Worship Tools #
Worship Outline #
Additional Scriptures
Isaiah 2:1–5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11–14
Advent Worship Setting
Create an Advent wreath to be used during the four Sundays of Advent as well as on Christmas Day. Place four candles, typically purple or three purple and one pink for the Sunday of joy, within a circle of evergreens with one larger white candle in the middle as the Christ candle to be lit on Christmas Day.
The Advent Focus and Advent Responsive Prayer portions of the worship services intentionally carry over into the other three Sundays of Advent. Use these sections each week to provide continuity and establish a sacred rhythm and formative repetition throughout the Advent season.
Preparation
Purchase or make Mission Prayer cards to distribute to each participant. Available at HeraldHouse.org.
Prelude
Carols of the Season
“Silvery Star, Precious Star” CCS 419
“Angels, from the Realms of Glory” CCS 436
Welcome
Advent Focus
The season of Advent is a time of preparing for the light of God to come into the world through Jesus Christ. Advent brings this gift: a slowing, unfolding, waiting time that refuses to be rushed in the name of efficiency, convenience, and urgency. Today is the first Sunday of Advent—the Sunday of hope.
Hope is more than wishful thinking
Or a burst of consolation
Or an “it’s ok.”
It is more than meaning making
Giving purpose for pain
Or the exit route
On the discomfort way
Hope is more than a happy explanation
Or a metaphor
Or mechanism for coping
Hope does not run away
It does not try to get out of what is
But it can be found there
Always
Real hope is in the dark
In the pit
At the bottom
Where you never thought you’d be
Real hope doesn’t bring a bandage
Or sympathy flowers
Or turn on an artificial light
Real hope is gravity
It draws you to where you are
For what it is
And doesn’t rush toward resolution
Real hope isn’t away from here
Or past this
Or beyond the horizon
With the future, we cannot yet see
Real hope is always where you are
And it does not leave
It is not waiting in the place
You think you ought to be
This surprising hope
Present already
Where you least expect
Waiting for you to see
That wherever you are
It is being born—Katie Harmon-McLaughlin
Each week as we gather for worship, we come with holy expectation. Expecting to encounter the Divine as we are shaped and sent. As we journey in this season of Advent, let us be especially mindful in our worship of the need to slow down. Let us be vulnerable to God, and to sense the light of Christ’s hope being born anew within us.
Advent is a time to take inventory of our expectations. How is God-with-us seeking to be hope where you are this Advent season? Let us pause in silence, breathing deeply that we may be present to hear the voice of the Holy. Pause for one minute.
Hymn of Centering sing three times
“O God We Call” CCS 195
OR “Wait for the Lord” CCS 399
Lighting the Advent Candle of Hope
Statement
Today we light the Advent candle of hope. Hope awakens us to a new possibility in the light of God’s vision. Hope carries us through the darkness and strengthens us to live daily in the promises of God.
Light the candle of hope.
Advent Responsive Prayer
Leader: God, we lift this Advent prayer to you:
All: That we might wait in your hope,
Leader: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Pause for a moment of silence.
All: That we might find hope as our home,
Leader: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Pause for a moment of silence.
All: That we might nurture hope within,
Leader: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Pause for a moment of silence.
All: That we might bear your hope to others,
Leader: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Pause for a moment of silence.
All: That we may live in the light of your hope,
Leader: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Pause for a moment of silence.
Amen.
Hymn of Hope
“View the Present through the Promise” CCS 401
OR “All Earth Is Hopeful/Toda la tierra” CCS 392/393
Advent Scripture Reading: Matthew 24:36–44
Focus Moment
In our scripture passage for today, Jesus is telling his disciples they need to be ready to receive him. Whatever the moment or whatever the need, we need to be ready to see Jesus in others, to serve any of God’s children, and to respond out of our faith. There is much to get ready for, isn’t there? If we have a concert or a game coming up, we get ready by practicing. What about getting ready for school in the morning?
What do you need to do? Children or congregants respond. Examples might include: get dressed, brush teeth, eat breakfast, grab the backpack.
