Elliott's Muses

For Kids and Parents: We come to the end of our Advent season and the story is simple and this is how we should remember it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syuaTuTqyLg Luke 2:1-20 1  At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2  (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3  All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4  And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5  He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. 6  And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7  She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. 8  That night ...

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but l...

For Kids: Christmas is soon here...are you excited about it coming? Do you know what it means for Jesus to be born as a baby? Mothers have babies all of the time don’t they? Children are born every day all over the world, aren’t they? So what makes Jesus’ birth so different from all of the rest? God’s word says something happened when Jesus was born.  When Jesus’ Dad, Joseph, was visited by the angel, the angel told him that Jesus was going to be very different from all other babies born. Matthew 1:23 23  “The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel,“ which means “God is with us.“ Just think about it…God is “with us”. Did you ever look at your Mom and ask her, “Will you go with me?”  “Can I go with you?”  “Can I have my blanket, or stuffed animal with me in bed?” When Mom says, “Yes” to any of those, doesn’t it make you feel happy?  We want to have things we love with us....

For Kids: It is just a few days away when Christmas arrives.  In most homes there will be gifts to open and food to eat.  I wonder if you thought of what you can give Jesus for his birthday? Now, you might think, "what can I give Jesus?" Here’s a story that I think might help you realize what would be good present for Jesus. It was nearing the holiday season and we had made a trip to Russia to visit an orphanage. We were asked to tell them the Christmas story.  Most of the orphans have never heard the story from the bible, and so it was for the first time we got to tell them the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.  Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word...

For Kids and Their Parents: In honor of my grandchildren – all 8 of them… She was five, sure of the facts, and recited them with slow solemnity, convinced every word was revelation. She said, "They were so poor they only had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat and they went a long way from home without getting lost. The lady rode a donkey, the man walked, and the baby was inside the lady. They had to stay in a barn, with an ox and ass (hee‑hee) but there were three rich men who found them because a star lited the roof. Shepherds came and you could pet the sheep but not feed them. Then the baby was borned!!" Her eyes inflated to the size of silver dollars. "The Baby was God!"  And she jumped in the air, whirled around, dove into the sofa and buried her head under the cushion... which is the only proper response to the Good News of Jesus' Birth!

For Kids: Have your parents put up a Christmas tree yet?  Is it decorated with ornaments and other things? Why do we do that? The idea of putting up a tree goes back a long time ago…way before you, or your parents, or even your grandparents were born. A long time ago there was no electricity to light up the homes, so people use to light candles in their homes, especially in the winter when the daylight was shorter and the nighttime was long. Once, when a man who loved God, was walking outside in the winter he saw the stars shining through the trees and with Christmas soon coming he thought of an idea – bring the tree into His home and put candles in the tree and decorate it to celebrate Jesus’ birth. When we’re going to have a party, we decorate the house, don’t we? Well, we’re only a few days away from celebrating Jesus’ birth, so it’s fun to decorate the house to welcome him in. Here’s a kid’s song that is called “Oh Christmas Tree”… https:/...

For Kids: The story of Jesus being born is in God’s word.   We've  been reading and let’s read it again and look at something new: Luke 2:4-7 4  And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5  He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. 6  And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7  She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. The Innkeeper is the person who probably told Mary and Joseph there is no room.  Many years ago I ran across a story that I thought was really nice and I wanted to share it with you here. Here's the story:  No Room in the Inn The story is told how Wallace Purling added a new touch to the Christmas play in a sma...