Advent: The Coming of Jesus ChristSample

DEVOTIONAL

Welcome to Day 5 of Crosstowne’s Advent Calendar! Remember, this week, we are celebrating the “Prophet’s Candle,” also known as the candle of HOPE. So today, we are refocusing our eyes from the Christmas shopping lists to the hope that Jesus gives us through his birth. When we have Christ, we always have hope. It’s like how we always have certain items in our pantry. Maybe your family has to have Tabasco sauce or cinnamon always on hand. We all have ingredients that are “essential” for our household. Hope is essential to our walk with Jesus. It’s always there, sitting in our hearts; we have to use it as we live.

Hope cannot be taken away from us. Hope never runs out. We forever have hope because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

ACTIVITY

Part 1: Take a moment to ask God to reveal His hope to you today. You might not always FEEL it, but faith relies not on our feelings but on the Truth of His Word. Hope remains.

Part 2: Creating Christmas ornaments!

Making homemade ornaments is a fun activity using some essential ingredients like hope! We bet you have all three of these ingredients in your house:

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1.5 cups of warm water

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Mix your flour and salt well. Gradually add water as you stir with a large spoon.

Now for the fun part! Finish mixing the three ingredients with your hands. Knead until soft and pliable. Roll out on a floured surface about 1/8 inch thick.

Now, you can cut out your dough with cookie cutters! Get creative with your shapes! Place on cookie sheets, and poke a hole at the top of your shape so the string can fit through.

Bake at 325 degrees until hard, about 1 hour. Now you can decorate it with paint or leave it plain!