Christmas Potpourri

Looking for a special way to make your Christmas celebration more meaningful? Check out these 25 fun, family activity ideas and start a new tradition! (by Barney Kinard, barney@kidhelper.com)

Two Freebies

Merry Christmas from all of us at DiscipleLand to all of you on the front lines building disciples in the name of Jesus Christ.

1. Christmas Card
Please enjoy sending this Christmas card to your family and friends. Steps to making your free Christmas card:

1. Download card (size: 1,653KB, pdf format)
2. Orient the paper so the scripture quote is in the upper right corner.
3. Fold the paper in half away from you, between the art and the scripture.
4. Now, holding the side with the poem showing, fold in half again, this time toward you. The Christmas art should appear on the outside of the card.

2. 2008 Bible Reading Plan
In less than five minutes per day, you can read the entire New Testament plus Psalms and Proverbs! Download this free Bible reading chart that folds into a handy Bible bookmark. Pass it along to your friends and coworkers, too! Download Bible Reading Plan (size: 1,506KB, pdf format)

Kids need Jesus

(John 14:6, 20:29-31; Matthew 28:18-20)

The Situation:
Children wonder, "Is Jesus Christ real?" Lifelike movie superheroes and incredible cartoon animation confuse many kids about Jesus' true identity. They know that some people honor Christ as an important historical figure, some worship Him as God, still others reject Jesus and use His name with contempt or indifference.

The Solution:
Though 2000 years have elapsed since He walked the earth, Jesus Christ remains the central figure of human history. Jesus' messages, miracles, passion, and triumphant resurrection confirm that He is truly God and truly Man, the Savior of the world. Encourage kids to affirm Jesus Christ as personal Savior and exalt Him as Lord over all.

What You Can Do:
Read through the Gospel accounts with your child. Focus on Jesus' great love for those around Him; talk about what He says and does. Help your child develop a fuller appreciation of who Jesus is. Make a personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ everywhere He leads!

Product News

Every element of DiscipleZone contributes to the discipleship process:

DiscipleSkill Children develop 24 essential "how-to" skills for victorious Christian living. Download the complete list of DiscipleSkills at: DiscipleLand.com/DiscipleSkill KeyVerse Kids memorize Bible verses that capture the heart of each lesson. Download a complete list of memory verses for this quarter at DiscipleLand.com/downloads (enter your keyword) SwordWork Kids read the entire Bible and answer questions from every chapter (grades 1-12). SwordWork is DiscipleLand's Core Bible Reading Plan. View the entire SwordWork Reading Plan at DiscipleLand.com/SwordWork WorldWatch Students participate in God's kingdom strategy for world missions. Throughout this year, your children will experience God's passion for the whole world. This quarter, your children will see how God used twelve different missionaries to spread His Word to all six populated continents. XploreMore Families grow together, discussing Bible lessons and doing application activities. XploreMore links the classroom and the home. For each Bible lesson, children and parents enjoy extra pictures, background information, discussion questions, and family activities. HymnNotes Children learn hymns that have inspired Christians for centuries. Fascinating hymn stories and hymn writer biographies amplify the treasured tunes and lyrics DeeCyPaul Live! Kids follow the weekly adventures of Dee, Cy, Paul, Chip, and their DiscipleLand friends. These engaging stories reinforce each Bible lesson and will help your kids apply God's Word to their lives.

Discipleship Tip

Christmas memories leave a lasting imprint on every child's heart and mind. Kids look forward to the holiday season with wonder and delight. Channel their excitement to cultivate awareness that Christmas is all about God's gift to us—His son, Jesus. Help children recognize that the joy they feel when receiving gifts is similar to the deep, abiding joy that Jesus brings to those who trust Him for forgiveness and new life!

DiscipleLand Training on the Road

We hope to see you in:

If you're interested in scheduling a training event or joining a host church for training, please contact Dick Crider, DiscipleLand Training Specialist, for details 877-416-3742.

Classroom Anecdote

What Santa doesn't know about Christmas

After explaining the true reason for Christmas, one Sunday school teacher took time to sit and talk with her young children. She asked each one what he or she wanted for Christmas. Like most kids, they were very excited to talk about toys, dolls, electronic games, etc. But Zachary simply wanted a CD with Bible songs. When the teacher asked him what else he wanted, Zach said, "That's all."

On Christmas morning, little Zach found a letter under the tree from Santa. It read, "Dear Zach, I know you only asked for a CD of Bible songs, but I also brought you a bike to zoom around the neighborhood. Merry Christmas!" Surprised, Zach looked at his parents and said, "Santa doesn't know that Christmas isn't about presents; it's about Jesus."

Kidztrends

With Christmas gift buying in full swing, many parents will be wrapping up a variety of media their children have requested. The Barna group has some insightful information into the trend of what is being purchased.

The November 19, 2007 article:
Christian Parents Are Not Comfortable With Media But Buy Them for Their Kids Anyway
"The born again Christian population of the U.S. is likely to spend more than $1 billion on media products such as CDs, DVDs, video games and magazines for children under the age of 18 despite parental misgivings about the moral content or developmental affects of those resources."

"More than three out of four Christian parents (78%) had purchased such disks for their teenagers and almost nine out of ten Christian parents (87%) had purchased DVDs for their children under 13. However, one-quarter of those adults (26%) did not feel comfortable with the DVD products they purchased."

"The next most popular type of media content purchased for children by Christian parents were music CDs. About six out of ten parents bought these discs for their kids, yet one out of every three of those parents (33%) had concerns about the content. This was more evident among the parents of teenagers than among those who were buying music for pre-teens".

The outcomes struck the study's lead researcher, George Barna, as reflective of the challenge Christians face in today's culture.

"Millions of Christian parents want to appear to be relevant in their children's eyes, and to provide gifts that fit within the mainstream of postmodern society," Barna noted. "The problem is that many of the entertainment products that meet those criteria conflict with the moral precepts of the Christian faith. Parents have to make a choice as to what is more important: pleasing their kids' taste and sensibilities, or satisfying God's standards as defined in the Bible. When the decision made is to keep their children happy, the Christian parent is often left with a pit in their stomach.

"The process of selecting appropriate Christmas presents for children is a microcosm of the spiritual tension millions of Christian adults wrestle with," the California-based researcher explained. "Many Christian parents are striving to serve two conflicting masters: society and God. They refuse to believe that they cannot satisfy both. Sadly, this Christmas season will produce enormous stress for numerous Christian parents who don't want to disappoint either God or their children, but whose ultimate choices will disappoint both God and themselves, while providing gifts that are not be in the best interests of their children. For Christians, the Christmas season should be a time of celebration and appreciation of the life of Jesus Christ. Instead, that joy is being minimized by the pressure and confusion introduced by our focus on material consumption and fulfillment."

(c) The Barna Group, Ltd, 2007.
www.barna.org

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