23 November 2025
Bible readings for todayRCL
Aotearoa Sunday 'The Sunday next before Advent be designated 'Aotearoa Sunday' as a day of prayer and thanksgiving for the work of the Bishop of Aotearoa'. (General Synod 1980)
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CollectE te Karaiti Ora, kua ara mai koe i te mate!
Ū tonu ana te aroha! Ko koe tonu te ora, kaha noa atu i te mate; whakarewangia ō mātou kanohi kia āta kitea ai koe i te aonga ake o te rangi hōu; kia whakakorōriatia ai tōu ingoa tapu. Āmine. Living Christ, you are risen from the dead. Love reigns! You are stronger than death; raise our eyes to see you as the new day dawns; for the glory of your holy name. Amen. |
The Season of Advent
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Advent begins next Sunday! Advent is a four-week season in the Church calendar dedicated to anticipating the hope-filled arrival, or "advent," of Jesus. It's also the beginning of the new church year. This means we are now into Year A lectionary readings.
Advent WreathsBasic Advent wreaths have 5 candles; 1 for each week of Advent and then a white candle for Jesus which we light on Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve). Traditionally the four candles are purple. Sometimes the Joy candle is pink, but you can make each candle any colour. The four candles represent Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.
What you need:
A wreath for all ages (SUNZ) - a lovely way of creating a wreath together in a service or at home. A simple liturgy (Build Faith) for lighting your candles in the Advent Wreath. Advent Candle prayers (Theresa Cho) - Here's a different way to mark the weeks of Advent - an interactive all-age lighting of the candles. Advent Prayer Stations
Calendars and Countdowns
Jesse Trees
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Intergenerational AdventAdvent to Christmas Intergenerational Series (Year A 2026)
Where God is at work
Advent to Christmas Intergenerational Series (Year A 2023) Walking in the Light of the Lord
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 All Age Advent (BRF) - An Advent service outline on the theme of preparing the way for Jesus 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. Three of my favourites advent depicting artists are John Swanson, Julie Vivas, and He Qi.
Try these questions or make up your own:
Advent at Home
Need more ideas?
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Christ the King (Luke 23:33-43)
In today's gospel reading of the crucifixion, we hear the soldiers shouting at Jesus - 'If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” It may seem like a strange time for this reading, one that we're more familiar with hearing in Holy Week, with Advent about to begin. These activities are taken from a previous gospel reading about Jesus being a king, and you might want to draw that out in your discussion and activities today.
Input for LeadersWhat is a King?
As you prepare this week, be mindful that kids may be unfamiliar with or having only the most basic concepts of kings (and servants). You may like to start your session by asking them what a king is? A Servant King If you have a moment, google "Jesus king" on Google images and see what pictures come up. Probably lot of revelation type images with Jesus on a throne, many angels around him, a crown resembling something from the Tower of London, and a lot of sun rays. In juxtaposition, Jesus is described as a servant king. A king who comes to serve and to save the lost. This king is humble, loving, lays down his power and authority. This kingdom is about kinship, about love. Try googling "Jesus servant". How are these different? How do each set of images make you feel? Did you know that today is the end of the Church Year? As we finish our cycle through the lectionary, it’s important to help kids learn this anchor of our year. We start with the birth of our saviour and end with the acknowledgement of his eternal kingship. (Jesus without Language)
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Visio Lectio
A beautiful linocut print from Rev Sarah West from Visio Lectio PNG Download Terms of Use Gospel Conversations 2025: Coming soon.
Gospel Conversations 2022: Here we are at the last Sunday of the Church year: Christ the King. What do we do with this feast? Should we call Christ "King" when Jesus doesn't ever use that term? Why do we suddenly have the crucifixion scene just before we start Advent?
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Intergenerational Worship
Ordinary Time Year C 2025 Part 2 Intergenerational Worship Series
(Angela Blundell, Auckland Dio Intergenerational Ministry) This resource has 8 weeks of worship ideas to help your community connect to God and each other through worship, sharing and creativity. 27th Sunday Ordinary Time to Reign of Christ Sunday 
A collection of resources and ideas (Intergen Australia)
Written and compiled by Rev Sandy Brodine. Bible references: Luke. When you think of royalty, of kings and queens, what comes to mind? We asked this in our church service, and sharing ideas and feedback from all ages. It was fascinating how negative the conversation was, sharing views of 'a redundant monarchy', to 'colonialism', to 'rich and opulent'.
The next question we asked was: What about Jesus being a king? The Bible uses many words to describe Jesus, but one of them is a king. King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Prince of Peace. With those reflections in mind, how do we feel with Jesus being a king? And what about our identities as sons and daughters of a king? TalksJesus the backwards King - short active talk about how Jesus was a King not like any other King.
Jesus forgives those who hurt him (RFour) - how to make a bad day better! What our King Jesus is really like (Gary Neal Hansen) - a loving, forgiving and welcoming King. Christ the King - clever video talk with drawings talking about how Jesus is the King and the many names he has. Christ the King!
