JOIN THE JOURNEY JR.
Families Abiding in Jesus together
With shorter reading assignments and kid-specific focus areas, Join The Journey Jr. is designed to help parents disciple their kids and engage with Scripture in the best ways for their age.
This month's memory verse
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Want weekly retellings of our favorite Bible stories and conversation guides? Listen to the Join The Journey Jr. podcast with the whole family every Monday!
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Hebrews 11
Great Examples of Faith
1Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
39All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.
Hebrews 12
God’s Discipline Proves His Love
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.* Because of the joy* awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Long before a baby lay in a manger, the Christmas story was already unfolding. It’s part of a larger and greater story that goes back to the very beginning when God created the world. From that moment on, the Bible teaches us about people like Adam, Abraham, Joseph, Joshua, Ruth, David and Esther—they’re all intended to point us to one, grand, overarching Story! The story of God and his rescue plan for humanity.
God gives us these smaller stories to show us how much he loves us and help us see his plan to rescue us. In them, we see people who chose to obey God because they had faith in the promise of a future Savior. It was a promise they believed, even though their eyes couldn’t see it. As we read their stories, we get to look back with new eyes. We get to view these stories through a different lens. It’s the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes, illuminating God’s Word so we can recognize what was hidden in plain sight all along. We get to see who they are truly pointing us to: Jesus Christ. In every story of the Old Testament, Jesus is the answer to the question: “Do you see what I see?” See the ark that saved Noah (Genesis 6-10)? See the ram caught in the bushes that was sacrificed instead of Isaac (Genesis 22:13)? See the red cord hanging from Rahab’s window that saved her family from destruction (Joshua 2:18)? See the fourth person walking in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:25)? Do you see what I see?
All of these stories invite us to see Jesus, the Savior of the world, who also came as a baby in that manger in Bethlehem. Christmas is a time to fix our eyes on Jesus, and look at the wonderful, beautiful, amazing story of His love for us, not just in the Gospels, but in the entirety of Scripture. Do you see what I see?
Optional Activity: Listen to this old Journey Jr. Podcast to review the story of the Bible.