who he calls “your Excellency”) who was a follower of Jesus.
Look out for why Luke says we can trust what we read in his Gospel.
Read the passage. For young children, use the pictures to explain as you read.
1 Many have tried to give a history of the things that happened among us. 2 They have written the same things that we learned from others—the people who saw those things from the beginning and served God by telling people his message. 3 I myself studied everything carefully from the beginning, your Excellency. I thought I should write it out for you. So I put it in order in a book. 4 I write these things so that you can know that what you have been taught is true.
Look at today’s pictures. Luke is talking to people who met Jesus. Can you see where Luke is writing their story on his tablet?
Listen to verse 4: “I write these things so that you can know that what you have been taught is true”. Why did Luke want to write his Gospel? (Luke wrote his Gospel so that his readers could be certain that what they had heard about Jesus was true. He spoke to the people who had seen Jesus in the flesh, teaching and doing miracles. Luke made sure that every detail in his Gospel about Jesus really happened.)
Look at verse 2. From which people did Luke find out about what happened? What do you think Luke actually had to do to write his Gospel? (Finding out what really happened is not as easy as it sounds. How did Luke find those eyewitnesses? People remember different details. There were no videos or photos, just the memories of people who were there to see Jesus. But Luke “studied everything carefully” and pieced it all together.)
Is Luke’s method different to how most people assume that the Bible came to be written, do you think? How does Luke’s method change how we view his story of the first Christmas? (We’re not reading myth or legend. We’re not reading what a bunch of early Christians made up one dark night. We are reading the facts of the first Christmas. We’re reading history!)
Easy-to-use Advent devotional that the whole family can enjoy together.
Pray asking God to help you as you learn from Luke’s Gospel. Thank God for how Luke wrote his Gospel.
Want to get baking?
Make some edible eyewitness eyeballs! They could be made from marshmallows with chocolate buttons stuck on the top using chocolate spread, or a biscuit with a splodge of coloured icing and a chocolate chip in the middle.
Got time to chat?
Have you ever wondered how much of the story of the first Christmas is really history? With school Christmas productions, endless Christmas films and hundreds of years of traditions, it can be hard to work out what is made up and what is history. Do you think it matters?
Something more for the adults?
Sooner or later, we will be asked questions about the trustworthiness of the Bible. Some of those we know will just dismiss the Bible and our belief in it. We believe that at the first Christmas God became a baby who grew up to walk, talk, eat, cry and listen. Through the certainty of knowing about Jesus, we can decide to trust him as our Lord. Thank God for the certainty we can have in who Jesus really is.
Take a look inside The Adventure of Christmas by clicking here. There is also an Advent Calendar available that you can use alongside the family devotional. This will help you to follow the journeys of the nativity characters as you celebrate the real meaning Christmas.
Ed Drew is the Director of Faith in Kids, resourcing children's ministry in the local church. Before that for twelve years he was the Children’s Worker at Dundonald Church, South West London. He’s married to Mary and they have three children. Previously Ed was an Engineer and he is still happiest building and fixing things.
