Worship Tools

Worship Outline

Additional Scriptures 

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

Worship Setting 

For the Advent candle lighting and focus, create an arrangement of five candles. This can be in a wreath, mixed with greenery, or other decorations as space allows. Traditional colors for the candles are three purple, one pink (Joy), and one white (Christ); or choose your own colors. Each Sunday the previous candles are lit before the service starts, and one additional candle is lit during the lighting of the Advent Candle. The Christ candle is lit on Christmas Day. For a hybrid service, encourage those watching from home to create their own Advent setting. 

Prelude

Carol of the Season

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” CCS 434

OR “Away in a Manger” CCS 425/426

Welcome

Call to Worship: Psalm 85:8, 13

Hymn for Speaking Peace

“Blessed Be the God of Israel” CCS 396

OR “Comfort, Comfort Now My People” CCS 407

Prayer for Peace

Light the peace candle

Prayer

God of Peace, giver of all that is good,

May we keep your kingdom’s advent foremost in our minds this day as we pray for peace. We pray not only for peace among nations but for peace within our homes and in our individual beings. May we strive, for just this day, one hour at a time, to open our hearts to your perfect will so that the hurt we inflict upon ourselves and within our families might be healed. We pray for a letting go – of anger, hurt, sadness, and disappointment. We pray for a filling – of our souls with your joy, spirit, power, and victory. O Mighty God, we pray that we might live with you, in peace. Amen.   

—Cynthia L. Morton

Sung Response

“Wait for the Lord”  sing twice  CCS 399

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.

Translations into Spanish and French for this hymn can be found online.

Disciples’ Generous Response

Statement

We are committed to being a cornerstone of peace. Giving our tithes helps us build the peaceable kingdom in such a way that extends beyond the borders of our own sacred space. It is an expression of love and discipline that promotes the worth of all person and embraces the worth of all creation.

We are called to share our bounty so that others might know peace in God’s kingdom. The needs are great. How will we make a difference this Advent season?

Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes

Advent Candle Lighting and Focus Moment

Peace

Presider Note: Depending on your context, you may choose to pass out an index card and pen for people to write their responses and then share them aloud from their cards OR you can ask people to share them in real time without writing anything down. 

We proclaim Jesus Christ, and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace. This Advent, we reflect on the kinds of conditions that exist when our communities become places where PEACE  is a signal of God’s new creation dawning. Imagine peace as a tangible practice where you live: 

When God’s peace is dawning, 

I feel… 

I smell…

I taste…

I touch…

I hear… 

We light the advent candle of PEACE and pray to tend the signals of God’s peace dawning among us. May the flickering flame spark courage to notice, nurture, and name the new creation around and within us. 

Light candle. 

Amen. 

Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-15a 

Ministry of Music OR Community Hymn of Promise 

“O God, Our Help in Ages Past” CCS 16 

OR “God Almighty, We Are Waiting” CCS 397 

Communion Message 

Based on 2 Peter 3:8-15a 

Moment of Silent Reflection 

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper  

Scripture Reading Choose from: 

1 Corinthians 11:23–26,  Matthew 26:17–30,  Mark 14:12–26,  Luke 22:7–39  

Hymn of Preparation  

“Coming Together for Wine and For Bread” CCS 516  

OR “Joy and Wonder, Love and Longing” CCS 534  

OR “Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love” CCS 367  

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.  

Invitation to Communion  

Invitation to Communion

Blessing and Serving of the Bread and Wine  

Closing Advent Hymn 

“Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” CCS 400 

OR “Peace Child” CCS 402 

Closing Advent Prayer 

Response 

Postlude 

Sacred Space: Small-Group Worship Outline

Gathering

Welcome

Advent is a season of expectant waiting for the coming of light into a darkened world in the form of the infant Jesus. Advent is spent anticipating and spiritually preparing for the arrival of the Christ-child. Scriptures, symbols, and hymns help make Advent a time of expectation for Christ’s birth, rather than a frenzy of holiday tasks.

