15 December 2024
Bible readings for today
Liturgical colour: VIOLET |
CollectE te Atua tō mātou kaha me tō mātou tūmanako
hōmai ki a mātou te hautoa o Hoani Kaiiriiri, ki te kōrero pono i ngā wā katoa ki te pana atu i te kino, ā, kia manawanui ai ki ngā mamae mō te pono; i runga i te ingoa o Īhu Karaiti tō mātou Ariki. Āmine. God our strength and our hope, grant us the courage of John the Baptist, constantly to speak the truth, boldly to rebuke vice and patiently to suffer for the truth’s sake; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |
3rd week of Advent: Joy / Koa
Leaders InputThird Advent Candle/Sunday: Joy – “Gaudete Sunday”
“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:10-12) The third candle of Advent symbolizes Joy. As we continue to approach Christmas Day, our joy grows more and more. The third candle takes us back to the joyful anticipation of the shepherds who journeyed to see Jesus in Bethlehem, even before the wise men. On this third Sunday of Advent we light the third candle and rejoice like the shepherds. For this reason, the third candle of Advent is called the “Shepherd’s Candle,” and its colour is sometimes pink, the liturgical colour for joy. |
10 Minutes to More Joy (Advent: Week 3)
Joy is something we immediately connect with smiles, friends, happiness, pleasure, fun—basically the stuff that’s been all-but-absent for many us this year. This Christmas, we don’t have to fake joy that we don’t feel: the good news is that we have access to joy even when we’re not feeling like Buddy the Elf. We just need to go in search of it. Start by doing this: Light three candles: one for hope, one for peace, and one for joy. Take a deep breath. Consider this question in silence for 30 seconds: What’s one time you remember feeling joyful? For me, the first thing that comes to mind is the birth of each of my kids. Continue reading here... Joy amongst change As I re-juggled my “to do” list of Christmas preparations, my thoughts bounced around the changes that have come and how Christmas will be somewhat different this year — good changes, challenging changes, hard changes — the interesting mosaic of life. It’s different for all of us, yet we all share in that changing landscape of life. Sometimes finding joy in the changes is easy. Other time it's very challenging. As I pondered the changes in my life, and in our world, I thought about Christmas and the birth of Baby Jesus. Sometimes that manger scene seems so irrelevant and so far removed from day-to-day life. Yet an old verse in the Bible brought freshness to my soul this week as I pondered how the Baby Jesus impacts my life today. It truly gives new cause for joy — to stop and listen again. “For unto us a child is born …and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Any need you have in life and in the changing landscape of your mosaic can be answered by Jesus. Continue reading here... |
Lighting the Advent candleEach 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 third week of Advent is Joy. This week we light the Hope candle and the Peace candle and the Joy candle. Sometimes we use a pink candle for Joy. If your congregation uses a pink candle in its Advent wreath, then you could explain that today is Gaudete Sunday. Say: This is the candle of Joy. Joy is more than happiness. It’s the deep gladness we feel because we know Jesus is here with us. Today, we remember the shepherds who were filled with joy when they heard the good news that Jesus had been born. Read: Luke 2:8-14, about the angels announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. Ask: I wonder how the shepherds felt when they heard the angels’ good news? I wonder what brings you joy today? Pray: Thank you, God, for filling us with Joy. Help us to share your joy with others and remind them of the good news that Jesus is with us. Here's another simple liturgy for lighting your candles in the Advent Wreath, from Build Faith written by Rev. Matthew Kozlowski. Kids TalksA easy low stress way to travel through advent with your kids is (instead of a talk) to simply to share a part of the Christmas story each week and wonder about it together. Try these:
The Bethlehem shepherds - complete lesson plan, game ideas, craft suggestions, and colouring pages. Looking for joy - very short talk about noticing joy Joy to the world - complete lesson plan with options for small and large groups. Advent Fun SheetsWe have put together activity sheets for each Sunday in Advent. Download the Joy fun sheet or the whole series.
Kids Activities
Christmas CraftThe third week of Advent is for joy. Here are a few crafts to remind us:
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Kiwi Advent Illustrations
You can download these Kiwi Advent Illustrations over on our Strandz website
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? Nativity Triptych - John Swanson 
I wonder...?...what does joy means to you?
