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 candle from the first week)
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)
Our fourth week we lit the Advent calendar that invited us to remember the joy that comes from knowing
(light the candle for the fourth week)
On Christmas Eve we lit the Christ Candle
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
(light the center candle)
One: This season of Advent, our circle reminded us of God’s unending love and presence.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The evergreens to reminded us of the hope we find in Jesus is eternal.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The four candles marked 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 reminded us that Jesus is the light of the world.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: Four candles were [blue or purple – use the word for the color of your candles]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 give thanks that Christ has come and Christ will come again and in between what has already happened and will happen, we rejoice in
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
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: Galatians 4:4-7
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 gathered to listen for the Good News that is in this passage. Share with one another what they think is Good News and for whom.
Connecting through story
Watch and listen as these children talk about the meaning of their adoption.
- What did it mean to William and Lexington that they were adopted?
- What did it mean to their parents?
Connecting with our lives
Engage in dialogue:
- What does it mean to be a slave?
- What does it mean to be someone’s child?
- How would you describe what it means to be adopted?
- What does it mean to be adopted by God?
- Why is it important to understand we are adopted as God’s children?
- In what ways are we God’s children?
- What does it mean to be an heir?
- In what ways are we God’s heir?
- What do we inherit as God’s children?
- Why is this Good News?
- How will you live differently knowing and trusting that you are adopted as God’s own child?
Teaching points that can be incorporated into your discussion:
- When Paul talks about the “law” in his letters (also called epistles), he is referring to the Mosaic Law not the laws of the government.
- The covenant God makes through Moses with the people requires faithfully following all the commandments, statutes and ordinances (in other words: “laws”) given to Moses on Mt. Sinai — not just the “big 10” (the 10 commandments). In order to stay in right relationship with God and to be given the Promised Land, strict adherence to these laws was required.
- While God always remained faithful to the covenant, God’s people could not. They could maintain faithfulness for a while but inevitably started putting other things before God and denying justice to those who were most vulnerable (the poor, powerless or marginalized.)
- When it became evident that the people could not stay in faithful relationship with God by their own actions, God sent Jesus to fulfill all the laws and to set us free to be in a right relationship with God through the grace of Jesus Christ.
- One of the most incredible gifts (and Good News!) is that God has bound us together in relationship through the grace of Jesus, not by our own works or ability to keep the “laws,” but through God’s incredible free and unmerited gift.
- God has made us family – adopted us as God’s own children and Christ’s siblings.
- Since we are family, we inherit all the promises, love, grace and life that God has to give.
Take a moment to think about what the family of God looks like and then describe or draw it. Who is in the picture? Who is not? Then consider: How does family act or treat one another? If we considered everyone a part of God’s family (as God does), as if we were siblings, what would the implications be for how we treat one another?
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.