The Advent season begins four Sundays before Christmas and is observed each Sunday until Christmas Day. An Advent wreath with four candles and one Christ candle in the center often is used to observe the weeks of Advent. One candle is lit each week until all are burning brightly on Christmas Day.

Prayer for Peace

Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.
Light the peace candle.

Sower of seeds, you promise to feed your flock like a shepherd, to gather your lambs, to gently lead. In this time of Advent darkness, we sit in hope for the things to come. We gather in community to hear of your promises of peace and redemption. We hope that in the grand design of this time of rest for the Earth that you will bring us to peace.

God, open our eyes to the hope that you have for the world to be at peace. Help us to gather those who feel no hope that they may find new life in you. Bring us all to a place of hope again. From that new sense of hope, allow us to go and proclaim peace, to be peace in our neighborhoods, to act for peace in the world at-large. God, we hope for a time of peace again, we hope for the promises of your peace made real through Jesus again, we hope for a deeper connection with you again. Grant us the peace to hope again. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Holding in the Light – Peace

Light the second candle of Advent and say:

Today we light the second candle of Advent. This candle symbolizes Christ bringing peace to the world. May the lighting of this candle remind us to seek peace and patience in our lives. 

Place a lit candle in the center of the group. Spend a few moments in silence to become quiet inside and out.

• Ask each person to share about a person or circumstance in need of God’s peace (write down each one).
• Invite people into a period of prayer in which these specific people and needs are placed in God’s loving, healing care.
• Read aloud:

As we focus on the candle’s light, imagine the person(s) prayed for being surrounded by God’s light.

I will read each name, and we will spend a moment after each one to engage in silent prayer.

We trust God to know the needs of each person or circumstance, and we compassionately hold them in the restorative, healing light of God.

Offer a brief prayer of thanks to close your prayer experience.

Sharing Around the Table

2 Peter 3:8–15a NRSVue

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and destroyed, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him…

—2 Peter 3:8–15a NRSVue

The second letter of Peter is not addressed to a particular congregation or community. It reads like a last testament of what Peter would say to the church in a new time and place. To the early church in transition and the church experiencing transition today, the author of 2 Peter offers wisdom about faithful waiting.

This passage begins with a reminder from Psalm 90:4 that God’s time is not the same as our time. Human nature is impatient expectation, while God’s nature is infinite patience. In this passage, God’s patience is not idle waiting; it reflects God’s desire for all creation to be reconciled to God.

The counsel for waiting is a call to holiness and right relationships. The invitation is to be at peace and to be diligent in the working of God’s grace. This work includes the inward work of personal peace as well as outward expressions of sharing Christ’s peace. The new heaven and Earth, where righteousness is at home, is not a future occurrence but a here-and-now reality if we choose to see it and work toward it.

This passage mirrors counsel from Doctrine and Covenants 140:5c that reads: “…Zionic conditions are no further away nor any closer than the spiritual condition of my people justifies.”

This Advent season is an invitation to awaken to conditions in your own community as you wait for the coming of the peaceful One.

Questions

1. What spiritual practices or self-care practices will help you move toward Jesus, the peaceful One, in this season of Advent?
2. How might you awaken to God’s possibilities of new life and liberation of those oppressed by unjust systems?
3. What suffering are you called to address for Christ’s peace to be realized and life to flourish?

Sending

Generosity Statement

Beloved Community of Christ, do not just speak and sing of Zion. Live, love, and share as Zion: those who strive to be visibly one in Christ, among whom there are no poor or oppressed.

—Doctrine and Covenants 165:6a

The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response.

The offering prayer for Advent is adapted from A Disciple’s Generous Response:

God who is faithful, be present with us as we plan our spending. May we use our resources in ways that build healthy, happy relationships with you, others, and the Earth. May we remember the teachings of Jesus that challenge us to make lifestyle choices that are counter to our culture of accumulation and excess. Amen.