What do we need to do to be ready to welcome Jesus in our lives? Children or congregation respond. Examples might include pray, go to church, read scripture, tell others about Jesus.
Advent is a season of getting ready to welcome Jesus more fully into our hearts and the world. Just like we get ready every morning for the day that’s starting, we also prepare every day to be ready to encounter Jesus in the lives of the people we meet. When we do this, we help make a better world, just like getting ready in the morning makes for a better day.
Hand out copies of the Mission Prayer, found below, to everyone. These can be purchased from Herald House at www.HeraldHouse.org, search “mission prayer.”
One way we can be alert for Jesus each day is by praying the Mission Prayer when we’re getting ready in the morning. Let’s pray it out loud together now:
God, where will your Spirit lead today? Help me be fully awake and ready to respond. Grant me the courage to risk something new and become a blessing of your love and peace. Amen.
As we go through Advent, let’s each remember to pray the Mission Prayer every morning to help us be fully awake and ready to respond to God!
Prayer for Peace
Sound a chime nine times; light the peace candle.
Prayer
God, who is Ever Ready, you meet us in the sacred rhythms of life, calling us to journey with you. In this season of preparation, lead our expectation into action, guide our longings to response, stir our ready posture into ready service. To our confusion and anxiety, bring your peace. To our hesitation and our questions, bring your peace. To our suffering and our emptiness, bring your peace. God, who is Ever Ready, yearning for us to step forward, give us the conviction of your hope. Awaken within our darkness the light of every possibility alive in you. Quicken us to respond to your call to bring hope where it has been forgotten. Slow us to see hope being birthed on the margins and along dusty alleyways. Pace us in your readiness lest we are tempted to rush ahead or slack behind.
God of the already but not yet, carry us in the hope of your peace, urgent in its living while confident in its fulfilment. Slow us to full attention, speed us to full response, bear us through full hope in you and your full peace. In the name of the One, who is Ever Ready to reach out and relight our hope, even Jesus the Christ, Amen.
—Dan Gregory
Advent Hymn
“Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” CCS 400
OR “Comfort, Comfort Now My People” CCS 407
Message
Based on Matthew 24:36–44
Our Sung Response
“We Wait in Hope for the Lord” CCS 267
OR “God Almighty, We Are Waiting” CCS 397
Disciples’ Generous Response
Video
Project the Disciples’ Generous Response video “Ignite!” avilable on YouTube.
Responsive Blessing
Leader: O Lord, open our lips,
Congregation: And our mouths shall declare your praise.
Leader: O Lord, open our eyes,
Congregation: That we may behold your presence.
Leader: O Lord, open our ears,
Congregation: That we may hear your call.
Leader: O Lord, open our hearts,
Congregation: That we may respond to your love.
Leader: O Lord, open our lives,
Congregation: That we may join in your mission.
Leader: Amen.
—Isaiah 2:2–5, adapted
Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes
Hymn of Benediction
“When the Present Holds No Promise” CCS 430
OR “Canticle of the Turning” CCS 404
Sending Forth
Doctrine and Covenants 157:16–17
Postlude
Sacred Space: Small-Group Worship Outline #
Gathering
Welcome
For the Advent season it is traditional to have Advent candles (four white candles, one for each week of Advent) or an Advent wreath (an evergreen ring with four candles and one white candle in the center). One candle is lit each week with the center candle lit on Christmas. The lighting of the Advent candle takes place at the beginning of the spiritual practice.
Advent is a season of waiting in expectation 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. 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.
Prayer for Peace
Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.
Light the peace candle.
All praise to the divine Power propelling the universe yet loving and concerned for each of us. Some of us are entering a season set apart to proclaim our joy and our hope in the Prince of Peace. Others give special remembrance to their deity other times of the year, but they, too, yearn for a peaceful existence. Help us to extend these special times to all time.
Each person affects a few others, but even together our impact has not been enough to create relationships worthy of being called peaceful. We get involved in our own personal wants. We try to compete for your favor even when we declare you are God, the light of all people. Help us to be at peace and to bring peace to others. We say the Earth is created for all. You have given it to our care, but we have desecrated it for personal gain. Forgive our selfishness in thought and action. May we reach beyond ourselves and give praise and thanksgiving for the power and love that created us and gives us purpose each day.
