' Yes, it IS the first Sunday of Advent, but in the United States it is
also the Sunday after Thanksgiving and thus the end of the holiday
weekend. Given that it would be possible
to focus
on the beginning of the new Christian Year by celebrating the year as a
whole. Sing and read your way through
the whole liturgical year. Light the
Advent candles, but save really getting into Advent until everyone gets back
next week. Go to Year C - Christ the King/ Reign of Christ Sunday for specific
suggestions and resources.
' Set the sanctuary for Advent. Have the Advent paraments, wreath, and other decorations in place. OR
If
it is a relaxed holiday weekend, invite children and other worshipers to help
put them in place before the service begins.
If
things are more formal, have two teams prepared, one to remove the old
paraments and the second to install the Advent pieces. Both teams process in and do their tasks
dramatically. (Families can enjoy
serving on one team together.)
Before the Call to Worship
point out and explain briefly each of the changes. Hint to additions as Advent progresses.
' The texts for the First Sunday of Advent are about watchful
waiting. Because Advent is all
about waiting and everyone is into waiting for Christmas, it is tempting to
compare waiting for the Son of Man to waiting for Christmas. Be careful.
First, these texts are not about waiting for a holiday. They are about cultivating an attitude of
watchful waiting for God every day.
Second, for children waiting for Christmas is mainly waiting for Santa
Claus. Among young worshippers there are
Santa true believers, Santa agnostics, and those who are “in” on it all. In a conversation on the steps with all the
children a member of the third group is likely to make a loud declaration that
will dismay the others and their parents.
But more important than that potential brouhaha is the fact that as they
discover the “reality” of Santa Claus, children inevitably question the
“reality” of other such figures – like God and Jesus. There is no way to sort through that during
public worship. But, we can be sure we
don’t make figuring it out any harder by talking about God, Jesus and Santa as
if they are similarly “real.” Finally,
Santa is making a list of who’s naughty and nice. These texts encourage us to lead disciplined
lives as we watch and wait for God. That
is a very subtle but important difference.
The first endorses works righteousness; the latter is… Well, I can’t get the difference into one
simple phrase and that’s the problem. So
be careful.
Who
Is Coming To Our House?, by
Joseph Slate, gets at the right kind of waiting by telling the story of the
animals preparing the stable for the guest who is coming to their house. The story is very simple and reads in about 2
minutes, but makes more sense when listeners can see the wonderful art of the
animals. So plan to project it or to
show the pictures to children gathered around you.
' Use an alarm clock for the Call to Worship. Begin with it ringing. Then launch into a call and response
something like
Leader: Wake up, you sleepy Christians!
People: The night is gone. The day is here.
Leader: Be ready because God is at work in the
world.
People: Let us worship and serve God together.
' Often lighting the candles of the Advent Wreath is
simply a way of counting down the Sundays until Christmas. It is the sanctuary version of an Advent
calendar. To connect it to the advent
call to join God at work in the world, compare lighting the candles to turning on
the porch light or putting a candle in the window. They are ways of saying we are ready, you are
welcome, come in. Often we turn these
lights on while we are setting the table, sweeping the floor, and cooking
dinner. Compare those preparations to
working with God to bring God’s love into the world. Then, light the first candle of the wreath to
say, “We are ready. God you are welcome
here.” Read Matthew 24:44 - “Therefore
you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected moment.” If possible light the candle later in the
service maybe as the affirmation of faith following the sermon. If it must be lit earlier, point to it and
recall its meaning as you work through this discussion.
'
Take
the Advent candles to another level by encouraging worshipers to become
Advent candles themselves. This
week their job as a candle is simply to watch for times when they can add
light, fun, love, kindness when they can see it is needed.
' “This
Little Light of Mine” and “We
Are Marching in the Light of God/ Siyahamba” become Advent hymns in
this context.
' This
Little Light of Mine, by E.
B. Lewis, illustrates the hymn with pictures from the day of young African
American boy. As you flip through the
book point out all the ways the boy let’s his light shine and what a difference
it makes in his world. Then challenge
young worshippers to create their own book with pictures of themselves letting
their light shine.
Traditional
Advent Hymns
(for
today or later in Advent)
' O Come, O Come Emmanuel has a sound that fascinates children and is filled
with words that are totally beyond them.
To begin singing it with understanding they need to be introduced to
only one word and then invited into the sound.
The word is Emmanuel, God is With Us.
It is both a nickname for Jesus who is God With Us and a reminder that
God is indeed with us always. Before
singing, briefly explain that to the children and everyone. To invite the children into the sound, point
out the sad descriptions of all the problems in the verses and the happy sound
of the refrain’s reminder that God is with always even when things look
bad. Encourage children who might have
trouble with the words in the verses to sing the chorus. Even take time to rehearse the chorus with
everyone. It would even be possible for
the choir to sing the sad verses and the congregation to respond by singing the
hope filled refrain.
' Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is another song that is all about the feel of the
music. The ideas are complex, but focus
on the “more that we can understand,” goosebumpy beautiful fact that God came
among us as a little baby.
' Watchman Tell Us of the Night is another song that is best understood when sung
antiphonally by either a choir and the congregation or two halves of the
congregation. In either case one group
becomes the Traveler singing the first and third lines and the other group
becomes the watchman singing the second and fourth lines.