Invitation to Next Meeting

Closing Hymn

Community of Christ Sings 397, “God Almighty, We Are Waiting”

Closing Prayer

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Optional Additions Depending on Group

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

—1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NRSV

Communion Statement

All are welcome at Christ’s table. The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is a sacrament in which we remember the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Jesus Christ. In Community of Christ, we also experience Communion as an opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant and to be formed as disciples who live Christ’s mission. Others may have different or added understandings within their faith traditions. We invite all who participate in the Lord’s Supper to do so in the love and peace of Jesus Christ.

We share in Communion as an expression of blessing, healing, peace, and community.

In preparation let’s sing from Community of Christ Sings, 519 “In the Singing.”

Thoughts for Children

You will need:

• Large poster board with a Christmas-tree cutout
• Small doves cut from construction paper
• Writing supplies
• Tape or glue

Say: Today is the second Sunday in Advent. Advent is a time of waiting and preparing. Just like people awaited Jesus’s birth, the coming of the Messiah, we await God’s preferred future. Waiting, however, doesn’t mean we don’t do anything. In fact, while we wait, it is important to prepare for what is to come and help bring it into the world.

Each week of Advent, we are going to practice waiting. We will sit together, quieting our minds and bodies, as we wait. While we wait, we also will prepare by focusing on one word and seeing where that word takes our thoughts and feelings. When our time of waiting begins, we will use our breathing to help us focus on the word. When we breathe in, we will say the word in our heads. When we breathe out, we will say “prepare me” in our heads. You will continue to do this until our time of waiting is done, letting your thoughts and feelings help you better understand the word.

Our word for today is peace.

Invite the participants into a time of waiting. For this second time of waiting, try for three minutes. If participants become too restless, close sooner. After the time of waiting is done, give all participants a paper dove and something to write with. Invite them to write or draw what their time of waiting was like on the dove. After they have had time to write or draw, invite them to attach their dove to the posterboard tree using tape or glue.

Sermon Helps

Exploring the Scripture

The second letter of Peter is not addressed to a particular congregation or community. It reads like a last testament of what Peter would say to the church in a new time and place. To the early church in transition and the church experiencing transition today, the author of 2 Peter offers wisdom about faithful waiting.

The author was most likely a disciple of Peter’s who valued the close connection of Peter to Jesus and the importance of the prophetic and apostolic traditions and teachings. The heart of the apostolic teaching highlighted in this passage is a call to holiness and faithful waiting.

The first hearers of this counsel experienced challenges following the first generation of apostolic witnesses. The early followers of Jesus expected an imminent return of Christ that would signal the day of God’s final judgment and salvation. Their waiting was aggravated by a growing number of doubters and false teachers.

This passage begins with a reminder from Psalm 90:4 that God’s time is not the same as our time. Human nature is impatient expectation, while God’s nature is infinite patience. In this passage, God’s patience is not idle waiting; it reflects God’s desire that all might repent and be saved. To “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation” (v. 15a) is a beautiful and inclusive invitation to tend our spiritual condition by drawing closer to God and caring for the community.

The counsel for waiting is a call to holiness and right relationships. The invitation is to be at peace and be diligent in the working of God’s grace. This includes the inward work of personal peace and outward expressions of sharing Christ’s peace. The new heaven and earth, “where righteousness is at home” (v. 13), is not a future occurrence but a here-and-now reality if we choose to see it and work toward it. This passage mirrors counsel from Doctrine and Covenants 140:5c: “…Zionic conditions are no further away nor any closer than the spiritual condition of my people justifies.”

The church today is in a significant state of transition or metamorphosis. “Liminal space” describes a threshold between what was and what is being born. Metaphors of midwifery are meaningful as the church considers the invitation to our waiting in this season of Advent and this state of metamorphosis. As with the preparation for and process of birth, the waiting is not passive. The birth is important, but so are the life conditions surrounding the birth. Midwives do more than help bring a baby into the world; they help turn our attention to the world surrounding the baby by preparing the community to receive and nurture it.

Active and effective waiting is an invitation to awaken to conditions in our communities, waiting to receive the birth of Jesus, the peaceable One. How might we awaken to God’s possibilities of new life and liberation of those oppressed by unjust systems? What preparation can be done so “the vision of Christ is embodied in communities of generosity, justice, and peacefulness” (Doctrine and Covenants 163:3a)?

