Advent Devotional - Project:INFLUENCE x CREO

12 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS ADVENT DEVOTIONAL 1

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The goal of this Advent Devotional is to encourage youth across Vancouver to have a holistic view of the holidays. It can be so easy to get caught up in busyness and frantic consuming. However, we know that we find fulfillment when we rest in God and have a giving heart, just as Jesus did.

Each day will have a Bible verse, reflection on a prompt from a small group, and an action item to help you engage with what you are reading. We encourage you to approach each day with an open heart for God to show you His love through this devotional.

Project: INFLUENCE is the youth volunteer organisation with CREO Youth (Tenth Church’s youth group). We have two main aspects of our vision: caring for community and caring for creation. It all began because we believe that students have the skills and heart to pour into their communities as we trust God to bear fruit. Often we hear at church about how we should love our neighbour as ourselves. Project: INFLUENCE aims to provide practical opportunities for students to do that while engaging with contemporary topics surrounding justice and mental health.

DAY 1: resting in God “What do you think it means to rest in God?”, one of the main themes was trusting our Heavenly Father The reason why we are able to breathe easy is because we believe that God is taking care of our every need, so we don’t have to worry about them. Thus, resting in God is different from what we might typically think of resting. It’s not just about zoning out or spending time away from work, although that can certainly be part of it. It is partaking in our restful activities with the knowledge that God has designed us for rest because it is an exercise of our faith. With our faith at the centre of how we view resting, we can find true fulfilment.

MATTHEW 11:28-30 NIV 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Action Items Honour the Sabbath weekly – learn about what the Sabbath is, implement it into your weekly rhythm (24 hours, 5 hours, what are you spending time apart from?

Make a list of dos and don’ts on your Sabbath) Spend some time breathing quietly, beginning by inviting God into the space, and meditating on this verses above.

GRADE 11/12 BOYS

DAY 2: ways we can rest in God we talked about how because we trust God to care for our every need we can rest in Him. However, this doesn’t mean that we can do anything with this mindset. We must still consider prayerfully how best to use our time in a way that glorifies Him. Although Advent signifies a waiting period, where we wait for the ultimate rest in God when we are restored to Him in heaven, we still desire to have closeness with Him while we’re here on Earth.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Action Items: Nourish your body as a way to spend time taking care of yourself. Eat good food in the presence of people you love and get enough sleep. Also, listen to the song “House On A Hill” by Amanda Cook and let God nourish your soul as you wait for Him to be apparent in your life.

GRADE 8 GIRLS

DAY 3: “Active Rest” Rest can mean a lot of different things. What are some of the ways you find yourself “resting” or “taking a break” often? Now, are those things helping you truly relax and give your burdens to God? Or are they just a distraction from the things you want a break from focusing on? Active rest is when we are being intentional with our rest time - doing something productive that we enjoy, spending time reflecting and meditating - or whatever helps you clear your mind and focus on things that matter.

It is important to make this a regular habit (Sabbath day anyone?) and can help prevent or recover from burnout and can be a good way to incorporate God into your rest time. God wants to carry your burdens for you - so let him!

Action items: Write down some ways you currently “rest” (napping, making a snack, taking a walk, doomscrolling…) and consider which ones are actually helping you intentionally rest and be filled and which ones aren’t as helpful. Are there some ways to rest that you want to start doing?

PSALMS 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.

GRADE 9 GIRLS

DAY 4 So we’ve thought about some ways we can rest in God and what it means to rest, but what happens when things just get so busy that it’s hard to find time to rest in him? We know that we need God in our everyday life, so how do we prioritize him even when life is so overwhelming? Well, this could just take a few minutes after you wake up or go to bed to say a prayer thanking God for something small or his help with something as you face the day. There are also plenty of resources out there like devotions to keep you on track even ones specifically made for busy seasons! Putting on some worship music during a commute or while doing chores is also a great way to connect with God in your everyday life. Remember, there's always more time for God than you think!

GRADE 7 GIRLS

Choose one of the following to try out as a new habit!

1. Find a devotional plan to follow a. Bonus: find a friend or family member to do them with!

2. Give yourself 10 minutes before bed to journal or give thanks to God and for help to carry your burdens 3. Build a worship playlist to listen to

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

GRADE 6 GIRLS

DAY 5

Action Item: During the Christmas season, we can sometimes get fixated on what it is that we receive from others. We encourage you to pray this quick prayer:

WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US ~1 JOHN 4:19

“Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You for how You call us to serve others and also help us to do so with your Holy Spirit. We thank You for how You have shown us kindness and generosity. We pray that we would have our eyes open for ways to show others kindness and generosity in big and little ways today. Amen.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A SERVING HEART?

