Welcome! Dear friends, we are so excited to deliver this Christmas Faith Night In to you! Our aim is to give you the tools you need to deepen your relationship with God and with each other this holiday season. God’s word offers a road map for your relationship, and we want to share this with you in an engaging and unique way. Head over to FaithNightIn. com/who-we-are if you want to learn more about us and what we believe. We are so happy to have you as a part of the FNI Family! Take pictures of your date night and share them using #FaithNightInBox . One lucky couple will win their next date FREE! Join us on Facebook for more details.
P RE PAR E Y O U R S U GGE S TE D D I N N E R R E CIP E Our friend Marina Makes has created an incredible complete menu for you to enjoy tonight (including a grocery shopping list to make things easy). It’s totally optional, but due to customer requests, we include it as an option. You should have received an email from us in regards to your suggested dinner menu for this date. If you missed our email, head over to www.nightinboxes.com/recipes to view a complete dinner and drink menu brought to you by Marina Makes. https://marinamakesblog.com/
S ET THE M O O D Take some time to really set the mood for your date tonight. Find a cozy spot to settle in and enjoy each other’s company. Grab your holiday inc ense, dim the lights and tune in to faithnightin.com/music for a great date night soundtrack. Be sure to have your bible handy. If you don’t have access to one, check out the Bible Gateway app available on your Apple or Android device.
D ate N i g h t Iti n e r ar y
LEARN ABOUT Y OUR CONTRIBUTION We have partner ed with The Adventure Project this month! PLAY “WHO AM I?” Start things off with a silly game of Who Am I? to take you through date night. DISCUSSION During this part of your date, you will read through some thoughtfully prepared discussion points together. The purpose of this part of your date night is to bring to light a biblical idea/topic that you may not have discussed as a couple before now. We encourage you to keep an open mind and an open heart as you explore your faith together. PREPARE YOUR DRINK Time for a hot cocoa break! PLAY TUNE OR TALE Test your Holiday trivia skills! It’s time to loosen up a bit and have some f un with a game of Tune or Tale. CREATE YOUR GINGERBREAD MASTERPIECE For some (not so) classic Christmas fun!! PRAYER AND REFLECTION Take a look back through your discussion guide and highlight some areas that stood out to you. Take a few minutes to reflect on your night together and a few new things that you discovered. Pray with each other to close out the night!
Your contr i bu t io n
We hope you found your included “lumps of coal” soap. Over 4 billion people around the globe eat food cooked over an open fire. Open fires are harmful to their health and the environment. The smoke is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes per day. It is one of the leading causes of death to women and children in the developing world. What women need most is a stove! By partnering with The Adventure Project, your December box is helping to train women in Kenya and Tanzania to become stove entrepreneurs. They will learn how to earn a living by making and selling life-saving charcoal-efficient stoves to their neighbors. Each stove made drastically reduces toxic smoke, cooks food faster, and saves six trees from being cut down and turned into charcoal cooking fuel. To learn more about The Adventure Project visit them at www.theadventureproject.org. Or, head over to www.nightinboxes.com/adventureproject for some real stories of the lives you’ve helped touch.
Wh o Am I? Let’s start date night off with a little game... In your box, you will find two stickers. Claim yours, and witho ut your partner sneaking a peek, write the name of a Christmas character. Place the sticker on your partner’s back. Have your partner do the same th ing to you. As you both make your way through your date, your goal is to figure out who each of you are. You are not allowed to ask any questions about who you are. Partners, give each other subtle clues as the night goes on. (ex: You could ask “Santa” if he’s ready for the big night. Tell him you’re glad he’s not afraid of heights, or that he looks good in red.) Make it a little more fun by choosing what the reward will be for the person who guesses who they are first.
D isc us s i o n G u id e Take some time here to read through the discussion guide together and chat about the check point questions. Read aloud so that you can follow along together, or snuggle up and read silently up to each check point.
Christmas time can be so full of parties, presents, family and good food (all great things), but we all have that little voice in our minds reminding us of what we should be really celebrating this Christmas. To night you will have the chance together to sneak away for some quiet time to reflect on the “reason for the season”…the most incre dible event to ever take place on earth! Do you happen to know any little children who recently (or not so recently) made their stage debut in a Christmas pageant (present company included)? Everybody wants to be Mary or Joseph, right? Well, tonight we’re going to be reminded of some very important supporting characters…The Wise Men. Just so we’re all on the same page, let’s read this together.
Matthew 2:1-12 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. ” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.”
We don’t really talk about the Wise Men too much. We tend to think of them as those guys that happened to show up to the party with a few odd gifts to give to a baby. But, who were they, really? And what does their presence tell us about our King? In the Greek language, the word for “Wise Man” is “Magi”; from which we derive the word magician. You may remember the story of the Medes versus the Persians. Quick recap: The Medes decided they needed to overtake the Persians (bad choice). They miserably lost. They then decided to seek wisdom over power (better choice) and quickly became the Pagan authority throughout the Mid dle East for all things pertaining to predicting signs and wonders, and performing sacrifices. They were known as the Magi, and they were questioned by no one. The Magi were m aster astrologers. If you live in the city, you may look up on an average night and say, “Oh hey look. There’s a star.” If you lived in the 1st century Middle East, you would have seen millions of stars, and you would have had a profound knowledge of them. You would have used them to tell time, tell the seasons, and so much more. You would have thought of them as your newspaper. You could look to the sky and see something happening and say to each other, “Looks like there’s drama going on east of us.” Everything was interconnected. You would see something happening in the stars and would expect it to correlate with something happening on earth, and vice versa. It was the Magi’s job to interpret these things, and it was not unusual for them to travel across lands to confirm their predictions about what was “in the news”.
