Christmas With the Camilos Devotionals

Devotional #1

Characters:

1. Mary - Karla (Angel appears: Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-7; Luke 2:21-24)

2. Joseph - Daraven (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7; Matthew 2:13-18; Matthew 2:23)

3. Gabriel/Angels- Nate (Luke 1:5-25; Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:13-18; Matthew 2:19-22)

4. Shepherds - Ileana/Jude, Jesse, Indy (Luke 2:8-20)

5. Elizabeth - Niurka (Mary visits Elizabeth Luke 1:39-45) (Luke 1:57-66)

6. Zachariah - Leandro (Luke 1:5-25) (Luke 1:57-66)

7. Wise Men - Jude/Jesse/Indy (Luke 2:1-12)

8. King Herod - Philip (Matthew 2:1-12; Matthew 2:13-18)

9. Inn Keeper - Ellee (Luke 2:7)

10. Anna the Old lady at the temple - Mother (Luke 2:36-38)

11. Simeon - Pork (Luke 2:25-35)

Finish the video with Luke 2:39-40

Add Line To begin Devo:

“How Do You View Christmas?”

The theme of this devotional time is: “How Do you view Christmas?”

This can honestly seem like a vague question. Or maybe even such a simple question because we have all heard this story many times before!

Well, how about we take a look through the eyes of those who witnessed/lived out the Christmas Story.

***Watch Video***

Well, I know that we made this kinda silly, but there are some truths that we can find here:

Mary believed and treasured what she heard and saw

Joseph responded in a godly and obedient manner

The Shepherds were like the first missionaries. They heard and started telling others.

Zachariah responded with doubt

The wise men studied it, and went out to pursue “this Jesus” no matter the cost or time.

King Herod couldn’t stand Him. His presence was a threat to Herod’s pride.

The Inn Keeper didn’t have time or space for Him.

Anna and Simeon had been awaiting Him and responded in awe.

How do we honestly respond to this life changing message?

Do we pursue it no matter the cost?

Do we behold Him with awe and amazement?

Do we share it with others?

Do we treasure it with all our heart?

We all know that the coming of Jesus Changed Everything!!!

Well I think it would be valuable if we spent some time reflecting on some of these things. I have a few questions that I think could be really healthy to consider, reflect on, and talk about together.

A few questions of discussion:

What does it practically mean to treasure this message? How should that shape our lives?

In what ways have we failed to respond as we should? (maybe allowing it to become monotonous or repetitive to the point that it is commonplace…not as Holy as it once was?)

Who do you admire vs relate to from these Christmas Characters? (are we prideful like King Herod who don’t like to be taken off our thones? Do we anticipate Jesus’ return like Anna and Simeon? Do we lack room for Him in our daily living like the inn keeper?)

What is one thing that stuck out to you from taking a deeper look, not just at the Christmas story, but also at the way that others responded to it?

I pray that God will allow me to properly view the greatest gift humanity has ever received. And with that view, I pray I will respond appropriately!

Pray together!

Devotional #2

Starting question:

In life, who should be our greatest example/role model?

(Easy answer: Jesus!)

Well if this is such a simple answer, then why do we each struggle so greatly to follow through with it?

Well in light of it being Christmas time, I would love if we studied through one of my favorite passages that relates to the Christmas story.

Philippians 2:1–11 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I don’t know if any of you have ever considered this a passage to study in relation to Christmas, but it is one of the ones that comes to my mind the soonest!

It explains the attitude and approach of Jesus as He made this incredible transformation from sitting at the right hand of God to being born in a stable. Talk about culture shock. He wasn’t in Heaven anymore, was He?

We really begin to see in verses 5-8 that Jesus embodied God the Father, yet displayed humility, emptying (denial of His rights as God) of Himself, and subjection to servanthood.

So, let’s look at these 3 traits and discuss what it means to learn from this:

Humility:

Vs 8 helps explain the extent to His Humility. The first step was His willingness to become a person. That should say something. We aren’t as great as we think we are…are we? We are not even close to the greatness of God. It was pure humility to become a human!

Likewise, His humility is further explained as one which was obedient. Obedient unto death…EVEN, death on the cross.

Discussion Question:

What can we learn from this section about humility?

(What does this teach us but that obedience requires Humility. It means we listen to someone else rather than ourselves. 1st step to obedience is submission. If Jesus wasn’t too great to do this, then neither should I be. His humility knew no end. It went all the way to the cross!)

I pray God would give me a humility that knew no end but to glorify God in obedience!

Emptying:

This honestly may feel like an extension to humility… and I think it is. This was part of the humility in action. He actually had the fullness of God yet did not regard them as things to be grasped.

Discussion questions:

- What are some of the things that Jesus emptied Himself of?

(He denied Himself many of the rights of God. He could have lived much more in ease if He acted all the qualities of being God in the flesh).

- Are there things that we may be entitled to that perhaps we shouldn’t regard “things to be grasped”?

- What are some examples?

Why would we choose not to grasp them if we are entitled to them? (think about verses 3-4. Maybe grasping those things would lead us to neglect the care of others that we are commanded to consider as more important than our own…and didn’t we just learn about knowing no end to humility…

Subjection to Servanthood:

The word servant used in verse 7 is defined as: a person who is legally owned by someone else and whose entire livelihood and purpose was determined by their master.

That is the way that Jesus described Himself through the apostle Paul.

Is there any greater definition than this to describe what it means to make Jesus Lord of your life?

Discussion Questions:

What are some motivations to help us continue to subject ourselves to servanthood under our master Jesus Christ?

(When we are saved by Him, we want to be like Him…and Jesus practiced what He preached…He also lived by example)

(Notice verses 9-10? Jesus is exalted for humbling Himself…does this sound familiar? When discussing greatness, Jesus mentions being a servant. Look at Matthew 23:11-12:

11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Look also at:

Proverbs 29:23 ESV

23 One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Luke 14:11 ESV

11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

James 4:6 ESV

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:10 ESV

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1 Peter 5:6 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

I could go on and on, but the theme is clear. A motivation for living as a servant is knowing that in God’s timing He will be the one to exalt you. Let God be the one to do this. Not ourselves!

I don’t know about you, but I think God will be able to do a much better job at this than myself.

Conclusion:

Overall, I hope that we were able to see that somehow and in someway, the little baby born in the manger was capable of expressing such great humility, emptying, and subjection to servanthood.

Oh God, May we be like the Little Lord Jesus!