We pray for peace for the Earth and each of us on the planet. We do not want to limit your purposes and stifle your creativity. We want to live in your way and with your peace. Help us to proclaim and to be the message of the Prince of Peace to our part of your world. Amen.
—Virginia Schrunk
Spiritual Practice
Take Five
Light the first candle of Advent and say:
Today we light the first candle of Advent. This candle symbolizes hope in new life. May we have hope in that new life, which is coming forth in us.
Read the following:
The liturgical year starts with the waiting for the birth of light. Advent is a period to take a time-out and reflect on what is being born within us, just as we wait for the light and Son of God to be born. Take Five is a spiritual practice of taking a time-out for reflection. With the consumerism that surrounds the holidays, this practice can help us focus and connect with God, each other, and the Earth.
Read the following:
Today we are going to do five minutes of centering prayer. Centering prayer is where we choose a word or phrase and repeat it while breathing in and breathing out. It helps us get into a meditative state and clears our minds. Choose a word to focus on and breathe in for eight seconds, breathe out for eight seconds. We will repeat for five minutes. Set the timer for five minutes. At the end of five minutes say, “Amen.”
Invite group members to share how this practice helped them feel hope.
Sharing Around the Table
Matthew 24:36–44 NRSVue
“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
During Advent season (from Latin, “to come”), we celebrate the coming of Jesus in many ways: through prophecies, birth, baptism, and the future reign of God. At first glance, today’s text may seem a little “dark” in contrast to the spirit of joyful anticipation and expectation associated with the days and weeks leading to the birth of Jesus. Activities like the hanging of the greens, live Nativities, Christmas caroling, and searching for just the right gift seem more fitting than warnings about being left behind and analogies between the Son of Man and a thief in the night.
It’s important for us to remember that—like us—the first-century hearers of these words were busy with the tasks of daily living. So much so, that they may have failed to see and understand how God was present among them and working in their midst to bring God’s reign.
We need not be concerned that we don’t know “the day and hour” of Christ’s coming. What matters more is that we live each day with our eyes and our hearts wide open, so we won’t miss the times when God comes near. We must not allow ourselves to be so enmeshed in the everyday that the Son of Man is able to come and go without our noticing.
Ushering in the reign of God requires intentional living that visibly shows what the coming of the Son of Man will be like. Jesus’ message was, and remains, focused on living in this world in a watchful and wakeful way.
Questions
- How do you allow yourself to get “swept up” in the mundane or be “left behind” in the chaos of life…so that you miss the times when God comes near?
- How do you engage in “intentional living” for the coming reign of God?
- What do you anticipate or expect to come in this season of Advent?
Sending
Generosity Statement
Note: If you are using “Thoughts for Children,” make time here for them to share with the group their colored pictures of Christ.
Faithful disciples respond to an increasing awareness of the abundant generosity of God by sharing according to the desires of their hearts; not by commandment or constraint.
—Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing small-group ministries as part of your generous response.
This 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 to 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
CCS 392, “All Earth Is Hopeful”
Closing Prayer
Optional Additions Depending on Group
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
Choose one scripture to read from this selection: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Matthew 26:17–30; Mark 14:12–26; Luke 22:7–39.
Invitation to Communion
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.
In preparation let’s sing from Community of Christ Sings 519, “In the Singing.”
Blessing and serving bread and wine.
Thoughts for Children
Wait in Hope
Materials: five black-and-white coloring-page-style pictures of Christ (Google coloring page Jesus Christ), pen or marker, tape, crayons.
Preparation: Print the pictures of Christ. Write a separate Mission Initiative on the back of each page. Print extra copies of each style to share with the children to color.
• Invite People to Christ
• Abolish Poverty, End Suffering
• Pursue Peace on Earth
• Develop Disciples to Serve
• Experience Congregations in Mission
Before the group arrives, place each of the five Mission Initiative pictures in a different spot around the room.