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, a practitioner of Ignatian spirituality, invites us to “trust in the slow work of God.” (See “Patient Trust” at www.ignatianspirituality.com/prayer-of-theilhard-de-chardin.) Our trust in God’s work is not passive, but active discernment and the pursuit of God’s shalom for the sake of all the world, which God loves.

Central Ideas

1. God’s time cannot be defined by human understanding of time. It is reflective of God’s patience, grace, and generosity.
2. The invitation of waiting is not the passive acceptance of realities until God’s future is delivered, but active rhythms of wholeness for the pursuit of peace in the present.
3. The Advent journey is about more than preparing for the birth of Jesus. It directs our attention to the world awaiting birth and our call to repair conditions that diminish human life.

Questions for the Speaker

1. This letter was written to the early church experiencing the chaos of transition and doubt. How does this counsel address similar conditions in the church’s life today?
2. What is the invitation to disciples moving toward and with Jesus, the peaceable One, in this season of Advent?
3. What conditions of suffering is the church community called to address for Christ’s peace to be realized and life to flourish?

Lessons

Adult Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

2 Peter 3:8–15a

Lesson Focus

We are co-creators of God’s Peaceable Kingdom.

Objectives

The learners will…

• consider the ways we can hasten, or affect, the coming of Christ by exploring the practice of active waiting.
• examine the relationship of God’s patience for us with our Mission Initiative, Pursue Peace on Earth, and our Enduring Principle, Pursuit of Peace (Shalom).

Supplies

• Bible
• Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, Herald House, 2018

Note to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for 2 Peter 3:8–15a in Sermon & Class Helps, Year B: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 23–24, available through Herald House.

Gather

Note: Greet people as they gather and ask them to please gather in silence. You may need to offer gentle reminders to remain quiet. Once the group has gathered continue to wait in silence for 3 or 4 minutes. There should be sufficient time for people to begin to wonder why they are waiting so long for the class to begin. After this time of waiting, you may begin the class.

Say: Welcome! Today is the second Sunday of Advent, the Advent of Peace. Thank you for your patience just now. During the Advent season, we experience active waiting for the birth of Jesus. As we focus on his birth, we prepare for the arrival of our savior.

Silently consider what you experienced during the few minutes we have been waiting together in silence. Were you impatient as we waited to begin? Did you experience a passive waiting with a complete lack of thoughts, or were you actively waiting, filled with anticipation, hoping class would start?

Was it difficult to wait? What type of thoughts were going through your head? Maybe you were thinking about all the things you need to do to get ready for Christmas Day. Maybe you were making plans.

• Share with your neighbor what you were experiencing during the period of waiting for class to begin. Would you characterize your waiting as passive or active? Were you focused on Jesus, or did other thoughts occupy your mind?

Engage

Today we explore 2 Peter 3:8–15. This letter offers guidance to the followers of Jesus as they await the fulfillment of his promises and the coming reign of God. Although the specific audience is unknown, the text addresses our tendency to be impatient as we wait for Jesus to come again. Written in the early second century, perhaps as many as 120 years after the time of Jesus, this letter emphasizes the assuredness of the Lord’s return and our mission as we wait. God is ever patient with us as we work to embrace more fully God’s call for our lives. God’s patience is our salvation and our opportunity.

Read 2 Peter 3:8–15.

The Reign of God is characterized by love, justice, mercy, and peace for all of creation. This scripture passage reminds us that we are not to wait passively for the return of Jesus; rather we are to actively hasten the coming, to strive for peace, and to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. The text suggests that we are affecting the return of Christ when we earnestly desire new heavens and a new earth. In this way, when we share the peace of Christ by promoting communities of joy, hope, love, and peace, we may imagine ourselves as co-creators of God’s peaceable kingdom, helping to bring about the reign of God.

• How can God’s patience be an opportunity for us?
• What does “strive to be found by him at peace” (v. 14) look like for you? For the world?
• How does this text relate to our Mission Initiatives? (See Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, pp. 22–23.)

