1 December 2024
Bible readings for today
Liturgical Colour: VIOLET |
CollectNau mai, haere mai e te Emanuera,
ko koe te huarahi, te pono me te ora; ko koe te aka pono, te taro o te ora. Haere mai, e te Kaiwhakaora e ora nei, haere mai ki tāu ao e tatari nei ki a koe. Whakarongo ki tēnei īnoi i runga i tōu aroha. Āmine. 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. |
1st Sunday of Advent - Hope / Tumanako
For general Advent Planning Resources see our Advent Section here.
Leaders InputA quick 2 minute intro to Advent.
First Advent Candle/Sunday: Hope “Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.” – C.S. Lewis It is only fitting that the first candle on the Advent wreath represents Hope – the first Sunday of Advent not only leads us to anticipate the birth of Christ but celebrate the beginning of a new liturgical season as well. The first candle is [often] purple, the primary colour of Advent and a colour symbolizing royalty. Sometimes called the “Prophecy Candle,” the first candle harkens us back to Isaiah’s foretelling of the birth of Christ and all of the promises God gave us in the Old Testament that would be fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. This Advent, light the first candle on Sunday, December 1, 2024. [From hallow.com] |
Take a few moments...
Each week this month celebrates something unique that Jesus brought to earth when he was born: hope, peace, joy, love. This week, we are thinking about HOPE. So... Take a deep breath. Consider this question in silence for 30 seconds: What is something you are hoping for right now? So what is it? Maybe you’re hoping for healing or a cure, the reopening of your business, getting to see people you love, or for a job that feels out of reach right now. It’s natural for our hopes to turn to the things we want to take place in our real life, right now. The idea of hope in the Bible, though, is a little bit different than where our mind tends to drift at the word “hope.” Biblical hope isn’t hoping for better circumstances: it’s waiting for God Himself to show up—right in the middle of all that stuff. It’s the tension of living through the crap while holding onto the expectation that God can somehow come into it. Biblical hope doesn’t mean we gloss over what’s wrong—as a matter of fact, real hope insists we recognize that the odds say we probably shouldn’t have much hope at all. But—God. When He shows up on the scene, there’s no telling what might happen. Read the very beginning of the Christmas story about what happened to a teenage girl when God showed up: Luke 1:26-35. Basically, the angel says to Mary... God is here and has a plan. The impossible is possible. Your hope in this plan going down is that God Himself will show up. Your job? Be a servant of God who says yes. The hope that Jesus brings doesn’t require you to see any light at the end of the tunnel. It doesn’t require you to imagine a real situation where things could possibly improve. The kind of hope we celebrate in Advent is about the arrival of Jesus into the world and how he can arrive into anything in our life as well. At the first Christmas, when Jesus was born, Israel was waiting for a king, a Messiah, the Savior, the Redeemer who would change their circumstances, make them a great nation and throw off the tyranny of Rome. They were waiting for a person but what they really hoped for was a change of circumstances. So most of them missed him, disbelieved him, and then killed him—because their hope was in the wrong place. So let’s ask ourselves this first week of Advent: do we want God’s plan or our own? Is our hope really in Him, or is it simply in the change of our circumstances? Are we willing to listen and say yes even if where He’s leading feels impossible? |
Lighting the advent candleA lovely way to start session in Advent is with an advent wreath and candles. Each week we gather together and light another candle. We see the light growing brighter and brighter as we get closer to the birth of the “Light of the World.”
Here is one way to do it (there are lots of different ways!): The focus this first week of Advent is Hope. Light one candle to symbolise Hope. Say: This is the candle of Hope. 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. Read: Luke 1: 26-38 about the angel Gabriel coming to tell Mary she would be the mother of the Son of God. Ask: 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. Here's another simple liturgy for lighting your candles in the Advent Wreath, from Build Faith written by Rev. Matthew Kozlowski. 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. Kids TalksThe Hope of Advent - a talk which focuses on the hope and waiting of the first Christmas, and how it relates to hopeful anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming, as well.
The Branch - an object lesson for the first week of Advent. [intermountainministry.org] This would tie in well for families doing a Jesse tree activity at home. Elizabeth and the birth of John - full session plan from ministry-to-children.com God of the Impossible [Rev Teri Johnson-Frow] Has anyone here ever hoped for something? (Wait for responses). Today is the first week of Advent. The first week in Advent is about hope. What are some things that you hope for? Advent hope is a little bit different. It’s not just about hoping for a toy or a sunny day; it’s about hope in an amazing God, who loves us so much. Even when things are really tough we can have this kind of hope because, our hope is not about us or our situation, but in a God who can do the impossible!” I wonder if you know of any impossible things God has done? Share the story of Mary and the angel from your favourite kids bible and wonder together about the story, about how Mary felt, about all the things that must have seemed impossible! Try these follow up activities: The following tasks are considered (near) impossible for humans to complete. See if your kids can do them.
