Saturday December 06th
Hello and welcome to Bay Family Adventures, as we countdown until Christmas Day, we will be spending time thinking about the Christmas story and drawing near to God together. Each week we will look at a different theme and this week we will be thinking about hope.
Let’s start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Lord Jesus, we open our minds to learn new things, so that we know more about You. We open our hearts to be filled with Your love, so that we become more like You. And we open our hands to receive all we need to live our lives for You.
Father God, as we draw near to You, please draw near to us too. Teach us to pray. Speak, Lord, we’re listening.
God please help us remember our memory verse for this week:
Psalm 27:14 (NCV)
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord
Today we are finishing our week looking at the theme of hope with a prayer by Paul in his letter to the Romans.
Romans 15:12-13 (NLT)
‘…Isaiah said, “The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.” I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit’
Paul reminds the Romans that when Isaiah wrote about Jesus over 700 years before, he said that people will place their hope on Jesus. Paul’s prayer reminds us that if you want to live with hope, joy and peace, we can find them in God when we trust in him and put our hope in him. It also reminds us that we can have this confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit, which means we don’t have to just try really hard, but instead trust in God and he will give us hope, joy and peace.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question which is: Can you remember a time you felt completely filled with joy? What was it that made you feel like that? It could be something funny you saw, or laughing with a friend, or doing something you love. Pause the player here.
And now let’s ask God to help us. Father God, please help us to trust in you, that you would be the source of hope in our lives and that we would put our hope on Jesus.
As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.
Romans 15:12-13 (NLT)
‘…Isaiah said, “The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.” I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit’
What word or phrase stood out from today’s bible passage? Pause the player here.
And now let’s say yes to God. Lord Jesus, we say yes to putting our hope in you and trust in God, and being filled completely with your joy and peace.
After enjoying this time together, lets’ say our memory verse one more time:
Psalm 27:14 (NCV)
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Let’s point to our mouths.
Lord, please give us the right words and be encouraged to say them.
Amen.