Welcome
Bring your family’s Advent wreath to the center of your gathering. Make sure you have matches or a lighter.
One: Our first week we lit the Advent candle that invited us to wait during this special season.
(light the first Advent candle)
Our second week we lit the Advent candle that invited us to prepare for the coming of Jesus.
(light the candle from the second week)
Our third week we lit the Advent candle that invited us to hope for the coming of Jesus our Messiah, Savior and…
(light the candle for the third week)
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: Our circle reminds us of God’s unending love and presence.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The evergreens to remind us the hope we find in Jesus eternal.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The four candles mark the four weeks of joy and anticipation as we wait for the babe in the manger and the coming of Christ again.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The candles remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: Four candles are blue or purple as a reminder to prepare for Jesus’ coming.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: One candle is white, in the center of our wreath, a symbol for the purity of Jesus.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: Today we light the fourth candle as we hear with joy the good news of the Savior who will soon be born.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
(light the fourth candle)
God sightings and prayer offerings
Invite each person to share where they saw or experienced God this week. Invite each person to share something — a person, community, experience, event, etc. – for which they want to offer prayer.
Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the ways you were and are present in our lives and in the world. [Invite each person to say aloud the sighting they named earlier.] We bring our prayers to you, prayers for… [invite each person to say aloud the prayer need they named earlier]. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Connecting with Scripture: Luke 1:26-38
Read the Scripture aloud the first time using the New Revised Standard Version or the Common English Bible.
For the second reading of the text, invite those who are gathered to close their eyes and let their mind’s eye imagine the scene as it unfolds. Once the reading is finished, invite people to share how they saw the story unfold.
Connecting through story
Watch this episode of Steve Hartman’s “On the Road.”
- Why did Eleanor think God had something to do with her experience that night at dinner?
- Why did Jamario and his friends reach out in kindness to Eleanor and build a relationship with her?
- Where was the joy in that encounter?
- What do you think God was doing through that experience?
Connecting with our lives
Engage in dialogue:
- Why do you think Gabriel called Mary the “favored one”?
- What do you think Mary was thinking and feeling when the angel appeared to her?
- What message did God have for Mary? For the world?
- What did God want Mary to do?
- What kind of joy would come into the world through Mary and her son?
- How did God let Mary know what God expected her to do?
- What is your initial reaction to Mary’s response in verse 38: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word”?
- Why do you think she responded in that way?
- How would you have responded?
- How do you know when God wants you to do something?
- What is your usual response?
- How can God use you to make the world a better place? To bring joy?
Teaching points that can be incorporated into your discussion:
- Today’s Scripture is often called the Annunciation. It is the announcement, by Gabriel, that the Son of God was coming into the world in the form of a baby to be named Jesus.
- God was sending Jesus to be the long-awaited Messiah — the king and savior of God’s people.
- God’s people were expecting a military and powerful king who would restore the kingdom of Israel and bring back political greatness and independence.
- They were not expecting a baby who would grow up to care more about the poor, the marginalized and the powerless than riches and greatness.
- Jesus would usher in God’s kin-dom (kingdom) where the first shall be last, the captives would be released and God’s love, justice and righteousness would be the priorities of the Messiah. (God’s kin-dom is another way of referring to God’s kingdom. It emphasizes the distinctive characteristics of the realm of God, which values the relational interconnectedness of all of God’s children marked by mutual respect and dignity rather than the world’s hierarchical understandings.)
- Christians understand Jesus to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about a Messiah, Savior and King.
If you have a hymnal in your home, look up the words of the hymn “Joy to the World.” What familiar themes from the Advent texts do you see and hear in those lyrics? What kind of “king” and “kin-dom” will Jesus create and lead? If you don’t have a hymnal, you may enjoy this version with music and lyrics. Feel free to join your voices in sing along!
Prayer
Close your time together by praying for one another, your neighbor, community and the world. Extinguish the candle.
REBECCA DAVIS is the associate professor of Christian education at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. A teaching elder and certified educator, she served congregations for over 20 years before moving into academic teaching. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, her passion is child advocacy and ministry.