The
Texts
Isaiah 2:1-5
 |
| Public Domain Worldwide - Wikimedia Commons |
' This text features the well-known prophecy about
swords being turned into plows and spears into pruning hooks. For children that means two vaguely known
items are being turned into two totally unfamiliar items. If we provide the details about the weapons
and tools, they quickly grasp the message.
So take time to illustrate how swords can be made into plows
and how a plow is used. Because the
pruning hook used in gardens today is hard to visualize being made from a
spear, and because one prop is enough anyway, skip the pruning hook.
* Bring
a sword (toy or real) or a poster board sword (perhaps created by an artistic
parishioner) and a picture of an old fashion plow. If the sample is flexible, show how it could
be bent to be used as a plow. Then read verse
4 again and rephrase it something like, “God promises that there will be a time
when everyone gets along. It will be so
peaceful that people won’t need swords and other weapons anymore. So, they will turn them into garden
tools.” Challenge the children to watch
for swords turned into plows in the prayers and songs of the church during
Advent. (Make sure to provide them a
sample or two in today’s worship.)
* If
yours is an imaginative group, imagine together peaceful uses for modern
weapons, e.g. think of cool things you could do if an aircraft carrier were
turned into a cruise ship – take off from the short runway, land with a jolt on
the hook, riding in helicopters, holding sports events and big dances. Send the children back to their seats to
reform other weapons to peaceful uses.
ADVENT WREATH WARNING: If you focus on this text, it is tempting to light the
first candle of the Advent Wreath for peace.
But the texts for the second Sunday almost demand that that Sunday be
the Sunday for peace. Lighting today’s
candle for watchful waiting – for peace among God’s other promises – is a
better idea.
Psalm 122
' Though it is the first Sunday of Advent, it is also
the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend in the USA.
Children have been feasting on pilgrims, Indians and thanks for
country. So, focus on vv. 6-9. Present it to the children as a prayer for
Jerusalem by people who lived there.
Together identify prayers for your town, state and nation. We want the same peace that the people in
Jerusalem wanted. Children will be able
to add prayers for people who are caught up in current problems or disasters,
prayers for a variety of leaders, prayers for schools and other local
institutions, etc. Either offer a prayer
that incorporates what the children have said as you sit with them. Or, begin the congregation’s prayers with the
prayers the children have identified.
This is most effective if the congregation’s prayers immediately follow
the time with children.
Romans 13:11-14
' If you plan to devote time to Paul’s list of sins to
avoid, note that the last pair – fighting and jealousy – fit children. Avoiding fighting and jealousy during Advent
is a worthy discipline. List examples
such as fighting among siblings while traveling or when stuck home for the long
holiday weekend. Point out how easy it
is to get jealous and get the “I wants” as Christmas gets closer. Paul says we can be better than that. We are Jesus’ people. We can stop the fighting and work on not
getting so greedy.
This
could be a children’s time or could be dealt with in the middle of the
sermon. “Listen up children, I think
Paul wrote this especially for you, maybe especially during December….”
' Introduce Advent waiting on the first Sunday of Advent
by getting out a set of nativity figures for use in the
sanctuary. Set aside all the angels and
the baby. Place the shepherds and some
sheep in one area of the worship center, the traveling magi in another, and
Mary and Joseph in separate areas. In
the stable area place the empty manger and animals. As you do, talk about what each set of
characters was probably doing. Then read
Romans 13.11. Note that it is a message
to each of those people waiting for Jesus to be born AND it is a message to
us. We need to wake up and pay attention,
too. God is at work all around us.
FYI This
year a shepherd might be turned into John the Baptist and set near the empty
manger just for that day on the second Sunday of Advent. Mary moves to the manger on the third Sunday
(if you read the Magnificat that week).
Joseph (and Mary if you did not move her on the third Sunday) move on
the fourth Sunday. The Shepherds move on
Christmas Eve and the baby is placed in the manger. The wise men wait until Epiphany.
' Invite worshipers over the weeks of Advent to add a
straw around manger for each good deed done. Provide a basket of pre-cut short straws on
the floor near the table. People can
bring their straws before or after worship or even during the offertory. The good deeds of watchful waiting become the
setting for the crèche figures as they are moved to the manger at Christmas.
Matthew 24:36-44
This is probably the least accessible text today for children. Fortunately, its theme of being prepared runs through the other texts. So, in this post you have already found or can go back to find…
' An Advent Wreath lighting suggestion based on
verse
44.
' A call to become Advent candles shining God’s light
into the world
' Plans for exploring and singing three Advent hymns
about waiting
' Directions for unpacking the crèche with attention to
how the characters were waiting for Jesus’ birth
' An advent discipline: avoiding fighting and jealousy
during December
Unpack the Chrismon ornaments
and display only the one that fits today – Christ over the world. Briefly introduce Chrismons and tell when the
tree will appear. Explain today’s
ornament pointing out that it says what Matthew says in today’s text. God/Christ is the biggest power in the world
and rules over the world always. God
rules over the world way before Christmas and will rule over the world
forever. Hang it on a small hook in
front of deep blue or purple Adventy fabric in a prominent place at the front
of the sanctuary until time for it to go on the tree.
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