As we wrap up Advent and dive into the 12 days of Christmas (from Christmas Day to Epiphany Sunday), we’ll gather together as one big church family for worship. On these in-between Sundays (Christmas and New Year’s), there won’t be small groups for the littles, giving our dedicated servant leaders a chance to relax, wonder, and worship with their families.

What’s happening the first Sunday back? We’re kicking off the New Year with a toast—literally! Introducing our Toast Bar, inspired by a colleague’s post from a Facebook group. Here’s the setup:

• Toasters (borrowed of course!)
• A variety of delicious breads (cinnamon swirl, raisin, pumpkin swirl, all the swirls, etc.)
• Easy-to-use squirt butter and jam (because spreading is so last year)
• And some surprise toppings to make it extra fun!

We’re encouraging families to dive into Proverbs—31 chapters for 31 days. To keep it engaging, we’re sending home scratch-off wise word prompts (thanks to Deeper Kidmin) for daily discussions and prayers. We’ve ordered scratch-off cards for February (28 chapters of Acts in 28 days) and March too, helping families build a habit of scripture reading and prayer together.

With the hustle and bustle of year-end seasonal ministry, we’re slowing things down ministry event-wise in the first few months of the year. By tapping the brakes on big ministry events, we’ll have a season to

• Equip and train our leaders through workshops, labs, and faith milestones
• Empower parents and grandparents with resources to disciple their kids and their kids’ friends
• Grow in relationship with our great God and one another

So, how are you preparing for intentional discipleship in the new year? Let’s set the table for growth, together!

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

I love how the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel shares some extra details about the Christmas story the gospel of Luke never touches: Magi.

Some great insights into the Magi that make me smile . . .

1. We really don’t know how many wise men were in the entourage, only that there were three gifts. But allow me to share a precious friend’s insight…there were really 4 gifts.

Go ahead, I’ll let you run to your Bible and check out Chapter 2, verse 11.

Yep, the first gift was WORSHIP. THEN, they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of frankincense and of myrrh.

Do I offer the gift of worship first?  Is worship a priority? Worship is anything I think, say, or do that tells Jesus, “I LOVE YOU!”

2. Mary and Joseph were Jewish. Shepherds? Jewish. Magi? Not Jewish.

This event was choreographed by a great God who invited those outside the Jewish faith to participate. This is where WE, the Gentiles, come in.

Am I living up to my starring role?  Or am I satisfied with being an “understudy” in the story He has for me?

3.  The Magi did not arrive at the stable as all of the Nativity scenes suggest.

Verse 11 continues, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary.”

This realization was a huge turning point for me many years ago.  While visiting what would become our home church during our time in New England, the pastor taught that the Wise Men didn’t come to the stable.  I just knew he had it wrong and went home on a mission to prove it.  Upon every reading of all three bibles we had in the house at the time, I discovered that I’d been relying on someone else or a plastic scene to tell me the truth of the scriptures.  I confessed it as sin and said, “No More!”  My journey through the scriptures and the life it gives began that very day.  Jesus was no longer on the flannelboard for this Jesus gal.

4.  Verse 12 shares that upon being in the presence of the Savior, “they returned to their country by another route.”

After I am in the presence of the Lord especially in the season of Advent, am I prepared to go home a different way?  I sure hope so.

Several friends have shared how this affects their Advent celebrations with family.  One exclaims, “Three gifts were good enough for Jesus, then three gifts are good enough for each one of my kids.” 

And then a young mother shared how her family models what the Magi brought Jesus in three gifts:

Frankincense (used by priests in their offerings to God, pointing toward Jesus’ role as our high priest) – the gift should be good for your mind…books, museum tickets, lessons, learning opportunities, learning kits, etc.

Myrrh (a spice for a person who is going to die) – the gift should be something to aid healing or a practical gift…clothes, shoes, conference, a box of medicines for that college student who has let himself get run down due to final exams, a Bible or something that encourages the recipient’s spiritual journey.

Gold (a gift for a King – or maybe a princess or son of The King) – something extra, fun, shiny, sparkly…toy, game, jewelry.

In Daniel Darling’s book The Characters of Christmas: The Unlikely People Caught up in the Story of Jesus, he suggests this was probably a caravan of quite a few people. “It’s likely there were more than three wise men given how much of a stir they caused when they arrived in Jerusalem.” 

This I know: though I’ve heard and studied the account of Jesus’ birth over my entire life time, there is still more to learn, still more questions to ask, and still more delight to enjoy.

Oh come let us adore Him!

“And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” Matthew 2:12

I’ve been absorbing books on family ministry since the first Christian bookstores started popping up in the 1990s. The first one hit me like a ton of bricks as a mom freezing in New England my first winter. The cover was red, I think it was by Tim Kimmel, and as a new mom I was on a mission to make sure my two littles, preschoolers at the time, would always know the Lord’s presence and directing for their whole lives.

If you are thinking of expanding or growing your ministry with children into a Family Ministry Model, have I got a book and guide for you! As a student of the Family Ministry Academy by Renewanation, the first book to read and report on is Perspectives on Family Ministry, 2nd edition by Paul Renfro, Brandon Shields and Jay Strother, with Kevin Jones. This paperback uses its full 222 pages to share three family ministry models as well as the celebrations and challenges of all three. It’s the best book on family ministry in layman’s terms I’ve ever read to offer clear, concise vocabulary, definitions, and what family ministry is not.

Within the two parts, Perspectives lays out the foundations for Family Ministry with a historical context with definitions of Family Ministry, followed by the practices of three models for ministry with families.

1. Family- Integrated Ministry Model – nearly all age-level classes and events are eliminated; aka family-driven or family discipleship approach; best practices are clearly presented in Voddie Baucham’s Family-Driven Faith.
2. Family-Based Ministry Model – congregation still maintains youth ministry, children’s ministry, senior ministry, and so on coupled with additional intergenerational activities, curricula, and events with each ministry sponsoring faith formation experiences designed intentionally to draw generations together; best practices are clearly presented in Mark DeVries Family-Based Youth Ministry which also equips families to care for spiritual orphans.
3. Family-Equipping Ministry Model – age-level ministries remain intact ‘yet church leaders plan every ministry to champion the place of the family as a primary unit for discipleship and the place of parents as primary disciple-makers in their children’s lives’; when the church equips parents to disciple their children, and parents see the church as an active partner in the process; the church and home as co-champions.

There are a lot of voices speaking in this book in support of each model and graciously exposing the challenges that each model presents. As I read and re-read this resource I felt better equipped to define the goals of the family ministry I lead and offer clear measurables for transformational impact which we call ‘fruitful celebrations’.

As more and more local churches are drawn to a family ministry model of faith formation in areas which have been typically siloed, this is one of the best resources for those who are keepers of the vision and the stories as the local church seeks to equip families to love the Lord with their whole hearts for their whole lives.

Which family ministry model are you striving for?

“The mission of family ministry in today’s world is to accurately handle the word of truth while teaching a new generation the timeless message of hope and redemption.” Dr. Michael Anthony and Dr. Michelle Anthony, Perspectives on Faith Ministry, forward, pg xx