Prepare Him Room
With Thanksgiving right around the corner and Christmas music already playing in many of our homes (sorry not sorry), it is time to begin preparing for the most wonderful time of the year: ADVENT.
Meaning “arrival” or “coming,” Advent is the season leading up to Christmas where we remember the longing and expectation for the promised savior and celebrate his coming. We’re all familiar with the “reason for the season” but are we equally versed in why it is so significant? Do we know what the coming of Christ is the answer to? Advent is a beautiful season of remembering God’s promises to Adam, Abraham, David, and the whole world, and celebrating that they find their answer and fulfillment in Jesus. Christmas is a kept promise, and the promise of our future hope!
Prepare Him Room - in the Classroom
This year, our New City kids are going to soak up the promises of this season and spend all of December in an advent curriculum titled Prepare Him Room by Marty Machowski. This 4-week lesson plan guides kids through the promises of the Old Testament and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of those promises.
The publisher, New Growth Press, describes the book:
Prepare Him Room … takes a biblical, theological approach to the Old Testament promises and New Testament fulfillment in Christ in a way kids can understand. With age-appropriate instruction and activities for three different learning levels—preschool, lower elementary, and upper elementary—Prepare Him Room builds gospel hope and enduring theological depth into each child’s celebration of Christmas.
Machowski is the author of the Gospel Story for Kids series including The Gospel Story Bible, Long Story Short, Old Story New, the Gospel Story Curriculum, as well as several other gospel-centered books and resources for children.
Each week will focus on a piece of the Christmas story and the corresponding prophecies, ultimately pointing our kids to our hope in Jesus to redeem and restore the world.
Prepare Him Room - at Home!
In addition to the classroom curriculum, Machowski has a family devotional that goes right along with the weekly lessons! This is a wonderful way to reinforce what they are learning on Sunday mornings and to celebrate the coming of Christ at home! We will be selling the family devotional companion at the Resources shelf on November 18 and 25 for $10. We have a limited number, so if you want one and they sell out, you can find them here and here.
Finally, if you’re looking for some beautiful, Christ-centered Christmas music, check out Sovereign Grace Music’s “Prepare Him Room.” You’re sure to find many of the songs we’ll be singing on Sundays during the Christmas season!
Christmas is such a sweet time of the year, especially for kids, but it is most special when we realize how God’s promises are fulfilled in an amazing way in the birth of Christ. That’s why I want to take some time out of our normal routines and curriculum to dwell in this season and help our kids understand that Christmas is an amazing answer to all of God’s promises to redeem and restore our world.