Respond

Review the Community of Christ Mission Initiative, Pursue Peace on Earth from Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, p. 23.

• What stands out for you in this Mission Initiative?
• What does it mean for you to live and generously share Christ’s peace?
• How does this Mission Initiative relate to today’s scripture passage?

In the letter of 2 Peter, we hear the assuredness of God’s promises and the call to practice active waiting for new heavens and a new Earth by hastening the second coming of Christ. The Enduring Principle, Pursuit of Peace (Shalom) also issues a call. Review the principle found in Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, p. 30. Have different readers for each point.

• What words or phrases stand out for you in this Enduring Principle?
• What call to action do you hear in the words of this Enduring Principle?
• How does this call relate to the text for today?

Note: See 2 Peter 1:3–11 to understand how the author expects his readers to practice active waiting.

Send

During this Advent season—as we actively wait for the birth of our savior Jesus—take a moment to consider how God’s patience provides us the opportunity to pursue peace and bring about God’s shalom. Reflect on the ways our Mission Initiative and Enduring Principle invite us to action. (Pause for reflection.)

Our scripture passage reminds us, the Lord is patient with us as we do the work of becoming, the work of active waiting, the work of hastening.

Ask yourself, have you been impatient or are you actively growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? (Pause for reflection.)

Bless

Ask someone to close with a prayer of peace for those of us gathered, our communities, and the world.

Youth Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

2 Peter 3:8–15a

Lesson Focus

We are co-creators of God’s Peaceable Kingdom.

Objectives

The learners will…

• consider the human understanding of time, God’s time, and what we can be doing while we wait.
• consider their role in promoting peace in their daily lives.

Supplies

• Bible
• Community of Christ Sings (CCS)

Note to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for 2 Peter 3:8–15a in Sermon & Class Helps, Year B: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 23–24, available through Herald House.

Gather

Have four people rotate the reading of the stanzas of “I Am Standing Waiting” CCS 298, as follows: One minute of silence (Time these pauses so they are not rushed.)

Read stanza 1. One minute of silence

Read stanza 2. One minute of silence

Read stanza 3. One minute of silence

Read stanza 4. One minute of silence

Engage

Today’s scripture is written as a letter to the followers of Jesus to assure them of Jesus’s promises and the coming reign of God. It has been about 120 years since Jesus’s death, and there are people saying that the promises and God’s reign won’t be fulfilled. The problem is not that these promises have not been fulfilled; the problem is that we don’t understand time as God does.

Read 2 Peter 3:8–15a.

Think about this:

• Do you remember going on a trip to visit someone (maybe your grandparents) and you kept wanting to know “are we there yet”? The same trip taken now probably doesn’t seem quite as long.
• When you were younger, two weeks seemed like a long time. Right? In two weeks, it will be Christmas Eve. Instead of thinking that it is so far away, you may be thinking that you need to get your Christmas shopping finished before it’s too late.
• If you are “hangry” (angry because you are hungry), time matters a lot, and you just want to eat now!

Our concept of time varies by our age. When you are 5 years old, a year is a long time; however, if you are a senior in high school, a year doesn’t seem long at all. God’s concept of time is not the same as ours. This can be a good thing. When we look at our country and our world, we see a lot that needs to be done for the fullness of God’s reign to exist.

• What do you think the fullness of God’s reign means? (Allow time for answers.)

God’s reign is now. It is far from perfect, but in many ways, it is getting better. In some areas of the world human rights are improving, but in some areas of the world women and children have no rights. Think about the song that was just read. “I Am Standing Waiting” names many things we need to be aware of and need to be working at finding solutions for in our town and throughout the world.

Respond

Fortunately for us, God has given us time to make improvements in our world. Improvements in how we treat one another and how we care for God’s creation.

• If you knew when Jesus was coming, what things would you want to work on to make your town a better place?
• As a group, what task(s) can you take on to make a difference in your world?
• Since no one knows when Jesus will come again, the time is now to work on your task(s). What gets in the way of you taking on these tasks?
• What are you already doing to help make the world a better place?