Tell the children: This is a very special time of year, when we look for Jesus everywhere.
Look around and see if you can find Jesus in this room.
Have the children bring each picture back to the group. Have each child read what is on the back of their picture.
Explain: We can see Jesus all around us by seeing his mission and purpose all around us.
Ask the following questions and encourage children to share their thoughts:
• How can you invite people to know Jesus?
• How can you help those who are poor or hungry?
• How can you share peace with others?
• How might you learn more about following Jesus?
• What kinds of things could this group do to join in the mission of Jesus?
Lead the children in prayer: We pray this season everyone can feel the light of Jesus in their lives. Amen.
Pass out color pages and crayons and invite the children to return to their seats and color the pictures of Christ to be shared later in the gathering.
Make time during A Disciple’s Generous Response for the children to share their colored pictures.
Sermon Helps #
Exploring the Scripture
During Advent season (from the Latin “to come”), we celebrate the coming of Jesus in many ways: through prophecies, birth, baptism, and the future reign of God. Matthew 24:36–44 focuses on the future reign of God.
The first-century peasants faced day-to-day survival with little energy wasted on the future. In this passage, Jesus describes for the first-century audience what happens at the coming of the Son of Man. Like us, their actions in the present demonstrate how they understand and prepare for the coming reign of God.
Jesus begins with the image of Noah’s flood (v. 37) to highlight the lack of preparation. He uses this story reference to emphasize that life is more than eating and drinking. He teaches intentional living that visibly shows in daily life what the coming of the Son of Man will be like. His message was, and remains, focused on living in this world in a watchful way.
Jesus’ second illustration presents the contrast between two people doing similar tasks. One will be taken and one left. The hearer can assume that one is ready and one is not. But which is which?
Today popular culture assumes that the one “left behind” is unprepared, a sinner rejected and unable to enter the kingdom. But in Hebrew Scripture, those who are left are the ones who are preserved (Genesis 32:8; Genesis 42:38; Deuteronomy 4:27; Deuteronomy 28:62; Ruth 1:5; 1 Kings 19:18; 2 Kings 25:12, 22; 1 Chronicles 13:2; Nehemiah 1:2, 3; Isaiah 4:3; Isaiah 11:11). The Isaiah passages especially reveal the sense of salvation and blessing for those who remain. For Jesus, to be left and not taken means one is alert and prepared, doing a work that is valuable and productive in God’s kingdom. To be taken is to be destroyed and removed from God’s sphere of action.
Finally, Jesus uses the idea of a thief who comes to steal when the head of house is asleep. He encourages the people to be awake and not allow complacency, passiveness, and apathy to steal the opportunity to be part of the kingdom.
Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man, just as we might say we are human beings. He not only points out that he is fully human, but also that he represents humanity, dependent on God for life, for authority, and for blessings.
“Son of Man” is also a term that was used in Hebrew Scripture in a special way. Daniel 7:13– 14 describes a vision of one like a human being (Son of Man) who is presented to God and receives power and authority over all nations and peoples—a king whose kingdom will never end. Many Judeans of first-century Galilee would have interpreted it to mean the coming Messiah. In this passage, Jesus does not define the phrase, but he uses it to refer to a coming figure whose appearance is so important and transforming that people need to be ready for his coming. This coming is the result of the actions that are being introduced to usher in the reign of God. Only God knows the timing and manner of the coming of the Son of Man. For everyone else, including the Son, it remains unknown (v. 36). Jesus is calling the people to watchfulness and preparation for the mystery of a future that is held firmly in God’s hands. During Advent, we are called to prepare for God’s future and Jesus coming into our lives.
Central Ideas
- We believe in a God who comes into the world and is with us.
- Advent celebrates the coming of Jesus in many ways: prophecies of his coming, his birth, John the Baptist as forerunner, and the coming of God’s peaceful reign.
- Jesus stresses the importance of preparation and watchfulness in living each day in this world that God created and loves.
Questions for the Speaker
- What do you do each day that represents preparing and living for the coming reign of God? What does your congregation do?