CHECK POINT Have you ever really thought about the perspective of the Wise Men before? Can you imagine gazing up at that many stars every night? How would it have made you feel...close to your creator, or far from Him?
There are several different theories to explain what these wise men saw in the sky that night. Some scholars agree that it was the star called Sirius, the brightest star in the sky to this day. Other astrologists claim that it would have been the aligning of the planets Jupiter and Saturn that occurred in 7 BC. Whatever it really was that they saw, they were awaiting its coming. They knew the prophesies of the coming King of the Jews. “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”(Mt 2:2) They set out across the desert to visit the coming King; on a journey that would change their lives. By the time they reached Judea, Jesus may have been a few months to a few years old already. They had long awaited this meeting! When they met King Herod, he was not at all pleased at what their presence represented. Here he is, named the King of the Jews, and these Magi are saying, “Whe re is He who has been born king of the Jews?” Your feathers would be a little ruffled too, right? Herod sends them on their way to find the new born king of the line of David who was to be born in the town of Bethlehem.
“After l istening to the king , they went on their way . And b eho l d , the star that they had seen when it rose went b e f ore them unti l it came to rest over the p lace where the chi l d was . When they saw the star, they re j oiced exceeding l y with great j oy� (M t 2 :9 -1 0 )
CHECK POINT After such a long journey, how would you feel to be greeted by the King, priests, and scribes only to find that they had not known about the fulfilment of the prophesy that had taken place right under their noses? When they finally met Jesus, do you think that they were surprised at what they found?
Just like these Wise Men, the spiritual journey that we are on is never direct. God may choose to send you the long way, and of ten, what we find are more questions. Matthew 2:9-10 tells us that they did not simply follow a star all the way to Jesus. They saw the star, lost the star, and found it again. Does this sound familiar? Of the 4 gospel accounts of Jesus’s birth, Matthew is the only one to include this aspect of the story. He had a special message for his Jewish audience at that time. God is not found in lofty things. He called a group of Paga n Wise Men from across the desert to be the first to show Him honor. Let the story of the Wise Men’s search for Jesus remind you this holiday season that our God is for everybody. We so often search for God in lofty things—the trendiest scholars, authors, or pastors—and we overlook our everyday encounters. God says, “Blessed are those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” (Mt.5:3) God is waiting in everyday situations and people to speak to your heart. Don’t look past Him this Christmas! This is the story of Emanuel.
Pr e par e Y o u r Dr in k Enjoy Your Hot Chocolate Beverage! With a spoon cleverly placed in each solid chocolate portion, each of the Original Hot DeBrand Fine Chocolates can be stirred into hot milk, water, or coffee to create a rich, creamy drink.
l atoen o c c hnoa s p o o
8 oz . mug
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Tun e o r T a l e
How well do you think you know Christmas tunes and movies? Test your trivia skills in this game of Tune or Tale. Take your included deck of cards and give them a shuffle. On one side you will find th e name of a well-known Christmas song. On the other side you will find the title of a well-known Christmas movie. Take turns drawing a card. You will either hum the song or quote the movie until your partner guesses its title. (You can give hints about the movie without using its title if no quotes come to mind.)
Cre ate Y o u r Gin g e r b r ea d M as te r pi e ce OK so we can’t know for sure, but some scholars say that the Wise Men traveled by RV. Is that the way you heard it? That would be the preferred method over camel these days, at least! Let’s have some fun and make a gingerbread RV masterpiece! This month we are giving away an epic prize from our friends at AIRSTREAM 2 GO. Airstream 2 Go is the exclusive, factory-authorized source in North America to re nt current model Airstream trailers, custommatched to a de dicated Chevrolet Tahoe tow vehicle. The company provides rental customers with a premium vacation experience, turn-key in every element, including custom itinerary and activity planning. Up for grabs is a two-day 28’ International Airstream trailer vacation with a completely customized journey out west! Their signature series RV’s d esigned by San Francisco architect & designer, Christopher C. Deam, is what dreams are made of. With a value of over $2,760 dollars, this is not a chance to be missed!
How do I win? #1) Decorate your Gingerbread Camper with the included supplies. Any other materials you have at your home are fair game too. #2) Set the scene and take a picture. To win, you will need to include your date box in the picture and extra points go to creativity! #3) Time to share on social media (Facebook & Instagram)! You must use the hashtag #faithnightinbox and mention us @faithnightinbox and get your friends to like your post. Any extra love you can give us in your post to help spread the word about Faith Night In is greatly appreciated. #4) The more likes your post and picture gets, the more times you will be entered to win our prize.
P r ay e r an d Refle c ti o n Take a look back through your discussion guide and highlight some areas that stood out for you. Where were you encouraged by what God’s Word has to say? Have you ever thought about this perspective of the Christmas story before now? Take a minute to pray together; silently or aloud . If you are unsure where to start, pray these words: Lord, we are so thankful for the birth of your son Jesus Christ, and we are thankful for His life and death on the cross. I pray that you would gently remind us of your love through every day encounters with those around us. Help us to reflect your grace as we interact with those that we may be inclined to overlook. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Take a minute to go back through your Check Points. Remembering that our God is God for everyone—from all walks of life—what can you set into action this month as you have encounters with new people around town? God is ready to encourage and strengthen you as you continue in this endeavor! We want to thank you for welcoming FNI into your home this evening. We are praying for you, and we would love to hear from you! Reach out to us at facebook.com/ faithnightinbox.
If you received this date as a gift and you enjoyed your night, we would love for you to join us again next month! Head over to faithnightin.com to claim your dates monthly. Thanks for allowing us to help build memories with you and your significant other. Happy Holidays from The Night In Boxes Team!
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