New Summit Presbyterian Church

Supplies: Bible, Advent wreath and/or candles, newsprint, markers, small spiral notebook (7 inches x 5 inches), plain white or manila 8-1/2 x 11 paper

Invocation and Introduction (5 minutes)

If you have an Advent wreath, light the first candle. If you do not have a wreath, simply light a candle.

Introduce the session by saying, "Advent is a time of waiting with great expectancy and of preparing ourselves for God's human entry into the world and into our lives, offering hope, peace, love, and grace."

Opening Prayer:

"Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long." Amen.
-- Psalm 25:4-5

Read responsively the following litany based on Jeremiah 33:14-16 and Psalm 25.

Leader: The days are surely coming, says the LORD.
People: What days?
Leader: The days when God will fulfill the promise.
People: What promise?
Leader: A righteous Branch will come from the House of David to bring justice and righteousness to individuals, to nations, to the world.
People: Yes! The days are surely coming! How can we prepare ourselves while we wait?
Leader: We will wait patiently and pray for God to show us God's ways and to lead us in truth. And we will trust God's mercy and steadfast love for us.
All: Yes! The days are surely coming!

Group Devotions (20 minutes)

Consider these questions and allow time for responses: What gifts do you have that can help you open yourself to the good news that Advent brings? How can you use your gifts during this Advent season? How can you make a quiet vigil part of your busy life?

Waiting and Preparing (25 minutes)

Read aloud this paragraph:
"With Advent God forged a new link, a rejuvenating relationship between a weary earth and [an] eternal heaven." This statement may call us to ponder "matters of heaven and earth." Let's take five minutes to ponder these matters. You may want to list for yourself matters of earth and matters of heaven. How would God's coming as a baby bring the heavens and earth closer together? How would God's coming affect priorities -- your own, your family's, your church's, your city's, your state's, your nation's, the world's?

In groups of three or four, come to a consensus about one priority that would/should change in each of the above categories. Invite each group to write their consensus priorities on newsprint.

Response (5 minutes)

Invite each person to read silently Jeremiah 33:14-16 and to repeat silently the words justice and righteousness.

Pray: God of Christmas, help us to prepare again for your worldly birth. Help us during this Advent season earnestly to seek to understand your will for your world and show us how to be your instruments of justice and righteousness. Thank you for your mercy and for your steadfast love for us, even when we fail to seek your will. Amen.

Additional Activities

Further Reflection

Take three minutes to make an Advent to-do list. Be as complete as you can. Read Luke 10:38-42 about Mary & Martha. Remembering that you want to have more time "to sit at Jesus' feet" as Mary did, look over each item on your list. Can you cross anything off your list, even just one thing? If so, draw a line through it. (If you can cross off more than one thing, happily do it!)

Now that you have those things out of the way, divide your remaining list into three parts: (1) the household tasks you need to do (extra cooking and cleaning; decorating, including the Christmas tree; and perhaps preparing for guests); (2) shopping and social obligations (parties, Christmas programs other than church, volunteer efforts); and (3) worshiping, both with your worshiping community at church and with your family at home. Naturally, for most of us lists #1 and #2 will be much longer than list #3. Again, look at your lists to make certain you can delete nothing else. As you look at lists #1 and #2, ask yourself, How can I use these necessary tasks to prepare anew for Jesus' coming into the world?

Brother Lawrence must have asked himself a similar question many centuries ago, and the answer he found has become to many a great gift. To Brother Lawrence, a monk, his work may have seemed menial and endless. He worked in the monastery kitchen, where meal after meal had to be prepared and cleaned up after. Granted, the word hectic wouldn't describe his life, but he spent many hours away from the activity that had probably called him to the monastery, worshiping God and learning God's ways, "sitting at Jesus' feet." What is Brother Lawrence's gift to us? A discipline known as practicing the presence of God. No matter how menial his task, Brother Lawrence concentrated on always being in God's presence. He was praying always but in a different way than we usually think of praying. Simply being in God's presence and awaiting God's communication in the midst of his work was Brother Lawrence's prayer.

With Brother Lawrence in mind, take another look at your list and ask yourself, "How can I be more attentive to God's presence in the midst of these tasks?" Some people use a word that reminds them of God's presence. You may want to use an Advent or Christmas word this season, such as wait, prepare, joy, peace, hope, birth. Let the word dwell with you during the day. Wear a tiny jingle bell to remind you of God's presence. Choose a color that reminds you of God's presence and pin a small ribbon of that color to your clothing each day to remind you of God's presence. Look for opportunities to praise God during your day. Each task has an element of thanksgiving.

During this Advent season, try practicing God's presence daily. You may find more peace and joy in your tasks or you may find some tasks to be unnecessary or you may find new ways to do things or you may discover that you are doing what needs to be done during this time in your but that God may call you to something else during another time in your life.

Ideas for Younger Groups and Families

Find the hymn "God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale," #122 in The United Methodist Hymnal. List the descriptions of God down one side of a sheet of newsprint. Down the other side, list the creature's (including human's) responses. Think again of the Christmas birth as a new link between the heavens (left-hand column) and earth (right-hand column). Invite each person to choose one of the descriptions of God and the response to it and then to use markers to illustrate in her or his own way what that name and response evokes.

Pray this sentence prayer daily: God of Christmas, teach me to celebrate your gift of Jesus. Amen.

Next >