The three key themes that came up in the Grade 6 Girls’ response to the prompt was kindness, generosity, and wanting to help others. Notably, things that are not just traits but also actions. It can be easy to think that we are not innately able to serve or that serving is just too difficult. However, these three themes are tied to the fruits of the Spirit, specifically love, joy, kindness, and faithfulness. We bear these fruits when we are in relationship with God and allow Him to bring about transformation in our lives. Perhaps to have a serving heart means to allow God to work in and through us as we look outwards from just ourselves. It means learning from Jesus’ example of washing his disciples’ feet and laying down our necessities and comforts to serve a community in need.

DAY 6: SERVING THE COMMUNITY

A key reflection from the Grade 8 Boys to do with this prompt is that when we serve our community we reflect God’s love towards us by demonstrating certain aspects of Jesus. As Jesus’ followers, we try to be more like him in everything that we do. Although the action of service is important, the heart behind serving is important too. This Christmas, we remember how God sacrificed something that mattered a lot to Him–His one and only Son–in an act of service and love. Thus, we are inspired to serve our community too, for example connecting with people and learning more about their relationship with God, putting others’ needs above our own, and showing other people God’s light. By doing so, we model God’s love that brought us to believing in Him in the first place, and thus help others to believe in Him too.

Action Items: Write out a list of practical things you do to serve your community. Pray to God and thank Him for the opportunities that He has given you to serve. Prayerfully consider how the ways you serve others line up with your spiritual gifts and if there’s anything else God is asking you to do for your community.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love.

Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

1 JOHN 4:16

“For even the son of man came not to be served but to serve others” MATT 20:28

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” 1 PETER 4:10

Today, with the help of the Grade 9/10 Boy’s reflections, we will talk about some practical action that you can take. A lot of the members of the small group mentioned serving at Tenth Kids (the children’s ministry program at Tenth Church). Others mentioned sharing God’s love and kindness with their friends. Both of these examples demonstrate sharing their faith. God calls us to both build up those already in the church and bring new people into the church.

Ultimately, all of our practical actions of service are to glorify God and share the gospel.

DAY 7: TOWARDS THE NEXT GENERATION

Action Items: Reflect on 1 Peter 4:10.

What are some spiritual gifts you have heard of from reading your Bible? What are some that you have? How can you use those to serve those around you? Listen to the worship song “Available” by Elevation Worship. The lyrics speak about being open to what God is calling us to do. This includes how He calls us to use our spiritual gifts.

Having this posture of openness is so important, so we invite you to reflect on how you can adopt this posture.

DAY 8 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE GRATEFUL? TO WHOM DO WE GIVE OUR THANKS

A lot of the time, serving goes hand in hand with having gratitude. What does it mean exactly to be grateful? It can mean “appreciating things in our life”... but to whom do we express this appreciation to?

Maybe if your mom bought you a treat you’d say thanks to her, give her a hug… or if the weather was perfect for your soccer game you might hear your teammates say “we got lucky!”. But does luck and chance exist? Let’s think big picture - who is at the centre of our lives and died for us to live?

Who works all things towards His perfect plan? God does! Being grateful means recognizing God’s work in your life and giving thanks to Him for it.

GRADE 7 BOYS

Action Items: Take some time to think about the good things in your life - and then, think about where you see God in them? Try changing how you talk to yourself about the good things in your life - rather than “I am so happy that ____”, try “Thank you God for allowing ____ to happen” .

Bonus: take some time to think about some hard things in life, where is God in that? It’s okay to not have an answer.

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

1 Samuel 12:24

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Yesterday we discussed what it means to be grateful and to whom we give our thanks to - so how do we actually practise gratitude?

Some answers that may come to mind may be giving prayers of thanks or worshiping; however, there are actually a lot of other ways we can give thanks to God! God is everywhere and works through all sorts of ways including others! I guarantee you there is at least one person in your life that cares about you and shows you God’s love - and you can give thanks to God by giving thanks to this person (or people)!

This could mean giving them a thank you gift, giving them words of affirmation, or even helping them out with something.

Gratitude is a way of extending God’s love out to others, just as He extended His love to us when He sent His Son to save us.

