Family Worship (Dec 21)

Have you ever lost something really important—like a favorite toy, a pet, or time with someone you love? When that happens, it can feel like your heart hurts. Sometimes you cry, and sometimes you don’t even know what to say. In those moments, it helps when someone sits with you, listens to you, and reminds you that you are not alone.

In the Bible, God tells a story using a mother named Rachel who is crying because her children are gone. Rachel lived long before this moment, but God uses her as a picture of his people crying together when families were torn apart. Her sadness is deep, and it feels like there is no comfort that can make things better.

But God hears those cries. He does not tell his people to stop crying right away. Instead, he listens, stays close, and then gives them hope.

This reminds us of Christmas. Jesus came into a world full of sadness and pain. He came to be close to people who were hurting. God wants our families to know that he sees our tears, hears our prayers, and promises hope—even when things feel really hard.

Jeremiah 31:15–17
“This is what the LORD says: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’

This is what the LORD says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,’ declares the LORD. ‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,’ declares the LORD. ‘Your children will return to their own land.’”

Discussion

1. What made Rachel so sad in this passage, and how does God respond to her tears?
2. Why do you think it matters that God listens before he gives hope?
3. When someone in our family is sad, how can we show them comfort the way God does?

Activity: The Comfort Chain
Give each family member a strip of paper. On one side, have everyone write or draw something that makes them sad or worried. On the other side, write or draw a promise of God (for example: “God is with us,” “Jesus loves me,” or “God hears my prayers”).

Then, link the strips together to make a paper chain. As you connect them, talk about how God’s promises hold us together even when we are hurting. Hang the chain somewhere visible this week as a reminder that God brings hope and comfort.

Prayer
God, thank you that you hear our tears and care about our sadness. Thank you for sending Jesus to be close to us when the world feels broken. Help our family learn to trust your promises and to comfort one another with your love. Please guide us this week and remind us that there is always hope in you. Amen.

Memory Work

New City Catechism
51. Of what advantage to us is Christ’s ascension?
Christ is now advocating for us in the presence of his Father and also sends us his Spirit.

Memory Verse
Galatians 3:29 (CSB)
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.