Tag Archives: directions

Journey to the Manger: High Priest

Jackson reads the first clue of our Christmas Treasure Hunt: Let's go on a hunt Treasures wait for you Look under the Christmas tree for your next clue

Jackson reads the first clue of our Christmas Treasure Hunt:
Let’s go on a hunt
Treasures wait for you
Look under the Christmas tree
for your next clue

Today we learned about the High Priest on our Journey to the Manger.

Israel’s High Priest served to show the people the way to God. He gave them God’s instructions on how to live. The High Priest acted as a mediator between God and man, offering sacrifices of atonement to cover the Israelites’ sins. God created this sacrificial system to prepare the people for the perfect sacrifice: His own Son.

Jesus came to be our High Priest and King. He stepped down to connect us back to God. He shed His blood to pay for our sins, and now sits at the right hand of the Father ever making intercession for us.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens–Jesus the Son of God–let us hold fast to the confession.

– Hebrews 4:14

We woke up Jackson and Lauren early this morning for a special treat. To kick-start our Journey to the Manger today, we hid clues throughout the house for a Christmas Treasure Hunt. The kids (and their teddy bears) excitedly ran in their pajamas from clue to clue, following the instructions to find the treasure. Just as the High Priest gave instructions to help the people connect with God, the kids had to follow each step to reach their treasure. Tucked inside their stockings at the end of the hunt were Hershey bars and special take-along cards to remind them of God’s love and presence.

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Jesus is our way to God. He is THE way, THE truth and THE life. He came to personally show us what God expects and how we can live to honor Him. He fulfilled every role of the High Priest, and His complete sacrifice paid for all our sins once and for all!

Click here to learn more about celebrating Advent with your family this Christmas, including access to a Scripture plan, free downloads and activity ideas. For more on Journey to the Manger, an advent experience from Focus on the Family, visit the Thriving Family website.

This Way

On the road to our house

Our new house cannot be found by using the directions in Google or Mapquest. When we invite people to come visit us, detailed driving instructions or a carefully crafted map is shared. It isn’t hard to find, unless you are using your vehicle’s GPS!

From the beginning of time, mankind has been searching for prominence, power, meaning and significance. Ultimately, each of us is looking for how to fill that desire in our hearts for something more. God created that in us. He wanted us to understand that this is not all there is and seek for answers beyond ourselves. And, in that journey, we will meet Him and realize Jesus is our answer. God imprinted eternity in our souls, and gave us the road map to perfect love and absolute peace forever.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

– John 3:16

Just as we have a journey through life, God also sent His Son with a mission. These were directions for Him and for us. Jesus knew He was being given so that we could truly live.

The centurion in charge of Jesus’ execution experienced the completion of that road map as it climaxed at the cross. After overseeing Christ’s death, he came to this conclusion:

When the centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “This man really was God’s Son!”

– Mark 15:39

What that centurion saw was God loving you and me in this way, as Jesus described in John 3:16.

Now it’s our turn to follow the directions and believe.