God’s reign through the works of Jesus leads us to live peaceably.

• When we focus on peace in our daily lives, what changes do we see taking place?
• How can you promote peace at school?
• Pursuing peace is an active action. This includes standing up for what is right and standing up for others. How can you see this happening?

Send

We have talked about waiting, God’s time, and we have considered our place in the world as peaceable people. Consider this short story.

A teen was walking along the ocean front. Every so often, the teen would stop, pick up something, and throw it into the ocean. A man, curious about what the teen was doing, walked down for a better look. He saw the teen picking up stranded starfish and throwing them into the ocean, and he said, “There are too many starfish on the beach to be able to save them all.”

The teen responded, “What I’m doing won’t make a difference to all of the stranded starfish, but it will make a difference to each one that is thrown back into the ocean.”

Ask: Knowing that you can’t do everything, what can you do that will make a difference? (Pause for reflection.)

Bless

Sing or read together “Sizohamba Naye /We Will Walk with God” CCS 377.

Children’s Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

2 Peter 3:8–15a

Lesson Focus

Waiting for Jesus

Objectives

The learners will…

• play a waiting game.
• hear a story about waiting.
• discuss 2 Peter 3:13–14 in the context of Advent.
• make a craft to remind them of the peace of Christ.
• learn about the Enduring Principle of Pursuit of Peace (Shalom).

Supplies

• Waiting Is Not Easy! by Mo Willems, (Hyperion Books for Children, 2014 ISBN 9781423199571)
• Large piece of paper and marker or chalkboard and chalk
• Thin paper plates
• Masking tape
• Watercolor paints, brushes, and water
• Sticky notes
• Markers or pencils

Notes to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for 2 Peter 3:8–15a in Sermon & Class Helps, Year B: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 23–24, available through Herald House.

Gather

Today, students will be learning about Advent as a time of waiting for Jesus’s birth. Begin the lesson by inviting children to play a game that they could do while they were waiting in line or waiting for something to happen.

Play “I Spy.” The leader silently chooses an object in the room. They say, “I spy with my little eye, something ____.” They give a clue about the object they have chosen, such as “I spy with my little eye, something red.” The other participants must guess what the object is.

Engage

Read aloud the book Waiting Is Not Easy! by Mo Willems. Discuss times you had difficulty waiting for something.

Read 2 Peter 3:13–14:

…in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish.

This verse reminds followers to be patient while waiting for the return of the Lord. However, the sentiments can also apply to the Advent season, as we wait for Jesus’s birth at Christmastime. While many children excitedly wait for the gifts and activities that happen during the Christmas season, we also wait on the joy, hope, love, and peace represented by the Christ child.

On a large piece of paper or chalkboard, make a list of things people wait for at Christmas. As the class discusses this, encourage them to think about more than just gifts and toys.

• What would it mean to “wait for new heavens and a new Earth?”
• How does Jesus’s birth remind us that we are waiting for peace and justice in our world?

Respond

Make a craft to remind children about the promise of peace represented by the birth of Jesus.

Peace Sign Craft

Give each child a thin paper plate. With masking tape, create a peace sign on the plate (a vertical stripe from one side to the opposite side, with two shorter lines extending downward from the middle of the first line). Invite children to use watercolor paints to paint the entire plate. Then peel the masking tape off, revealing an unpainted peace sign on the plate.

Send

In Community of Christ, one of our Enduring Principles is Pursuit of Peace (Shalom). This means:

• God wants peace for all of creation.
• Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God’s shalom (peace), reveals the meaning of God’s peace in all aspects of life.
• We courageously and generously share the peace of Jesus Christ with others.

Discuss:

• What does it mean that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s peace? What can Jesus teach us about peace?
• How can we share the peace of Jesus Christ with others?

Give each child a sticky note and invite them to write or draw one way they can share the peace of Jesus Christ with others. Let them place the sticky notes on a wall or other space where others can see them.

Bless

Sing the campfire song “Peace Like a River.”

Say a prayer inviting God to be part of the Advent season as we patiently and peacefully wait for the birth of Christ.