...where can you find joy? Why? ...if you can be joyful when things are hard? How? ...how you can share the joy of God with others this week? |
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Baptising with the Spirit (Luke 3:7-18)
Today's story looks how John the Baptist teaches about baptism and paves the way for Jesus
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 2024: How many of you have started a sermon with the line, "You brood of vipers"? It's an unusual way of attracting people to the Good News, but it seemed to work for John! Andrew Doubleday from UCANZ joins Michael today, along with Gillian and Esther, to discover what such unusual preaching has to say to us in this time and place.
Gospel Conversations 2021: John the Baptist lays down his uncompromising demands on those who come to hear him, and points towards the promise of another to come. Rose Scott (on her first visit) joins Michael, David Tombs and Richard Johnson, each bringing their varied life experiences to the discussion of this Lukan passage. There are plenty of challenges here. Where is the good news, and where do we find practical guidance for our lives in the middle of talk of tunics, unquenchable fire and vipers? Watch here
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Going the Extra MileAs Christmas draws near, children will naturally be talking about Christmas and all the exciting things coming up. These conversations might include holiday plans, what they want (or are getting) for Christmas, what they want to do over the summer and more. This week, we want to shift the focus to giving and sharing, rather than getting. Saying it won’t necessarily make a difference, so instead, try living out the message that there is joy in giving, as well as receiving. Go the extra mile this week to help the children and others, and model the happiness it can bring when we give of ourselves and our things.
I wonder...
What's Behind My BackA game of guessing what's behind your back as an object is passed around.
What you need: 5-6 small objects (eg cellphone, pen, tape, hairbrush, etc) What you do: Players sit in a circle facing inwards. The ‘leader’ takes one of the objects and hands it (behind his/her back) to the player on his/her left. The object then travels around the circle. Each player must whisper in his/her neighbour’s ear what s/he thinks the object is before passing it on. When the object gets back to the ‘leader’, show the object to everyone. No looking! Continue play until all the objects are used or until the children lose interest. Swapping Clothes GameA fun and quick game where two players swap provided clothing
What you need: 4 of each: shirts (tee shirts or button down), sweatshirts, socks, hats, pants (these need to be fairly large) What you do:
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Joke: Streets of GoldWe all want to help our children experience joy. Sometimes it can be tempting to accomplish this through giving our children what they want (or what we think they want), but there’s another way to encourage and facilitate joy in the lives of our family. Instead of giving to them, create opportunities for your children to give to others. Not just physical things, but rather, find situations in which your family can serve and help those who are less fortunate. At Christmas time there are a number of possibilities. Try contacting the Salvation Army, the City Mission or speak with someone at your church to find a way for your children to experience the joy of Christmas through giving of themselves to others.
The Right-Side-Up GlassWhat you need:
Put the plastic tablecloth on the table, covered with newspaper (to absorb the liquid) Place a cup upside down on the table and says something like, “I’m really thirsty today. A nice cool glass of water is just what I need.” Pour some water ‘into’ the cup. Naturally nothing goes in to the upside down cup. “I wonder what happened?” (allow the kids to answer). “You’re right. I have the cup facing the wrong way. No wonder it’s still empty and I’m still thirsty!” Put a cup the right way up. Pour some water, take a sip, and say something like, “Mmmm - that’s much better. Just what I needed! You know, this reminds me of our passage today. John the Baptist was trying to help people get ready for Jesus and I think he was looking at all the people around him and thinking they’re a bit like the upside down cup. They’re not in a very good place to receive the living water that Jesus is going to want to give them. So he gives them ideas to help them have open hearts - a bit like our empty and rightside up water glass. As people asked him what they should do, he gave them good, concrete answers - sharing what they had, not stealing or taking more money than they were supposed to, not to accuse people of doing bad things when they hadn’t. As we prepare for Christmas and get ourselves ready for Jesus- those are good things for us to remember, too. |
Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4-7)
Today's passage from Philippians really emphasises the theme of today - joy! While much has been written about joy in the section above, you may like to use the words from this passage to speak to this idea.
Look up, in and outLook up! Rejoice! We can be joyful because of all that God has done for us. Write or draw some of your favourite things God has done, or created (I'm looking at you, piwakawaka and Lilac breasted rollers) and talk to your whānau, sharing the ideas everyone has come up with.
Look in! God’s news of great joy is for everyone! No limits or restrictions! Our passage from Phillippians says we don't; have to worry about anything, but that we can pray about it. Draw or doodle some prayer words of how this makes you feel. Look out! When the shepherds heard the news, they jumped up and ran to Bethlehem to see for themselves. How could you show your friends what God’s joy looks like? |
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 (NLT) |