Sometimes we are faced with problems that we don't know how to solve- things that seem impossible to us. Have you ever felt like that? Did you know the Bible says that all things are possible to God (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27). If we can remember this and put our hope in Him he can do amazing things. If appropriate, share a time you faced a problem, and how trusting in God helped you. What ways has God shown you that he cares and is helping you? Advent Fun SheetsWe have put together activity sheets for each Sunday in Advent. Download the Hope funsheet or the whole series.
ActivitiesImpossible tasks - a selection of very difficult tasks - can you do any?
Paper cutting illustration - a clever way to help children to think about nothing being impossible to God. The very difficult puzzle - a challenging puzzle to illustrate sometimes things seem impossible but do have a solution. Hope Playdough Mat - a playdough mat to explore the idea of hope as a sign of God. Hope Prayer Ribbon - an active, interactive, all age way to bless each other. 
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Kiwi Advent Illustrations
You can download these Kiwi Advent Illustrations over on our Strandz website
Help families celebrate AdventYou might like to make some of these together - for your kids to take home to their households.
Advent Journey Spiral - a journey towards the birth of Jesus, echoing the journey that Mary and Joseph take to Bethlehem and our own waiting for Jesus to come again. You can also make a more traditional advent wreath in using a small salt dough circle and 5 birthday candles. Advent Prayer Bags - a little prayer bag and prayer ideas which will take households through some of the main Advent themes. 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. Example here, though just writing the numbers with a sharpie also works! Advent Lanterns - another lovely alternative to a traditional advent wreath. 
Intergenerational AdventIntergenerational Resources for all the weeks of Advent (Year C 2024)
5 Week Lectionary-based Advent + Christmas Series (Year C 2021)
Intergenerational Christmas resource (Mainly Ministries). Rags to Riches - An intergenerational all age service (SUNZ) Collected Resources A collection of Intergenerational Christmas Service ideas from the Uniting Church in Australia. Engage Together - Advent: Lectionary-based Children’s Talk + Multi-age activities for Sundays in Advent Art in AdventIf you want to mark Advent in a simple rich way, how about creating a space where your kids can spend some time with Advent art. Two of my favourites advent depicting artists are John Swanson, Julie Vivas, and He Qi.
Try these questions or make up your own: What do you see? What is different from the bible story? What is the same? What might this show us about God? About people? About our world? What do you think is important in this picture? Does anything in this picture have more than one meaning? I wonder what God might be saying to you through this picture today? The Annunciation - He Qi 
Christmas CraftThe first week of Advent is for hope, expectation, and preparation. Why not make some stars! The Christmas star was the sign the wise men waited for that told of the coming of Jesus. Try these:
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Media
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Lovely worship song about hope.
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Bible Project have an Advent poster for Hope, you can download it here
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Things to come (Luke 21:25-36)
Leaders input
Visio Lectio
A print design from Rev. Sarah West, Diocese of Auckland PNG Download Download w/ background Terms of Use Visio Lectio is based on the practice of Visio Divina - the thoughtful contemplation of something visual that invites God to speak to us. Gospel Conversations 2022: The Apocalyptic gospel passages continue this week, and Bishop Kelvin, Damon and Peg engage in an energised discussion about them, bravely tackling their strangeness - and yet their strange familiarity. "Wars and rumours of wars", natural disasters, and threats to safety have always been with us. Watch here
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Gospel Conversations 2024: We begin the new church year with a conversation many of us will be grateful for! Just as we begin to get into the mood for celebration, we're brought up short by Gospel readings full of battles and natural disasters and troubles. What do we do with them? Fortunately we've got a dynamic group of conversationalists to set us on our way! Join Grace Morris, John Franklin, Joel Stutter and Michael Godfrey to get our year underway.
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Kids Talks
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Skipping to the Last Page - a kids talk on Luke 21:25-26 [garynealhansen.com]
Advent and God's Better Way - a short talk about not waiting till things get bad to listen to God. [rfour.com] Be Prepared - kids talk on being prepared for Jesus return - using the analogy of being prepared for hiking. ActivitiesWaiting on Jesus bible crafts
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Jeremiah 33:14-16
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These words from Jeremiah speak of the abundant hope that Jesus brings, fulfilling all the hopes of those waiting for a promised Messiah.
14 “The day will come, says the Lord, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them. 15 “In those days and at that time I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. 16 In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.' |