- What activities, attitudes, and behaviors steal from us the time and energy that might otherwise be devoted to bringing forth the reign of God?
- What does it mean to be “watchful” in today’s world? How does that influence the way we approach Advent?
- What is the difference between living in fear of a presumed destruction and being prepared to usher in a new age with God’s peaceful reign?
Lessons #
Adult Lesson #
Focus Scripture Passage
Matthew 24:36–44
Lesson Focus
Disciples live in hope and prepare for God’s peaceful reign.
Objectives
The learners will…
- find messages of hope in Isaiah’s prophecy.
- discuss the focus scripture passage and its invitation to disciples today.
- explore opportunities for living in hope.
Supplies
- Bible
- Community of Christ Sings (CCS)
- Flip chart or large erasable writing surface and marker (optional)
Notes to Teacher
In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Matthew 24:36–44 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament (with focus on the Gospel according to Matthew), p. 18, available through Herald House.
Gather
Activates background knowledge, prepares, and motivates for lesson (15% of total lesson time)
Today is the first Sunday of Advent (which means coming) and marks the beginning of the liturgical year. A different theme is upheld each Sunday in Advent. Today we focus on hope. This lesson will guide exploration of the disciple’s call to live in hope.
Read Isaiah 2:1–5.
Isaiah’s prophecy delivers a message of hope.
- What messages of hope do you find in this passage that relate to current circumstances in your congregation, community, or in the world?
The promise of hope, justice, and peace to the people of Israel remains the promise to us today.
Engage
Invites exploration and interaction (35% of lesson time)
Today’s focus scripture passage in Matthew’s Gospel is taken from Jesus’s speech about the end times. It follows warnings of the temple’s destruction and the coming of the Son of Man and precedes Jesus’s passion narrative. The passage feels out of harmony with the season that prepares us to receive the Christ child.
Read Matthew 24:36–44 and discuss the following:
- Do you feel fearful or hopeful after reading or hearing this passage? Explain.
- In what ways do you find this passage represented in cultural or religious trends?
- How does this passage compare with the passage from Isaiah?
It is common to fear the unknown. Examples from this passage speak to our fear of loss and destruction of what we hold dear. Some have used this passage to promote fear of being “left behind.” But Jesus proclaims a message of hope for the here and now through actions that prepare for God’s kingdom made real. The example of Noah shows how preparation allowed Noah’s family to be part of the new creation. Being “left behind” is not punishment for sin; it is an opportunity to be part of what God makes new in the world. In this passage, Jesus calls us to active preparation for the coming reign of God.
“Son of Man” can be understood as a self-reference by Jesus or as a general reference to Jesus’s humanity and solidarity with all humankind. First-century hearers may have understood it as a reference to the coming judge at the end of time—the Messiah.
- Where do you see examples of people living in fear of presumed destruction?
- Where do you see examples of people preparing for God’s peaceful reign?
- What activities, attitudes, and behaviors steal from us the time and energy that might otherwise be devoted to bringing forth the reign of God?
Respond
Takes the learners from hearing to doing (35% of lesson time)
Read or sing the first stanza of “View the Present through the Promise” CCS 401 or “Nada te turbe” CCS 241.
If a large writing surface is available, make a list of circumstances present in your local or global community, which represent a grieving world (such as violation of human rights, poverty, war, or environmental degradation).
- How do these examples represent people living in fear?
Pause and offer silent prayers for circumstances which promote fear and rob people of hope. You may choose to have one person offer a prayer aloud.
Form groups of two or three and assign each group a circumstance from the list created.
Read or sing the second stanza of “View the Present through the Promise” CCS 401 or “Nada te turbe” CCS 241.
- What daily actions of love, generosity, justice, and forgiveness create hope for the circumstance you are considering?
Share insights from small groups with the larger group.
Read or sing the third stanza of “View the Present through the Promise” CCS 401 or “Nada te turbe” CCS 241.
- What congregational ministries match the present circumstance with the promise of hope in Christ?
