Week 2: PEACE Family Night

Below is the discussion guide on PEACE for families with younger kids, along with a craft idea.  Don't forget to go back to the main Advent page for the LOVE IN ACTION weekly challenge and this week's videos on PEACE.

Table Talk

Advent Wreath: Light the first and second candle


Prayer Focus: 


How do we live out PEACE:


ASK:

  1. Have you ever been in a fight or had a big argument with someone?
  2. Did it end peacefully?
  3. What brought peace between the two of you?
  4. Is peace easy to achieve or hard? Why? What makes it hard?

Read Luke 2:14

ASK:

  1. What does peace mean to you? 
  2. What is the opposite of peace?

  3. What are some difficult situations that you have a hard time experiencing peace or responding peacefully?

SAY: Have you ever heard the saying "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me"? Let's list some ways you can calm yourself down so that you can stay peaceful in these situations (pray, recount a bible verse, smile, count to 10, give a compliment, ask the holy spirit to speak words of peace and not anger, hum a favorite song, etc.). 


SAY:  What takes away our peace in this world?  (ultimately, it’s sin) The Bible clearly teaches us that sin is the cause of disunity, violence, chaos, and anything else that tries to eliminate peace in our world. Not only has sin stolen our peace with others around us, but it has ultimately stolen our peace with God.

The prophets in the Old Testament also understood this and cried out for a time when a Messiah would come and bring an age of peace, or as Isaiah puts it, the coming of a Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). So, the angels proclaimed that night outside of Bethlehem, that Peace was coming to earth and God was going to make a way for completeness and well-being between Himself and his creation once again.


PRAY: Jesus, may the peace you give us help us offer peace to each other. Amen.


(Don't forget our LOVE IN ACTION challenge this week:  Pick a day to do a media fast as a family.  We'd love to hear how it impacted you! Email connect@theadventure.church with your reflections.   If you have little kids, have them draw a picture or write a note to someone with whom they've had a disagreement recently or a strained relationship as an 'olive branch.'


Craft idea:  Dove Ornament

Supplies Needed: 

  • Paper plate, 1 for each child
  • Marker pens
  • Scissors
  • Hole punch
  • String, 2 foot length for each child
  • Cotton balls, 3 for each student
  • Stick glue

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Trace around the hand outline using a marker pen and cut out the “dove.”
  2. The thumb is the dove’s head. Draw on an eye and a beak.
  3. The back end are the feathers. To make them, run stick glue in stripes down the back end of the dove.
  4. The cotton balls should be pulled apart until they are fluffy pieces, which can be glued to the back end of the dove.
  5. Using markers, draw on a wing and write PRINCE OF PEACE in the middle of the dove.
  6. In the dove’s feathers, use the hole punch to make a hole. Thread the string through and tie off in a knot

BACK TO MAIN ADVENT PAGE



Devotional ideas taken from https://thisfulllife5.com & https://www.inmanparkumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Weekly-Advent-Devotional-Packet-2015.pdf