1st Sunday in Advent

27 November 2022

Bible readings for today

Collect

tbc

Keep watch (Matthew 24:36-44)

Advent Hope

Lighting the Advent Candle

The lighting of the Advent candles each week is a wonderful opportunity to remind us what each candle stands for and gather us together for our journey through Advent. In all the mess and busyness in our lives, God brings hope. The focus this week in Advent is Hope.
Today we light the candle of hope, but this kind of hope, isn't just about wishing we had something. No, this kind of hope, the kind that Jesus gives us, is when we know something is going to happen. We hope that he's coming soon and we know he will because that's what God promised. Jesus is coming and we need to get ready.

Resources and Ideas

Our Strandz website has lots of Advent and Christmas ideas

Assemble a Nativity Scene

If you have a community-facing noticeboard or window, you can assemble the nativity scene over the weeks of Advent, building a sense of anticipation.
Perhaps you can start with the stable standing empty, add Mary and Joseph the following week, shepherds the next week and fill the sky with angels on the fourth week. These could be simple figures, coloured by the congregation (see here for several options). If you have a crib service or other Christmas Eve worship, this is great timing for adding Baby Jesus to the scene.
Alternatively, you might be using the new Strandz ‘Christmas on the Move’ resource. In which case you would start with the stable, and maybe add more things to the stable each week (animals, manger) as Mary and Joseph make the pilgrimage closer and closer.

Call to worship

Using an alarm clock for the call to worship (or to introduce the children’s talk) 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.
From Worshipping with Children

Alternative Collect

Come, O come Emmanuel,
you are the way, the truth and the life;
Come, living Saviour
come to your world which waits for you.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen

The Unusual Journey

On Your MarksThe time of Advent gives us the opportunity to get ready for the celebration of Christmas. Not, however, the getting ready of buying presents, making the cake, sorting the travel, and so on, but of preparing ourselves to hear afresh the miracle of the incarnation. How do we highlight this aspect of Advent with our children’s groups, who are under so much pressure to think only of the commercial side of the season and who are targeted to become ‘consumers of Christmas’ not pilgrims on the way to a mystery? The following idea suggests some possible approaches that could be used over the four weeks leading up to the Feast.
Get SetYou will need four key objects: a blank map, a magnifying glass, a compass and a black postcard.
Each of these is developed in different ways as described below.
Go!Advent has its origins in the Latin for ‘coming towards’ or ‘the approach’. The idea of travelling towards something special is the true meaning of this season. Over the next four weeks invite your group to become travellers or pilgrims on an adventure, as they set out on their journey towards Christmas.
Begin by packing a suitcase together (or maybe packing individual rucksacks) with some unusual items, namely: a blank map, a magnifying glass, a large compass and a mysterious black postcard.
Each of these different items will help us on our way through Advent. Focus on one item for each week, along with the accompanying Bible story/stories, games, craft ideas and worship activities.
Week 1— A MapHand out a series of ordnance survey maps—perhaps of the area where you live—and discuss the sort of things that you find on these maps. It will include streets, rivers, woodland, mountains and hills, important buildings, railways and so on.
However, the map we need for our journey is rather strange.
Produce a piece of A1 paper that folded up to be like a map but that is blank.
Our Advent map does not have any streets, rivers, woodland and so on. Instead there are arrows.
Draw on six large arrows, all pointing from the bottom of the map to the top, coming in from different directions.
These arrows have names on them.
Write on the names of Abraham, Judah, Moses, David, Isaiah, Daniel
They are all famous people from the Old Testament, who show us the way to go on our Advent journey.
In the space to which all the arrows are pointing now draw or attach small pictures of the following, linked to each of the names:

with Abraham—a star
with Judah—a lion
with Moses—a hand pointing
with David—a crown
with Isaiah—a baby picture
with Daniel—a picture of a man in shining clothes, glowing bright

These are the strange directions we have.

Abraham told us that God’s family would be as many as the stars in the sky and one day one star—his seed—would come from this family.
Judah was one of the sons of Jacob and one day from Judah someone would come like a lion to lead all the rest.
Moses told the people of God in the desert that one day a special prophet would come who would show them the way.
David was told that one day a king would come from his family—a king who would last forever.
Isaiah spoke of a special baby with the special name God with us.
Daniel had a vision of a special person who is called the Son of Man.

On our Advent journey, we’re following arrows.

Play the game where the children walk around your meeting area but when you call out ‘freeze’, they must stop still and then all turn towards the object you call out, becoming human arrows pointing the way.
For the Bible story, read about the strange map that we need to make to find our way through Advent as outlined in Isaiah 40:3-5
What would this map look like? A straight highway in the desert and all the valleys and hills flattened out; no uneven paths and beautifully smooth roads! This would make an unusual map. It is the route we need to travel to see God’s glory revealed on earth, which is the mystery of Christmas.
Throughout these Advent sessions ask the children to draw around one of their feet onto card and create a group set of footprints. Today the footprints should be put together to create a massive arrow, which is the direction we’ve been set on our journey.
As a craft idea, why not make some small scrolls to represent the stories of Abraham, Judah, Moses, David, Isaiah and Daniel. These scrolls could be put together in the form of an arrow

A candle of hope

What you need:

An Advent wreath
5 candles (but you only light one)
Matches

What you do:
Light one candle to symbolise Hope.
Say: This is the candle of Hope.
Read Luke 1: 26-38 about the angel Gabriel coming to tell Mary she would be the mother of the Son of God.
Say: I wonder what Mary hoped for. I wonder what you hope for.
Pray: Thank you God for giving us Hope and for helping us know that something wonderful is coming even when things are hard. Help us to remember that we can always have hope because you are always there for us.

At home advent calendars

Wooden Spiral
Salt Dough Spiral
Advent Candle
Another option is to use a candle, and mark off 24 sections (leaving a stub big enough to put in your candle holder and safely light the candle on Christmas Eve). Burn the candle each day. A taller, thinner candle will work better than a pillar candle as children can easily see the candle getting shorter each day. You will find an example and instructions here, though just writing the numbers on the candle with a permanent marker also works!

Kiwi Advent Illustrations

You can download these Kiwi Advent Illustrations over on our Strandz website

Advent Wreath Song

A simple song that can be sung after the lighting of the Advent candle each week (to the tune of Frere Jacques)
Light of Jesus, Light of Jesus,
Show the way, Show the way,
Shine in us forever, Shine in us forever,
This we pray, This we pray.

Isaiah 2

Childrens talk on Isaiah 2, using pipe cleaners, from Engage Worship