Send
Explores how the lesson might be lived (10% of lesson time)
Our call as disciples is to live in active hope, to create communities of hope, and to prepare for Christ to be made known in our daily living. Discuss together or share in groups of two or three.
- How will you approach this Advent season with greater attention and intent?
- What practices will help you live in hope?
- How will you prepare for Christ’s hope made real in your life? In the lives of others?
Bless
Time of prayer, praise, blessing, and hope (5% of lesson time)
Invite each person to share one phrase from a scripture passage or hymn, a new insight, or message of hope that will bring blessing to them throughout the coming week.
Youth Lesson #
Focus Scripture Passage
Matthew 24:36–44
Lesson Focus
We are hopeful in our preparation for Christ’s birth.
Objectives
The learners will…
- begin to prepare for Jesus’s birth.
- explore God’s shalom.
- create messages about Christ’s mission.
Supplies
- Bible
- Community of Christ Sings (CCS)
- Assortment of large-size clothing
- Paper
- Markers
- Colored pencils
- Optional: Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, Herald House, 2018
Notes to Teacher
In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Matthew 24:36–44 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year B: New Testament (with focus on the Gospel according to Matthew), p. 18, available through Herald House.
Gather
Activates background knowledge, prepares, and motivates for lesson (15% of total lesson time)
Who’s Ready?
Before class, gather large shirts, pants, shoes, hats, and other articles of clothing the group could fit over their clothing. Equally divide the clothing in two piles and ask for two volunteers to race against one another to “get ready” for class. The two group members will then, as quickly as possible, put on all the clothing in their pile, racing to finish first. Allow all group members to have an opportunity to play.
Read Matthew 24:36–44, today’s passage about being ready.
Today is the first week of Advent. As we move into the season of Advent, we meet the hope that wells up inside us as we anticipate the birth of Christ. The word Advent comes from the Latin word advenire (to come) and during Advent, we celebrate the coming of Jesus into our lives and our world.
Engage
Invites exploration and interaction (35% of lesson time)
In today’s passage, Jesus is helping us prepare by telling us to be alert for the coming of the Son of Man. With television shows and books that fictionalize the aftereffects of the disappearance of much of humans, popular culture has labeled those who are “left behind” as the ones who did something wrong and were rejected from entering the kingdom. However, Community of Christ, with many Christians, understands God’s shalom in a loving, grace-filled manner. Community of Christ affirms God’s love for all creation and God’s desire to restore creation to wholeness. Disciples are called to be an active part of restoration and wholeness. Such an understanding changes our perspective from living in fear of destruction and rejection to being prepared to create a hope-filled future.
In what ways can we be a part of a hope-filled future?
- What does it look like to live in fear as opposed to living in hope?
- What do you want the future to look like? How can you make that happen?
Going Deeper: God’s Shalom
Read the section on the Enduring Principle of Pursuit of Peace (Shalom) from Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, p. 30.
Our understanding of shalom is not God destroying Earth because God is angry or vengeful. Our hope lies in building Zion (communities of justice and peace) here on Earth as we live God’s shalom. Using the information about shalom, discuss the pursuit of peace in group members’ lives.
- What stands in our way of living God’s shalom?
- How must we change what we believe or what we do to create Zion on Earth?
- Consider and then share what shalom is like in your life. What changes in your life would help you live God’s shalom more fully?
Respond
Takes the learners from hearing to doing (35% of lesson time)
Billboard for God
God sent Jesus to show us the way, to teach us what it means to love and live as disciples. Imagine driving down the road and seeing a billboard with a message that represents our understanding of what mission is about. What might that billboard say? Provide supplies such as paper, markers, and colored pencils for group members to create billboards with their messages. When they have finished, have them share their billboards with the group and display them around the room or church building.
- How can we be billboards for God?
Send
Explores how the lesson might be lived (10% of lesson time)
When the passage says we need to be watchful and ready, it’s not because something bad is going to happen to us if we haven’t been paying attention. Rather, it reminds us to be prepared, to be part of God’s purposes at work in the world. We are called to be aware of our surroundings and open to what is going on so we can be intentional in our lives as disciples.