You will need: a dress up crown or pictures of a crown Show the crown and ask, “What is this?” That’s right, it’s a crown. Do you know who gets to wear crowns like this? (Allow different answers). Those people are called royalty- kings and queens and princes and princesses. We have a King. What’s his name? (Allow answer). What do you think queens and kings do? (allow answers). Those are good answers. Today is Christ the King Sunday. That means it’s the day when we think about Jesus being our king. Kings and queens are rulers, they help govern and lead their people. Jesus is a king because he’s our ruler. He doesn’t live in a palace or meet with other important leaders in the world. But like King Charles, he was born to rule. The thing is, even though he’s a king, he lets us choose if we want him to be our King. It’s easy to want to do things our way and to be our own boss, but Jesus doesn’t want to boss us around. He’s not that kind of king. Instead Jesus wants us to let him gently lead us into doing good things, loving others and asking him for help. He wants us to choose to let him be king and help govern our lives. 
Cartoon by https://tomicscomics.tumblr.com/
I wonder questions
Pray it!Passing the Crown
Sit in a circle and pass around a crown. As each child holds it, the leader says: “Jesus is the King who loves [child’s name].” Encourage children to say quietly together: “Thank you, Jesus.” To finish the leader says: “Jesus, you are our King. Thank you for loving everyone.” Encourage children to say quietly together: “Thank you, Jesus.” |
GamesIs he a King?
You will need: sticky notes, a pen. Ask for a volunteer. Write the name of someone the children will know (try superheroes, one of the kids church leaders, someone famous) and stick it to their forehead. The child then has to guess who they are by asking questions that can only be answered with a yes or no. Hat Games (Sermons4kids.com) You will need: a selection of hats (make sure you include a crown) Scavenger Hunt Hide hats around the room and get the kids to hunt for them. (These can then be used for the next game). You can also hide verses or words relating to this week's verses in the hats for an additional step. Hat Race 2 or more teams will run a relay to a pile of hats, put a hat on and run back to their team, so the next team mate can then run down to the pile of hats for their team and put on another hat. This will continue until all the hats for each team have been put on and everyone is back on their team line. When their team is done, they will all sit down and say together JESUS CHRIST IS KING!!
Musical Hats
Activities
Preschool PlayTell the story - use props or actions to emphasise e.g. crown, small cross, heart cutout, toy people or wooden figures
Jesus Is Our King Long ago, in Bethlehem town, A baby came, no royal crown. No golden bed, no castle tall, just animals and hay — that’s all. But even then, the angels sing, “Wake up, world — here comes your King!” A backward King, he had no crown, He walked with people, up and down. He healed the sick, He helped the poor, He showed God’s love — and so much more! He rode a donkey down the street, he knelt in the dust and washed our feet. He showed that kings are kind, not mean, And love is what makes Jesus King! Though soldiers laughed and people cried, Jesus still loved — and then he died. But love’s too strong to go away, Jesus came back — hooray, hooray! Now Jesus lives, and all can sing, “Jesus, Jesus, You’re our King!” A King who listens when we pray, a King who loves us every day. Not far away, but close and near, our special King is always here. Art station: Crowns Try this template (Picklebums) or this one (Craft with Mei) Set up card, glue, scissors, elastic, items for decorating. Invite children to decorate their crowns to remind them that Jesus is the King of love. Talk about: Jesus is a King who loves and forgives. I wonder how it feels to know Jesus loves you? Love in Action Set up dolls, teddies, or play kitchen items for gentle play. Encourage children to show care (feeding, wrapping, helping). Talk about: Jesus helps people, and we can too. I wonder how we can show love like Jesus does? I wonder who Jesus wants us to care for today? Light and Dark Painting Set up dark paper with white/yellow paint or chalk. Create! Talk about: Even when things are dark, Jesus’ love is with us. I wonder when things have felt dark or scary for you? I wonder how Jesus looks after us when we are scared? Building Set up blocks or duplo. Invite children to build a home for a kind King where everyone is welcome. Talk about: In Jesus’ kingdom, everyone belongs. I wonder what makes Jesus a good King? I wonder what you would do if you were the King or Queen? 
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Worship Songs
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This upbeat kids worship song, 'Jesus is the King', gives a special shout out to New Zealand!
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Media
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The Righteous Descendant (Jeremiah 23:1-6)
The Lord is our RighteousnessIn today's passage from Jeremiah, we hear about how Israel was longing for a saviour, someone who would lead them into safety. As we read these verses now, we can see that they point towards Jesus. Jesus will be named "The Lord is our Righteousness"
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ShepherdsThe imagery of God as a shepherd is used in this passage, as we think about what the righteous ruler will look like. When we think of a shepherd, what words come to mind? We asked our local congregation and they came up with words like "smelly, solitary, caring, slept rough with their sheep" - descriptive words that don't really gel with the idea of being a king! As this passage points towards someone from the royal line of King David, we hold these two descriptions in balance. A king. A shepherd.
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