One of the great things about the Christmas season is that it’s a wonderful time to share with our kids about the birth of Jesus. Our kids need to know, however, that God didn’t just step into our world long ago in Bethlehem.  He still steps into our world today, and He usually does it through followers of Jesus like you and me.

Christmas is a great chance to bring Jesus into our everyday lives.  That’s why I created this Up, In & Out Christmas prayer activity to help families imitate the life of Jesus throughout the Christmas season.

Remember, Jesus had three primary sets of relationships:

• An Up relationship with His Father God
• An In relationship with the disciples
• An Out relationship with those who didn’t yet know God

As we help our families become more like Jesus, we can use Up, In and Out to copy of the life of Jesus at Christmas and beyond.

Here’s how it works.

Download the Triangle Christmas Printable where you’ll find a variety of Up, In and Out boxes your family can pray over each night in December.

The Up boxes are already printed with name of Jesus. If you draw a name of Jesus, simply read it out loud and talk about it what it means. Pray and encourage your children to praise God for whichever name was printed on the paper.

You will need to fill out the In and Out boxes with your kids. Ask your children, “Who are other believers who encourage our family to follow Jesus?” Write those names in the blank In boxes.

Next, talk to your kids about those in your family’s life who don’t yet know Jesus. Ask your kids, “Who are people God has been sending to us to love and pray for and serve?”  Write their names on the Out boxes.

Once you fill in all of the blank boxes on the sheet, you will need to cut the boxes apart and drop them into a Christmas gift bag or wrapped box. Each night at dinner, let someone draw out one slip of paper. Take a moment as a family to pray over it during the meal.

If you begin December 1^st, you should finish the last slip of paper on Christmas Eve.  I’d love to hear how it goes.  Just leave a comment on the blog or on my Facebook page if you want to let me know how God is using it in your family.

Family Advent Guide

If you’d like more Advent resources, check out my free Christmas family devotional, God’s Big Christmas Adventure.  Sign up here and I’ll e-mail you a copy November 27th just in time to get started on for Christmas.