- In what ways can you be more aware of people and circumstances around you?
- What opportunities for Christ’s mission do we miss when we are not prepared to act as compassionate disciples?
Bless
Time of prayer, praise, blessing, and hope (5% of lesson time)
Close with the first verse of the Advent hymn “View the Present through the Promise” CCS 401 as a statement of blessing or with a prayer centered on the hope that comes with the birth of Jesus Christ.
Children’s Lesson #
Focus Scripture Passage
Matthew 24:36–44
Lesson Focus
God is with us in this life and wants us to prepare for the kingdom of God on Earth.
Objectives
The learners will…
- discuss what it means to be prepared.
- explore the difference between hope and worry.
- focus on the theme of hope for the first Sunday of Advent.
Supplies
- Bible
- Community of Christ Sings (CCS)
- Advent wreath with candles or a picture of an Advent wreath, matches or lighter
- Timer, a bag or suitcase, various items to pack (for example: clothing, toothpaste and toothbrush, books, snack items, or toys)
- Large sheets of newsprint, markers or crayons
- Empty glass jars of any size (one for each child), various colors of tissue paper, glue, paintbrushes, newspaper to cover work area, paper cups or plates for glue, battery-operated votive candles
Notes to Teacher
In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Matthew 24:36–44 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament, p. 18, available through Herald House.
Gather
Activates background knowledge, prepares, and motivates for lesson (15% of total lesson time)
Greet children by name and invite them into the classroom. Show the class an Advent wreath (or a picture of an Advent wreath). Share with the class that today is the first Sunday of Advent and on this Sunday, we focus on the theme of hope. Explain there are five candles in an Advent wreath, one for each of the four Sundays before Christmas and one for Christmas Day. Each Sunday we will add the light of one more candle until all five are lit on Christmas Day. Light the first candle in the wreath together and echo-sing stanza one of “Hope Is a Light” CCS 398.
Hope is a light, (Hope is a light.)
Hope is a light to show the way, (Hope is a light to show the way.)
Light the candle of hope, (Light the candle of hope.)
—Daniel Charles Damon, © 2007 Hope Publishing Company
Note: Plan to include the lighting of the Advent candles throughout the season of Advent. Adjust the stanzas of “Hope Is a Light” CCS 398 to match the Advent focus of the day (Joy, Hope, Love, and Peace).
Engage
Invites exploration and interaction (35% of lesson time)
Have children imagine they are getting ready to go on a trip. Ask them what they might pack in their bags or suitcases. Is there anything they absolutely could not leave behind? What items could they leave out?
Invite the class to play the packing game. Before class set out a bag or suitcase and various items to pack. Have children take turns packing the bag, setting the timer before each child begins. For each child, pick a different amount of time. For example, give the first child two minutes, the second child 30 seconds, and the third child 90 seconds. Do not tell them how much time they will have; they must stop packing when the timer rings. Allow each child to have at least one opportunity to pack the bag.
- Discuss with the class how it felt not knowing how much time they would have. Did they find it frustrating? What was difficult about it? Did they pack everything they needed in the time allowed? How did they decide what to pack and what to leave out?
Today’s scripture passage reminds us to prepare for Jesus, here and now, by the way we live and the choices we make.
Read Matthew 24:36–44. What did the scripture passage say we needed to prepare for? (the coming of Jesus)
Note: When reading this passage with children, they may focus on the idea that some people will be left behind and some will be taken away. Such mistaken theology can be frightening to young children. Older children may know this idea from popular culture such as the Rapture. We do not believe God will take people away. That isn’t what this scripture means. This scripture is about paying attention and being alert. It’s more like if a friend asks you to go to a movie but they aren’t sure what time. So you get ready early, so you’ll be ready when the friend calls. Community of Christ theology supports the idea that what matters most is the mission of Christ—building of the kingdom of God on Earth in this life. Older children can explore this idea more deeply.
There are many ways we prepare to meet Jesus and share his love with others. Today we are going to explore some of those ways.