DAY 9 HOW DO YOU PRACTICE GRATITUDE?

Jesus healed ten lepers, yet only one of the ten came back to thank and praise God (Luke 17:11-19). A single leper returned back to Jesus to express his gratitude. Jesus views the leper’s and our gratitude as an act of worship to God, and commends us for our faith. It is a way to give God the glory He deserves.

Action Item: Think of someone who you think should receive more care and acknowledgement and write down some ways you can show your gratitude for them (then go and do it!). You can also prayerfully think about this and ask God about it if you’re struggling to come up with ideas.

GRADE 8 BOYS

DAY 10: BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE

Supported by science, did you know that when you practice gratitude you actually can receive benefits like improved mental health and mood? If you’ve practiced gratitude, you might be familiar with this! We asked the senior girls to share some ways they’ve benefited from times when they practised gratitude: Joy and smiling :) “Less grumpy” Seeing the world in a different way - one of admiration!

Another benefit of practising gratitude regularly is you will find that you are constantly reminded of God’s goodness and everlasting and expansive love for us - how encouraging that is!

GRADE 12 GIRLS

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ~Col. 3:15

Action Item: Write a gratitude list today, thanking God for all the big and small things He has gifted you today. Then, share with someone who you think God is leading you to share with about the benefits of gratitude and whom you give your thanks to!

We asked the grade 6 boys to share about what being generous means to them!

Themes of sharing, giving to those in need, letting go of things you want for the sake of others, and serving others with your time came up a lot.

We know that God loves us unconditionally and calls us to show his love to others - and we can do that by being generous!

Generous with our belongings, time, energy!

Action Items: There are many people in need in the world, our country, our city, and even our school! Think about people who may be in need - think about what are some things they don’t have? Food? A family to eat with? Money to pay for school or activities? Choose one of these (or more) to give towards! Donate to the food bank, invite that person who doesn’t have anyone to eat with over for a meal, donate some money to a charity.

DAY 11: WHAT DOES BEING GENEROUS MEAN TO YOU?

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. ~Psalms 112:5

GRADE 6 BOYS

DAY 12: WHAT DOES THE CHRISTMAS STORY MEAN TO YOU? In response to this prompt, the Grade 10 Girls shared about the Christmas story is a celebration of God’s provision. It is a reminder that we need not worry because God provides. He is a light in the midst of darkness. This Christmas, we hope that you are moved by the Christmas story. We hope that reading the account of Jesus in the manger and Mary’s path to the virgin birth is not just a story, but that it heals your heart as you realise that God came to be with His people, and that includes you. He is your light in the midst of your darkness.

Read the Christmas story from your Bible today! It can be found in Luke 1:26-2:21. Focus on what the story tells you about who God is and what it inspires you to do in light of that. Write this all out on a piece of paper and save it for next year to see what has changed as you read the Christmas story anew.

THIS IS LOVE: NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, BUT THAT HE LOVED US AND SENT HIS SON AS AN ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS. 1 JOHN 4:10

GRADE 10 GIRLS

CHRISTMAS: HOW CAN THE CHRISTMAS STORY IMPACT OUR EVERYDAY LIVES OUTSIDE OF THE CHRISTMAS Although the story of the birth of SEASON? Jesus is unique to the Christmas season, the meaning that it carries can certainly spill over into the rest of our lives. It was a huge, life changing event for all of the people who lived when Jesus was on Earth. It can certainly have the same effect for us. The Grade 11 Girls reflected that we can always be reminded of the blessing of Jesus Christ and that God sent His Son to be with us and save us every day! We need Him all of the time. As we wrap up this devotional, we hope that you’ve learned more about who Jesus is in your life and how that relates to themes of meaningful rest and serving your community. Resting in God and loving your neighbour are things God calls us to do on the daily. The following action items will encourage you to build healthy rhythms to do so.

LET US HOLD UNSWERVINGLY TO THE HOPE WE PROFESS, FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL. AND LET US CONSIDER HOW WE MAY SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON TOWARD LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS, HEBREWS 10:23-24 We encourage you to pick one of the habits/practical actions you have tried to do with meaningful rest and serving your community during this devotional and incorporate it into your daily routine. Go through each day’s action items and highlight a few that you found to be life giving. Share which ones you want to do with your small group leader, close mentor, or family member to keep each other accountable!

GRADE 11 GIRLS

PROJECT: PROJECT: INFLUENCE INFLUENCE

CREO CREO YOUTH YOUTH