24 December 2023

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Bible readings for today

• 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16
• Luke 1:47-55
• Psalms 89:1-4,19-26
• Romans 16:25-27
• Luke 1:26-38

Collect

Life giving God,
you prepared Mary to be the mother of your Son;
she watched and waited for his coming.
Grant us the same courage and willingness
to watch and wait,
to greet him as Emmanuel, God with us,
with joyful hearts,
through Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.​

Mary and Elizabeth (Luke 1:26-38)

The Story of Mary and Elizabeth, and how Mary trusted God's plan for her life

Christmas on the Move

All resources from Christmas on the Move, a Strandz advent resource, can be found here
Today is the day for Mary and Joseph to arrive at the stable, ready for the arrival of the baby on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  This can be linked to the Gospel reading.

​Christmas Cards

Make Christmas cards that can be sent to homebound parishioners who will likely receive home communion in the Christmas season. Children, in particular, might like to make cards for members of their own families, or people they sit with or know at church.  
You could include the greeting from today’s Epistle: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.  Print this in advance on address labels, or on paper that can be glued inside the card so that younger children who might struggle with writing can also include the greeting.

Colouring in

You can print out this colouring sheet from Flame Creative
​Strandz: A colouring in resource from Christmas on the Move -- a colouring in sheet with the themes of the 4 Sundays of Advent, as well as 4 beautiful Kiwi Advent illustrations

Media

The BibleProject have a series of animations that unpack the themes of Advent. They are best suited for teenagers and adults, and help give some background context and explanation about the topic. You can watch one about Love here