Lay a long sheet of newsprint on the floor for each child. Have children choose partners. Children take turns lying on their sheets of newsprint while their partners trace their outlines on the paper. Working together, have them write on their body outlines ways they can prepare to meet and share Jesus. For example, on the head they might write “study the Bible” or “read good books.” For the eyes they might write “watching positive movies” or “look for opportunities to help others.” For the hands they might write something about planting flowers for a neighbor or playing the piano. For the feet, they might write about joining a walk for charity or collecting food for a local food bank. When their outlines are filled in with ideas, invite the children to share a few ideas with the class.
Discuss: How might these examples help you prepare for the coming of God?
Note: If large sheets of newsprint are not available, each child could draw an outline of a person on a single sheet of paper, or you could create one large outline and complete it as a class. You could also name a body part and have the children act out ways to prepare each part instead of writing the ideas.
Respond
Takes the learners from hearing to doing (35% of lesson time)
In Jesus’s time, people expected the Messiah would come soon to save them from difficulties they faced each day. They lived in fear of what others might do to them. They had hope the Messiah would deliver them from hardship at any moment. They spent more time focused on the future than on what they could do to prepare for Jesus in the present.
This is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a special time of waiting for Jesus’s birth. We live in hope and believe that Jesus came to be with us on Earth.
Sometimes we spend so much time and energy worrying about all that can go wrong in our lives (like making a mistake, getting bad grades, or getting into an accident) that we forget to live in hope. What is something that worries you? What is something that makes you feel hopeful? Note: Please be aware of children living in bad situations or going through difficult circumstances. Being afraid of bad things coming is a survival skill for some. They may need extra care looking for hope. Consider making a “Looks like, Sounds like, Feels like” chart and ask for children to share ideas.
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Hope looks like… |
Hope sounds like… |
Hope feels like… |
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Today we are going to talk about our worries and brainstorm ways to find hope amid those worries.
Pass out a paper and pen or pencil to each child (or do the activity together as a class on a large sheet of paper or board). Make two columns. Label the first column WORRIES and the second column HOPES. Write something in the WORRIES column that you worry about or are afraid of. In the column labeled HOPES, write something that would ease your worry. An example of a worry might be sleeping in the dark. A matching hope might be to have an adult check in on you or have a nightlight. Another example of a worry might be failing a math test. The hope could be that it is an opportunity to learn from mistakes and do better next time. Fill each column with several examples. Ask the children the following:
- What was difficult about this activity?
- Could you find hope for each item you listed in the WORRIES column?
- With whom could you share your worries and fears?
- Who helps you feel hope?
Today we are going to make a lantern to remind us that even though our worries and fears cause us to feel we are in the dark, our hope is in the light of Jesus.
Give an empty glass jar of any size to each child. Pass out various colors of tissue paper, glue, and clean paintbrushes. Have children tear the tissue paper into shapes of various sizes. Lay pieces of paper on the outside the jars and coat them thoroughly with glue using paintbrushes. When the surface of the jar is completely covered, place a battery-operated votive candle inside the jar and light.
Note: An alternate object lesson is to have each child create a picture of a light source like a lantern, a flashlight, or a candle. The idea is to represent the light of hope.
Send
Explores how the lesson might be lived (10% of lesson time)
Gather in a circle. Sing together “If You’re Ready to Serve Jesus” to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” (Tune is found on YouTube.)
If you’re ready to serve Jesus, clap your hands.
If you’re ready to serve Jesus, clap your hands.
If you’re ready to serve Jesus, you will live in hope that frees us.
If you’re ready to serve Jesus, clap your hands.
If you’re ready to serve Jesus, stomp your feet…
If you’re ready to serve Jesus, shout, “Amen”…
If you’re ready to serve Jesus, do all three…
Create a living Advent wreath by having the students sit in a circle and take turns sharing how they can represent the hope of Jesus in the coming week.
Bless
Time of prayer, praise, blessing, and hope (5% of lesson time)
Close with the following prayer:
Dear God,
Help us to be ready to serve you,
And to live in hope each day.
Amen.
