30 November 2025
Bible readings for today
Liturgical Colour: VIOLET
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CollectPraise and honour to you living God;
your coming will be like a thief in the night, like lightning flashing across the sky. Grant that we may be ready, and our hearts answer, Come Lord Jesus. Hear this prayer for your love’s sake. Amen Te whakamoemiti te hōnore ki a koe, e te Atua ora tonu; tō haerenga mai ōrite ki tā te whānako haere pō, anō he hihiko uira i te rangi. Meatia mātou kia tūmau kia whakautu ai o mātou ngākau, Haere mai e Īhu te Ariki. Whakarongo ki tēnei īnoi i runga i tōu aroha. Āmine. |
1st week of Advent: HopeLighting the Advent CandleThe 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. A candle of hopeWhat you need:
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. Advent Wreath SongA 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. Intergenerational AdventSomething is coming Advent resource (Intergen AU)
Rags to Riches - An intergenerational all age service (SUNZ) Intergenerational Christmas resource (mainly Ministries) More ideas...Our Strandz website has lots of Advent and Christmas ideas
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Kiwi Advent Illustrations
You can download these Kiwi Advent Illustrations over on our Strandz website
At home advent calendarsWooden Spiral
Salt Dough Spiral Jesse Tree (SUNZ) 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! Bible ProjectBibleProject have an Advent poster for Hope, you can download it here
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Media
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Keep watch (Matthew 24:36-44)
Call to worshipUsing 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 Assemble a Nativity SceneIf 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. Visio LectioThanks to Rev. Sarah West for this print for the 1st Sunday in Advent, from Visio Lectio
PNG Download Terms of Use 
Intergenerational litanyHere’s an intergenerational litany inspired by Matthew 24: 36-44. It comes from the Liturgy Center website.
Litany: Matthew 24:36-44 Jesus said to his disciples ... Be ready! Whatever you are doing ... Be ready! You could be eating or drinking, just ... Be ready! Be ready to do what God wants, just ... Be ready! Like Noah was! God told Noah to ... Be ready! You never know what might happen, so ... Be ready! Be ready to do what God wants, just ... Be ready! Be ready to help others. Are you ready? We’re ready! Be ready to forgive. Are you ready? We’re ready! Be ready to be kind and friendly. Are you ready? We’re ready! Be ready to think about others. Are you ready? We’re ready! Be ready to say you are sorry to those you hurt. Are you ready? We’re ready! Be ready to accept people. Are you ready? We’re ready! Be ready to do what God wants … We’re ready! ~ from Children’s Liturgy of the Word, First Sunday of Advent Year A. Posted on Liturgy Centre. http://www.liturgycentre.org.nz/ Alternative CollectCome, 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 |
Gospel ConversationsWe start our new church year with a Gospel reading which has been used in songs and films and books, often to create a sense of fear. Our panel look past and through this veneer to the grace and promise and HOPE behind it. Lisa and Nicki are joined by Joel, who happens to be on the ordination retreat Michael is leading - so there are thoughts here about listening for God's call as well. (Note that although the reception at the B&B where the retreat is being held gives Mike's voice a bit of an echo, the other voices are clear, so persevere!).
The Unusual JourneyOn Your Marks
The 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 Set You 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 Map Hand 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:
These are the strange directions we have.
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 |
Psalm 122:1-9
Call to worship: People of the light
I was glad when they said unto me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord!”
We are standing in God’s presence,
alert and ready to receive God’s word.
The night is passing. The day of salvation is near.
We seek to live as people of the light.
Come, Lord Jesus!
From re:Worship
“Let us go into the house of the Lord!”
We are standing in God’s presence,
alert and ready to receive God’s word.
The night is passing. The day of salvation is near.
We seek to live as people of the light.
Come, Lord Jesus!
From re:Worship
