Hearts Alive - Live It All Week
December 13, 2022
Live Out Hearts Alive at Home, All Week Long
By Christine O’Brien
Hearts Alive connects children with the truths of Scripture with age-appropriate lessons and activities in both the Sunday School and Children's Church components.
Take a look at our take home resource, Live It All Week, designed to move the conversations and learning that began at church to continue in your home and family all week long.
This week's lesson was on Prophecy and Expectation: Immanuel, God with Us and looked at the scripture reading from Isaiah 7:10-16. The overarching big idea was that Isaiah prophesied that a baby would be born of a virgin—this is Jesus, “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” Jesus made a way for us to be with him forever.
Children learned that the word advent means coming. In this last week of the Advent season, we remember God’s promise fulfilled: Jesus would be born of a virgin, and he would be Immanuel, God with us.
Below are a variety of ways to integrate further discussion and exploration of this scripture passage throughout the week:
Try This
Make an acrostic poem with the name Immanuel or Jesus. Write the name vertically down a piece of paper. Then write across, turning each letter into a word or phrases about Jesus. For example, here is one about Advent:
Arrival
Deepening
Very soon
Emmanuel
Nations will gather
Time to get ready
Table Talk Discussion Questions
- Names have meanings. What are the meanings of the names in your family? (A simple Internet search will tell you.)
- Read Isaiah 7:10–16. Why do you think God told people about Jesus hundreds of years before he was born? (So they would recognize him; to give them hope)
- Jesus, Son of God, came as a baby born on Christmas Day. Do you think people found this surprising? Why or why not?
- Where was Jesus before he came to earth as a baby? (On his heavenly throne) What did he get in place of his throne? (A manger filled with hay) Why would he make such a trade? (Out of love for us)
- Jesus is still our Immanuel. How is he with us now? (Through his Spirit) How will he be Immanuel in the future? (He made a way for us to live with him forever in heaven.)
Something Else to Do
This Advent, learn some traditional carols that have words rich with meaning. Play the carols during dessert, at bedtime, or during family devotions. This week’s carol is the traditional Christmas hymn, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” One of its verses highlights that Jesus fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah 7: “In Bethlehem in Jewry / This blessed babe was born / And laid within a manger / Upon this blessed morn / That which his mother Mary / Did nothing take in scorn / O tidings of comfort and joy.”
Related Resource:
Hearts Alive Sunday School and Children's Church provide liturgical congregations a highly-anticipated children’s curriculum that combines captivating content, lectionary alignment, and Gospel focus for children ages 3-12. For those seeking to engage children in a fun, age-appropriate application to the Revised Common Lectionary, Hearts Alive is a three-year course of study to give children a strong overview of the story of salvation and how it ties to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Hearts Alive supports and elevates liturgical traditions and the church calendar while using clear, contemporary learning techniques to present the Word of God. Learn more in our online community.
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